The Field Education program of the seminary is designed to enhance the personal and professional development of the seminarian, to integrate sound theology and relevant application in practical ministry and to facilitate a positive awareness and participation of the seminarian in at least one LC-MS congregation. Your involvement in the Field Education program can best be summarized by two words: LEARNING AND SUPERVISION. During your first two years in the Seminary, you will receive practical experience by "doing ministry" under supervision, thereby learning what ministry is all about and your strengths and weaknesses as one who seeks to minister. Field Education provides a setting in which you will have the opportunity to integrate theology learned in the classroom with the experience of actual ministry to people. Your assignment to an area parish soon after the beginning of your Sem I year will provide an excellent setting for a wide range of parish experience. In addition, assignment to a local hospital in one quarter and a nursing home in another quarter will provide one-on-one experience in these two special areas of ministry.

Your Sem I and II Field Education experiences provide data to assist in the placement process of your vicarage year, they ultimately contribute to your placement as a candidate in the parish ministry.

In terms of time required, a realistic overview of your two years of resident field encounter suggests you need to allot three to six hours per week for these activities. This will be particularly important in your first year as you make job plans and set your time schedule. A word of caution is in order in this regard. It would be unwise to tie up all your non-classroom and personal study time with extracurricular obligations, thereby leaving you no time for your field encounter experiences.