By Brianna Dehn
On March 21, the Rev. Dr. Steven Hokana and Deaconess Raquel Rojas were recognized during daily chapel at The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) International Center in St. Louis. Hokana, assistant director for LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces, and Rojas, deaconess at Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church in The Bronx, N.Y., both serve as educators for Lutheran Visitation Education, a training program offered by LCMS Specialized Spiritual Care Ministry.
Specialized Spiritual Care workers care for those who serve in specialized settings such as hospitals, prisons, police/fire departments or senior living communities. Hokana and Rojas, as educators in Lutheran Visitation Education, have earned Specialized Care Ecclesiastical Endorsement — Rojas at the Standard tier, or level, and Hokana at the level of Fellow. Both received a pin and certificate for their achievement.
Lutheran Visitation Education is taught by LCMS Specialized Care leaders who are board-certified through the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC). The course has been recognized by the APC as a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)-equivalent course. It is open to all rostered LCMS church workers as well as students in the Master of Divinity or deaconess programs at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, or Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. Students who complete the course will earn one of four CPE units required for APC board certification and will be eligible for ecclesiastical endorsement by LCMS Specialized Spiritual Care Ministry.
“These deaconesses and pastors [in chaplaincy roles] will do anything from crisis intervention with firefighters to being present with a woman who just lost her baby,” said Hokana. “It’s a wonderful ministry. … [The chaplains] help the members of our church [body], and sometimes [those who are] not members of our church, to meet Jesus at the most difficult and painful times of their life.”
Lutheran Visitation Education furthers the education of church workers in specifically Lutheran theology and care. “One of the benefits of the … program is [that] … you [are eligible] to be endorsed [by the LCMS],” said Hokana. “That means our church body says that you are qualified and certified to become a chaplain in an industrial or institutional setting.”
“To be able to have this … in the midst of all the theological training you receive [as a rostered church worker] … is a unique opportunity,” Rojas said. “It puts it all together.”
Among LCMS Specialized Care chaplains, there are three endorsement tiers: Primary, which is for church workers who serve part-time in a specialized setting while serving full-time in another role; Standard, which is for rostered church workers who serve in a chaplaincy role full-time; and Fellow, which is reserved for select Specialized Care workers who have achieved standard endorsement requirements, have highly developed skills in spiritual care, and have multi-year leadership experience.
“I am deeply honored [to receive the title of Fellow] and the expectation [to serve] that goes with it,” said Hokana. “I have to thank Deaconess [Dr.] Tiffany Manor [managing director for the LCMS Office of National Mission] and also [the Rev. Dr.] Brian Heller [manager of Specialized Spiritual Care Ministry]. They are hard workers behind the scenes.”
Heller said, “Attaining LCMS Specialized Care Ecclesiastical Endorsement requires dedication, commitment and steadfast fidelity to Christ and His church.” He expressed gratitude for Hokana’s “unwavering leadership and commitment in Specialized Care” and for Rojas’ embodiment of “mercy to all in her vocation as deaconess.”
The Rev. Dr. Dien Ashley Taylor, president of the LCMS Atlantic District and pastor at Redeemer, The Bronx, where Rojas serves, said, “Both Deaconess Rojas and Chaplain Hokana are providing leadership for our new Lutheran Visitation Education program. … [They are] bearing faithful witness to the church and [to the] unchurched and giving spiritual care to the faithful in a variety of settings.”
Lutheran Visitation Education equips church workers to serve God in some of the most vital times in people’s lives, making an eternal impact. “[Specialized Care] has so much focus on how to care for God’s people. … We do it knowing the Holy Spirit is working through us,” said Rojas. “It’s the support of the Synod, the districts, [the] congregations and the Body of Christ all over saying, ‘You’re not alone in this.’”
Learn more about LCMS Specialized Spiritual Care Ministry at lcms.org/specialized-care.
Brianna Dehn (brianna.dehn@lcms.org) is a staff writer for LCMS Communications.
Posted May 16, 2025
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