On April 11, more than 100 students at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, will receive calls to serve as pastors in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). In addition, more than 80 students will receive assignments to serve as vicars, a one-year internship that students preparing to serve in the pastoral ministry must complete.

"‘Call day' at Concordia Seminary is, in many respects, the most exciting time of the year," commented Dr. John F. Johnson, president of Concordia Seminary. "On this day we witness the fulfillment of long years of education and formation in the lives of our students; but also, years of teaching and work on behalf of our excellent faculty. We are confident that those who have received vicarage assignments and calls into the public ministry of the church have been well prepared for the tasks of proclaiming the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and administering His life-giving and life-strengthening sacraments."

The "Office of Vespers and Assignment of Vicarages" will be at 4:00 p.m. in the Seminary's Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. Rev. Robert P. Hoehner, administrative assistant for youth and family in the South Wisconsin District of The Lutheran Church-- Missouri Synod, will serve as preacher. Rev. Hoehner's son, Matthew, will receive a vicarage assignment during the service. Another son, Mark, is in the Seminary's master of divinity degree program and will pursue graduate study at Concordia Seminary. Officiants for the service will include Dr. John F. Johnson and Dr. Glenn A. Nielsen, director of the Seminary's vicarage program.

Students will receive calls to serve as pastors at a 7:00 p.m. "Service of Praise and Assignment of Calls," also held in The Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. Dr. L. Dean Hempelmann, director of pastoral education of the LCMS Board for Higher Education, will serve as preacher. Officiants for the service will include Dr. John F. Johnson; Dr. David J. Peter, placement counselor at Concordia Seminary; and Prof. Larry Rockemann, the Seminary's director of placement.

"We invite and encourage the public to join us on this exciting day," commented Rev. Glen D. Thomas, Concordia's vice president for seminary relations. "It is a very special day in the life of our church as we give thanks to God for His gifts of these vicars and pastors to His church."

For more information on the April 11 services, contact the Seminary's Communications Department at 314-505-7375 or by e-mail (engfehrl@csl.edu).