Hello sir!
I hope you are doing well. I have enjoyed the creation gardening blog posts and wish I had the patience and time to do something to our greenery other than mowing it. I've attached something regarding things I've noticed regarding the MLC Call list for 2015 grads. Feel free to publish it if you'd like as I have no problem having my name attached. Once again a flood of temporary calls and the school can go "Look at how many graduates we placed! Yay!" What a load of baloney. Why some still insist on going to that school is beyond me. Be a well-rounded and employed layman instead. It is far more rewarding in the long eternal run.
Take care and as always In Christ,
Ben Wink
Straight out of the MLC Commencement Service bulletin, here
is the breakdown of graduates in the May 2015 class:
Bachelor of Arts 25
Seminary Certifications 5
Bachelor of Science: Early Childhood Education 18
Bachelor of Science: Elementary Education 34
Bachelor of Science: Secondary Education 6
Bachelor of Science: Elementary Education/Early Childhood
Education 5
Bachelor of Science: Elementary and Secondary Education 18
Bachelor of Science: Educational Studies 10
Bachelor of Science: Staff Ministry 2
Bachelor of Science: Staff Ministry/Educational Studies 1
Completing Certification Program: Teaching Online 1
Masters of Science In Education 10
This is the total of 135 names that
were mentioned in the program. As I am
going to compare the numbers from the program to the call list, I will
immediately take out the 30 graduates going the seminary because they will not
be on the call list. Also I will remove
the 10 Masters graduates and the 1 teaching online program certification
because chances are they have calls already and were pursuing further
education. (However, this leaves a bigger question: Why did they choose MLC for
such further education when there are so many programs in the country that are
better? Many of these programs are a
better bang for your buck as well.)
There were also 9 graduates that elected to do international service
instead, so their names will be dropped as well. Finally according to the MLC website, the Educational
Studies graduates are “not eligible
for a license or an assignment into the public ministry”. This takes 10 others off the list.
Before going any further, I just want to elaborate on the Educational
Studies degree. Here is the description verbatim
from the MLC website: “To meet individual needs and to ensure
dedication to a plan of lifelong ministry service, a formal application process
is required. Students can apply for this degree plan any time after
completing the EFE I experience. The application includes the reason for
entering the major, a plan for completion, a statement of goals that includes
lifelong service to the church, and a focused area of study. The
application is reviewed by the Vice President for Academics, the Education
Dean, and the student’s advisor. Students may appeal to modify the
plan. Appeals are heard by the same committee. Students graduating
with a major in educational studies are not eligible for a license or an
assignment into the public ministry.”
I think I am more confused after reading that previous paragraph than I was
before reading it. So this degree is for
someone that has absolutely no plans to teach because they cannot get a license
or an assignment into the public ministry?
I never thought there would be a degree that would be more of a
cul-de-sac than getting a sheepskin in staff ministry, but then this comes
bouncing along. Why would the school
offer such a degree path if the goal of MLC is to provide training for future
called workers in the church and in the school?
Is this a consolation prize for the student that just couldn’t get
through student teaching or is such a screw-up that the college has to give
them something other than their money back?
What would possess a student to go for this degree? Just leave and go to a better college for
education. What is the ultimate point of
a ministerial college offering a degree for someone that won’t be allowed into
public ministry? Furthermore how could
one of those graduates who received this degree this year decalre that they
want to be considered for international service? Is public ministry suddenly only valid when
it occurs in the United States?
This leaves 75 graduates that are
presumably available for full time divine calls into the teaching
ministry. Granted I am looking only at
the two lists with the names provided on them and not beyond. I don’t know if some graduates deferred
because they are following their boyfriends/fiancés/husbands to the seminary or
for other reasons that were closeted during their time as a student there. But let’s just take a raw look at the call
list.
There were 86 calls that I counted
on the list that was provided from MLC.
Now that is 86 calls for 75 graduates, which shows one the kind of math
skills that Martin Luther College provides.
Surely every 2015 graduate then received a full time call, correct? Actually, no.
Of the 86 calls, 10 of them were prior graduates whose calls were made
permanent. This then drops the list of
available calls from 86 to 76. So that would mean 76 calls for the 75
graduates. Ah, but 13 of those remaining
76 calls were for graduates from 2014 and even 2013 that were reassigned for a
2nd or even a 3rd year as a tutor or dormitory
supervisor. So that means that there were
63 calls left for the remaining 75 graduates.
But even then, those 63 aren’t all full time calls and careers in
ministry.
Let’s look
at it another way. Out of the 86 calls
listed, 39 of them were one-year calls. This
means that just under half of them were temporary divine calls. Of the 39 one-year calls, 3 were for
principal training, 1 was for being a MLC admissions counselor, 9 were for
tutors, and 15 were for dormitory supervisors with token classes attached. (I don’t know how that temporary admissions
counselor can convince a high schooler that MLC is a great career path. The synod couldn’t even find a permanent call
for him. How exactly will they find one for the high
school graduates looking for employment after college?)
39 one-year
calls? That means that there are going
to be 39 prior graduates that need actual full-time positions in ministry in
2016. Doesn’t this cut into the
possibilities for the available calls for next year’s graduating class? Perhaps they could refresh some of these
tutors for a 4th year.
Again the
idea that there is a tremendous shortage of called workers is a fallacy. There is a tremendous shortage of tuition
dollars however. Therefore, there is a
“need” for called workers. Look at the
blatant tuition grab that the aforementioned Educational Studies bachelor
degree is. Apparently there is such an
overflow of students coming that instead of finding them all permanent full
time calls when they graduate, they can just give some of them a degree, a
handshake, no license, no call and say “Thanks for the check!” How could they announce the names and have
them walk across the stage and keep a straight face?
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| This is how to get a call, kids. Steal a gay video, add your own screen grabs, and post to YouTube. 100% calls for this bunch of degenerates. |
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| Michigan Lutheran Seminary - WELS - cheerleaders. How many will be trans-Jennered at graduation? |
