“I want to be a pastor like my Dad.” As a child, these were
the words I spoke to myself and to others when they asked me my future plans. It
was an ignorant response because I had a minimal idea of what it took to become
a pastor. I knew there was college and Seminary to complete and that’s about it.
My opinion might have changed had I known the type of
training a WELS pastoral candidate needed before stepping into that preaching
and teaching role full-time.
All I knew was I wanted to be like my Dad sharing
God’s Word week after week. Finally, when my eldest brother, Paul, enrolled
at Martin Luther College (MLC) I started to understand what that type of study
really looked like. I had known the time frame for becoming a pastor was long, but
what I didn’t know was how long it could be. Paul told me some of his friends
attended high schools which have an emphasis on ministry. WELS has two
preparatory high schools including Michigan Lutheran Seminary in Saginaw, MI
and Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, WI. Add this training to college
and Seminary and you have 12 years of ministry training under your belt. It is
certainly a long road to the pastoral ministry, if you start in high school.
Yet, those are extra valuable years of Christian education from which to
benefit.
Paul shared with me his class schedule which included the
basics – English, Math, Science, etc. What was really interesting were the
Greek and Hebrew classes he had scheduled, too. Not only his foreign language
study, but also the education that he would continue at Wisconsin Lutheran
Seminary after graduating from Martin Luther College interested me. There he
would study four different types of theology – Biblical, Historical, Systematic,
and Practical theology.
Maybe you’re a young man who’s aspiring to become a pastor
or you know a young man who has the gifts to become a pastor; however, the time
and intellectual dedication seem a little daunting. Be encouraged or encourage
the young man by returning to the fact that sharing the gospel full-time is a privilege.
Help them see the truth in your statement by encouraging them to go on mission
trips, to shadow a pastor for a few days, or to get involved in leading the youth
at church. Encourage them to try Martin Luther College for a year and see how
they like it.
I’ve heard people say to young men that they should consider
becoming a pastor because they have the gifts and there is a pressing need for
pastors these days. Jesus words to his disciples will always stand true, “The
harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” If you compare the numbers of
Seminary graduates from the Baby Boomer years to now, that number has decreased
by about 50%. That means there is an even greater need for pastors these days.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to
send out workers into his harvest field.” Let our plea before our Lord be the
same as that of the disciples, but let us not use the lack of pastors as a
guilt trip to lead young men into the ministry. Rather, know there is a need for
pastors and so encourage young men by showing them the great privilege it is to
be in the ministry.
- Summer Vicar, David Spaude
