Years after ordination, many pastors point to their internship as pivotal in their ministerial formation. Ordained in 2014, Lauren Muratore is pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C. Describing her internship at First Lutheran Church in Lincoln, Neb., as “the most formative year of seminary,” Muratore said the experience taught her “how to communicate theology and learn how it matters in people’s lives and the world.”
Though vicars carry out many of the same duties as those already ordained, they aren’t mini-pastors. Except in unusual circumstances, such as a bishop granting temporary authorization, interns don’t preside at sacraments or conduct pastoral acts such as marriages. But a pastoral intern is encouraged to experience the full range of parish life—preaching and leading worship, teaching classes, visiting the sick and homebound, and gaining experience in parish leadership. We give thanks for our current Vicar, Erick Hill, and all the other vicars before him who have accompanied First Lutheran members and ministries as they walk towards ordained ministry.
Read more about Lauren’s experience as an intern at First Lutheran, as well as many others within the ELCA Synod, at https://www.livinglutheran.org/2022/12/equipping-for-ministry.
