Teacher & Staff Minister Requests - Spring 2025

Please read all instructions carefully before submitting a request. Your district president will be happy to answer any questions.

The deadline for submitting requests is April 29 unless you have received an extension from your district president. If you have called from the field and are waiting for a response, you may still submit a request in case the call is declined. If your call from the field is accepted, you may simply withdraw your request.

The Assignment Committee meets on the MLC campus May 15-16.

Assignments will be announced during the Call Service at 2:30pm Central on Saturday, May 17. Visit mlc-wels.edu to watch the livestream.

Click here to return to the main graduate request page.

Important financial information

Salary and benefits

The Conference of Presidents wishes to underscore that it considers synod code to be a reasonable wage. This includes benefits such as VEBA (medical and disability insurance), pension, housing, half of Social Security, and mileage reimbursement.

Calling bodies who are not presently able to compensate according to code should consult with their district president before submitting a request. Please do this as far in advance of the April 29 deadline as possible.

Use the online compensation calculation tool at www.wels.net/cwcompcalc to calculate the annual salary for your new teacher or staff minister. The online calculator is self-explanatory, and most questions are answered by clicking the information icon next to each field.

Moving costs

Moving costs should be included in the congregation’s planning. Under the provisions of the tax bill passed by Congress in 2017, moving expenses are typically no longer tax deductible. This means that any payment from the congregation either to or on behalf of an employee to cover moving expenses must be reported as taxable income.

In order to help called workers absorb this tax hit, synod compensation now calls for a one-time addendum to the called worker’s compensation. The add-on amount is a percentage of the moving cost and is calculated at 27.3% for ministers of the gospel. The amount is paid to the called worker as compensation in the year the tax liability is incurred.

Mentoring

We are strongly committed to the success of our graduates. New graduates from Martin Luther College will be assigned a mentor. The cost for the teacher mentor program is charged to the congregation at the rate of $1,500 per year for two years. The WELS Commission on Lutheran Schools (CLS) invoices Congregations for Principal and ECM Director Mentoring. Martin Luther College invoices congregations for all other new teachers through the New Teacher Induction Program

Submitting your request

Instructions

Complete an assignment request online at wels.net/callrequest (blue button: “Fill out the form”). All applicants, including those who have previously been calling from the field, are required to complete this step.

A WELS Cloud account is needed for this; if you need help accessing your or your congregation’s account, please follow this WELS Cloud link. (You may find that accessing your WELS Cloud account is the most complicated part of the process.)

There are six tabs to complete – all fields marked with a red asterisk are required.

Calling and serving body: Sometimes the calling and serving body will be the same, however, if the call is to a school, generally the school will be the serving body, but the associated church will be the calling body.

Notes on "Position" tab:

For the “Type of Call” field, use Assignment.
In the “Call meeting date” field, enter 5/17/2025.
Please note that the fields under "Position Preferences" are not required. Start date is typically July 1. The most commonly indicated preferences are "Sex" and "Marital status."

Using the compensation calculator is a critical component of your request.

If you begin work on a graduate assignment request, you can save it and return to finish it later. To save your request so that you can return and complete it later, click on the “Save” button in the upper right on the form. To return to your form go here.

To finalize your request and notify your district president, click on the “Submit” button in the upper right of the form. This will save your request and send an automatic notification your district president.

To eliminate any doubt that your submitted form has been correctly processed, please also notify the district president of your submission by email.

Call documents

The district president must have a cover letter and properly signed call form in hand in order to make an assignment. The deadline for these items to reach your district president is Friday, May 9.

Electronic documents are preferred. Email them to nadp@wels.net.

Physical documents may be mailed to

Martin Luther College

ATTN: Rev. Michael Seifert

1995 Luther Court

New Ulm, MN 56073

Required documents

A completed (besides the candidate's name) and signed call form.

Links to call forms:

A cover letter to the candidate, including details about your congregation, your community, special opportunities, and so on. Make sure the letter includes contact information for key individuals in the congregation. Click here for a sample call letter.

A completed compensation worksheet for the candidate. Some candidates may already have teaching experience from emergency teaching or tutoring. In such cases, compensation may need to be adjusted upward after the assignment is made. Please let your district president know if you aren't able to accommodate a candidate with some experience. You may also indicate "zero" in the "maximum years of experience" field in the "position" tab on the call request form.

Optional documents

You may include other documents with additional information about your congregation and community, but this is not required.

Examples:

Pictorial directory
Constitution and bylaws
Facility floor plan
Current budget, financial reports
Annual report
Service folders

Communication

Please make sure that your primary point of contact stays close to their cell phone while the Assignment Committee is meeting on Thursday, May 15 and Friday, May 16. The district president may need additional information regarding your request.

If your assignment request cannot be filled, your district president will contact you no later than Friday evening to inform you that you will not receive a graduate.