LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 323

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THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS

be a teacher of the church” has meaning. The term “call” should be used for
those who have specifically been equipped to perform certain ecclesiastical
functions and have made a commitment to dedicate their lives to that service
unless or until God directs them to other callings. The term “call” should not
be used where such commitment is lacking, and those who serve the church
other than under a call should be referred to simply as “lay workers.”
Furthermore, in a synodical form of church fellowship and congregational
interdependence. those who are “called” must be under the supervision of
the whole church. Thus, they differ from Sunday school teachers, for
example, who are chosen and assigned by and are accountable to a single
congregation.

Some congregations issue “contracts” to some teachers and “calls” to
others. While there may be reasons for making these distinctions, there is no
justification for issuing contracts to women teachers and calls to men
teachers. Both men and women who have been certified by the church may
be and ordinarily should be solemnly called. While contracts may be issued
for some temporary service, teachers should be called with prayer and with
the assurance that the church is summoning them to assist the pastoral
ministry of Word and sacrament

Since both a person who has a call toa certain office and a “lay worker”
have a contract (which may be written or verbal}, it is inaccurate to
distinguish between them by referring to the one who does not have a call as
“having a contract.” In both cases, of course, the contract between the
person and the congregation or other agency of the church, and all other
factors of that relationship, should be clearly expressed.

We stress the fact that ordination is the declaration of the whole
confessional fellowship. In the end, a single congregation or an agency
representing larger segments of the church does issue the call. Nevertheless,
in a synod of congregations bound by a common confession and loyalty.
good order demands that admission into the pastoral office or intoits closely
allied auxiliary offices is not the act of a single congregation or agency
Various ways can be found to establish this approval of the whole church
Presently the certification of suitability for the ministry by the faculty
members who have taught the candidates and the assigning of first calls by
the Council of Presidents is workable and does express the transparochial
nature of the ministry.

This transparochial nature of the office of the public ministry and its
auxiliary offices is important because a person called to one congregation is
recognized by the whole church and, by virtue of ordination or com:
missioning, is eligible to be called by other segments of the church. Since
ordination is a public statement of the whole church body, one cannot say
that it must take place in the location of the calling congregation. However,
separation of the rite of ordination from the place of service is seldom
advisable. It is fitting that the calling agency of the church should be involved

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IV. SOME PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

in the ordination. The same holds true for induction into auxiliary offices.

Confusion and chaos result when congregations or agencies act
unilaterally in deciding who may fill the office of the public ministry or the
auxiliary offices. For this reason in The Lutheran Church—Missoun Synod
the Council of Presidents is assigned the duty of the placing of candidates
who have been approved by the faculties. In the case of subsequent calls, the
District president or his representative advise the congregations or agencies.
and calls may be extended only to certified candidates or persons who are on
the official rosters of the Synod. For a congregation wilfully to ignore or ride
roughshod over the concern of the rest of the church in establishing 11s
ministry is a sin against the brotherhood and may even be a schismatic act in
that it ignores the transparochial aspect of the “regularly called” (AC XIV)

This concern for the involvement of the whole church in the calling and
placing of its servants is evidenced by the fact that the church maintains an
extensive system of higher education to prepare its pastors, teachers, and
other leaders

6. Notonly alocal congregation but also larger structures of the church
may legitimately: extend valid calls upon proper delegation.

The right of a congregation to call its pastors and teachers is not
questioned. Some do question the right of agencies such as Districts or
boards and commissions of the Synod or even the whole Synod itself to issue
calls. For this reason some take refuge in obtaining a second call as
“assistant” in a congregation, feeling that sucha call, although it involves few
or no duties, is valid, while a call from an agency's not. The legitimacy of such
a “second” call is questionable. *

The very existence of the Synod indicates that the church must do some
of its work jointly. The Synod is not an alien organization. It is the whole
confessional fellowship of congregations. In this case. by common agreement,
certain offices are filled by the Synod or its commissions through authority
delegated from the congregations. Agencies of any kind should first assure
themselves that the right to call has been properly delegated to them by the
church. In some cases this is done by regulations in the bylaws that are
agreed upon in convention. Moreover, agency calls should contain clear
descriptions to indicate that the call 1s of such a nature that the candidate
may assure himself that the call is truly within the scope of the office of the
public ministry or the appropriate auxiliary office.

Some offices in the church cannot be defined with absolute clanty
merely by referring to their titles. The call itself should demonstrate why it is a
“call” and not mereiy an office of employment as a lay worker in the church.

_  ——————————————
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Cf, John H. C. Fritz. Pastoral Theology (St. Louis:
Concordia Publishing House, 1945), pp. 39—40

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IV. SOME PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

While a study of this nature cannot respond to every possible question
about the ministry, the following “catechism” is offered to indicate some
applications of the theological principles that have been presented above

1. Are calis always permanent?

Paul and Barnabas were separated for a specific journey (although Paul
hada lifelong call into the apostolic office). Some calls, such as a callinto the
military chaplaincy, carry within them a point of termination or reconsider:
ation. Some ventures of the church—such as an experimental ministry in a
new territory—cannot be assured of continuation. There is no Scriptural
evidence to indicate that all calls are necessarily permanent or tenured. Calls
to the colleges and seminaries of the Synod are generally not tenured at first.

The office of the public ministry cannot be terminated in a congregation
Moreover, to attempt carelessly or surreptitiously to terminate a call to this
office (by either the congregation or the one who has the call) is to manifesta
disregard for the divinity of the call. A call may be terminated for just cause,
ie., unfaithfulness in office, false teaching, or an ungodly life. Processes of
adjudication and appeal have been agreed upon by the church. After ail of
this is said, however, it should be noted that the nature of the ministry as a
continuation of the apostolate and as a call from God implies that calls are
generally not limited in time.

2. Are elected District or synodical officials “in the ministry”?

That depends upon the call of the church If the office is such that itis an
exercise of the office of the public ministry by virtue of its functions, or if the
functions ate definable as directly auxiliary to the pastoral ministry, then a
person accepting such a call retains ministerial status in the church. No rule
can be given to cover all offices. We have previously mentioned that a District
president remains in the pastoral ministry by virtue of his being called to
oversee the pastors and churches. anda theological professor or a professor
in one of the colleges of the Synod may be called as an “overseer” in the sense
of assuming responsibility for what will be taught in the churches for years to
come.

3. What is the suggested nomenclature?

Here ve are entering into the area of adiaphora Order in the church
requires that, as far as possible, nomenclature be uniform We offer the
following suggestions as appropnate usage in the church

CALL —restricted to the call into the office of the public ministry !n
the congregation or to another assignment in that ministry. It should

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