LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 235

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VII. 2013 RES. 4-06A TASK FORCE REPORT TO THE SYNOD
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VII. 2013 Res. 4-06A Task Force
Report to the Synod
In the Name of Jesus
The 2013 convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
adopted Res. 4-06A: To Address Questions re Service of Licensed
Lay Deacons. Its final two paragraphs state:
Resolved, That the President of the Synod establish a task force
consisting of members from the Commission on Theology and Church
Relations, the Council of Presidents, the Praesidium, and seminary
faculties to develop a plan anchored in the Word, in consultation with
licensed lay deacons and those who supervise and are served by them,
to resolve questions about the service of licensed lay deacons serving
congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod with the Word
and Sacraments of Christ; and be it finally
Resolved, That the plan and its proposed implementation be reported
to the Synod one year before the 2016 convention.

The following report has been prepared in response to the convention’s resolution.
Introduction (The Church Lives by the Word
and Sacraments of Christ)
When the eleven disciples gathered together with the risen Lord
Jesus Christ in Galilee, He sent them forth with the command to go
to the nations and to make disciples, baptizing and teaching, promising to be present with them to the end of the age (Matt. 28:16–20).
St. Luke tells us that Jesus also reminded the apostles that their eyewitness testimony to fulfillment of the Old Testament’s promises in
His suffering, death, and resurrection would be the ongoing basis for
the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins—a preaching
that would be empowered by the Holy Spirit’s “power from on high”
(Luke 24:44–49; see also Acts 1:7–8). So it is that Christ has given
“apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers” (Eph. 4:11).1
The Lord’s promised presence and His command to preach the
saving Gospel to the nations establish both the daily witness of the
entire Church and the Office of Preaching2 in the Church. Acts 8:4–25
and 11:19–26 tell of persecution that followed the death of Stephen
in Jerusalem and how the Early Church was scattered around the
Mediterranean world. Christ’s holy people were scattered, but not
silenced. As believers sought refuge, they also spoke the Word of life
and salvation in Christ Jesus, first to Jews, then Samaritans, and then,
increasingly, to Gentiles. Ordinary Christians did what every Christian
is called to do, attesting to their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Philip,
one of the men who had been designated to assist in the care of widows (Acts 6:1–6), was one of the scattered flock who proclaimed the
Gospel in Samaria and through whom the Holy Spirit worked signs
of exorcism and healing (8:5–8).3 As word of conversions in Samaria
came to the apostles, they traveled to Samaria to affirm the evangelistic outreach that had taken place.
In Acts 11, set in Antioch, scattered believers again told of Christ,
and as they spoke, the Holy Spirit confirmed His assurance that faith
comes by hearing (Rom. 10:17). Once again, new believers were
added to the people of God. The Jerusalem Church then sent the
preacher Barnabas, who rejoiced in the work of God’s grace, nurtured
them, and exhorted them in their new found confession. Barnabas
soon called the apostle Paul to join him, to teach the growing Church.
In Acts 14:21–23, Luke shows how the apostolic ministry of Paul
and Barnabas included both evangelization of new believers and also
solidification of the Church. The apostolic proclamation of the Word

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of God served to confirm or “strengthen the souls” of the new disciples and to “encourage”4 them to hold the true faith—all this in order
to face the sobering reality that it is through tribulation that believers
enter the Kingdom (v. 22). Because this proclamation cannot be left
to chance, Paul and Barnabas also were instrumental in establishing
the Office of Preaching by means of the appointment5 of elders in
each of the newly established churches (v. 23).
The Word of God declares all Christ’s people to be “a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God’s] own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). By hearing the
Gospel from scattered believers who proclaimed “the excellencies of
Him who called [them] out of darkness into His marvelous light,” others were called from darkness into “marvelous light” in Samaria and
Antioch. By the Office of Preaching and the Sacraments, these new
believers were nurtured in faith and the Church was established as the
gathering of those who were hearing the Gospel preached and receiving the blessed Sacraments from Christ’s authorized ministers. Then
as now, both the priesthood of the baptized and the preaching office
were instrumental in the work of adding believers—Christians—and
establishing the Church, Christ’s holy people, in ever new locations.
The Office of Preaching in the church and the proclamation of ordinary believers in daily life do not compete, but they correlate with
and complement each other.
Because it is by means of the saving Word and Sacraments that
believers are added and nurtured in faith and the Church continues
its growth, we pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into
His fields (Matt. 9:37–38)—men whose vocation will be the public
ministry. So that faith may be nurtured, congregations obey Christ
and seek under-shepherds (pastors) to preach, teach, and administer
Christ’s Holy Sacraments, even as Christ called and sent His apostles to build the Church as they preached and taught, administered
the Sacraments, and forgave sins in His name (Matt. 28:19–20; John
20:21–23). These same apostles ensured that the preaching office
(Office of the Ministry) would continue as the Church grew and a
second generation of Christians was born (2 Tim. 2:1–2; Titus 1:5–
9). They also affirmed the proclamation of the laity in daily life (see
above on Acts 8 and 11). The Church lives by the power of the Gospel
in witness, preaching, and Sacraments. So she needs the daily testimony of the priesthood of believers and also the pastoral office. In
so doing, Christ builds His Church, and the gates of hell do not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).
These biblical passages and events relate to truth confessed in the
Augsburg Confession. Following its central confession of the Gospel
of justification by grace through faith in Christ (Article IV), it affirms
in Article V that people come to saving faith because “God instituted the office of preaching, giving the gospel and the sacraments.
Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when he wills, in those who hear the gospel.”6
Since the same Lord Jesus who establishes the Church also establishes
the Office of Preaching, it is neither an optional, pragmatic convenience nor a responsibility delegated by the Church for the sake of
good order (see Luke 10:1, where the Lord appoints [ἀναδεἰκνυμι] 72
preachers). Article VII adds: “It is also taught that at all times there
must be and remain one holy, Christian church. It is the assembly of
all believers among whom the gospel is purely preached and the holy
sacraments are administered according to the gospel.”7
Therefore, when a congregation has no pastor, a very real and
pressing need exists that must be met. Throughout its history, the
church has addressed this need by preparing men to be ministers
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