International Mission welcomes new staff

Fritsche and Baumgartner

By Brianna Dehn

On June 18, Deaconess Clarion Fritsche and the Rev. James Baumgartner were installed during daily chapel at The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) International Center in St. Louis. Fritsche serves as manager of mobilization and training and Baumgartner as manager of pastoral missionary recruitment, both in the LCMS Office of International Mission. The Rev. Dr. Steven Hokana, assistant director of LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces, served as preacher and liturgist, and the Rev. Peter Lange, LCMS first vice-president, served as installer.

As manager of mobilization and training, Fritsche works with the children of missionaries from their parents’ pre-deployment through their return to and reestablishment in the United States. While the missionaries receive training, Fritsche takes their children through their own program to prepare them for living in another country, learning a new language and all that goes along with being a child of a missionary.

“I am excited to meet more missionaries and provide support and care for them, and I rejoice in the new relationships God has brought into my life,” Fritsche said. She lived in the Dominican Republic (DR) for nine years with her three children and husband, the Rev. Joel Fritsche, who was called to be a church planter and later asked to help start the Lutheran seminary in the DR. (Joel now serves at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.)

“I saw the good work being done by deaconesses in Latin America [at the seminary], and it was something I wanted to be a part of,” said Fritsche. She then enrolled in the online deaconess program at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, where she earned her deaconess certification. Fritsche earned her bachelor’s in education from Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, Wis.

In addition to serving in the DR, Fritsche has served in Lutheran schools in Texas, Illinois and Missouri.

In his role as manager of pastoral missionary recruitment, Baumgartner will work to recruit rostered church workers to serve overseas in one of the LCMS’ four international regions to spread the Gospel, show mercy and plant Lutheran churches.

Baumgartner earned his bachelor’s in finance from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo., and his Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He served in Shanghai, China, and the DR before taking a call back to the U.S. to a congregation in Chugiak, Alaska, where he also served as vice-president for the LCMS Northwest District.

Baumgartner is enthusiastic about his new role. “Walking my recruits … from the very beginning part of the process all the way through until their boots hit the ground in the field is going to be awesome,” he said.

During the chapel service, Hokana preached on Luke 20:27–40, blessing Fritsche and Baumgartner in their new calls. “Pastor Baumgartner [and] Deaconess Fritsche [are] commissioned this morning for the work of the Office of International Mission,” said Hokana. “You are a blessing to the church. You are a gift. We are thankful to God that you will embolden the mission of our church, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, to follow through on the Great Commission to teach and to baptize in the making of disciples.”

Fritsche noted several ways LCMS members can support the work of missionaries. In addition to financial support and prayers, “being informed is [another] great way to support missionaries so you can speak [to others] about what missionaries are doing around the world with the LCMS.”

Baumgartner agreed with the importance of being educated on what missionaries are doing to expand the kingdom of God overseas. “We need to get the word out,” he said, “[about] not just what [the] OIM can do in the future but [about] how successful it’s been in the past.”

Brianna Dehn is a staff writer for LCMS Communications.

Posted Aug. 8, 2025