# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2010_S134
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

134

RESOLUTIONS

Task Force on Synodical Harmony, BPE Report, BRTFSSG
Report); therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention affirm the following LCMS “Themes for Pastoral Education”:
• Academic Readiness
The church needs pastors who are grounded in the Holy
Scriptures, rooted in the Lutheran Confessions, formed
by the history of the church, and able to apply the Word
of God to the lives of people for their salvation and for
his own, to the glory of God .
• Pastoral Practice
The church needs pastors who are competent leaders in
pastoral ministry .
• Spiritual Formation
The church seeks men whose faith in Jesus Christ is nourished regularly by the Word and sacraments in public
worship and by a disciplined devotional life .
• Mission Outreach
The church needs pastors who are prepared to proclaim
the Good News of Jesus Christ .
• Understanding Church within Culture and Context
The church looks to its pastors to know the Holy
Scriptures well, to be confidently Lutheran, and to apply
the Word of God to contemporary contexts and culture .
• Community of Faith
The church wants pastoral education undertaken in an
environment of prayer and care, with worship at the center, and with the proper integration of biblical theology
and pastoral practice .
• Service of the Baptized
The church wants pastors who are prepared to motivate
and stimulate, prepare and engage the baptized in their
lives of service and vocation .
• Church Administration
The church needs pastors to lead and manage the congregation to accomplish its mission and purpose .
• Faithful Faculty with Pastoral Experience
The church needs faculty who are committed to the mission of the church, maintain academic excellence, testify
to their faith, relate theology to pastoral practice, make
alive the Lutheran heritage, and show appreciation for
the practice of pastoral ministry .
• Scholarship for the Church and to the World
The church needs pastors, congregations, universities/
colleges, and seminaries to transmit Lutheran theology
to the next generations .
• Flexibility in Approach and Delivery of Pastoral
Education
The church needs pastoral education brought to candidates as diverse as its membership and mission—young
and old, single and married, no debt and heavy debt,
no college and advanced degrees, novice Christians and
Lutherans their entire life, confined to one place and
2010 Convention Proceedings

highly mobile, dominant culture and ethnic community,
rich and poor .
• International/Global Component
The church needs to recognize that pastoral education is
an international endeavor .
and be it further
Resolved, That the 2010 LCMS convention direct the
Council of Presidents and the administration and faculties of
the Synod’s seminaries and universities to continue to study
how best to certify clergy and hold them accountable for continuing education; and be it finally
Resolved, That their recommendations be presented at the
next Synod convention .
Action: Adopted (13)
(During discussion, an amendment was proposed to replace
“and manage the congregation to accomplish its mission and purpose” in the eighth bullet of the first resolve with “their congregations through catechesis, teaching Holy Scripture and the liturgy
and the Confessions with humble service through word and sacrament .” The chair ruled that the words in question are a quotation
which the assembly has no right to change and that the proposed
amendment was therefore not in order . When the use of the word
“novice” in the second-last bullet of the first resolve was questioned in light of 1 Tim . 3:6, it was explained that the resolution
and its quoted “Themes for Pastoral Education” intend to speak
primarily to the recruitment of candidates . As discussion continued,
a proposed amendment to add “and universities” after “seminaries”
in the second resolve was accepted by the committee as a friendly
amendment . After debate was ended, Res . 5-05A was adopted as
changed [Yes: 552; No: 306] .)

To Revise Bylaw 3.8.3.7.2 re Election Process
for College and University Presidents
RESOLUTION 5-06A
Overture 5-30–31 (CW, pp. 203–204)
Rationale
The Bylaws assign supervision of an institution’s president to the board of regents . The regents are responsible for
establishing the institution’s priorities, setting its policies,
and holding the president accountable for meeting the institution’s objectives . The current bylaws prescribe a presidential
election process that is dominated by a search committee structure that is predominantly faculty members, and do not give
the board of regents an appropriate level of leadership in the
selection process . Therefore, the following revisions make the
board of regents responsible for leading the presidential election process .
The current bylaws also prescribe in great detail how the
selection process is to be conducted . Such details are more
appropriately established by the board of regents rather than
at the Synod level . The proposed changes simplify the process
prescribed by the Synod while maintaining a legitimate level
of participation by the Synod .