LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 281

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IX. REPORT OF THE RES. 5-14A TASK FORCE
teach or preach or administer the sacraments in the church without
a regular call.” Thus the SMP program was intended to replace programs that fell short of that confession in providing pastoral services.
A question has been raised as to whether the Synod was wise in
designating the SMP program for preparing church planters. (The
2013 “Report to the President” recommends “not using it for the
plant­ing of churches.”) This task force notes that church planting
may be a calling that demands even more training than does ministry in an established setting, not the more limited curriculum of the
SMP program. For example, establishing a new congregation requires
making new policy deci­sions on virtually every matter, many of them
significantly theological (matters of worship, admis­sion to the Lord’s
Supper, and so on), while a call to an established parish allows a new
graduate to draw upon the congregation’s experience and previous
decisions. On the other hand, in the case of a daughter congregation
or a satellite situation, a specific ministry pastor under supervision
should be expected to have the resources and experience of the mother
congregation and supervising pastor on which to draw.
Further, the task force notes that 2013 Res. 5-04B, while not precluding the use of SMP for staff pastors, does significantly restrict it;
specific ministry pastors should be used in such situations only when
the congregation is unable to support the second pastor and a commissioned minister could not fulfill the responsibilities.
Admission to the Program
Given the concept and purpose of the program, SMP is to begin
with a context (a place in need of pastoral ministry), rather than beginning with a man aspiring to serve. A congregation identifies a need
appropriate for a specific ministry pastor, then chooses a layman to
be put forth as a candidate for the SMP program. (In fact, in some
cases, a man may already have been pressed into service to address a
local ministry need and now requires training, certification, call, and
placement into the pastoral office as a specific ministry pastor.) The
intent of the program is such that the student does not choose to put
himself forward, but is approached by the congregation. As already
noted, an individual wishing to offer himself for full-time service in
the ministry should plan to attend the residential program of one of
our seminaries, because the residential programs offer broader and
deeper theological and practical training to address the diverse challenges and demands of pastoral ministry.
The actual application process begins with the sponsoring congregation, prospective student, and perhaps a prospective mentor pastor
contacting their district president. If the district president approves the
ministry context as appropriate for an SMP candidate and approves
the candidate and his mentor pastor, the application and supporting
paperwork can be prepared with the help of the seminaries’ admission staffs. The various application documents are collected by the
district office and submitted by the district president to the seminary
admission office, ideally as one completed file. Applicants must also
demonstrate basic competency in biblical knowledge, theological
knowledge, and ministry skills.49
The task force notes the importance of the duty 2013 Res. 5-04B
assigns to district presidents: in recommending men for admission
to the SMP pro­gram, they must properly consider whether the site at
which a man will serve his vicarage and ultimately his call conforms
to the resolution’s guidelines.
Course work, Ordination, and Completion of the Program
The four years in the program include a total of 16 courses,
including both on-campus intensives and courses taught entirely by
distance. As stated above, for the first two years of the SMP program

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the student is a vicar, assigned to serve in the congregation to which
he will eventually be called.
Of crucial importance throughout the program is the involvement
of the supervising pastor (mentor). It is essential that the mentor pastor commit to actively directing the student, not only in the practical
activities of pastoral service but also in the academic work of his
courses. The mentor should be involved in the courses in various ways
such as weekly required discussion of course content and assignments
with the student. The program assumes mentors are required to attend
with the student the new student/mentor orientation (just as new vicarage supervisors in the residential programs are required to attend a
supervisors conference at one of the seminaries).
Once a student has completed the first eight (or nine) courses
(depending on the seminary); has received a favorable report from
his vicarage supervisor and mentor, as well as his district president;
has been requested in call documents issued by the congregation and
approved by the district president; and has passed a theological interview and been certified by the seminary faculty, he is eligible for
call and placement, followed by ordination. (A number of more specific steps in this certification, placement, and ordination process are
required but are not detailed here.) After ordination, the student must
complete the final two years of the program in order to remain on the
clergy roster. If he fails to do so, his district president is required to
remove him from the roster of the Synod (2007 Res. 5-01B).
The task force has noted some concerns with this model:
Most obviously, ordination after just eight or nine courses is an
extremely brief route to the ministry. St. Paul warns Timothy, “Do not
be hasty in the laying on of hands” (1 Timothy 5:22). Moreover, his
admonition that pastors be “able to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy
2:24) is a matter not primarily of innate talent, but of knowledge and
understanding of the whole doctrine of the church (1 Timothy 1:3;
6:2–3; 2 Timothy 2:15; Titus 1:9; 2:1)—no small assignment. While,
of course, Scripture never prescribes a curriculum or time frame for
training to teach, it may be helpful to recognize that eight (or nine)
courses is the equivalent (in terms of the number of academic courses)
of only about the first half of the first year of the residential seminary
curriculum.50 It is also worth noting that each of the other certificate
programs (EIIT, CHS, etc.) provide for ordination only upon completion of the full programs (16 or more courses). This is also why
specific ministry pastors remain under supervision and are restricted
to a specific ministry.
Moreover, such a brief curriculum prior to ordination necessitates certain compromises. The curricula of the seminaries provide,
of course, to give students a foundational exposure to all the teachings necessary to take the ordination vows and be faithful to them
(such as to subscribe unconditionally to the Lutheran Confessions
and faithfully and pastorally admit to the Lord’s Supper). However,
at each of the two seminaries, the more in-depth course content in two
or more of the following areas is not studied until after eligibility for
ordination: the nature of the Scriptures, Old and New Testament theology, the church, and the Lord’s Supper. In other words, men may be
ordained (and thus be responsible for, among countless other matters,
admission to the Lord’s Table) without the more extensive study in the
formal principles of our theology, matters of fellowship, or even the
Sacrament itself. These do not represent oversights in the two seminaries’ curricular designs, but rather inherent challenges in preparing
men for pastoral ministry with such time and curricular limitations.
Finally, a man’s failing to complete, for whatever reason, his
post-ordination courses would create a most troublesome situation.
By resolution of the Synod, the pastor must be removed from the
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