Just back from the Virginia Synod Vocations Conference. This is an annual event for those from the Virginia Synod who are in seminary, or entering seminary, or interested in seminary. There's information sharing and relationship building, and I am very proud of how many people have come out of our congregation or campus ministry program who are in the candidacy process towards becoming ELCA pastors!

At this week's event, there was Kathy Schroeder (many people now call her "Kate") who has just begun her internship. She's at Gettysburg Seminary. There was Kate Proctor, who was a member of our Lutheran Student Association. She begins at the seminary in Philadelphia next week. There was Brett Wilson, an LSA graduate, who has been teaching high school for two years. There was Haley Poynter of our congregation and Deanna Scheffel and Leslie Scanlon of our LSA, all three rising seniors in college. Brett, Haley, Deanna and Leslie plan to enter seminary a year from now!

And -- there are two recent graduates of our LSA who "belong" to other Synods: Joel Neubauer who just graduated from Gettysburg Seminary, and Mikey Powell, who's just finished his second year at Trinity Seminary in Ohio. And, of course, we had to transfer Cheryl Griffin from our membership rolls to Reformation Lutheran Church in Newport News a couple of years ago when she was ordained and called to serve at Reformation!!

It is deeply gratifying to be available for those who are discerning a call to ordained ministry! What a service we are providing for the whole church, by whatever is going on in our congregation and our campus ministry program, where the Spirit is producing the best and the brightest candidates to be pastors!