The COP met April 18-20 on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary here for its annual spring placement meeting. The status is intended to be temporary. Why no calls It's not that there aren't vacancies. With 34 of the Synod's 35 districts reporting at the meeting, there were active calls seeking a total of 582 pastors. The reason seems to have more to do with congregations' perception of candidates.
Pastors go onto candidate status for a variety of reasons.
Many congregations seem to think only of the former, though, when they are calling a pastor, district presidents say. So they are not inclined to call someone who is on candidate status. North Dakota District President Norman Sincebaugh, chairman of the committee, later reiterated the committee's intention of doing so as a potential long-term remedy to the problem. If they are men who cannot serve because of their lack of skills or abilities, then we need to be honest with them. The candidate also should have opportunity to write a letter of explanation to be shared with calling congregations.