# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S448
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

FLOOR COMMITTEE REPORTS AND OVERTURES ASSIGNMENTS

448

6. Pastoral Ministry and Seminaries
REPORTS
R1, R1.1, R1.2, R2, R2.1, R4, R4.1–2, R12,
R58, R59.1–13, R65, R66
OVERTURES
Ov. 6-01

To Direct a Review of Admission and Certification
for Routes to Ordination
WHEREAS, Jesus said “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers
are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send
out laborers into his harvest.” (Matt. 9:37–38); and
WHEREAS, “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the
office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” (1 Tim. 3:1); and
WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures define the personal
qualifications of men who are able to serve in the Office of the Holy
Ministry:
Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of
one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable,
able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not
quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own
household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,
for if someone does not know how to manage his own household,
how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent
convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into
the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well
thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into
a snare of the devil. (1 Tim. 3:2–7)
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to
everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his
opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them
repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may
come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after
being captured by him to do his will. (2 Tim. 2:24–26)
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what
remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I
directed you—if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one
wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of
debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s
steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or
quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but
hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and
disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught,
so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and
also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Titus 1:5–9);
and
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Synod states that “[t]he
Synod, under Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, shall …
recruit and train pastors” (Const. Art. III 3); and
WHEREAS, The Synod has resolved in 2016 Resolution 6-02:
Resolved, That the seminaries in consultation with the Council
of Presidents review their admissions and certification standards
to ensure that all those admitted to or certified through any of the
routes to the Office of the Holy Ministry conform to the personal
2019 Convention Workbook

qualifications outlined in Holy Scriptures (1 Tim. 3:1–7; 2 Tim.
2:24–26; Titus 1:5–9), including that they be a biological male
(Gen. 1:26; Matt. 19:4; Acts 1:21; 1 Tim. 3:2), the husband of
only one wife if married (1 Tim. 3:2, Titus 1:6; see also Apology
of the Augsburg Confession XXIII); and be it further
Resolved, That the Synod in convention uphold these scriptural
and confessional qualifications of the holy ministry by directing
the seminaries and district presidents to ensure that (1) the
candidate for office be examined by a seminary faculty or the
colloquy committee to certify his fitness in life, doctrine, and
confessional commitment; (2) he be called by the church to a
particular field of service in the public teaching of God’s Word
and administration of the Holy Sacraments; and (3) he be
ordained into this office by the appropriate district president or
his representative according to the order of the church” (2016
Res. 6-02, emphasis added);
and
WHEREAS, There may be men who seek admission or
certification to the Office of the Holy Ministry in the Synod who
admit to having homosexual attraction or desire toward other men;
therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention direct the seminaries in
consultation with the Council of Presidents to review their
admissions and certification standards, so that no man who admits
to having homosexual attraction or desire be admitted or certified
through any of the routes to the Office of the Holy Ministry.
Circuit 3
Southern Illinois District
Ov. 6-02

To Restore Both Biblical Languages
to the Education of Future Pastors
WHEREAS, One of the major qualifications for a man aspiring to
the Office of the Holy/Public Ministry is his ability to teach (1 Tim.
3:2); and
WHEREAS, “We believe, teach and confess that the only rule and
norm according to which all teachings, together with all teachers,
should be evaluated and judged (2 Tim. 3:15–17) are the prophetic
and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testament alone”
(Formula of Concord, Summary Content, Rule, and Norm 1); and
WHEREAS, To teach, a man in the Office of the Holy/Public
Ministry should be able to understand the Scripture as God breathed
it out (2 Tim. 3:16); and
WHEREAS, The Old Testament was initially “breathed out” in
Biblical Hebrew (small portions of the Old Testament, most notably
of Daniel, are written in Aramaic), and the New Testament in Koine
Greek; and
WHEREAS, Much in the Scriptures that points to Christ and him
crucified is embedded in the nuances of both Biblical languages and
can be lost in translation; and
WHEREAS, Of the routes approved by Synod through which men
are prepared for the Office of the Holy/Public Ministry, only the
residential Masters of Divinity route requires training in both
Hebrew and Greek, while the remainder of the routes to “general
pastor” require either Greek only or neither Biblical language, and
the Specific Ministry Pastor program requires neither Biblical
language (2016 Convention Report R5-14A, Workbook, pp. 270–