Six students in the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Program at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis were recognized as having received their first calls in the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus Friday, June 29. Eleven students who will complete the program this summer also were recognized.

All 17 students were on campus Jun 25-29 for their summer residential intensive courses.

SMP students receiving first calls include:

Kenton Abbott, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Ellinwood, Kan., LCMS Kansas District
Corey Brooks, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Ridgeway, N.C., LCMS Southeastern District
John Elliott, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Oviedo, Fla., LCMS SELC District
Henry “Frank” Hart, Oikos Lutheran Church, Houston, Texas, LCMS Texas District
Lawton Thompson, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Oviedo, Fla., LCMS SELC District
Mark Wiegert, St. Paul’s/Trinity/Our Savior Lutheran churches, Lewistown/Stanford/Denton, Mont., LCMS Montana District

Concluding SMP students recognized for places of service include:

Anthony Celia, Water’s Edge Lutheran Church, Frisco, Texas, LCMS Texas District
Nicholas Cordt, Risen Savior Lutheran Church, Wichita, Kan., LCMS Kansas District
Charles Fenton, Eastern Heights Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn., LCMS Minnesota South District
Karl Glander, Amigos en Christo, Immokalee, Fla., LCMS Florida-Georgia District
Andrew Gomez, Memorial Lutheran Chapel of the Deaf, Fremont, Calif., LCMS California-Nevada-Hawaii District
Matthew Hauser, Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Saginaw, Mich., LCMS Michigan District
Keith Hills, Faith Lutheran Church, Sweetwater, Texas, LCMS Texas District
Jarrett Jones, St. John Lutheran Church, Mansfield, Texas, LCMS Texas District
Chad Kogutkiewicz, Hales Corners Lutheran Church, Hales Corners, Wis., LCMS English District
Curtiss Lanham, CrossPoint Lutheran Church, Katy, Texas, LCMS Texas District
Michael Phillips, Grace Lutheran Fellowship, Romeo, Mich., LCMS Michigan District

“We rejoice with these pastors who are completing the four-year Concordia Seminary SMP Program,” said SMP Director Dr. W. Mart Thompson. “We join in celebration with their families and the specific ministries in which they serve across the country!”

The SMP Program of Concordia Seminary is a four-year distance-education program in which men receive academic training in the setting in which they will continue to serve following ordination. The program is designed to meet the needs of the church for pastors in mission and ministry opportunities where a pastor with a seminary degree may not be available. Local pastor-mentors work with SMP students to provide day-to-day guidance, encouragement and prayer.

To learn more about the Seminary’s SMP Program, visit www.csl.edu/smp.

The Seminary recognizes and celebrates calls throughout the year for students enrolled in programs such as the SMP Program. SMP students typically receive their vicarage assignments during the Opening Service in the fall and also in February. The Seminary’s annual spring Call Day is when the majority of students receive their first calls to ministry and assignments to vicarages and deaconess internships. Next year’s Call Day is set for May 1, 2019.

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.