Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, is pleased to announce that 10 students received calls to be pastors and missionaries in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. In addition, two deaconess students received calls. The assignments were given during the Seminary’s morning chapel service on July 3. Calls are also in process for four pastoral candidates and one deaconess candidate.

Calls into the Pastoral Ministry

Master of Divinity Degree Program

• Nicholas Buchholz – Call pending to Our Savior, Mayfield Heights, Ohio
• Steven DeSanto – Shepherd of the Pines, Payson, Ariz.
• Benjamin Francisco – Mt. Calvary, Brady, Texas
• Darin Keener – Call pending to Lutheran High School North, St. Louis, Mo.
• Matthew Kohl – Martini, New Haven, Ind.
• Joshua Lowe – Trinity, Blue Hill, Neb.
• Edward Maanum – Bethany, Pueblo, Colo.
• Joshua Moldenhauer – Grace, Oberlin, Ohio
• David Morfitt – Call pending to Perry Lutheran Home (chaplain), Perry, Iowa
• Arthur Rickman – Immanuel, Grand Mound, Iowa
• Scott Roberts – Living Faith (Mission), Marine City, Mich.
• Jonathan Stites – Immanuel, Altenburg, Mo.
• Jeffrey Wilson – Pilgrim, Ontario, Ore.
• Travis Yee – Call pending to St. Peter, Pine Island, N.Y.

Calls into the Deaconess Ministry

Master of Arts in Deaconess Studies Degree

• Luz Guerrero – Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn.
• Ashley Hesson – Call pending to Lutheran Home and Senior Services, Arlington Heights, Ill.
• Sarah Sacco – Rock of Ages, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Placement Pending

M.Div. Candidates

• Mark Madson
• Scott Niermann
• Sergey Vasilyev

Alternate Route Candidate

• Arthur Eichhorn

DELTO Candidates

• Doug Francik, placement pending (Pacific Southwest District)
• Jason Scheler, placement pending (Michigan District)

Deaconess Candidates

• Elizabeth Ahlman – placement pending (Texas District)
• Rachel Lindgren – awaiting assignment in St. Louis, Mo.

The master of divinity degree (M.Div.) program is the academic degree program in which most students who desire to be pastors, missionaries or chaplains in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) enroll. It is a four-year program, including a one-year vicarage (internship). The certificate (alternate route) program closely parallels the M.Div. program. Although certificate students do not receive a degree, they study alongside those in the M.Div. program, including the study of the New Testament in Greek.

The deaconess studies program is designed for Christian women who seek to further their knowledge of theology and its ministry and diaconal applications so they can serve in a congregation or institution of the LCMS as a deaconess. It is a three-year program, including a one-year internship.

The Distance Education Leading to Ordination (DELTO) program allows students to gain the experience of a vicarage along with their academic work, rather than as an intensive one-year internship. During their formation, the students are engaged in Word and Sacrament ministry as vicars under the supervision of an ordained pastor.  DELTO is being superseded by the Specific Ministry Pastor program adopted by the Synod in Convention in July of 2007.

These students join more than 12,000 graduates from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, who have been prepared to serve as pastors, missionaries, chaplains and deaconesses in the LCMS. The Seminary’s fall placement is scheduled for Friday, October 24, 2008.

For more information, contact Communications, Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place, St. Louis, MO 63105; 314-505-7374; communications@csl.edu.