Concordia Seminary, St. Louis invites the public to share in the excitement of Call Day Wednesday, April 26, during two services in the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus on campus, 801 Seminary Place, Clayton, Mo.

“Call Day is always a joy, but especially this 500th anniversary year of the Reformation,” said Seminary President Dr. Dale A. Meyer. “’Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone,’ first heralded by Dr. Luther, continues forward for generations to come. I pray that circuits will make ongoing efforts to welcome new pastors and deaconesses. After all their years of school, it can be scary to actually have the responsibilities of ministry day-by-day. And, saddened that many congregations are not receiving pastors because there just aren’t enough students, I pray we’ll all encourage more young people to church careers. What we see today is purely the grace of God in Jesus, moving the church forward into His glorious future!”

Concluding students will receive their pastoral and diaconal calls, and second-year students will receive their vicarage or internship assignments.

Students who will serve a year as vicars or deaconess interns will receive their assignments at a worship service starting at 3 p.m. (CDT). Rev. Barrie Henke, president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) Oklahoma District, will preach.

Candidates for the pastoral ministry will receive their first calls to serve as pastors, deaconesses, chaplains and missionaries of the LCMS at 7 p.m. (CDT). Dr. David Maier, president of the LCMS Michigan District, will preach.

“Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few — to pray the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into His harvest field,” said Seminary Director of Placement Dr. Wallace Becker. “As we rejoice with the pastoral and deaconess candidates and the congregations they will serve, praying that God would richly bless them, we also pray for the congregations that are still vacant and seeking a shepherd or deaconess to serve with them. Pray to the Lord of the harvest, for many more workers are needed.”

Concordia Seminary will provide a free live stream of Call Day services at callday.csl.edu/. The Seminary’s Help Desk will be staffed to handle support calls at 866-333-2064 and 314-505-7231. A test stream will be available before the event so viewers may test their computers in advance.

Calls and assignments will be shared on Twitter in real time during both services. Join in the excitement by sharing Call Day watch party photos and student congratulations using the hashtags #CallDay2017 and #CallDayWatchParty.

You also can send Call Day snaps to concordiasemSTL to be added to the Seminary’s Snapchat story.

For information about hosting a Seminary Celebration as part of a congregation Call Day watch party, visit www.csl.edu/semcelebration/.

For more information about Call Day, visit the Call Day 2017 website at callday.csl.edu/.

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.