# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1989_S117 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 117 8 credits—Historical theology 12 credits—-Christianity in society 4 credits—Elective theology 12 credits—Deaconess specialization courses a 9-12 month internship (12 credits) and 6 quarters (150 hours) of field work; and Wuereas, We thank God for the office of deaconess and for the women who have faithfully served in this office; and Wuereas, It is helpful and desirable that synodically certified deaconesses be declared eligible for membership in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), and that they be rostered in the category Ministers of Religion— Commissioned; therefore be it Resolved, That Articles V and VI of the Constitution be amended to read in their entirety as follows: Article V Membership Membership in the Synod is held and may be ac- quired by congregations, ministers of the Gospel, teach- ers, and deaconesses of the Evangelical Lutheran Church who confess and accept the confessional basis of Article IT. A. Voting Members All organized congregations that have joined the Synod hold voting membership. At the meetings of the Districts of the Synod every congregation or parish is entitled to two votes, one of which is to be cast by the pastor and the other by the lay delegate. At the meetings of the Synod a number of congregations shall form a group which shall be represented by two voting dele- gates, one a pastor and one a lay delegate. B. Advisory Members Advisory members only are the following: 1. Pastors whose congregations do not hold member- ship in the Synod; . Assistant pastors; . Ministers not in charge of congregations; Professors at the Synod’s educational institutions; . Teachers of pareehial-sehoels the Evangelical Lu- theran Church; . Deaconesses . Candidates for the office of the ministry, er for that of a teacher i i of the Evangel- ical Lutheran Church, or for deaconess. Article VI Conditions of Membership Conditions for acquiring and holding membership in the Synod are the following: 1. Acceptance of the confessional basis of Article IT. 2. Renunciation of unionism and syncretism of every description, such as; a. Serving congregations of mixed confession, as such, by ministers of the church; ’ b. Taking part in the services and sacramental rites of heterodox congregations or of congregations of mixed confession; c.Participating in heterodox tract and missionary activities. , 3. Regular call of pastors, and teachers , and deacon- esses, and regular election of lay delegates by the congregations, as also the blamelessness of the life of such. 4. Exclusive use of doctrinally pure agenda, hymn- books, and catechisms in church and school. 5. A congregation shall be received into membership only after the Synod has convinced itself that the constitution of the congregation, which must be sub- mitted for examination, contains nothing contrary to the Scriptures or the Confessions. NA NAAPwWN 6. Pastors, teachers, or candidates for the office of the ministry or that of a teacher in a parochial school not coming from recognized orthodox church bodies must submit to a colloquium before being received. 7. Congregations and individuals shall be received into membership at such time and manner, and according to such procedures, as shall be set forth in the Bylaws to this Constitution.,; and be it further Resolved, That the foregoing amendments be submitted to the congregations of the Synod for ratification in con- formity with Article XIV of the Constitution. Action: Adopted (13). To Recommend Further Ministry Studies RESOLUTION 3-12 Report R3-06 (CW, pp. 72-73) Wuereas, The Lay Worker Study Committee was un- able to give its full attention to all the issues and questions assigned to it and has recommended further study of those issues and questions; therefore be it Resolved, That the following recommendations of the Lay Worker Study Committee be adopted as follows: Issues for Further Study A. Bivocational (Worker-Priest) Ministries That the President of the Synod form a committee in- cluding representation from the Council of Presidents and the Board for Higher Education Services to review the cur- rent situation regarding bivocational ministries with spe- cial attention to the preparation and supervision required for such ministries as well as the official status of such workers. B. Ordination of Nonseminary Trained Men Serving in Word and Sacrament Ministry. Alternate Routes to the Pastoral Office That a committee be appointed by the President of the Synod to study the question of whether laymen performing functions of the pastoral ministry should, in fact, be “or- dained.” In what circumstances and with what require- ments? Should the Synod, in fact, establish “alternate routes” into the pastoral office? C. Training for Ethnic Ministries That the Board for Higher Education Services review the Theological Education by Extension program, which has been established for Hispanic workers, and study whether such a program should be established and en- couraged for workers in other ethnic groups. D. Continuing Education That the Committee on Continuing Education be asked to study and develop guidelines and resources for contin- uing education as it applies to laymen involved in Word and Sacrament ministry and to other certified lay workers. Action: Adopted (14).