LeRoy and Deborah Leach, along with their eight-year-old daughter, Sara, left their home, immediate family and church family, and other friends in Providence, RI, in the summer of 2000 to enter Concordia Theological Seminary. Below are their thoughts:

Q: When did you know you wanted to enter the Holy Ministry?
L: One Sunday, while sitting in church, I realized I had been avoiding it. My business was doing fine, but I knew it was not satisfying; my gut feeling was that I needed to be in the ministry.

Q: Deb, when did LeRoy share that with you?
D: We were proactive in the church. We could feel the "pull" toward the ministry. So, we just became more involved and let God handle it.
L: I shared my feelings on entering the ministry with Deb within a week after that Sunday.

Q: Deb, what were your thoughts when he told you?
D: After being married to him for 27 years, I thought that it was about time. I was excited as it was a long time in coming.

Q: How supportive were your friends and family? D: Very supportive; our church family was relieved and personal family members were not surprised.
L: Extremely supportive­I was the last one to know.

Q: What was the most difficult part in coming to the seminary?
D: Leaving my sisters; but my theme was always "One cannot outgive God," so that kept me going that we wanted to give, and the seminary is where we should be. I stayed focused on that.
L: It really wasn¹t difficult. After ten years of developing a successful business, the things were really coming together in my production company. But I felt God calling me into the Holy Ministry.

Q: Tell me about your preparations for moving to Fort Wayne.
D: My husband attended the Prayerfully Consider Campus Visit, a two day event attended by people having the same thoughts as we did from all over the country in March and again in September. During that weekend in March, LeRoy looked at schools for Sara and housing possibilities between the seminary sessions. By the time he returned to RI, we were on our way. I came to Fort Wayne for job interviews in June; it was helpful that you and I were in constant e-mail as I was unable to be there for the Visit, and you put me in touch with another seminarian¹s wife who was a nurse like I was. We sealed the rental home possibility through you, checked out the schools again. So from the end of March-June, it was pretty much completed. We moved here by the first of August.
L: Yes, from the time of the Visit, which gave us so much information and meeting people like me with questions and concerns, it was all settled in a matter of three months.

Q: How have you adjusted to living in Fort Wayne?
D: Coming from Providence, RI, and 600,000 people, for us it seems small. So we were not overwhelmed. Plus, when your husband is over fifty, one has to just move fast!
L: I have noticed how religious the city is. I guess that is why it is called the "city of churches."

Q: How easy was it for you and your family to assimilate into the Fort Wayne community?
D: On the seminary campus there were so many activities with Orientation in September for us to become involved. We learned from all the stories of others that in the end those stories brought all of us to the same place. It is important to get involved. Our second year at the seminary I was on the Big/Little Sis Program, and I assisted in the planning of the women¹s fall retreat. I went to chapel when my work schedule permitted it.
L: It is very inexpensive to live here.

Q: Tell me about your family.
D: We have two grown married sons, one on the West coast and one on the East coast, and God has blessed us with Sara, who is eight.

Q: Do you feel that Fort Wayne is geared to families for activities?
D: Yes. There are so many summer festivals, Camp Lutherhaven, and free summer programs for kids including swimming, golf, and tennis.

Q: One does "fieldwork" at the seminary, meaning one is assigned to a church to "learn the ropes," assisting in the readings, sermons when those classes have been completed, attending meetings. Tell me about your fieldwork church. Where was it?
L: It was an hour away in Schumm, Ohio, called "The Cathedral in the Cornfields." This was very different from living in Providence. After one month, their minister accepted a call and moved. By choice, I assumed some of the pastoral duties. At first I was frustrated as I had come to the seminary to study. Now, I was so busy at the church. But this whole experience changed my view of the ministry. I was able to still get good grades and also serve them. I grew to love these people, God's people, that He had left in my care. I preached almost every other week.

Q: Can you describe a memorable experience from your "fieldwork"?
L: I will always cherish the memory of watching the face of our eighty-year-old organist during our Bible class. To see her faith was something else. And I learned a lot about the farm culture. Those farmers do not give up easily. And, finally, it was a real blessing for me to have assisted them in obtaining their new pastor.
D: It was a blessing to have served these people. They give back more than you can give. You cannot outgive God.

Q: You have been here two years. Are you going out on vicarage this summer?
L: No. I will stay two more years to obtain my Ph.D. I felt the Alternate Route Program I was on did not give me the education I needed for me to become a pastor.

Q: As you look over the past two years, what comes to mind as you think of the seminary community of which you are now a part?
D: We are part of a campus family. It is wonderful.
L: I think of all the support the seminary provides through the Food and Clothing Co-ops, the open availability of the professors, and, for the most part, their respect of the students.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for anyone who is where you were in your thinking just a few years ago and may be contemplating coming to the seminary?
D: Get with your pastor and become active in your church to see if this is what you are to do. Read the Bible and be faithful. Our church people back in RI could see the gifts that God has given LeRoy. Don¹t ignore those feelings; pay attention and do something about it! And the love and encouragement of our pastor, Larry Nichols, and his wife, Zelia, were instrumental in our being here.
L: Academically, prepare to work as hard as you can and get as much as you can out of it, but do not neglect your family.

From Volume 5, Issue 2, Fall 2002