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Continuing education offers opportunities for called workers—and the people they serve—to grow.
“Faithful gospel ministers always seek to hone their skills and adapt to ministry changes. They recognize that there is always room for personal growth.” That is the observation of Dr. John Meyer, director of graduate studies and continuing education at Martin Luther College (MLC), New Ulm, Minn. And it is an observation of real-life experiences.
Encouraged to grow
David Putz and Ben Kratz graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (WLS), Mequon, Wis., a generation apart from each other. In the years since their graduations, their ministry experiences have varied. Putz has served as pastor of congregations in Arkansas, Florida, and Michigan. He also taught for two years at Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Saginaw, Mich., and 15 years at Winnebago Lutheran Academy (WLA), Fond du Lac, Wis. By contrast, Kratz is still serving at the church to which he was assigned in 2003: Our Savior, Birmingham, Ala.
While their ministry experiences are different, they share a common interest: continuing education. And that is no coincidence.
Personal growth is very much an emphasis at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Bradley Wordell, the director of Grow in Grace, the institute for continuing education at WLS, states, “At Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, we want to instill in our students the attitude that they must always be growing.”
Putz adopted that attitude years ago. He explains, “When I graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary—back in 1981—continuing education was kind of a new thing in our synod. There had been a couple of trips to dig and tour in Israel. And three-week Summer Quarter classes had begun in Mequon. Our seminary president at that time—Prof. Carl Lawrenz—was a big encourager for us to make use of these opportunities.”
Putz definitely has seized those opportunities. He has earned four master of sacred theology degrees from WLS. As each degree corresponds roughly to a decade of study, lifelong learning is not an exaggeration for him.
About the time Putz was completing his second master’s degree, Kratz enrolled in the chaplain certificate program—a program offered through MLC in cooperation with WELS Special Ministries. He enrolled when an opportunity arose to serve his community as a volunteer chaplain with the Shelby County sheriff’s department.
For Kratz to serve as a chaplain, the department required that WELS endorse him as a pastor in good standing. That endorsement, along with courses that honed his skills, came about through his participation in the chaplain certificate program. Completing coursework in the program made life busier, but Kratz notes, “I enjoy learning new things and growing in my skill sets.”
Wanting to grow
Brian Haack and Anne Zeitler also have had different ministry experiences. Haack graduated from MLC in 1999 and then taught in WELS schools in Wisconsin and Florida. Then, the special needs diagnosis of his son interrupted his teaching career. For the next ten years, he farmed with his father and brother before he reentered the teaching profession, working in the special education department in a public school system. In 2019, he accepted a call to serve as seventh-grade teacher at Faith Lutheran School, Fond du Lac, Wis.
Teaching in a WELS school was familiar ground for him, but his call had the additional responsibility of serving as academic dean. “The expectations of my new role were great, and I wanted to be better equipped to lead in this capacity,” Haack says. So he enrolled in the MLC graduate program in leadership and administration, completing his program in May 2024.
Zeitler has taught in public schools at the preschool, elementary, and high school levels. After being called to teach at Holy Trinity Lutheran Academy, New Hope, Minn., she began ministry certification courses, completing them in 2020. Around the same time, she saw a need to bolster her teaching skills.
“During the 2019–2020 school year, I had some students in my classroom who required differentiated instruction in order to succeed,” she says. “Then the COVID shutdown happened, and I had more time on my hands to think, research, and plan. I realized that if I wanted to help all of the students in my classroom succeed when we returned to in-person learning, I would need to have some more specialized tools in my toolbox. At that point, I made the decision to enroll in the master’s program with a special emphasis in special education through MLC.” She completed her program in May 2023.
Influencing to grow
When one teaches, two learn. That saying underscores one of the benefits of teaching: Teachers learn by mastering the material that others learn from them. With continuing education in mind, it is easy to adapt that saying to “When teachers learn more, others learn even more.”
Zeitler witnessed how her continuing education efforts have benefited her students. “[My students] have a teacher that has more confidence and more tools in her toolbox,” she says. “I still don’t have all the answers, but I have a much better idea of where to look.”
Her students are not the only ones benefiting from her learning. “As I made progress through the program,” Zeitler explains, “[my principal] asked me to share—both formally and informally—the things that I was learning that would be helpful to the rest of our staff.”
Putz recalls how continuing education benefited him and others when he taught at WLA: “The things I learned in classes and while traveling immediately found their way into my high school religion classrooms.”
For Kratz, one of the benefits has been that his congregation sees a fuller picture of Christian service. He points out, “Members see that a pastor’s personal ministry is not the same as the church’s ministry. If I am going to encourage them in their personal lives as believers to share the gospel, they can see my own example of serving people, setting an example of a Christian life, and sharing the gospel as I am able in something that I am doing that is not part of the official ministry of [our church].”
Helping to grow
None of these continuing education efforts were easy. There were regular challenges to maintaining personal and family time. Energy and concentration levels waned. The Lord provided relief and support through family members and church members.
Says Haack, “My wife was very supportive and encouraged me; her sacrifices and selflessness allowed me to keep progressing in the program.” In addition, his congregation supported him financially and provided him with a strong mentor for his educational journey.
Kratz is also grateful for a congregation that provides “generous financial support and generous time to do ongoing education to continue to grow in my knowledge and skills as their pastor.”
Churches offer that kind of support because they understand that the growth of their called workers helps everyone. “They recognize that if we as teachers are getting better, the whole ministry will benefit,” says Zeitler.
It’s remarkable but not surprising to see how the growth of one person can lead to growth in others. That is the power of the Lord, who is responsible for the growth of his church. “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16).
Author: James Pope
Volume 111, Number 09
Issue: September 2024
