Four students in the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis celebrated the assignment of their first calls in chapel Friday, April 8. 

The students began the SMP program in spring 2014. They were on campus for their second Residential Seminar, on the Lutheran Confessions, the week of April 4-8.  

From left: Chad Kogutkiewicz, SMP Director Dr. Andrew Bartelt, Keith Hills, Andrew Gomez, Karl Glander, Provost Dr. Jeff Kloha and SMP Assistant Director Dr. Wallace Becker

SMP students receiving calls include:

Karl Glander – Amigos en Christo, Immokalee, Fla.

Andrew Gomez – Memorial Lutheran Chapel for the Deaf, Fremont, Calif.

Keith Hills – Faith Lutheran Church, Sweetwater, Texas

Chad Kogutkiewicz – Hales Corner Lutheran Church, Hales Corner, Wis.

A fifth member of this cohort, Brent Schian, is set to receive his call in the next year after completing his vicarage requirements.

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.

“We rejoice with these candidates, their families and especially the congregations they serve, which can now celebrate the reception of a called and ordained servant of the Word as their pastor,” said Dr. Andrew Bartelt, director of SMP program. “Though small in number, this group of students represents the breadth of ministry and mission served by this program, from a small congregation in West Texas to large staff ministry in Wisconsin, from deaf ministry in California to immigrant ministry in Florida.

“God continues to bless the church through the faithful formation and ongoing studies of the SMP program that make these ministries possible.”

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.