LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 259

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VII.
OPINIONS
FAQS ON
OF TASK
COMMISSION
FORCE ON
REPORT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL
RECOMMENDATIONS
MATTERS
Q15. The report speaks about lay people involved in evangelism
and outreach, but isn’t the work of evangelism the responsibility of the pastoral office?
A.
Please note the answers to questions 9–12 above, which address this same concern. In addition, it may be helpful to
read what Michael Green has stated in his book Evangelism
in the Early Church (quoted also in the report):
One of the most striking features in evangelism in the
early days was the people who engaged in it. Communicating the faith was not regarded as the preserve of the
very zealous or of the officially designated evangelist.
Evangelism was the prerogative and the duty of every
church member. We have seen apostles and wandering
prophets, nobles and paupers, intellectuals and fishermen all taking part enthusiastically in this the primary
task committed by Christ to His holy Christian Church.
The ordinary people of the Church saw it as their job:
Christianity was supremely a lay movement, spread by
informal missionaries. The clergy of the Church saw it as
their responsibility, too: bishops and presbyters, together
with doctors of the Church like Origen and Clement, and
philosophers like Justin and Tatian, saw the propagation
of the gospel as their prime concern.
Q16. Is the use of technology, as suggested in Recommendation
5, in keeping with good theology and practice?
A.
People will have varying perspectives on this matter. Certainly no one wants to encourage “virtual church” in place
of a congregation gathered to hear Christ preached by its
pastor and receiving the Sacraments from him. At the same
time, some districts that have chosen not to utilize lay deacons have opted instead to have a pastor who serves two fardistant congregations, present in each on alternating weeks
and uploading his sermon to the congregation where he is
unable to be present.
Q17. Do the report and recommendations discourage men from
residential seminary training in the name of mission?
A.
The task force does not want any of its recommendations to
be misunderstood as discouragement of our residential programs. We need more men, not fewer, to enroll in the highest
level of theological and personal formation, such as we have
on our two seminary campuses. There they engage in study
on the highest academic levels but also have the opportunity
for daily life together with fellow seminarians and professors
in which casual conversations, chapel services, and special
campus events enrich their preparations on many levels, as
well as their participation in the ministries of local congregations and specialized ministries. Residential theological
education allows men to work in, and to become familiar
with, a variety of contexts for public ministry. Nevertheless, as much as residential pastoral preparation may be regarded by many as the preferred option or “gold standard,”
it seems evident to the task force that our Synod must also
continue to utilize other approaches for preparing pastors. In
Acts 16:1–5, we read of the Christians at Lystra and Iconium
speaking well of Timothy, and Paul then taking Timothy to
be trained. The Synod’s SMP program, Center for Hispanic
Studies, and Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology provide
strong non-residential training that prepares men for pastoral service in a specific mission and ministry context. These
non-residential programs begin with a call from a congregation that is followed by seminary-level training in a localized

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context with attentive mentoring and supervision, examination, and the whole church custom of ordination.
Practical Questions
Q18. What does the change from LLDs to SMPs give to the
Lord’s mission, congregations, LLDs, districts, and what
does it take away?
A.
A deacon who is colloquized and then ordained as a specific
ministry pastor loses nothing other than some time and effort
necessary for the colloquy process. This will include a week
of preparation through instruction by two seminary professors, provided at no cost in a retreat setting in the region of
the country where he serves. This will be followed by an
interview with a colloquy committee that includes his district president and pastors from his region as well as regular
colloquy committee representatives. The ordination as a specific ministry pastor will give a synodwide endorsement to
his ministry, rather than the district-only endorsement of the
LLD programs—thereby ending questions about the legitimacy of his service to the church.
Q19. What are the options for congregations who are served
by LLDs when the LCMS calls upon the LLDs to become
SMPs? Do we need to delineate these options?
A.
When the regular preaching and administration of the Sacraments are currently conducted by a licensed deacon (that is,
he is fulfilling the primarily pastoral work in a congregation), the task force recommendations provide three options
for the deacon:
1. Apply to one of our seminaries for an alternate route or
master of divinity.
2. Apply to one of the seminaries for the regular SMP program.
3. Apply to the Colloquy Committee for admission to the
SMP roster by colloquy.
It is assumed that most of the men licensed for Word and
Sacrament ministry and functioning as de facto pastors
would take this third option of a special colloquy process
to the SMP roster. If a man so licensed does not take one of
these three options, his license to preach and administer the
Sacraments will lapse as of July 1, 2018.
Q20. How are congregations and LLDs to be prepared for such
a transition?
A.
Any convention resolutions to adopt task force recommendations will need to specify the process to be followed. The
task force report timeline suggests the period of a year and
a half to allow for communicating with districts, congregations, and LLDs; assisting and guiding them through the
transition; and implementing an SMP colloquy process.
Q21. Are we asking the people who are least able to change because a few believe a change must occur? What do we tell
the people who must make a change? How will this change
benefit them?
A.
These are important questions because included in the
purposes of the Synod are promoting “the unity of the
true faith,” strengthening one another for bold witness and
mission, and preparing church workers (LCMS Constitution Art. II). The task force plan recognizes the challenges
faced by congregations that are small, isolated, financially
challenged, and unable either to find or to support a pastor. Wherever deacons are serving such churches as, in effect, their pastor—preaching regularly and administering the
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