Witness Moment
Forming Future Pastors Through International Vicarages
Vicar Jesse Liebmann is using his skills and learning new ones during a two-year vicarage in Romania.
While most seminarians spend their third-year vicarage serving under a pastor in the United States, a few are sent a little farther afield for this important time of hands-on learning. International vicarages are not only a great opportunity to learn skills to implement in the future, but also to spread the Word of God to all nations (Matt. 28:19–20).
There are six men from LCMS seminaries currently serving international vicarages, one of whom is Jesse Liebmann. He did not initially plan on becoming a pastor. He studied Russian in college, with the intention of going into international relations. When an unforeseen circumstance derailed his plans, he began to pray for guidance from God on where He was leading him.
“God closed some doors in my life and opened other doors. … He ultimately gave me a passion for ministry [and] teaching others about God’s Word,” said Liebmann.
Now his study of Russian is being put to good use on his vicarage in Romania, where he works with many Russian-speaking Ukrainian refugees. The congregation where Liebmann serves is multilingual, speaking Russian, English and Romanian.
Liebmann’s biggest struggle has been overcoming the language barrier with those who speak only Romanian. “We work with [the congregation members] to provide ministry and God’s Word and Sacraments in [all three languages],” said Liebmann. “I come here speaking English, … and [I am] learning Russian better and better so I can [minister to] the Russian-speaking Ukrainian refugees, … but I don’t know any Romanian [and] I haven’t had any Romanian lessons. Everything I’ve learned has been on the street.”
Despite these challenges, the joy of Jesus and His Good News shines through — especially when Liebmann has the opportunity to teach about Jesus, prayer or the Bible. “[While I was teaching Sunday school,] the word ‘forgiveness’ came up in Russian, and [a Ukrainian] asked me, ‘What does that mean?’ I got to tell her … what Jesus had done, that He died for our sins so that we may be forgiven so we can spend eternity with Him in heaven,” he said. “To [be able to] teach the basic Gospel to someone who’s never heard it in a language they understand, it’s hard to beat that.”
Along with teaching, Liebmann also preaches, makes home visits and assists in the Divine Service, much like any other vicar would.
Seminarians who want to serve overseas are identified in their first year of seminary and are evaluated based on multiple criteria before being approved by the faculty. The Rev. Joel Fritsche, director of vicarage and deaconess internships at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, then works closely with the LCMS Office of International Mission (OIM) to find a suitable placement. Many students have an idea of where they would like to serve, but there has to be supervision and missionary support already in place for that location to be a possibility.
An international vicarage also is a longer commitment. Students serve two years as opposed to the standard one year for those in the United States. The first six months of an international vicarage includes the orientation and support-raising process that all LCMS missionaries go through.
Those who serve an international vicarage are often recruited to become missionaries when they graduate. However, the skills and experiences a vicar gains on the international mission field are valuable even if he decides to serve within the U.S.
“I don’t think we have as strong of an evangelistic mentality [in the U.S.],” said Fritsche, who previously served as a missionary in Latin America. “When [the vicars] are engaged in spreading the Gospel and planting churches as the key thing that [they are] doing, it’s really transformative in the way [the vicars] see ministry.”
As Liebmann serves in Romania, he is developing new skills and a new perspective that will help him as he serves the church for years to come.
“I know it was Jesse’s dream to go to Eastern Europe and put to use his Russian language skills and make use of that in ministry, so I pray that Jesse is growing and learning and continuing to be formed for ministry,” said Fritsche. “Whether it be longtime service as a career missionary or as a parish pastor in the United States, I pray that his experience there in Romania would be a blessing to him so he could be a blessing to Christ’s church.”
Learn More
- Learn more about LCMS mission work in Eurasia
- Learn more about Vicar Jesse Liebmann
Brianna Dehn
Former staff writer with LCMS Communications.
