The SMP Life

Today was my first meeting with the seminary admissions office. It went very well and I was encouraged by our conversation. The three pastors attended as well as myself and we had many of our questions answered by Joel.

After brief introductions by both Joel and myself we discussed various things concerning the SMP program. Finances – testing – admissions dates and when we should know if I’m accepted were among the topics.

$50,000 is the estimated total cost of this program, to be shared by district, congregation and student if necessary. Joel also indicated that there are scholarships we can apply for beyond what’s available at district.

Once the application is submitted to Concordia Seminary St. Louis – I will have to complete three admissions tests by 31 Oct. They are Lutheran Doctrine, The Old Testament and the New Testament. I will have three opportunities to pass each one with a 70% score. (yes, I’ve have the study material and am going through it now.)

So if all goes well, we should know my status by mid Nov 2025 for the Spring cohort 2026 (which begins 23 Feb 2026). If accepted I will probably be installed Jan/Feb 2026 as a victor. (this date can slip depending on when the proper people are available.

One caveat we learned during this discussion is that there are only 12 openings for the spring cohort and 24 for the fall – yes – this is nationwide. Pretty limited opportunity considering the shortage of pastors the LCMS is facing.

I’ve thrown the term cohort around a couple times and you’ll see it used throughout my writing on this topic. So let’s take a moment and define that term for this setting:

Cohort: is a group of a people that begin an education experience together and navigate the schedule of courses together throughout the program. Generally in the cohort model of education all students take only one class at a time.

NOTE: Rarely is someone allowed to join a cohort once it has started – on the other hand a person can drop out of a cohort and restart the program.

I had the opportunity to experience this model of higher education when I obtained my bachelors degree from Whitworth University. I made some life long friends while in that program and truly enjoyed the experience of focusing on a one topic at a time!