LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 94

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94

SYNOD REPORTS

• Aid congregations in readily valuing and accepting their
pastors.
• Extend first-call ministries by cultivating positive and joyful
congregation-pastor relationships.
• Nourish the necessary skills for pastors to give positive and
healthy leadership to their congregations.
• Encourage pastors and congregations to place value on continuous learning as an important and ongoing ingredient of
pastoral ministry.
Since its beginning in 1998, more than a thousand newly placed
pastors have participated in PALS. In the current program year (2009–
10), 48 groups are meeting throughout the United States, with more
than 300 participants. While the rate of participation was slightly up
(72 percent) in the 2008–9 program year, the average rate of participation has typically hovered around 70 percent. These groups consist
of three to twelve first-call pastors (within three years of graduation)
who meet together on a regular basis, with an experienced pastor serving as the facilitator. Worship, Bible study, personal sharing, reflection
on ministry and its context, and topic study comprise the bulk of the
group’s time together. The collegial bonds that form among the participants during their time together are very important in the transition
from seminary to parish.
The importance of including pastors’ wives in the PALS efforts
has become increasingly obvious. Many benefits are reported to flow
from the Bible and topical studies and especially from opportunities
to process realities of the transition to parish life with other wives
dealing with similar experiences.
Participants and spouses are overwhelmingly in favor of the
concept. In a recent study of those who have completed the PALS
experience, it was found that over two-thirds of participants and
spouses think their participation was worthwhile, indicating that
they would recommend participation to other seminary graduates.
(John O’Hara, “Post-Seminary Applied Learning and Support [PALS]
Follow-Up Interviews” [2007]; see Appendix A). For a complete summary of the study and findings, contact the office of the Commission
on Ministerial Growth and Support, 314.996.1378, or cmgs@lcms.org.
The provision of funding for the PALS initiative is shared by the
Synod, the districts, congregations receiving new graduates, and the
first-call pastors themselves.
The following testimonial, shared by a participating pastor in
Texas, reiterates in a “nutshell” the importance of this initiative:
“PALS has been a great support for me and my family. I cannot
express enough how necessary PALS is to a healthy life and ministry of any pastor. It has given me a healthy fellowship in which I can
talk about the joys, frustrations, fears and excitements that are experienced in ministry. It also gives me opportunity to learn through the
experiences that my peers are having as well as good theological
discussion and guest speakers. I personally believe that PALS has
made me a better pastor, a stronger Christian, and a greater servant
of Christ for His people.”
PALS Facilitators Who Served during Current Triennium but Are No
Longer Serving
Philip Bruening
Stephen Constien
Alvin Lange
Randy Maland
William Plath
Timothy Rynearson
Mark Schockey
Robert Spillman

Mark Buchhop
Harvey Gerdes
Raymond Larson
Daniel Meckes
Daniel Quiram
Brian Saunders
Harlan Schoenrock
Mark Whitsett

Lewis Busch
Dale Johnston
Jeffrey Lee
Gerry Mohr
Robert Riggs
Daniel Schneider
Stewart Schulz
Ronald Young

PALS Facilitators Now Serving
Michael Awe
Gordon Besel
Luther Brunette
Kurt Gremel
Don Hefta		
William Hessler
Tim Jenks		
Ronald Jones
Steven Lange
Gerard LeFeber
Mark Nebel
Mark Schultz
Russell Senstad
Henry Simon
Alan Struckmeyer
William Wilson

Randall Bard
Keith Besel
Mark Demel
David Groth
Bradley Heinecke
Barry Hildebrandt
Daniel Johnson
Dale Kern		
Stephen Koenig
Francis Lieb
Peter Nickel
Herbert Schumm
Howard Shane
John Standley
John Telloni

Mark Barz
Gordon Bohlman
Arnold Frank
Edwin Harkey
James Heining
Peter Holm
Tom Johnson
Glen Keylon
Mark Leckband
William Marler
Charles Schmidt
Chris Schwanz
Steven Simon
Allen Steinbeck
Mark Tewes

A recent and welcome development is the use of the Internet for
Web-based training, collegial support (for facilitators), and ease of
access to meeting materials. This is a direction in which the PALS
initiative will continue to develop, improving connections with
the participating pastors and strengthening support for the wives
facilitators.
• Handbook for New Lutheran School Teachers—This is the name
of the CD and workbook which continues to be made available to our
new-to-teaching teachers. Prepared by experienced teachers, these
materials contain many helpful insights and ideas for our teachers
during their first year in the profession. Offered through the CMGS
to these new church professionals, the intention is to help them in
the transition from student in the classroom to professional teacher
and worker in the church. Thousands of copies of these materials
have been distributed to new teachers over the past number of years.
The manual is also available on the CMGS website: cmgs.lcms.org.
• The Next Steps initiative is a strategy for “connecting passion
with mission” among retired and retiring ministers of the LCMS. The
Next Steps Pilot Project—Indiana District, under the capable leadership of Rev. David V. Dubbelde, has been under way since October
2007. Interviews have been conducted with retired ministers, as well
as congregational and institutional leadership, in pursuit of the goal
to discover and facilitate “unique matches” between gifted passions
and mission/ministry opportunities.
The number of, and information about, individuals who are able
and willing to serve in various settings continues to grow, along with
opportunities for them to be involved.
One of the significant goals of the Indiana District pilot project
is to identify and standardize the necessary procedures and protocol
for implementation on a broader scale throughout the Synod. This
process will come to be extremely important as the LCMS moves
toward a time of dramatically increased rates of ministers in, and eligible for, retirement.
The pilot has brought several unanticipated opportunities into
focus. One of them, under review by the Pilot Advisory Committee,
involves retired laypersons who are also interested in mission and
ministry opportunities for the expression of their gifted passions.
For a complete summary of the work of the Next Steps Pilot
Project—Indiana District, contact the office of the Commission on
Ministerial Growth and Support, 314.996.1378, or cmgs@lcms.org.
• Ministry challenges are always of interest to the commission in
the pursuit of its critical targets. In May 2008, Dr. John O’Hara presented a special summary report to the CMGS, sharing the following
insights into why LCMS pastors leave parish ministry (2002):

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