# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2004_S228 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 228 HIGHER EDUCATION 6.85 Vicarage An eeademie calendar year of supervised internship (vic- arage) is required of all seminary students before graduation completion of their study program. Every vicar shall be assigned by the Council of Presidents, acting as the Board of Assign- ments. Commission on Structure 5-20 To Overturn Council of Presidents’ Policy re Seminarians’ Wives WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures lay out the qualifications for a man to serve in the pastoral office (1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1); and WHEREAS, It is more important for us as a church to be faithful to those qualifications before creating our own; and WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures indicate that pastors’ wives (wife of the diakonos) should be “women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything” (1 Tim. 3:11 NIV); and Wtereas, A vicar’s/candidate’s wife can meet the qualifica- tions of 1 Tim. 3:11 without being a member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod; and WHEREAS, St. Paul’s exhortation in 2 Cor. 6:14 is for Christians not to be “yoked together with unbelievers”; and WHEREAS, It is the congregation’s decision to call; and WHEREAS, The policy of the Council of Presidents that states that “the wives of married seminary students must be members in good standing of a congregation of The Lutheran Church— Mis- souri Synod before the student will be assigned to a vicarage. In all cases, the student’s wife must be a member of an LCMS congrega- tion before he receives a call at placement” interferes with, super- sedes, and blocks a congregation’s decision to call an otherwise qualified candidate; ‘and Whereas, The congregation calls the candidate to fill the pas- toral office, not the candidate’s wife (or family); and WHEREAS, The congregation should have the right and, at the very least, the opportunity to call an otherwise qualified candidate; and Wrereas, While the Council of Presidents’ policy of requiring LCMS membership for a vicar’s/candidate’s wife may make prag- matic sense, it is not consistent with our church’s understanding of the call and of the office of the ministry; and WHEREAS, Ensuring a vicar’s/candidate’s wife’s LCMS status does not insure any sort of congregational acceptance or harmony; and WHEREAS, It is more important for the health and well-being of both the congregation and of the pastor himself that he have a lov- ing, supportive, Christian wife and a good marriage than that he be married to an LCMS woman; and WHEREAS, Neither the candidate, nor his wife, should be pres- sured into her attaining LCMS status so that he might receive his vicarage assignment or placement call, thereby encouraging an ac- tion from false motives that is rooted in hypocrisy; therefore be it Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, in con- vention, overturn the Council of Presidents’ policy requiring sem- inarians’ wives to be members in good standing of a congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod before the student will be assigned to a vicarage or before he will receive a call at place- ment; and be it further Resolved, That the congregations requesting either vicarage or placement assignments be fully informed if a potential candidate’s wife is not a member in good standing of a congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod before accepting a particular assignment; and be it finally Resolved, That the decision to call an otherwise qualified can- didate, or accept an otherwise qualified vicar, be left up to the in- dividual congregation. Christ Austin, TX 5-21 To Encourage Seminaries to Affirm Role of Women Whereas, Our Missouri Synod has affirmed in many ways the total partnership of men and women within the work of the king- dom; and WuerEAS, Many changes in society, including racial and cul- ‘tural changes, affect the way the church’s ministry is perceived and received; therefore be it Resolved, That the English District encourage the 2004 LCMS convention to encourage the seminaries to affirm the role of women within our Synod, as mentioned in the CTCR document of 1985, as the seminaries do their blessed work of the formation of pastoral candidates; and be it further Resolved, That the English District memorialize the 2004 syn- odical convention to encourage the seminaries in their blessed work of the formation of pastoral candidates to utilize this same CTCR document of 1985, continuing to affirm the role of women within our Synod. English District 5-22 To Direct Board for Higher Education to Provide Same Standard for All Alternate Routes Leading to Ordination Wrereas, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has had a tradition of maintaining a high standard of education for its clergy; and WHEREAS, One critical attribute of theological education is the study of Hebrew and/or Greek, in which the original text of Scrip- tures were written; and WHEREAS, The knowledge of the original text is critical to the proper understanding of Scripture; and WHEREAS, A called and ordained servant of the Word is re- quired to properly distinguish Law from Gospel; and WHEREAS, The recent development of the Ethnic Immigrant In- stitute of Theology (EIIT) in St. Louis, the People of the Book Lutheran Outreach (POBLO) in Fort Wayne, and Distance Educa- tion Leading To Ordination (DELTO) have omitted the study of the aforementioned original languages; and WHEREAS, These programs undermine the high standard of ed- ucation of LCMS clergy; therefore be it Resolved, That the Montana District in convention request the Synod in the 2004 convention to direct the Synod Board for Higher Education in conjunction with the faculties of both seminaries to review the inconsistencies and standardize the educational require- ments for those who seek ordination; and be it further Resolved, That all alternate programs leading to ordination meet the minimum standards as outlined in the DELTO program (30 courses) and include the additional study of the Greek language; and be it finally Resolved, That the Board for Higher Education present its find- ings to provide the recommendation for standardized guidelines for all alternate routes leading to ordination to the 2007 Synod con- vention. Montana District 5-23 To Encourage DELTO and TEE Whereas, Our Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod continues to be challenged by rapidly expanding opportunities for outreach with the power of the Gospel, especially to the diverse racial, language, and cultural groups that are found everywhere in our nation, so much so that in sparsely settled parts of our country, we simply cannot meet the need. Likewise, we have many willing to serve