Every spring, we give thanks as new graduates from Martin Luther College (MLC), New Ulm, Minn., and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wis., receive their first calls. It is a joyful time as we watch Christ send workers into his harvest field.

For some, though, the moment may not feel quite as joyful. Perhaps your congregation has called nine times for a pastor and is still vacant. Or your school has scrambled for several years to fill staffing holes. In those situations, it is easy to lament: “Why don’t young people want to go into ministry anymore?” “Why can’t WELS prepare more called workers?” Those are understandable questions, but are they fair?

Since 1990, when WELS was at its largest, our church body has declined by almost 25 percent—about 100,000 members. Yet WELS has about the same number of pastors today as it did in 1990. It has about 40 percent more teachers. In 1990, WELS had 6 staff ministers; today, there are about 120. WELS has never had more called workers than we do today. That is remarkable.

Think about it in terms of pools of potential workers. In 1990, about 1 out of every 66 active WELS male members of pre-retirement age served as a pastor. Twenty years ago, it was 1 in 56. Today, it is about 1 in 45. In 1990, about 1 out of every 82 active WELS members of working age served as a teacher. Today, it is about 1 in 40.

Consider MLC’s enrollment. When measured as a percentage of college-age WELS members, its enrollment is at historically high levels. MLC may have fewer students than it did 20 years ago, but not because young WELS members are no longer pursuing ministry. They are. The lower enrollment is largely because WELS has fewer college-age members.

None of this makes a vacancy less painful, but it does frame the challenge more accurately. The Lord has not stopped providing called workers for his church. He is supplying them at record levels.

At the same time, Jesus’ words remain true: “The harvest is plentiful . . .” (Matthew 9:37).

Since 1990, the number of pastors serving in world missions has more than doubled as new opportunities arise. Interest in Lutheran schools has grown, so enrollment has exploded. WELS even has slightly more congregations today than in 1990, as we seek to establish Lutheran outposts across North America.

The Lord has not stopped providing called workers for his church. He is supplying them at record levels.

So the issue is not that the Lord of the church is failing to supply workers. In a sense, he is supplying them at record high levels. The challenge is that we are trying to maintain all existing ministry patterns while also responding to many new opportunities.

The path forward is not panic, but prayerful stewardship. All of us need to encourage young people within our sphere of influence to consider public ministry. We also need to think carefully about how called workers are deployed, how ministries can cooperate, and how lay leaders can be equipped to serve.

Vacancies are real. The harvest is plentiful. But so is the Lord’s mercy—and his faithfulness in sending workers to gather it.