August ‘Witness’: Church workers needed

“Pastor, I have a question.”

Most pastors can honestly say, “If I had a nickel for every time I have heard that phrase, I’d be a wealthy man.” Pastors and other church workers regularly field questions on a variety of topics. Church members might ask where to send their children to school or where to find good books for their children to read. They might wonder how to know they’re saved, or they might seek guidance on how to speak to their adult children about the faith.

In the August issue of The Lutheran Witness, LCMS church workers answer the questions they’re most commonly asked. The Synod, through its schools, prepares workers not only to answer these questions, but to do so by pointing God’s people to Christ and Him crucified. They may not have the answer to every question — there are some questions we are not meant to investigate — but these workers will always point to the One who died that you might have life.

This is why the LCMS must continue preparing church workers: to continue providing answers for God’s people. The Synod has rigorous programs for training pastors, deaconesses, teachers, musicians, directors of Christian outreach, directors of Christian education and more. Recently, it began an initiative to encourage more young Christians to enter church work vocations. In the August issue of LW, the Rev. Dr. James Baneck, executive director of the LCMS Office of Pastoral Education, explains why and how the Church Worker Recruitment Initiative will be vital to the work of the LCMS.

Get your copy of the August LW at cph.org/witness or visit The Lutheran Witness website, witness.lcms.org, to learn more.

Posted Aug. 18, 2021