Where the Call Takes Us

This has been an exciting last couple of weeks for our Senior and Middler students.  Two weeks ago our senior students heard the Regions to which they will be assigned for their first call process.  Senior seminarians in the ELCA are first assigned to a region and then to a specific synod within that region.  Many of our students were assigned to Region 3 (North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota) and others to Region 5 (Iowa, Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Upper Penninsula Michigan), but others will be heading much further east, south and west.  The Holy Spirit has led our seniors through their regional assigments and, from there, to the specific synods within each region to which they are called.  We are all praying for them as they now enter the call process for the specific congregations to which they are called.
      This past Wednesday our Middlers (2nd year MDiv students) received their internship assignments for this upcoming year.  This week was an exciting and anxious time as they learned where they will be spending the next year of their lives.  The internship year occurs during the 3rd year of the Master of Divinity track and is a very formative part of the seminary experience.  Students are paired with supervisors who will guide them through hands on experiences of leading services, preaching, visiting the sick, and general experiences of full time parish ministry.  We are excited for the Middlers who will be moving on to internships next year and the blessings that God is leading them toward.
      All in all, this week has been a reaffirmation of the call process as a whole.  Though anxieties and stresses come with being led by God to new places and new ministries, we have no doubt that when we get their God will be there with us.  I for one, before coming to seminary, did not fully realize why I was coming to Wartburg, I simply knew that this is where God wanted me to be.  In coming here I think that most everyone has found that God is present in very real ways.  Likewise, as we are called away from Wartburg, God is there with us.
    So, congratulations to our Senior and Middler students! May God guide you down every road to which you are called.

-Seth