The following is an abbreviated version of University Chaplain Simeon Raddatz’s newest column in the Forester magazine. Read the full article in the Spring 2024 Forester to learn more about Rev. Raddatz’s journey back to CUC after graduating in 2013.

When Concordia-Chicago’s University Chaplain position first became vacant, my wife, Lauren BA ’14, and I wondered together, “Who will be the right individual to fill that vital role?” It was hard for either of us to imagine anyone besides Pastor Leininger filling those shoes because he had faithfully served CUC and her students, including us, for so long. At that time, it did not remotely dawn on us that the new chaplain could be me. I was contentedly serving the saints of Trinity Lutheran Church in Pekin, IL.

In fact, I was finally doing there what I had always envisioned. Ever since I began to contemplate the ministry as a youth, I only ever had in mind traditional parish ministry.

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At the same time, the youth of the church, who go away to college, need pastors. I readily admit that, as a parish pastor, it was hard to care for the college-aged youth when they would leave for school. … A far more ideal solution is for these students to have a pastor close by, with whom they can meet face-to-face for pastoral care.

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Pastor Raddatz meets and greets students during his first week on campus in 2023.

That was one of the reasons that compelled me to take seriously the call to Concordia-Chicago’s chaplaincy. Now, as University Chaplain, I get to assist other pastors in caring for their college-aged members at CUC. I also have opportunity to help those students who do not have a pastor by filling that role until I can eventually connect them with a local pastor and congregation.

Another thing that compelled me to take seriously this call is the Church’s general need for pastors. That might at first seem ironic: I left a congregation in need of a pastor because another needed me. The Church needed and needs more pastors—period. The role of CUC’s University Chaplain also encompasses oversight of the University’s pre-seminary program. As a result, I now have a direct role in recruiting, encouraging and forming young men who are themselves contemplating the pastoral office. In this way, the Lord is using me to serve the larger Church, helping to fill their need for new pastors.

I never envisioned being where I am now—as University Chaplain at my alma mater—and it is still sinking in. What comforts me, though, is that the Lord has always known that He would call me here. “In Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:16). He already knows how He will put me to His good use, and, being that our Lord Christ is head over all things for the sake of His church, He knows how He will provide for us all until He comes again.

Thanks be to God.