The Meyer Minute for April 28, 2020

“All the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Today is a great day when we see God fulfilling a promise for us in Jesus Christ. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).

It’s Call Day, when concluding students learn where the Church is sending them to begin pastoral and diaconal ministries. Second-year students learn where they’ll be going for their year of vicarage/internship. Here are the numbers for Call Day: Concordia Seminary, St. Louis has 63 pastoral candidates and one deaconess candidate. Six have calls or placements pending, meaning that either paper work has yet to be completed or a congregation has yet to make an official decision to call. We have 48 vicarage candidates and one deaconess intern. Our sister seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., has 40 pastoral candidates and 35 vicarage candidates.

Those numbers are not enough for the growing number of vacancies throughout the Church. “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest.” And as you pray, promote. Encourage young people to consider church work. Today is my 16^th and last Call Day as president. Looking back I can’t think of a more wonderful career for a young person to choose than ministry. Recruitment raises an equally important question. Where will future graduates go? Even as we recruit, we need to pray and work and contribute now so that your congregation and my congregation flourish in the future, especially when we come out of the present crisis and move into the new normal. Flourishing in life and mission!

Please join us for our virtual Call Day service at 7 p.m. (CDT), April 28, at csl.edu/callday, on our YouTube channel and on Concordia Seminary’s Facebook page.

“All the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20). It’s a great time to be the Church!