27 CUW alumni receive vicarage assignments, first calls to serve as pastors

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I! Send me. Isaiah 6:8

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On April 28 and 29, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne celebrated Call Day 2020. This annual celebration was held online for the first time in its multi-decade history.

Second year seminary students receive their vicarage and internship assignments and fourth year students receive their first calls to serve as pastors and deaconesses in Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod congregations throughout the country.

We congratulate and celebrate with our most recent crop of Concordia University Wisconsin alumni who received their placements and calls this week. We pray the Lord’s blessings on their ministry work ahead.

Among those who learned of their pastoral calls are:

Tyler Arends, Trinity Lutheran Church, Guymon, Oklahoma

Kevin Bender, Saints Peter and Paul Lutheran Church, Houghton, Michigan

Jacob Buday, Saint Matthew Lutheran Church, Lexington, Michigan

James Dorner, Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church, Albany, New York

Joshua Gremminger, Saint Paul Lutheran Church, Westlake, Ohio

Colin Moon, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Same Reinhard, Saint Andrews Lutheran School, Park Ridge, Illinois

Brady Retzlaff, Living Hope Lutheran Church, Racine, Wisconsin

Nicholas Schram, Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, St. Louis, Missouri

Grant Sorenson, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Madison, Wisconsin

Michael Stein, Saint Paul Lutheran Church, Beecher, Illinois

Jeremy Steinke, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Elmhurst, Illinois

Austin Wellhousen, Saint Matthew Lutheran Church, Walled Lake, Michigan

Tyler Werner, Trinity Lutheran Church, Faribault, Minnesota

Adam Wolfe, Divine Redeemer Lutheran Church, Hartland, Wisconsin

A CUW alumna also learned of her deaconess placement:

Taylor Brown-Fickenscher, The Texas District Board of Mission Administration – Serving Cristo El Salvador Lutheran Mission, Del Rio, Texas

Those who received vicarage placements include:

Emmett Bartens, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Cedar Falls, Iowa

John Dolde, Zion Lutheran Church, Painesville, Ohio

Luke Elowsky, Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Olathe, Kansas

Eric Gradberg, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Norfolk, Nebraska

Silas Hasselbrook, First Trinity Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 

Nathaniel Konkel, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Moline, Illinois

Anthony Mandile IV, Philadelphia Lutheran Ministries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Austin Meier, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Columbus, Ohio

Benjamin Ramthun, Zion Lutheran Church, Bismarck, North Dakota

Alexander Smith, Saint Paul Lutheran Church, Saint Joseph, Missouri

Christopher Walters, Lutheran Life Villages, Fort Wayne, Indiana

See 2020 Call Day calls and placements from alumni of Concordia’s Ann Arbor campus.

Click here for a complete list of all Concordia Seminary, St. Louis assignments of calls and internships.

Click here for a complete list of all Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne assignments of calls and internships.

Revisit Call Day calls and placements from recent years:

Call Day 2019

Call Day 2018

We pray for all students considering church work vocations, and encourage those who would like to refer a prospective student to CUW’s pre-seminary program to connect with Director of Pre-Seminary Studies Rev. Ron Mudge. Learn more about CUW’s pre-seminary program.

— Rachel (Ferry) Thoms is a member of the strategic communications department at Concordia University. She may be reached at rachel.thoms@cuaa.edu or 734-476-7736.

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