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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 219

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

SYNODICAL ADMINISTRATION 219

Wuereas, Many pastors in larger congregations- are
overburdened with not only administrative but also
spiritual work which a trained part-time minister could
well do; and

Wuereas, Inner-city work needs far more trained
men which neither District nor synodical funds can sup-
port; and

WHerEAS, Special ministries to college students,
apartment dwellers, businessmen’s groups, industrial
workers, and young adults are not being accomplished
because of lack of men and money: and

Wuereas, Our foreign fields continually request more
men than can be supported with synodical funds; and

Precedent

Whereas, There is ample Biblical precedent for part-
time ministers, who served as deacons in the Jerusalem
church, as missionaries like Paul, who often supported
himself by tentmaking, as elders and bishops in the new
churches begun by Paul in his missionary journeys, as
pastors, teachers, and evangelists so often mentioned in
the New Testament as part of the ministry; and

Whereas, In the early church, according to the Di-
dache, part-time ministers were not the exception but
the rule; and

Wuereas, In early Lutheranism only a minority of
pastors ordained in St. Mary’s Church, Wittenberg, were
university or seminary graduates in the years between
1537 and 1560 (the others are referred to as artisans or
citizens) ; and

Wuereas, Part-time ministers are being used with
some success overseas in the Church of South India
and in the United States by the Protestant Episcopal
Church and others; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Colorado District memorialize
The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod in convention
assembled in Denver in 1969 to recognize as proper and
valid the part-time ministry of the Word, performed by
trained persons who would receive the majority of their
income from a secular occupation and be commissioned
to the ministry as part-time workers: and be it further

Resolved, That the following serve as guidelines in
establishing the duties and regulations governing this
part-time ministry:

1. That the Synod, through a committee in each Dis-
trict for part-time ministers, recruit men for such a
ministry and arrange for their training at Lutheran
student centers on secular campuses, at area Bible insti-
tutes, or through private instruction with a supervising
pastor, and that this training approximate that now
given to lay assistants attending the Lutheran Lay
Training Institute in Milwaukee.

2. That the Synod, through the District committees,
examine candidates for the part-time ministry in re-
spect to the following: doctrinal and Biblical knowledge,
the preparation and delivery of a sermon, the prepara-
tion of a lesson outline in religious instruction, and the
knowledge of a specialized area of church work.

3. That the Synod, through the District committees,
authorize the part-time minister’s placement in a calling
congregation under a pastor’s supervision.

4. That the Synod, through the District committees,
authorize the part-time ministers, under a pastor’s su-
pervision, to teach and preach the Word of God and,
when necessary, to administer the sacraments.

5. That the Synod differentiate between the profes-
sionally trained full-time pastor and the part-time mini-
ter by the following regulations:

a. All part-time ministers can work only under the
supervision of a professionally trained pastor who would
be held responsible for doctrine and practice.

b. Part-time ministers would not be recognized as
clergy by the state and therefore could not perform
weddings or be classified as clergy by the Selective Ser-
vice System or the Department of Internal Revenue.

c. Part-time ministers could serve as lay delegates
but not as pastoral delegates at District or synodical
conventions.

6. That the Synod’s pastors view the part-time min-
isters not as rivals to pastoral status and authority but
as very welcome fellow laborers who can help bear
some of the burdens of the pastoral ministry.

7. That, since most part-time ministers will be trained
in mission situations, on secular college campuses, in
area Bible institutes, and in local congregations, the
Synod should administer and coordinate the District
committees through her Division of Missions.

8. That the Synod through her Division of Missions
recommend to our foreign missions and sister churches
overseas that they explore how a part-time ministry
might work in their unique settings.

9. That the Synod make such a ministry official and
recognized by adding the following to the synodical
Handbook directly after Section F, “Admission to the
Deaconess Ministry by Colloquy” (pp. 104—106):

Committees for Part-Time Ministry

Committees on the part-time ministry, organized in each
District, should consist of an appointed Vice-President of the
District, two pastors, one teacher, and two laymen. One of
the District Vice-Presidents shall be chairman of the com-
mittee,

Functions

The committees on part-time ministers shall —

a. Seek to recruit candidates for the part-time ministry;

b. Organize opportunities for the training of part-time
ministers at Lutheran student centers at secular campuses,
at area Bible institutes, or with local pastors. All instruction
and training shall be in keeping with standards set by the
Division of Missions;

c. Examine candidates for the part-time ministry in re-
spect to the following: doctrinal and Biblical knowledge, the
preparation and delivery of a sermon, the preparation of
a sermon, the preparation of a lesson outline for a class in
religious education, and the knowledge of a specialized area
of church work;

d. Authorize a part-time minister’s placement in a call-
ing congregation under a pastor’s supervision.

10. That study be given to the choice of a name befitting
this ministry. Co.orapo District
WaLter F. GEIHSLER, Secretary