Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Call Day II

Thanks to Nathan (in the comments on the previous post) for noting that CSL has already released a statement that says that all 93 certified men at CSL will receive calls this evening.

Thus, of the class of 2011, 5% did not receive calls by Call Day. So my first prediction was right on. (Though I did also include part-time calls in my numbers. If any readers have inside information on how many calls at either seminary turn out to be part-time calls, that would help us get a fuller picture of the situation.)

Alas, when I predicted that the burden would be shared between the two seminaries, I was mistaken. Last year was worse than this year only by the force of the numbers - the imbalance between the two seminaries actually grew worse.

Why? I looked at calls to various districts over the past few years, and the problem does not seem to be with certain districts black balling CTS grads. I found only one district which could not be exonerated of that charge based on the numbers from 2008-2011. As I mentioned earlier, I think the imbalance is largely due to the discrepancy between the two seminaries when it come to the sort of calls they seem to specialize in: CTS in first calls as sole pastor to small parish(es) and CTS in first calls to larger parishes as assistant/associate pastor. At CTS this year, about 16% of the placements were as assistant/associate pastors. Last year at CSL, they placed 43% of their men in assistant/associate positions, and another 12.5% were placed as missionaries, chaplains, worker priests, or part-time positions. The downturn in LCMS membership is hitting small, rural parishes hardest (as well as small urban parishes). This is leading to greater shortages in the sort of calls CTS specializes in. Another interesting thing to look at tonight will be calls to dual parishes - at CTS those make up 13% of the calls. The number will usually be much, much smaller at CSL.

+HRC

10 comments:

  1. I am sorry that I have to write this, but what does this say about our "life together"? I understand this is somewhat about looking for the best fit for a candidate, but one wonders how many congregations asked that their candidate not come from Fort Wayne? A comparison to see those numbers over the last three years would be nice, though probably impossible.

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  2. Yes, indeed. And even if we could find out how many congregations placed requests for "CSL only" calls - we would be left to wonder why a given congregation did. Did a DP whisper? Did the congregation have a bad experience in the past? Or did somebody's third cousin in Kansas once hear that so-and-so once had a problem with a Fort Wayne guy? Or. . .

    The number that would better answer your "life together" question would be how many of the calls said "any seminarian from either place" and how those calls were split between the two seminaries.

    +HRC

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  3. All of your questions in the first paragraph are probably true. The only thing that will fix those problems is time. Kyrie eleison.

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  4. An aside was made from a reliable source that a large number of requests were made for 'candidates comfortable in non-traditional liturgical setting (contemporary worship)'. This would preclude most CTS-FW candidates.

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  5. Well, apparently a third of congregations putting in calls are requesting seminarians familiar with contemporary worship. I hate to think this of my alma mater, but I'm guessing St. Louis is where you're going to find more guys fitting that bill.

    And of course, the fact that so many congregations are requesting future pastors trained in, well, to put it politely, mostly non-Lutheran forms of worship goes a long way to further complicating our "life together" situation.

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  6. Apparently jmelms & I think along the same lines. :)

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  7. Yes, the issue of "being capable of leading contemporary worship" has come up before - even at COP meetings.

    I hereby volunteer to teach distance learning classes for CTS on contemporary worship and how to conduct. It may be time for CTS to be wise as serpents and meek as doves in this regard. Have a class. Add a line to certification about how they are all certified to lead contemporary worship. And include in the class a few pastors (Bruzek, Poppe, etc.) who have taken calls to parishes with contemporary worship and moved them away from it.

    +HRC

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  8. "Who subverts the subverters?" :)

    Brilliant idea, Pr. Curtis!

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  9. Looking through the vicarage list from St. Louis, one must ask what congregations DO NOT have "non-traditional" services rather than what congregations DO have "non-traditional" services. The greater majority of the ones I've looked at have at least one "non-traditional" service.

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  10. OTOH, the greater majority of Ft. Wayne vicars are placed at congregations where there are no "non-traditional" services. And so it goes.

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