FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: CTSFW Communications, communications@ctsfw.edu
CTSFW Announces Assignments and Calls
FORT WAYNE, April 26, 2024—Students at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTSFW), learned where they will be serving as vicars, deaconess interns, and pastors in two special services held April 23 and April 24 in Kramer Chapel. The Seminary announced a total of 86 assignments and placements in 26 of the 35 districts of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS).
On April 23, the evening before the call service, 42 second-year pastoral ministry students received vicarage assignments, and six deaconess students received internship assignments. While most of these assignments are to LCMS congregations, three students will serve in a Recognized Service Organization (RSO) of the LCMS, and one will serve a two-year assignment in Central America through the LCMS Office of International Mission.
Ezekiel Grabau, assigned as a vicar at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ankeny, Iowa, talks with the Rev. Robert Roethemeyer and RuthAnn Langness, who will serve as a deaconess intern at Perry Lutheran Homes in Perry, Iowa.
"Pastoral and diaconal formation is at the heart of who we are and what we do here at CTSFW," said the Rev. Dr. Todd Peperkorn, Director of Vicarage and Internship. "This formation happens because of the congregations around the country who partner with us in this wonderful work. Thank God for the people of the LCMS, and for these men and women who have offered themselves up for service in Christ’s Church."
The Rev. Karl Bollhagen, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hampton, Iowa, preached a sermon on Ephesians 3:14–21, focusing on the common advice to new church workers to "love your people." That, he said, can be a cross to bear.
"My prayer for you is that you lose sleep at night, that you have trouble sleeping, because it shows that God has turned your cold heart to learn to love," said Bollhagen. "I pray that you learn to carry that cross for the sake of Christ and His Church, because what a blessed thing it is to love, even though it is a cross. We are here because love was given to us, through our Lord Jesus Christ."
The Rev. Karl Bollhagen, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hampton, Iowa, preaches the sermon at the Vicarage and Deaconess Internship Assignment Service.
Later in the service, Peperkorn presented Bollhagen and his congregation with the Wyneken Vicarage Award. Named for the Rev. F. D. C. Wyneken, one of CTSFW’s founders, the award is given annually to pastors and congregations that have demonstrated exceptional service to the Church through their participation in the vicarage program. Bollhagen has supervised 20 vicars at Trinity and will soon be working with another, seminarian Jacob Stefanec of Ilion, New York.
Thirty-Eight Men Receive Calls
At the 2024 Call Service, 38 men received their first calls into pastoral ministry. Guests in attendance included the LCMS Council of Presidents (COP) and Synod President the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, who traveled to Fort Wayne after attending assignment and call services at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (CSL) the previous day.
The Rev. Dr. Lee Hagan, president of the LCMS Missouri District and chair of the COP, served as preacher for the service. He began his sermon with words from Isaiah 40: "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Hagan noted that students will leave the Seminary with many things, but the most important thing they will take with them is the word of God.
"Couches wear out, memories fade, but the word of our God stands forever," said Hagan. "And that is precisely why a congregation in a community you perhaps have never heard of before a few minutes from now has called you to be their pastor."
The Rev. Dr. Lee Hagan, president of the LCMS Missouri District, served as preacher at the 2024 Call Service.
The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Pulse, Director of Certification and Placement at CTSFW, briefly explained how students are matched with congregations before he announced the calls. "The placement process has its challenges every year, and this year is no exception," said Pulse. "It requires the work of the entire church, and it is with thanksgiving that I announce to you that every candidate from your seminary who has been prepared for the Office of the Holy Ministry will receive a call."
Pulse reported that the number of congregational calls exceeded the number of pastors available from the two LCMS seminaries, with 51 calls going unfilled. "Please give your prayers for those congregations not receiving a pastor at this time," said Pulse. "And pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more workers."
CTSFW President the Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr., participating in his last call service as president, offered the pastors-elect some encouragement after their calls were announced.
CTSFW President the Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr. reads the charge to the men who received calls to serve as undershepherds of Christ.
"Stay after your studies. Finish up the work. You will be in your places before you know it," Rast said. "The Lord has provided. He has kept his promise to you. He has supported you this far, and He will support you to the end."
Seminarians awaiting vicarage assignments walk from Wyneken Hall to Kramer Chapel just as the sun peeked out at the end of a rainy Tuesday and revealed a glorious rainbow.
Founded in 1846, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, forms servants of Jesus Christ in a vibrant, Christ-centered theological community that engages and resources the church and the world, domestically and internationally, with distinctively Lutheran teaching, practice, and worship. To learn more, visit ctsfw.edu.
