LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 288

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288

IX. REPORT OF THE RES. 5-14A TASK FORCE

18. Ibid.
19. Church and Office, Thesis VI, 209.
20. See 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9; see also 2 Timothy 2:15.
21. See Augustana XV and Apology XV.
22. It is certainly true that if the wider church does not make it possible
to provide pastors, then a congregation has every right to act on its own to
appoint a minister from among themselves. Because Rome would not ordain
pastors for Reformation churches, this became a central point in the Treatise
and in Luther.
23. See an excellent essay by Joel P. Okamoto, “The Office of the Holy
Ministry,” in Concordia Theological Quarterly 70 (2006): 97-111. This paper
was presented at two joint meetings of the systematics departments of both
LCMS seminaries and represents a consensus of these departments on the
subject. It also appeared in Concordia Journal, published by the faculty of
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.
24. “Catholicity” here refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but
“catholic” in the sense of the universal Church, found wherever the Gospel
is proclaimed and the Sacraments administered. For instance, in the Nicene
Creed, where we confess the “one holy Christian and apostolic Church” the
original wording is “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church”.
25. Other Scriptures cited regarding ordination include 1 Timothy
4:14:“Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy
when the council of elders laid their hands on you” and 2 Timothy 1:6: “Fan
into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”
What is the gift imparted by the apostolic custom of the laying on of hands? Is
it the Spirit, with gifts for pastoral work? Is it the office itself? Our church has
been reticent to say more than the text, but it is clear that something is given.
Perhaps the best understanding is that through the whole process of examination, call, and ordination the office of pastor is entrusted to an individual, not
to lift him above the people, but to charge him humbly to serve in the stead
of Christ. The risen Lord has given “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers … ” (Ephesians 4:11). The call gives a man
the office of pastor. Ordination publicly declares before God and the whole
church that the call was legitimate and the man consecrated by the Word of
God and prayer for the work of a pastor (cf. 1 Timothy 4:5).
26. Report of the 4-06A Task Force, available at http://www.lcms.org/
emailviewonwebpage.aspx?erid=8646699&trid=9b79cda4-496f4523-a20c-8342386af65b
27. The full Bylaw references are included in Appendix A.
28. Even when the Fort Wayne seminary was moved to the St. Louis campus during the Civil War, it maintained this “practical seminary” focus. In
1875, it was moved to Springfield, Illinois, and in 1976 back to Fort Wayne.
29. Policy Manual of the Colloquy Committee for the Pastoral Ministry—
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 2015 edition.
30. 1992 Synod Handbook, Bylaw 6.87–6.99.
31. In 2002, the seminary established the Hispanic deaconess program as
a comparable alternate route for deaconess certification.
32. Data provided from a presentation by Dr. Kou Seying of Concordia
Seminary, St. Louis, to the Synod’s Board for National Mission on Oct. 9,
2015.
33. Ibid.
34. 2007 Res. 5-01B, 2007 Proceedings, pp. 133ff. SMP replaced the
older DELTO program. The task force recognizes that there is some disagreement in the Synod as to the nature and effect of any restrictions this enabling
resolution for the SMP program placed on the types of ministry contexts in
which specific ministry pastors could be used. The “Whereases” of the resolution state: “Whereas, The needs for providing pastoral ministry in specific
and specialized situations where a traditionally prepared seminary candidate
or pastor is not available continue to multiply; and Whereas, Our Synod needs
to find a way to provide for an increase in pastoral ministry to meet such needs
of the church, especially in light of the mission challenges of today’s world;
(2007 Proceedings, p. 136). A common impression is that SMP is primarily
for those places where licensed lay deacons have been serving, e.g., smaller,

2016 Convention Workbook

rural congregations or other situations where full-time ministry has been difficult or impossible to maintain. Yet the language of the 2007 resolution has
also been interpreted to allow congregations to use specific ministry pastors
as staff pastors for larger congregations, or also in church planting and/or satellite situations. While not ruling these out, the Synod clarified its intent in
2013, resolving that “district presidents not approve specific ministry sites
which could reasonably be expected to support a general pastor or sites where a
minister of religion—commissioned could fulfill the duties (2013 Res. 5-04B,
2013 Proceedings, p. 140).
35. DELTO, forerunner to SMP, produced 80 pastors.
36. Core competencies necessary for admission: (1) Entry-level competence in Old and New Testament content and Christian doctrine will be
demonstrated by passing entry-level competence examinations administered
by the seminary. (2) Entry-level competency in worship, preaching, spiritual
life and Christian witness, and teaching the faith will be demonstrated by portfolio submissions and the recommendation of the district president.
37. Since the beginning of the SMP program, there have been two cases,
one at each seminary, where a student decided, after ordination, not to finish the 16 courses of the program. In both cases, the student resigned or was
removed from the roster of the Synod, as required by 2007 Res. 5-01B.
38. CTSFW, in partnership with Seminario Concordia in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, developed a program for forming pastors in the Spanish-speaking
world outside of the US entitled Formación Pastoral para Hispanoamérica
(Pastoral Formation for Hispanic-America). The BPFL curriculum is based
on this curriculum, along with English lectures and readings. It is a four-year
program that will be part of the SMP program at Fort Wayne.
39. For instance, the Center for Hispanic Studies in St. Louis and its
predecessor, the Hispanic Institute of Theology, are the result of resolutions
adopted by Synod conventions: 1973 Res. 6-22; 1975 Res. 6-10; 1977 Res.
10-03 & 10-09A; 1979 Res. 6-10A; 1981 Res. 6-08A; and 1983 Res. 6-15B.
40. People of the Book Lutheran Outreach at Fort Wayne and the CrossCultural Ministry Center at Irvine are two examples.
41. Note, however, that the Concordia, Fort Wayne, bilingual program for
Latinos is now being folded into Fort Wayne’s SMP program.
42. We recognize that efforts are underway to fill this position by mid2016, God willing.
43. Colloquy efforts are supervised by the Colloquy Committee for the
Pastoral Ministry but shall also be carried out in a manner complementary to
degree and certificate routes.
44. The Res. 4-06A Task Force Report, page 21, available at http://
www.lcms.org/emailviewonwebpage.aspx?erid=8646699&trid=
9b79cda4-496f-4523-a20c-8342386af65b
45. 2013 Proceedings, pp. 139ff.
46. Again, a common understanding is that SMP is limited to “congregations unable to afford a full-time pastor” and to men who do not aspire to
full-time ministry. Yet there are also certain situations where a bi-vocational
or part-time pastoral assistant might be a very effective way of meeting pastoral ministry needs.
47. In addition to the course work, students take two residential seminars (one week each).
48. This is not to say that commissioned ministers should be fulfilling specifically pastoral responsibilities, but that congregations and districts should
not overlook other auxiliary offices in the church (e.g., DCE, DCO, deaconess, etc).
49. Core competencies necessary for admission: (1) Entry-level competence in Old and New Testament content and Christian doctrine will be
demonstrated by passing entry-level competence examinations administered
by the seminary. (2) Entry-level competency in worship, preaching, spiritual
life and Christian witness, and teaching the faith will be demonstrated by portfolio submissions and the recommendation of the district president.
50. It should also be noted, however, that much more is accomplished in
the first two years of SMP than eight or nine courses. Students have achieved
significant skills in the four ministry areas that meet or exceed what is required