Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, is pleased to announce that four students received calls to be pastors, and 18 students received vicarage (internship) assignments during the Seminary’s morning chapel service on Oct. 28. An additional two students eligible for vicarage have their assignments pending at this time.

Calls into the Pastoral Ministry

Master of Divinity Degree Program
Ben Haupt, St. Paul Lutheran Church (Associate), Boca Raton, Florida
Bradley Kelly, Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church (Associate), Stevensville, Michigan

Hispanic Institute of Theology Program
Juan Herrera, Centro Cristiano Fuente de Vida, San Jacinto, California
Marco Lozano, Centro Cristiano Redwood, Oxnard, California

Vicarage Assignments

Master of Divinity Degree Program
David Bass, St. John Lutheran Church, Union, Illinois
David Smith, Faith Lutheran Church, Vista, California

Certificate (Alternate Route) Program
Timothy Francisco (Assignment Pending)
Michael Seidenstricker (Assignment Pending)

DELTO Program
William Baker, Mission Council, Brawley, California
Dwight Dickinson, Great Commission Lutheran Church, St. Louis, Missouri
Dana Hallenbeck, Zion Lutheran Church, Manchester, Connecticut
Eugene Krueger, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, West Des Moines, Iowa
Ralph Lanphar, Trinity Lutheran Church, Springfield, Massachusetts
William Mattfeld, Immanuel and Trinity Lutheran Churches, Schuyler, Nebraska
Jimmy Riley, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Painesville, Ohio
Edward Rosser, Solid Rock Lutheran Church, Trussville, Alabama
Andrew Safarik, Bingham Lutheran Church, Bingham, Nebraska
Steve Schneider, Grace Celebration Lutheran Church, Cordova, Tennessee
Garry Seefeldt, Grace Lutheran Church, Hamburg, New York
Elmer Smith, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sterling, Nebraska
William Snyder, Grace Lutheran Church, Pensacola, Florida
Willie Stallworth, Great Commission Lutheran Church, St. Louis, Missouri
William Vogt, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Pineville, Louisiana
Kenneth Welsh, St. Mark Lutheran Church, Chesterland, Ohio

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 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 in some capacity. The Hispanic Institute of Theology, which is based in Oak Brook, Ill., provides a linguistically and culturally contextual route to certification for ordination of qualified men in Hispanic contexts.

These graduates join more than 12,000 graduates from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, who have been prepared to serve as pastors, missionaries and chaplains in the LCMS. The Seminary’s spring placement is scheduled for Tuesday, April 25, 2006. On this day, approximately 156 men will receive vicarage assignments and 107 will receive calls into the pastoral ministry during worship services at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., respectively.

For more information, contact Communications, Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place, St. Louis, MO 63105; 314-505-7374; [email protected].