Our Blog

By: Pastor Berg

In our synod, we believe that the office of the pastoral ministry was one that was put in place by Jesus himself. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11, “It was he (Jesus) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.” Jesus gave his Church pastors to help shepherd them, to guide them through the gospel in Word and sacrament toward their heavenly home. Not just anyone can be a pastor. First, they have to have the qualifications that God sets down in his Word. We see those clearly in 1 Timothy 3. Second, they have to be called. Pastor Schlicht is currently holding a call to Minnesota. Hopefully, this article will   answer some of your questions about how this process works.

I didn’t just show up one day and say, “I’m going to be your pastor.” The congregation called me. How did they call me? They used a process modeled after the apostles themselves. When the apostles needed to replace Judas, they proposed two men who met certain qualifications. Then, they prayed that the Holy Spirit would show them which man he had chosen. Then they drew lots. The lot fell to Matthias. Today, we don’t draw lots to see who the pastor will be, but we do call on the Holy Spirit to guide the process. Here’s how the process works.

When a pastor is called by a congregation or assigned to a congregation out of the seminary, he has a Divine Call. It comes from God through the               congregation. When a congregation needs a new or different pastor, they  issue a Divine Call to that new person. So how do they know which person to choose? The WELS is divided into twelve districts. At Eastside, we are part of the Western Wisconsin District. When congregation needs a pastor, they reach out to their District President. He will meet with the congregation to see what particular gifts they are looking for in their new pastor. What are the needs of the congregation? What are the strengths and weaknesses? After compiling that information, the District President will use the synod’s          database of pastors to find qualified individuals to be on the call list. That list, containing anywhere from 3-5 pastors, will be presented to the congregation

The list contains only the most basic of information. So how does the congregation know which one to call? They pray. They ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in making a decision. And then they vote. The vote for men they don’t know and don’t know much about. They trust that they are qualified for the position and that the Holy Spirit is guiding their choice.

When they issue that call, the call will be a surprise to the man who receives it. They won’t go through an interview process. The man won’t have asked to come to that congregation. All that being said, his name will be on the list and the Holy Spirit will have led the congregation to call him.

That man will then be holding two calls: one to a new congregation, one to his current congregation. Over a few weeks, he will be prayerfully consider where he can use his gifts to serve God’s kingdom. He also seeks the prayers of his current congregation and his calling congregation. He finds comfort in the truth that both calls that he holds come from God and no matter what decision he is led to, it will be a God-pleasing one.

I know that this can be a very stressful time, both for our called workers and for the congregation. The volume of calls is staggering and can lead to fatigue. So what can we do? Continue to pray for our Synod. Continue to ask the Lord to send out workers into his harvest field. Encourage young men and women in our congregation to consider the public ministry. And in all things, know that God is working all things for the good of his Church. May God continue to bless us in this process.