The SMP Life

The Northwest District Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS).

On the 16th of Jul, I took a break from our vacation up at the lake to meet with President Mike Von Behren at Pilgrim Lutheran.

During our roughly two hours with Mike we learned about the nuances of the Specific Ministry Program and what is truly involved in a) getting in the program, b) the District support for the program and c) the schedule of how things can play out if I’m accepted into the program.

a) I’ve pretty much covered what is needed to be a candidate for the program in my prior posts. Nothing really new was conveyed to us other than from his point of view. It was nice to hear we had pretty much figured out the difficulties on our own and did what needed to be done.

b) The district had, at the last board of directors meeting, threw in full support to cover the tuition for each SMP (or like program) candidate from the Northwest District. However, this topic is on the agenda of the next Board meeting to be held the week of Jul 21st (I didn’t get the exact date). It is possible this commitment may change for me. We’ll just have to wait and see…

c) We discussed at great length when I can begin doing pastoral ministry tasks. Bottom line is since I am an elder I can now be tasked with many of the pastoral taskings with the exception of Word and Sacrament. By the letter of the “Law” I can only do those things with exception. For instance if I’m to preach a sermon it has to be one that has been written by another ordained LCMS pastor or been thoroughly reviewed by the same.

President Von Behren noted that during this four-year period, we will be more visible to LCMS and seminary leadership. Program supervisors and other representatives will be visiting our congregation regularly while we are involved in the program. We just need to be aware of this visibility and plan for it.

All in all, I left the conversation feeling more in control of the process and our part in it. Of course, soon, that control totally leaves our grasp and will be in the hands of others. All we can do at this point is to pray and be ready to answer any questions that may arise.

I’m choosing to just move forward as if it will fall into place. God is in control of this as he has proven time and again throughout this process. Amen and Amen!