SAS summer update: On the road

The Rev. Dr. James Baneck, executive director of LCMS Pastoral Education, presents on church work recruitment during the National Youth Workers Conference in New Orleans in July. (Logan Sheffer)

By James Baneck

It has been a busy summer for Set Apart to Serve (SAS), The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) ongoing church work recruitment initiative.

SAS at Higher Things

Higher Things, a Recognized Service Organization of the LCMS, offers annual conferences for Lutheran youth. This year, SAS was represented at the conferences — held this summer in Wisconsin, Arkansas and Oregon — by a group of SAS Young Adult Representatives.

“Young people often find it easier to connect with their peers because, in addition to sharing a common faith, they share similar experiences, challenges and interest,” Glenn Rollins, SAS manager, said. “The young adults who took part in the Higher Things conferences this summer are passionate about sharing their own stories of church work formation while encouraging the Higher Things youth to consider full-time church work. We are so very thankful for their dedication and desire to share their experiences leading them toward church work.”

SAS thanks these amazing young people who were chosen to serve as Young Adult Representatives: James Pape (Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, Wis.), Brianna Pike and Hannah Weaver (Concordia University, Nebraska, Seward, Neb.), Jakob Nath and Robert Finch (Concordia University, St. Paul, St. Paul, Minn.) and Joshua Rueter (Concordia University Irvine, Irvine, Calif.). (Finch was unable to attend due to illness.)

“As a Young Adult Representative, I’ve received several phone calls after the conference, with students — and some adults — asking for advice and prayers towards seriously considering a church work vocation,” Nath said. “There are a lot of gray areas [when someone is considering this decision], and I think staying in contact and providing answers has allowed me to eliminate those and encourage dozens of people I connected with.”

SAS at the seminaries

Meanwhile, 75 youth attended Vocatio at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and 100 youth attended Christ Academy at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. The events encouraged high school students to explore God’s calling for their lives through experiencing many aspects of the seminary campuses, including worship and devotions, sessions with professors and speakers, and some fun activities. At Vocatio, I spent a wonderful hour talking to these very attentive young people about the eight LCMS full-time church work vocations.

The Rev. Matthew Wietfeldt, director of Christ Academy, said that this was the event’s highest attendance as well as its 25th anniversary.

“The focus for this year’s program,” Wietfeldt said, “continued to be confessional Lutheran catechesis, liturgical worship and fun time with their peers. We look forward to many years of forming the next generation of individuals discerning a future in professional church work and those who want to serve God and neighbor as faithful Lutherans.”

SAS in New Orleans, Nebraska and Missouri

In preparation for the LCMS Youth Gathering in New Orleans next summer, 424 youth leaders (DCEs, pastors, deaconesses, lay workers/volunteers and others) gathered in New Orleans this July for the National Youth Workers Conference, also known as NATIONAL24. I had several opportunities to connect with the participants, including 15 minutes to talk to all of them about SAS and their very important role as influential adults in forming, recruiting and encouraging the youth in their congregation to consider full-time church work. I also spoke with the 69 YouthLead youth about considering church work — what a wonderful group of young people — and led a breakout session about SAS. One adult participant said, “I was skeptical about SAS when it first came out, but now that I know what it is, I think it’s great. I’m all in!”

SAS staff also attended the LCMS Missouri District LWML convention, the PALS (Post-Seminary Applied Learning and Support) facilitators conference, and the LCMS Worship Institute. In addition, on Aug. 14, the SAS team held an All Nations Summit at the LCMS International Center in St. Louis. Attending were the Rev. Dr. S T Williams Jr. and the Rev. Gregory Manning of the Black Clergy Caucus (BCC), the Rev. Steve Law and DCE Intern Brian Ho of Chinese Lutherans in Mission Building (CLIMB), the Rev. Juan Zamora and Deaconess Perla Rodriguez of the Hispanic Missionary League, and the Rev. Stephen Heimer, manager of LCMS All Nations Ministry.

We gained important perspective on how together we can create a culture of church work formation and recruitment in every LCMS congregation, made up of God’s children from every tribe, language, people and nation (Rev. 5:9–10). I look forward to collaborating with the leaders of these significant SAS partners as we raise up the next generation of church workers.

Posted Sept. 10, 2024/Updated Sept. 19, 2024