Seminary graduates head to assignments
Filed Under: assignment, call day, graduation, Ministerial Education, Seminary, WLS
Now that Call Day is over, graduates of the class of 2008 of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, are making the transition from student to full-time called worker. Forty-one of 42 graduates were assigned May 22 and one graduate deferred assignment for one year.
"It's hard for me not to be optimistic for the prospects of our synod when I see the caliber of our graduates," says Rev. Paul Wendland, seminary president. "When you see guys with these capabilities willing to give the ministry a shot, it's really inspiring."
Of the 41 graduates receiving calls, 22 were assigned outside the Upper Midwest—the traditional congregational base of WELS. "We really seemed to be blessed with a lot of assignments outside of our core area," says Wendland. "It really struck me—the parish is so varied. It's amazing to see the variety of assignments."
When graduates from previous classes who were assigned to new locations or reassigned to their present fields are counted, a total of 52 men received assignments on Call Day. The calls break down as follows:
- 10 to Ministerial Education
- 5 pastoral assistants to district presidents
- 3 to World Missions
- 10 to Home Missions
- 23 to traditional parish ministry
- 1 to Multi-Language Publications
Of the three calls to World Missions, one is for a new category of mission assignment called a graduate mission associate. For details, please see the following story. To see a list of all of the assignments visit: www.wls.wels.net/sections/students/assignments
