how an SMP vicar assigned to LCEF in ANYWAY fits the criterion by which the program was "sold" to the Synod??? Waiting to hear the answer...
Jay De Beir, Lutheran Church Extension Fund, St. Louis, Mo., Missouri
http://www.csl.edu/2010/09/concordia-seminary-announces-new-smp-cohort-vicarage-assignments/
I was going to ask why St. John’s, West Bend, WI, needs 3 SMP vicars. I thought there were already multiple LCMS parishes in West Bend that were being served by pastors.
ReplyDeleteJust wonderin'
Bankers need a chaplain!
ReplyDeleteThere were indeed a number of oddities on the list. There may be some totally rational explanation for it, but right now I'm coming up empty trying to come up with one. Any help from those in the know would be honestly appreciated. How does one vicar at a bank, even though it is a church run bank?
ReplyDeleteLet's see SMP was for specialized pastoral ministry most specifically for ministry in particular cultural settings and/or language settings. that was the major feature I received from the two academic deans of our seminaries. I will allow they both also said more! However, I can see no specialized ministry relating to LCEF!! But wait--was the listing from St. Louis the site of contemporary worship in chapel?? Perhaps that will explain everything.
ReplyDeleteNow add to this discussion: "The Specific Ministry Pastor Program (SMP) is a category of pastoral ministry established by the LCMS in 2007. It is 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." Does make one wonder????
ReplyDelete"How does one vicar at a bank, even though it is a church run bank?"
ReplyDelete/humor mode on
Perhaps you should check with Tetzel...
/humor mode off
Have you addressed your question to anyone outside of this blog post? If not, I would suggest contacting Prof Wollenburg at CSL (director of SMP), someone at LCEF, or even Jay DeBeir himself. Jay is on facebook (www.facebook.com/jdebeir), so you could send him a message directly.
ReplyDeleteThere is more info on Mr. DeBeir at the LCEF website:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lcef.org/about_us/executive_management/jay_de_beir.cfm
Fr. Gregory,
ReplyDeleteAlmost exactly what Dr. Maxwell said this a.m. I said: "Yes, but at least Tetzel got a beautiful building out of it."
Dear Birkholz,
Of course I checked with others. Here's what I heard back:
from the SMP director at the sem:
"The following paragraphs from our StL website reflect the wording of Resolution 5-01b of the 2007 Synodical Convention. Students in the SMP program are men whose minstry context has identified as meeting the needs of that context. They are then nominated to the Seminary by their District President. The whole process requires letters of recommendation, a district interview, and passing of Entry Level Competency examinations, etc.
Residentially men come to the Seminary in order to be prepared to be presented to the church for ordination. In the SMP program men are identified by the church and presented to the seminary for pastoral formation. Their vicarage "assignment" is a recognition of the context in which they will train.
The Seminary is responding to the needs of the church as we seek to build up those who serve our Lord for the good of His people.
The Specific Ministry Pastor Program (SMP) 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."
Also heard from Karen Drier of LCEF, who wrote back that it is an institutional chaplaincy which the vicar will be doing. I must admit that LCEF is not the sort of institution I'm used to thinking of as having such. I'm still scratching my head a bit...
You sure received a lot of answer which did not answer the question at least not to my thinking.
ReplyDeleteRoger
Pr Weedon-
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the responses.
I assumed that you would be asking the appropriate folks, but your initial post was unclear to me.
It looks like the SMP director sent a "form letter" type response.
I think I remember reading something in the Lutheran Witness a few years back about "Institutional Chaplains" in the workplace, but wasn't aware that these were called and ordained positions.