Under the Fig Tree: From corporate engineer to seminarian with Craig Wenzlick

Under the Fig Tree

In this episode of Under the Fig Tree, host Rev. Micah Glenn and fill-in host Kati Gaschler (while Dr. Benjamin Haupt is on sabbatical) talk with first-year Residential Alternate Route student Craig Wenzlick and his wife, Angela. He grew up in a small town in western Nebraska and earned an undergraduate degree from the Concordia University, Nebraska, Seward. He worked as an engineer for many years, while also serving lay leadership positions in his congregation. Finally, in the early 2020s, as his work hours increased from eight hours a day to 15-plus, he asked himself: “What can I do that’s in the church more and does shepherding and service and supporting people,” he says. He looked at his wife and “she kind of gave me the look. ‘You know it.’” He talked to a pastor who told him to just apply to the Seminary. “Just follow the path,” Craig remembers the pastor telling him. “Then, at any point you feel like this is not a good idea, just jump off the path,” the pastor told him. “Eventually we applied and here we are,” Craig says. Angela, who is a rostered church worker and currently works as a teacher at a local Lutheran school, said the couple had a “peace” about their transition to the Seminary. “If the Holy Spirit is putting this on your heart, let’s check it out,” she says. “It was a major decision to leave family, but we just kept praying about it and depending on the Holy Spirit to just keep moving us along.” They also share some advice for those considering ministry. “I’d say just be open to exploring and stepping out in faith and be listening to the Holy Spirit,” Angela says. “Just be in prayer. Ask your community of family and friends to bathe you in prayer.” Craig adds, “I would say talking to the pastor was definitely one of the good things that we did. We didn’t talk to a pastor that we knew really, really well. We talked to someone who knew us but had no skin in the game.” In the recurring segment, “Ripe for the picking or leave it on the tree,” hear how the guests and the Wenzlicks feel about pineapple on pizza, cinnamon rolls and chili, and more!