More than 2,000 years ago, our Savior said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt 9:37–38). His words are timeless. The population of the world today is estimated to be approximately 8.3 billion people, most of whom don’t know that Jesus died to save them. The harvest truly is plentiful, but the number of faithful pastors and missionaries is small. That’s why we continue to heed our Savior’s request to pray for workers.

This year the Lord of the Church answered our synod’s prayers by giving us forty-one candidates for the ministry from the seminary’s graduating class. Every graduate once again requested a mentor. All will receive one, or a BHM coach if they were assigned to a mission congregation. Tutors are assigned a mentor when they enter the parish ministry.

The Mentoring Program is designed to help these new pastors during the sometimes challenging transition from being a student to serving in the full-time public ministry. Our Lord also answers our prayers for workers by supplying mentors to help these workers to remain in the ministry. The mentors offer encouragement, advice, and support when these new pastors need it most. Every year, a young pastor tells us that he probably would not still be in the ministry if it were not for the encouragement and support his mentor provided.

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Jesus therefore tells us to pray for workers. Our Lord answers our prayers for pastors and works through the mentoring program to preserve these precious gifts for continued service in his harvest field.

Pastor John M. Brenner

Coordinator, Pastor Partners Mentoring Program