Eight students in the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis celebrated their first call assignments in chapel today.

The students, who began the SMP program in spring 2015, were on campus this week for their spring residential seminar.

SMP students receiving calls include:
Anthony Arias, Grace Lutheran Church, Arcadia, Fla.
Charles Bahn, Trinity Lutheran Church, Bloomington, Ill.
Matthias Benfey, The Church of St. Mark-Lutheran, Mississauga, Ontario
William Hale, St. John Lutheran Church, Granite City, Ill.
Patrick Hauser, Christ Lutheran Church, Brea, Calif.
Jonathan Wayne Kerr (in absentia), West Portal Lutheran Church, San Francisco, Calif.
Derrick Miliner, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Laurel, Md.
Benjamin Vineyard, Trinity Lutheran Church, Mission, Kan.

“We rejoice with these candidates, their families and the specific ministries in which they serve across the country!” said Dr. W. Mart Thompson, director of the SMP program. “We celebrate their participation in Concordia Seminary’s Specific Ministry Pastor program as they prepare to be ordained into the Holy Ministry.”

The SMP program of Concordia Seminary is a four-year program in which men receive theological education in the setting in which they will continue to serve — as pastors of congregations or in other ministries of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod — following certification, call and ordination. Local pastor-mentors work with SMP students to provide day-to-day guidance, encouragement and prayer.

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.