It has often been said that Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary produces “generalists” rather than “specialists.” Properly understood, this is correct. The seminary concentrates its efforts on providing the education required for its graduates to serve as pastors in the congregations of the WELS, for this is the assignment that the vast majority of its graduates receive. The way the seminary’s curriculum is structured reflects this intent.
The seminary is well aware, of course, that its graduates may at some point serve in forms of the public ministry other than that of the parish pastor. Some of its graduates, in fact, go directly from the seminary to a mission field, either to start a new mission in the United States or to serve in one of the world mission fields of the WELS. At some point subsequent to their first assignment to a parish, the seminary’s graduates may be called to serve in still other forms of the full-time public ministry: high school, college, or seminary professors; institutional ministry; mission counselors; or administrators. Still others may be called upon to serve the church in a specialized way while still serving as parish pastors, e.g., as district presidents, circuit pastors, members of district, synodical, or para-church boards.
In view of the fact that many of the seminary’s graduates will at some point in their lives (some immediately upon graduation) be called to a form of the public ministry other than that of parish pastor, some have urged that the seminary broaden its purpose statement so that it would include training for at least some of these more specialized forms of the public ministry. To do this would undoubtedly require an expanded curriculum, additional faculty, and an additional year of training. The additional year of training would be necessary because there are very few, if any, courses in the seminary’s core curriculum that could be made optional for the student desiring to take courses that would prepare him for a specialized field of ministry.
This brings us to the main reason for determining to keep our purpose sharply focused on preparing men for the parish ministry: We are convinced that the seminary’s curriculum, as reviewed and revised in this self-study, is a broad curriculum which, while preparing men to be parish pastors, is also providing a solid foundation for service in other forms of the public ministry. As we amplify the seminary’s “Objectives” in the section that follows, we would hope that it will be clear that, as the seminary fulfills these objectives, the end result will be graduates fit for any form of the public ministry, depending, of course, on their particular gifts. The only thing lacking may be the acquisition of certain skills peculiar to a particular form of the ministry. These skills, we feel, can be taught and learned after the person has accepted a call to serve in a different form of the ministry.
Having said that, we might add that our students’ years at the seminary do give them opportunity to become acquainted with various forms of the public ministry and to gain some measure of experience in them, should they so desire, e.g., working with people of different cultures in the city of Milwaukee and elsewhere, engaging in jail ministry or institutional ministry, serving home mission and world mission vicarships or as summer assistants in home mission congregations. In addition, each year emergency teaching calls give at least a few students some experience in teaching. With the seminary’s change from a quarter system to a semester system, this will give time for a two-week winter term each year between the two semesters. During this time, students will be able to take courses in areas that appeal to them or even to go off-campus on 2-4 week immersion experiences among people of different languages and cultures.
We recognize that the needs and challenges of ministry in the 21st century are diverse and we are happy to give our students a taste of this diversity while they are enrolled. But at the same time we are confident that the seminary’s basic curriculum will serve well all of our graduates, no matter in what form of the public ministry they eventually serve.
