I am not a pastor. I am not a seminary graduate. I am a wife....and this truly breaks my heart. Ten years ago, while our small rural church was in vacancy, my husband was called to be a lay deacon. I remember the day well. I entered his office and I noticed that something was terribly wrong... he was sitting there crying. It was then that he told me how he had been fighting God's call for him to be a lay deacon for a long time...he compared his journey to the story of Jonah. The tears that were flowing from his eyes were tears of joy, relief and fear of the unknown at the time. It was then that he began the lay ministry program in our district and it has been a wonderful blessing to him, our church and our community as he has helped spread the Gospel in so many different ways, using the teachings and practices that he learned through the lay ministry program. It will be heart wrenching for him and our church if the synod chooses to not support the lay deacons of the LCMS.