Capping years of preparation and a day of excitement, 119 Concordia Seminary, St. Louis students took part in Call Day today, learning their placement of first calls to pastoral and diaconal ministry, and assignments as vicars and deaconess internships.

Fifty-six students received their first calls to serve as pastors, chaplains and missionaries for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) at a 7 p.m. (CDT) worship service held in the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. Five deaconesses also received calls. Five pastoral students and four deaconess students have calls pending.

Forty-eight students who will serve as vicars and one deaconess intern received their assignments at a 3 p.m. (CDT) worship service also at the Seminary.

“It is a great time to be entering the ministry of our Lord Jesus,” Seminary President Dr. Dale A. Meyer told the students. “It’s because it’s a ministry of the Lord Jesus. He is alive. He is raising your generation up as ours recedes. Don’t let that go to your head. Let it sink deep down into your heart.”

A complete list of assignments and placements, including an interactive map, can be found at callday.csl.edu or with the links below.

• Assignment of calls in alphabetical order here
• Assignment of calls by district here
• Vicarage and deaconess internship assignments in alphabetical order here
• Vicarage and deaconess internship assignments by district here

As a special gift this year in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the concluding students received red Reformation500 stoles as a special gift from Wayne and Barbara Kroemer of Advent Lutheran Church in Zionsville, Ind. The stoles are adorned with the Luther seal and with the dates “1517” and “2017” in gold thread.

While many LCMS congregations will receive new pastors as a result of Call Day at Concordia Seminary and its sister seminary, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., many others will go without pastors because of a shortage of students to fill the positions. Prayers for those congregations are encouraged as are prayers that more students would consider church work vocations. If you know a prospective student, please contact the Admissions Office at 800-822-9545 or admissions@csl.edu.

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me’” (Isaiah 6:8 ESV).

About Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit www.csl.edu.