{The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge} Sarah Goes to School: Deaconess Studies, Commence!

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Class is back in session, Ladies, this time at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis!

What even is deaconess ministry, and how do deaconesses serve the church? Sarah begins her studies in the Online Deaconess Studies program at Concordia Seminary, and she’s revisiting experiences from Orientation Week at the Seminary and her first class in Deaconess Ministry, including insights into personality types and theological frameworks.

Are you an eagle, parrot, dove, or owl? Sarah shares how understanding another person’s tendencies in group work, stressful situations, or everyday relationships helps you walk better together. Building on this understanding of self and others, she briefly describes how we can rightly understand insights from God’s First Article Gifts and discern theological wisdom to grow into better leaders and guides for those around us.

“I’m understanding more and more why they call it church worker formation. Wearing the blue, putting on my crucifix every day, being more bold about talking theology with people, it’s all part of the formation. This program isn’t just to learn theology and be let free in the wild. We’re learning about what it means to serve people, to serve in the church, to really bring God’s Word to people in a hugely wide variety of ways. It’s the unexplainable feeling of growth. You are wildly conscious that you’re a different person than you were a week ago because of what you’ve learned and experienced, and it’s wonderfully scary and amazing.”

Next time, Sarah will share insights from her Introduction to Spiritual Care class. Stay tuned!

Click to learn more:

Concordia University’s Online Deaconess Studies

LCMS Deaconess Ministry

Concordia Deaconess Conference

The DISC Assessment Birds and Taking Flight Profiles

Dr. Mark Rockenbach’s Practical Theological Framework