“I Wanted My Life to Be Dedicated to Proclaiming This Good News”

Seminary Graduate Receives First Call into Pastoral Ministry

National—With gratitude and anticipation, Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary’s sole pastoral graduate for 2026 has received his first call into ministry, marking an important milestone both for the graduate and for the congregations he now prepares to serve.

Albert Ho has been called to serve a tri-parish ministry: Grace (West Lorne), Our Saviour (London), and Redeemer (St. Thomas), where he looks forward to getting to know the congregations and surrounding communities. While acknowledging the challenges of serving in multiple settings, he expressed excitement about the opportunities ahead and the privilege of bringing God’s Word and Sacraments to His people.

Reflecting on the path that led him to pastoral ministry, Ho shared that the journey toward seminary unfolded gradually over many years and through significant life experiences. During his undergraduate years, a period marked by major transitions and personal loss prompted deeper reflection on faith, vocation, and the saving work of Christ.

“With my eyes opened to the pricelessness of the treasure we need and have in Jesus, I knew that I wanted my life to be dedicated to proclaiming this good news,” he said.

His years in seminary, he noted, were both demanding and deeply formative. Alongside academic study came personal hardships, shared struggles, and spiritual growth that strengthened both faith and fellowship among fellow seminarians, from whom he also learnt a lot.

“So, while my journey was one of great difficulty, it was, moreover, one of immense blessing,” he reflected. “In the midst of suffering, God showed us the power of His Word and prepared us to bring that Word into the lives of others.”

He pulls Psalm 37 as a Scripture passage that has encouraged him during that season. “God gives comfort to His people, and just as He has delivered His people in the past, He has done so for us most importantly in Jesus. He preserves His faithful, and we can put our trust in Him, knowing that in the Lord, our labour is not in vain.”

Receiving his first call brought what he described as “overwhelming joy,” not simply as the culmination of years of theological education, but as part of God’s lifelong shaping and preparation for ministry.

Although graduating as the sole pastoral candidate this year, he encouraged the church not to focus only on numbers, but on God’s continuing faithfulness in raising up workers for His harvest. He also pointed to growing seminary enrollment and the encouragement found in fellow students preparing for future service.

Among the experiences that especially shaped him was a year of study abroad at Westfield House in Cambridge, England, where he visited Lutheran church bodies in fellowship with Lutheran Church–Canada and gained a deeper appreciation for the global fellowship of believers.

As he prepares to begin pastoral service, Ho asks the church to pray that he would remain humble and faithful to the mission entrusted to him.

“The world is full of distractions,” he said, “but there is much joyous work to be done for the Kingdom.” Lutheran Church–Canada congratulates Albert Ho on this milestone and prays for those in the pastoral office as well as for our seminaries.

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