Freshman Cole Yunker looks forward to a future of serving God’s people as a Lutheran pastor in a rural setting

Freshman Cole Yunker says that a pin at the National Youth Gathering is what led him to consider even coming to a college in the Concordia University System (CUS).  

“The Concordias weren’t really on my radar until the youth gathering,” he said, “when I saw a ‘kiss me I’m Lutheran’ pin that I simply had to have.”  

From Newburgh, Indiana, Yunker is now in the middle of his second semester as a student at Concordia Nebraska, where he’s studying classical liberal arts on a pre-seminary track with minors in Biblical languages and philosophy. He is also a track and cross country athlete who sings in the A Cappella choir and is part of the Luke Scholars honors program.  

Yunker said that his desire to become a pastor is what drew him toward attending a Lutheran university. 

“Once I decided to go into church work,” he said, “I was sure that I wanted to attend a Lutheran college. When I visited Concordia [Nebraska], I fell in love with the community that I saw.”  

Every pastor who teaches here displays such a pastoral character that even in teaching basic religion classes, they are teaching me how to live and act as a minister of God’s gifts.

His favorite part of attending Concordia Nebraska so far has been that sense of community – from peers to professors and beyond, he found that many around him lived out the Christian faith that he hopes to share with others in the future.  

“I have loved the professors so far,” he said. “They all have such expertise and lead everything in the light of our Christian faith. They lead classes in prayer, point constantly to Christ, and help students to understand their studies as a vocation...Every pastor who teaches here displays such a pastoral character that even in teaching basic religion classes, they are teaching me how to live and act as a minister of God’s gifts.”  

Studying Biblical languages especially under expert faculty, he said, is another bonus of attending Concordia – and one that will give him an advantage going into seminary. He hopes to be called to a small rural parish after his undergraduate and seminary studies – even citing having a homestead with a garden and animals in the country as a “common daydream.”  

While he’s still at Concordia Nebraska, though, Yunker looks forward to developing his faith as a future pastor. He enjoys attending chapel, Evening Prayer and other worship opportunities on campus.  

“Being able to go to chapel daily and hear the Word of God proclaimed is a tremendous blessing,” he said. I love receiving God’s gifts in the Divine Service every Wednesday and am blessed by biweekly evening prayer services.”  

Back home, Yunker has an older brother Reece and two younger sisters, Molly and Joy. He enjoys reading, hanging out with friends and spending time outdoors whenever possible in his free time.  

The pre-seminary program at Concordia University, Nebraska is designed to coordinate with the Master of Divinity programs at both Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod seminaries, giving students the opportunity to begin their theological studies at the undergraduate level on their journey toward ordination as an LCMS pastor. Learn more about the program here.