LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 322

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322

THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS

Baptism makes all Christians members of the priesthood of believers. It
does not make them public ministers of the church. The call of God, issued
through the church, makes some of the priests holders of the office of the
public ministry and thus responsible for all of its functions. The holder of such
an office represents the church, but he does so as a representative of God.
He is bound to the Word of God, and his response to the cali of the churchis
to be bound to proclaim God's Word. That response completes his entry into
the office

To be eligible to be called to the office of the public ministry aman must
be adjudged to have met God's requirements as listed in ! Timothy 3 and
Titus 1.

The church. availing itself of mature advice and guidance as 1t certifies
men for the public ministry. performs the evaluation necessary to determine
whether a man is in all respects suitable for the ministry of Word and
sacraments

2. The office of the public ministry 1s grounded in the ministry of Christ
and is an extension of the apostolate established by Him

The office of the public ministry of the church is rooted and grounded in
the ministry of Christ. He was the Suffering Servant, the God-man, who not
only taught about God's love but completely satisfied the demands of God's
holy Law by vicariously living a perfect life and dying a sacrificial death for our
transgressions of God's Law. His priestly, prophetic, and royal actions are the
essential content and power of the ministry of the church. God not only
provided salvatior. and declared the whole world just for the sake of Christ.
but He also provided the means of grace and the ministry of the Word ard
sacrament “to offer and apply to us this treasure of salvation” (LC II. 38)

In the beginning our Lord appointed, trained, and sent out the apostles
In His love for the world, God arranged for the continuation of the apostolic
munistry and message. The message of the apostles. learned by them directly
from the Lord and taught to them by the Holy Spirit. was to remain the
church's treasure.

The pastoral ministry is apostolic in terms of what it teaches but not in
terms of an unbroken succession of ordaining bishops. Already in Acts 13
we read that Barnabas was set aside by the Holy Spirit working through the
church in Antioch. Barnabas became an “apostle.” though not one of “the
twelve.” He received his office mediately from God through the church in
Antioch. “Overseers” or “shepherds” in the church were God's idea and
temain so. In Acts 20:28 we see that the shepherding 1s to be performed by
those who have been made bishops ( episkopoi) by the Holy Spirit. The office
was held by men chosen for this purpose (Ap XIV. 1). In Acts 20:17. for
exampie, reference 1s made to the elders of the church, not merely to elders
in a more general sense

The office of Word and sacrament has been established by God as the

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congregation is biessed when it places at the side of its pastor faithful and
capabie teachers, for instance, who enhance his administration of the office
of the public ministry. The validity of their office derives not from the person
of the pastor but from the Christ-grounded nature of the office of pubic
ministry, Their office is a public office and an office of ministry, although it 1s
not the office of the public ministry of Word and sacrament, that 1s, the
pastoral office. Pernaps a better term than “auxiliary” might be found. The
thought needs to be stressed not only that the teaching office in the church is
auxiliary to the pastoral ministry but rather auxiliary to the postoral ministry
18 grounded not mereiy in the priesthood of believers but. through the office
of the pubiic ministry. in the ministry of Christ and the aposties. The fact that
not ail appreciate this does not change its tremendous theological significance
forall who labor in the church. To ground the auxiliary offices of the church in
a vague and unembodied “ministry in general” is no gain for anyone. To see
them flow from the specific office that is amply attested and exemplified in the
New Testament and strongly championed in the Lutheran Confessions 1s a
higher view of the auxiliary offices than that which would seek an
independent grounding separate from the office of the public ministry of
Word and sacrament

In recent years there has been a tendency to refer to ali fulltime workers
in the church as “professional workers.” That term may have its uses for
certain legal explanations, but it misses the power and beauty of the
Scriptural doctrine of the ministry. Even auxiliary offices appear more
churchly if we say they are serving the office of the public ministry rather than
functioning profess:onaliy. For in serving in a ministry that is auxiliary to the
Pastoral ministry ore is serving the ministry of Jesus Christ and is engaged in
the only kind of human efforts that will survive the end of time. The hoider of
an auxtiary office may rejoice to say, “I am in the ministry” with a very
specific meaning. He or she holds an office that 1s not oniy the priesthood of
believers (which all Christians hold) nor the office of the public ministry. [tis a
ministry that has its own validity:

4. The church may rank those who hold various offices, but the
distinctions within the offices are by human authority

Every position :n the church is one of service, of Christ-exaltation and
seif-abasement. However. it is useful for the church to arrange for various
rankings and orders of supervision also among its pastors. teachers. and
others. The distinction between pastors and holders of auxiliary offices 1s not
merely a human distinction. It is not a ranking but a distinction of offices.
Within the various offices fe.g.. pastorate. teaching office! rankings may be
made by human authority. There may. for example, be “senior pastors” and
“assistant pastors.” or principals and teachers. The nomenclature adopted
by the church from time to time may indicate such rankings Uniformity of
terrmnology is highly desirable

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highest office in the church. Other rankings within that office or within other
offices may be useful, but they are always by human authority (de iure
humano). As Christ was the Father's obedient Suffering Servant, so His
ministers are servants, even slaves, as St. Paul calls himself. No one is to seek
office in the church for personal glory. A man may aspire to the office, but it is
God who calis Him through the church. The church calls those who hold the
office of the public ministry, and it calls those who stand beside the public
ministers to labor in the Gospel mission of the church.

As a continuation of the ministry of Christ and as an extension of the
apostolic ministry, the office of the public ministry is not optional for the
church.‘!

3. The church establishes facilitating offices.

Other offices in the church that facilitate the proclamation of the Word,
the administration of the sacraments and administration of the Office of the
Keys, though not mandated, appeared already in the apostolic church. To
the extent that they strengthen the performance of the functions of the office
of the public ministry, they. too. find their ground in the ministry of Christ. A
Christian teacher, for instance, is not merely a Christian who teaches but a
servant of Christ and the church who, at the call of the church, is helping the
called pastor to fulfill his mandate to teach the Gospel

To see the office of the public ministry as being grounded in the ministry
of Christ. as continuing the ministry of the apostles. and as carrying with it all
of the functions of the church’s mission is to understand why The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod, following the assessment of C.F. W. Walther, has
termed it the “highest office.”":? The office of the public ministry is so broad
that it can effectively employ the gifts of helpers in its performance. The

“Cf. Walther’s third thesis on the ministry im the
Appendix

Cf. Walther’s eighth thesis on the ministry in the
Appendix

In elaboration of this thesis, Walther states: “The highest
office is the ministry of preaching, with which all other offices are
simultaneously conferred. Therefore every other public office in
the Church 1s merely a part of the office of the ministry, or an
auxiliary office, whichis attached to the ministry of preaching
Accordingly. the offices of school-teachers who have to teach the
Word of God in their schools . . . are all to be regarded as sacred
offices of the Church, which exercise a part of the one office of the
Church and are aids to the ministry of preaching” (Walther and
the Church, p. 79)

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Rankings that are made by human right should be made for the sake of
the work and not merely to elevate individuals. The fact that some members
of the church are called by God to be “overseers” does not make them a
special caste. Moreover. it must be noted that where there is oversight, there
is also submission. However, in the New Testament “submisison™ 1s not a
term indicating inferiority. The Greek word Aypotagee refers to order and
not to inferiority.

5. The call from and by God through the church is essential for entry
into the pastorai ministry or tts auxiliary offices
In order to ciarify what 1s meant by a cali we define it as follows:

A person :s “called” when he or she is summoned by the church ito
the office of Word and sacrament or to an office auxiliary to itona
full-time permanent basis and by education, by certification. and oy
solemn and public act (e.g., ordination or commissioning) is
brought into a unique relationship with the church from which he or
she has unique authority and through which he or shes author:zed
to perform functions of that office of the church :nto which he or she
has been ordained or commissioned, at a specific post for the iength
of time which is ordinarily continuing and indefinite. but which in
certain cases and under certain special circurnstances may be a
specified period of time, which:s evidenced by the individual's name
being placed on and reta:ned on one of the official rosters of the
Synod‘?

It is God's caii mediated through the church ‘as a single congregation or
a group of congregations) as :t is guided in prayer and by the Holy Spirit that
makes aman “overseer in the church. All who serve in the pastoral ministry:
or its auxiliary offices must be called by the church

The use of the word “cail” should be limited. To be sure, even those who
teach Sunday school or hold other such offices in the congregation must not
arrogate such functions or offices to themselves. They must await the
assignment of the congregation in some form and cooperate in the
supervisor-supervised aspect of the ministry. While such an assignment
might logically be termed a “cail.” such usage blurs the uniqueness of the
office of the public ministry and its facilitating offices

Whenever the term “call” is used it should be followed by the office
designation. To say “I have acal!” may be meaningiess, while “I havea calito

*Thererm™ church’ as here used means the congregation
or other un:t of the church. as well as the Synod ttself. and also
other congregations and portions of the Synod that are part of the
confessional feliov'ship.

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