Discerning a Divine Call

Pastor Adam McDowell • September 20, 2024

Discerning a Divine Call

To the St. Peter’s Family,

I pray that the Lord is giving you a blessed Friday.

I wanted to update you on a Divine Call I received from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church out of Clay Center, Kansas. They are calling me as an Associate Pastor to work alongside the Senior Pastor there. When this Call came in, I was not looking for a new position nor actively putting my name out on Call lists. It is, however, my preference to hear out any interest in my ministry because the Spirit of God directs the ministry of His word as He wishes (John 3:8).

The Call process for a pastor can be a little nerve-wracking, but it is part of the healthy workings of a church body. Churches with vacancies need pastors, and so they pull names from a variety of sources. They whittle those names down by various processes and interview a few pastors. After that a church issues a Divine Call to one pastor. A Divine Call is a congregation saying we believe that God is calling this pastor to our church. It is now the pastor’s turn to see how the Holy Spirit is moving. He will be in prayer and may ask his congregation and the calling congregation for more information and guidance. After careful deliberation the pastor can accept the Call or refuse the Call.

As Lyndi and I deliberate this Call, we ask for your prayers. Please, pray for guidance, wisdom, and that the Lord would clearly make known His will. Please, continue to keep our church in your prayers especially for her continued ministry as well as her Senior pastor vacancy at this time. I would also ask that you pray for St. Paul’s, Clay Center, and her ministry, as we are called to pray for the entire ministry of God (Ephesians 6:18) since they are seeking God’s guidance with their Call process.

Lyndi and I, along with our children, will pray for discernment with God’s grace and for the two ministries as well.

May the Lord continue to watch over His Church,

Pastor McDowell

< Older Note

Newer Note >

Mail

News & Notes

Follow the Pipes

By Tim Degen • July 7, 2025

You are invited!

Workers for the Harvest

By Pastor Adam McDowell • July 7, 2025

I want to share a story, actually several stories. I remember when I was young in Tulsa, Oklahoma and in Fredericktown, Missouri, of going up to the altar rail with my parents and receiving a blessing from my pastor. I remember sticking my head in between the posts on the altar rail and the pastor giving me a blessing. I don't exactly remember the words, but I knew it was important and I wanted that blessing. I remember in confirmation learning about what the pastor was actually saying, what those words actually meant. To understand what God was saying in his scriptures and growing in it. Overall, just being absolutely amazed at what my pastors, Pastor Sean and Pastor Beering were teaching me and knowing God better and just the joyfulness of it. And I remember Lyndi going through confirmation, adult confirmation, with Pastor Schueler in Rosenberg, Texas, and then seeing from her eyes what it meant to be Lutheran, to understand the faith. I had grown up in the Lutheran church, so it was all ordinary for me, but for her it was extraordinary to know and to understand and have that time with a pastor. And I'm so thankful for the pastors in my life and all of the other church workers that have been a part of my life who have helped me to understand who God is. I mentioned in this weekend’s sermon that there's an initiative, a program through the LCMS called Set Apart to Serve. It points out that we have a lack of pastors, teachers, and other church workers. Set Apart to Serve reminds us that the Lord asks us to pray for laborers for the harvest, and I encourage you to pray for laborers for the harvest. To pray for those that teach us who God is and to help us to understand how much we need him. If you happen to know some young people considering church work or being pastors, pray for them, encourage them. God has gifted them to us to answer our questions. Pray fervently that the Lord would send workers into his harvest so that we know him. Keep that in your prayers. I encourage you to look for people who would be good to take God's calling into his church. May the Lord provide workers for His harvest that we may know God and how richly He blesses us. Amen.

Discerning a Divine Call