Church Worker Recruitment

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) is currently facing a critical shortage of new church workers. This means that fewer and fewer people are pursuing careers as pastors, Lutheran school teachers, Directors of Christian Ed (DCEs), Directors of Parish Music and other critical areas of professional church work. As Jesus observes in Matthew 9:37, “… The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…,” there persists a need for people to discern and answer the call to serve in our Lutheran churches and schools. In the Mid-South District, this important issue is being addressed head on through the Set Apart to Serve Task Force—a group focused on the recruitment of new church workers.

Comprised of professional church workers from across the Mid-South District, this dedicated team is taking resources provided by an LCMS national initiative and employing them to reach people in our local Lutheran community—especially those who the Lord may be calling to a life of service in ministry. The national initiative is called Set Apart to Serve and features numerous tools to help spread the word about the fulfilling opportunities that exist in professional church work.

District Task Force Members (L to R): Rev. Dr. Roger Paavola, Mid-South District President; Rev. Sawyer Meyer, Pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran in Olive Branch, MS; Rev. Don Welmer, Pastor of First Lutheran in Chattanooga, TN; Michelle Fischer, Principal at Immanuel Lutheran School in Memphis, TN; Samuel Fishburn, Principal at First Lutheran in Fort Smith, AR; Dr. Jonathan Rudy (on screen), Music Director at Grace Lutheran in Clarksville; Shirley Piepenbrink, District Board of Directors Liaison; Rev. Andrew Abraham, Pastor of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran in Crossville, TN; Rev. David Appold – Task Force Chairperson, Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran in Paducah, KY.