THE START OF A NEW VOCATION (Part 2)
In the previous post I told you about Jim Hurst, who has been the Deacon at Calvary Lutheran Church in Parma, Ohio, for over twenty years, and how this September he took his first steps into a new vocation. He enrolled in the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. I said that "the SMP students are very involved in congregational ministry where they live and work. In the meantime, they are considered to be “Vicars” in their home congregation and are supervised either by their home pastor or (as in Jim’s case) by a neighboring pastor serving as their mentor."
In The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, "Vicar" is the official title for a pastoral ministry student who is not on the seminary campus, but is embedded in a congregation for boots-on-the-ground training. He's similar to a "student teacher" or even a "co-op," but in the case of the Specific Ministry Program this training takes place in the congregation he's already serving in some kind of ministry.
On Saturday, October 19, Jim Hurst and Calvary Lutheran Church will take the next step in their ministry together as he is installed officially as the Vicar of Calvary Lutheran Church. His Installation will be included at Calvary's regular 6 pm Saturday Communion worship service. As the Second Vice President of the SELC District, I will conduct the installation.
As I said in the previous post, Jim, his wife Jennifer, and I are looking forward to the blessings that we pray will come to Calvary and its people in this new ministry.
