St. John's enters the SMP Program
Three members of St. John's have been accepted by Concordia Seminary (St. Louis, MO) for the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program toward ordination. Christ Bruskiewicz, Jeff Hesse, and Dave Kellerman were all accepted this fall.
The Specific Ministry Pastor Program is a new category of pastoral ministry established by the LCMS in 2007 designed to meet the need of pastors for mission and ministry in the Church where a pastor with a seminary degree might not be available. These men are identified by the ministry and mission opportunity (a congregation, mission plant, etc.) where they will serve in consultation with their district president.
After they have completed the prerequisite preparation for the program determined by their district, they will apply through their district office. The district president must nominate the men for this program. Once admitted they serve as “vicars” in the location where they will eventually serve as a Specific Ministry Pastor. They will take no less than two years of classes prior to ordination and then a minimum of another two years following ordination. They are supervised by local pastors and coursework is completed via the Internet.
Feel free to check out the information on the program at Concordia Seminary's SMP webpage. You may have some questions and there will be lots of time to answer those along the way. Praise the Lord for bringing the workers forward for the Kingdom of God.
