Pastors share about their path to the ministry

By Ashley Wiehe
Director of Communications

As you walk around campus, most of the faces are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (aka young). But, on occasion, someone will enter these studies with more years on his face and more tools in his arsenal.

These future second-career pastors share a unique perspective on the ministry. They come from careers inside and outside of ministry, and all bring skillsets that are different from their recent college graduate counterparts. They are juggling jobs and families while working toward a new calling from God—to be a pastor.

The Rev. David Schemm:
A Winding Path

The Rev. David Schemm had a winding path throughout his ministry.

He entered the church in the traditional sense by attending an undergraduate university and then attending Concordia Seminary, Springfield, Ill., (which closed in 1976). He spent 10 to 15 years in the ministry before a divorce led him to a new path.

“I felt unworthy to be standing up there preaching to people when I’m going through a divorce, so I had a degree in chemistry and physics, and I became a field chemist,” he said.

His undergraduate degrees in chemistry and physics led him to go and work for SMC Technologies. For 12 years, he served as a representative for this chemistry company, but the Lord was at work in his life.

His church in Wichita, Kan., asked him to start filling in, and he became plugged into the ministry once again. After a while the district president sought for him to be reinstated so that he could offer Word and Sacrament once again.

The turning point for Schemm was when he landed a large account with SMC, and his boss, while celebrating his accomplishments, asked about the next company on this list.

“Most jobs are just about making money, and I’d rather have a job where I was actually helping people, so that’s where I wanted to get plugged back in again,” he said.

The process to being reinstated was rather easy. A couple of steps and a call between district presidents, and he was back to his life’s calling.

Upon his return to the ministry, he found that his work was stronger because of his time out in the world.

At his first call upon returning to the pulpit, he saw that there was a number of delinquent members in the congregation.

“I think before I would have just said, ‘Let’s have an active Sunday morning worship and things will pick up,’” he said.

But, because he has learned how to chase down accounts in his other position, he changed his strategy with the church.

“You just change your perspective, so I made a list of every delinquent member, and I called on every one of them,” he said. “It changed everything about the way I did ministry.”

Today, now 26 years after returning to the ministry, he is semi-retired but continues to support churches as needed, including at his congregation, Hope on the Beach in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., where he preaches in the sunshine and performs baptism in the waves.

“I think the ministry is the best job in the world,” he said.

Mark Dolde:
Finding a Calling in Grief

A big moment can change everything in your life. It can change the trajectory, or for Mark Dolde, it showed him where God was leading him all along.

Dolde’s calling to be a pastor began after the loss of his father, but the idea to enter the ministry was always there.

When his father died in March 2023, Dolde saw what the pastor at his father’s bedside was able to do in his last days by reading scripture, singing hymns, and providing communion.

“This is the role of the pastor,” he said. “There’s nothing more meaningful than to see my dad cared for spiritually and emotionally.”

It was that moment that stuck with him.

Since 1997, Dolde has served as a teacher at Concordia Lutheran High School in Fort Wayne, Ind., teaching math and theology and coaching as needed. Even two years ago when his father passed away, he wasn’t planning—or quite ready—to make any changes.

He would frequently hear from friends and family, “You should really be a pastor” or “When will you attend the Seminary to become a pastor?” But, it wasn’t until the loss of his father that he really felt that pull from God.

“I’ve heard that throughout my life. But a lot of times, it’s like, you’re very kind or thank you, but right now, I know I’m supposed to be a teacher, and I didn’t think much of it,” he said. “But, my son was the one that took it from the back burner to, ‘Dad, have you really considered this?’”

It wasn’t until after his father’s death that he decided that he needed to do something about it.

“I stepped back after his funeral, and on the scale of weeks later, I contacted (the Seminary) to say I’m really considering this,” he said.

As Dolde reflected on his story, he shared how God was at work all throughout this life in getting him ready for this moment.

When he attended Concordia University-Chicago, he was a pre-Seminary major, studying some Biblical Greek and even Latin, but keeping his focus on high school math and science.

“That’s what I’m pretty sure I want to do,” he said about being a teacher. “But people tell me that I should consider the ministry. Pastoral ministry, I’m not opposed to that. I just don’t see myself in that role, at least, I didn’t at 18.”

He continued to follow his path of becoming a high school math teacher. For many years, he continued to teach but eventually was feeling the drain from teaching some of the same classes. His calling came knocking again when he was asked to teach theology classes at Concordia.

“You know, only God could orchestrate details like this,” he explained as everything was falling into place, including being able to continue his teaching position while going to the Seminary.

Two years after his father’s death, his calling to become a pastor is becoming a reality. Dolde began his classes at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne this past spring. It has been a unique experience as he steps behind the student’s desk instead of in front of it to pursue a new path.

“I love to learn. I recognize that this is how the Father created me, and despite my ‘older’ age in life, I see how this gift is useful as I begin my Seminary studies,” he said.

His path to becoming a pastor will likely take five years as he finishes classes and then completes his vicarage.

What’s next then? He’s not sure, but he is content on following where God leads.

“I truly am open to whatever God has in mind because he hasn’t ever steered me wrong before,” he said. “I’m content to be on the back of the tandem bike because I don’t know where the driver is steering things, but it’s a great ride, and I’m loving the ride, including the view.”

Jason von der Lage:
Finding the title of Pastor

Jason von der Lage has spent his life in the ministry, but today, he is doing it with a collar for the first time.

He recently completed his Seminary training and is on his way to serving at his first church as a pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Each step to becoming a pastor has been a step in faith—some with doors wide open while others slamming shut.

He originally began working toward becoming a Director of Christian Education (DCE) through Concordia University-Texas, but circumstances forced him to enter the workforce before finishing the program. Yet, God had great plans for him.

As one door had closed for him, he found connections at Texas churches where he worked with youth and continued to do so until his family found another door closing when his wife’s teaching contract was not renewed.

“We were devastated, but my wife, being super professional, just said, ‘Well, this is what God wants for us,’” he recalled.

A new call for her career led them to her alma mater in Michigan. However, the doors continued to close for von der Lage as he remained unemployed for three years.

“I’m struggling. I’m working part-time jobs at little, tiny churches. It’s just part-time gigs to keep my résumé fresh,” he said.

He was finally connected with a larger church and a larger ministry, but the church faced problems, as many others did, when COVID hit. But, as those doors were closing, others finally began to open.

He considered applying to the Seminary, and around the same time, he received a call from Concordia-Texas about completing his degree because he was only a couple of credits shy of his diploma.

To his surprise, another door opened.

“In the very same week that happened, I got a call from the Seminary. Somebody had dropped my name off and said we have a new program called Alternate Route,” he said about the program at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. “If you’re over 35 years of age and you’ve worked for at least 10 years in the church, which checks all my lists, then you could come to the Seminary.”

Doors were opening, and by faith, his family moved forward in the process and began to see if his wife could find a job in the Fort Wayne area.

“She had five job offers before we left town,” he said. “But, then, of course, the devil does what he does.”

His father suffered a stroke the same day that they were signing the papers to close on their house. He began to ask, “What should I do? Should we even sell? Should I wait up on this? Should I not go to Seminary?” But, his sister kept that door open for him.

“She’s like, ‘No, no, go. Dad wants you to go. Mom would want you to go. We’re going to do this, and you’ll be fine,’” he recalled.

And the door remained open. He continued his two years of studies, his vicarage at St. Paul Lutheran Church-Gar Creek in New Haven, Ind., (supplemented with work at a local school and care facility), and graduated to see God’s work in him as a pastor.

“Getting here was totally a God thing,” he said. “I was thinking the real reason I wanted to be a pastor was because I have a lot of experience in the church. Now, I see that it just opened another door—another way to use the gifts and talents that I’ve been gifted with.”

He shared his favorite verse from 1 Peter 4:10-11 (ESV), “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

“God used a burning bush with Moses; he used a talking donkey with Balaam; and sometimes it kind of felt like a 2 by 4 with all of the life happening with us,” he said. “God put me in Cincinnati for a reason.”

Above photo: The chapel on the Concordia Theological Seminary campus in Fort Wayne, Ind., reflects in the water on a serene summer day.