On November 12, 2025, the Pastor Formation Committee of the LCMS released new Policy Requirements for the SMP (Specific Ministry Pastor) program. These new requirements have created a bit of a stir as the LCMS continues to address the challenges facing both a shortage of pastors and a variety of approaches on how to best move forward. Having gone through SMP myself, but also having completed both Masters and Doctor of Ministry degrees, I believe that I may offer some unique p

A Demographic Moment We Cannot Ignore Over the next one to two decades, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is likely to experience a significant, but temporary, surge in estate and bequest giving. The reason is straightforward: the LCMS is older than the U.S. population as a whole, with a large concentration of Baby Boomers entering the final chapters of life. When people age, estates are settled. Giving rises, and then inevitably, it falls. What matters most in this moment i

The New Year has a way of stirring something deep in us. There’s something about turning the calendar that invites reflection—sometimes hopeful, sometimes heavy. New workout plans, new healthy diet plans, new resolutions that this time  we will stick to!  We talk about fresh starts and clean slates, but for many, January also brings a quiet inventory. Goals we didn’t meet. Conversations we wish had gone differently. Decisions we second-guess. People we hoped to serve better.

Isaiah 9:6 6 For to us a child is born,     to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder,     and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,     Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Who is this child?  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through hi