The Perpetual Call for Pastors and Teachers
2025–2027 Mission Grant #4
The Perpetual Call for Pastors and Teachers
LCMS Office of Pastoral Education, U.S. $100,000
Set Apart to Serve (SAS) is a Synod-wide program focused on forming and recruiting full-time church workers. Supplying the church with workers is one of the highest priorities for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). SAS is striving to develop a culture where every LCMS congregation, school, and entity intentionally forms and recruits church workers among their youth and adults. They are focusing on youth, second-career, multi-cultural ministry, and international outreach. Moving forward they will continue testing and refining all focus areas, form new partnerships, and expand resources available to congregations, schools, and families. There are three areas of focus. First, there has been an increased interest in full-time church work at the LCMS Youth Gathering, YouthLead, and Higher Things events. Concordia universities and seminaries are reporting increases in enrollment in church work programs, for the first time in 15 years. Second, fostering an intentional culture of recruitment and developing tools to identify second-career candidates is vital to increasing enrollment in the seminaries. Finally, the SAS strategies on multi-cultural and international workers will help bring all to know Jesus Christ. This $100,000 grant will help the Set Apart to Serve program encourage more members to consider church work. It will provide insight, collaboration, and needed resources to spread the saving Gospel message to all people.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37–38).
