Randall Lewis is a bi-vocational shepherd, guarding Little Rock schools during the week and leading a Lutheran flock on Sundays.
Now, he's an officially ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament as well.
Last month, leaders from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod gathered at Grace Lutheran Church in Little Rock to formally recognize Lewis' calling and to seek God's continued blessing on his life.
Placing their hands on Lewis' head, they ordained and consecrated him to perform "Holy Ministry... in the one, holy, Christian Church."
As Lewis knelt, Roger C. Paavola, president of the church's Mid-South District, asked God to give his fellow "servant of Christ" a zealous heart and the boldness to "guide, comfort, admonish, and serve Your congregation with gentleness and wisdom" so that he can "seek the straying and bear up the weak."
Lewis' wife, Kim, and his children were present as a liturgical vestment was placed over Lewis' shoulders.
Afterward, as the newly ordained minister was swarmed by happy grandchildren, a smile broke across Paavola's face.
"This is absolutely a great day. I am just absolutely overjoyed that this man has joined in the ministry of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod," he said.
To qualify for ordination, Lutherans usually earn an advanced seminary degree, but there are other avenues as well for "men of good moral character" who have prepared for pastoral ministry in nontraditional ways.
Lewis' route has certainly been atypical. Ordained two decades ago as a Baptist minister, he agreed to fill in, temporarily, after a small Little Rock Lutheran congregation lost its pastor.
Sixteen years later, he is still at the helm of Community of Faith Lutheran Ministry.
"They say it's part-time work, but it's never part-time ministry. It's full-time work," Kim Lewis said.
Until his June 19 ordination, he was listed as a deacon.
For a time, Lewis tried taking courses from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, but it was difficult, considering all of his responsibilities here in Arkansas.
Later, he participated in the denomination's colloquy program, which teams an ordained clergyman with a candidate for ordination.
To qualify for ordination, church leaders had to be satisfied that Lewis was "above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious [and] free from the love of money."
In addition, they needed to be certain that his theology was solid.
Lewis was teamed with James Walter, Grace Lutheran Church's pastor at the time.
"Jim and I went over the materials together. We did it at least once per week for at least a year," Lewis recalled.
Even after Walter retired, he continued working with Lewis. A sudden illness and death in December 2020 prevented Walter from completing the task. Paavola stepped in to help fill the void.
Walter, Lewis said, was "a great guy, a great man."
"I hate that he's not here to see the finished product," he said.
During the ordination service, Lewis affirmed his belief in the Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian creeds, also declaring that the primary Lutheran statement of faith, the 492-year-old Augsburg Confession, is "a true exposition of Holy Scripture."
Holding the ordination at Grace Lutheran Church was a nod to Walter's life and legacy, organizers said.
"It's a glorious day," said Kent Schaaf, the congregation's current pastor.
The Missouri-based church is the nation's second-largest Lutheran denomination, second only to its more liberal Mainline counterpart, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
With a membership that is 95% white, Lewis will be one of the denomination's few Black ministers. The congregation he leads is also predominantly Black.
The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, which is now a nationwide entity, was originally an immigrant church, noted Roosevelt Gray, the denomination's Director of Black Ministry.
Organized in 1847 in Chicago, it was initially known as the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States.
In the early days, most of its preachers and parishioners spoke German and German-language services would remain common well into the 20th century.
When the Civil War broke out, many of its members fought and, in 1877, the church decided to engage in missionary activities in the former confederacy, with the focus on the newly freed Black population.
"They came south and here was where the first church was started. St. Paul Colored Lutheran Church was the name of it -- right here in Little Rock," Gray said.
For a time, there was also a Lutheran school in Little Rock for Black students.
Paavola said Lutherans would like to one day see a childhood education center, a daycare and eventually a school connected to Lewis' congregation.
Randall Lewis of Little Rock (center, with beard) and his wife, Kim, pose for photos with family members and his fellow clergy members on June 19 after being ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. The service was held at Grace Lutheran Church. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Frank E. Lockwood)