The Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI) of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary is looking to train more native Spanish-speakers for pastoral ministry. Recently the WELS One Latin America (1LA) Team has developed a promising strategy for identifying good candidates.

The strategy is called Christ Academy (Academia Cristo in Spanish). It begins with a mobile app that offers four self-led courses at the Bible Information Class level of study. Over 500,000 people in Central and South America have downloaded the mobile app. The last course in this tier focuses on training students to share what they’ve learned with others. Students must complete all four courses before they are able to sign up for live classes.

Over 1,300 people have signed up for live classes where students work through thirteen Bible Institute level classes that are taught live online by a WELS missionary or national partner. At this level, a strong emphasis is placed on gathering a group of people to share the gospel message. Over 400 people have completed at least one of the live classes, and about seventy-five men have indicated that they have gathered a group.

The PSI Team is working with the 1LA Team to develop a seminary program for those seventy-five men and those who will follow them in the program. The WELS Joint Mission Council asked the 1LA Team to devise a pilot project using the Christ Academy app in existing WELS congregations in North America. We are pleased that Pastor Carl Leyrer, a veteran in the Christ Academy work, has accepted the call to be director of the pilot project and is beginning his work. Pastor Leyrer is assembling a network of twenty-four WELS pastor lieutenants who will help him introduce the Christ Academy mobile app in North America.

At the same time, we will not neglect recruitment from the existing WELS Spanish-speaking members in over 100 congregations. Almost twenty have regular services in Spanish and twelve more have Spanish Bible classes every week. There is so much activity in this area that the Board for Home Missions has a full-time Hispanic Outreach Consultant, Pastor Timothy Flunker. He has plenty to do, including the goal of assisting at least ten new congregations each year to reach out to Hispanic people in their communities.

We ask God’s blessings on the work of Pastors Flunker and Leyrer. “A la verdad la mies es mucha, pero los obreros pocos. Rogad, pues, al Señor de la mies, que envíe obreros a su mies” (Matthew 9:37-38).