LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 427

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
director, this to provide opportunity to read about, discuss with a
knowledgeable person, and better comprehend doctrinal matters associated with the suspension. The suspension case itself shall not
be discussed.

Commission on Constitutional Matters
12-31

To Clarify Ecclesiastical Supervision of Rostered
Workers Serving Outside Home District
Whereas, For the sake of harmony and unity, it is desirable that
proper ecclesiastical supervision be provided for all rostered workers of the LCMS; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Indiana District in convention petition the 2016
LCMS convention to clarify the ecclesiastical supervision of rostered
workers (ordained and commissioned) who are serving in areas outside the geographical district in which they hold membership.
Indiana District
12-32

To Address Unbiblical Removal
of Pastors from Office
Whereas, The pastoral office is a divinely mandated office (and
not the creation of man) for the express purpose of creating and sustaining faith through God’s appointed means (Matt. 18:19, 20; Acts
20:28; 1 Cor. 4:1, 2; 12:28; Eph. 4:11−16; 2 Tim. 2:2; Heb. 13:17;
AC IV, V, XIV); and
Whereas, Such faith is nothing other than the working of the
Holy Spirit in and through the divinely appointed means to pronounce
forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake (John 20:23; Matt. 16:19; AC
XXVIII 21, 22); and
Whereas, This Office of the Holy Ministry is established by
Christ for the good of His Church, those whom He has called into
this office are likewise removed by our Lord, mediately through His
Church, not based upon the sinful whims of man but only for the biblical reasons of (1) false doctrine, (2) immoral life, or (3) inability
to fulfill the pastoral office (1 Tim. 1:8−11; 3:1−7; 4:12−16; Titus
1:5−9); and
Whereas, Implicit in the fact that it is a divinely established office
is also that the call into this office is permanent, not temporary nor to
be entered into based upon some contractual agreement rather than a
divine call extended through the Church; and
Whereas, The permanency of the pastoral office has always been
upheld by the Evangelical Lutheran Church until recent times, as was
well documented in a response to the CTCR’s February 2004 study
document titled “Theology and Practice of ‘the Divine Call’” by two
minority opinions written by two members of the CTCR. In their taking the CTCR to task, Kurt Marquart and Walter Lehenbauer stated
the following regarding the Synod’s historical understanding of the
call, especially as it relates to the idea of “temporary calls.”
1992 Resolution 3-09A mandating the study of the Call expressly
stated that this was to be done “utilizing the writings of C. F. W. Walther (i.e., his book Church and Ministry and essay ‘The Congregation’s
Rights [sic] to Choose Its Pastor’ ” (1992 Proceedings, 116). The intent
clearly was to take seriously the balanced, historic, orthodox Lutheran
consensus on church and ministry, for the clear exposition and defense
of which Walther is rightly famous. The CTCR’s document fails to do
justice to standard Lutheranism’s rejection of “temporary calls,” as the
following citations clearly show.

427

“God nowhere has granted or permitted those who call the right to make
such a contract. Hence, neither the one calling nor the one who is called
may regard such a call or dismissal as divine” (C. F. W. Walther, Church
and Ministry, trans. J. T. Mueller (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing
House, 1987), 311., Theologia positivopolemica, part II, p. 530).
Neither is a congregation entitled to issue such a call [i.e., temporary],
nor is a preacher authorized to accept it. Such a call is before God neither valid nor legitimate. It is an abuse [Unsitte]. It conflicts in the first
place with the divinity, clearly certified in God’s Word, of a true call into
a preaching office in the church (Acts 20:28; Eph. 4:11; 1 Cor. 12:28;
Ps. 68:12; Is. 41:27). … Such a call is not at all that which God has ordained in respect of the holy office of preaching, but is an entirely different matter, which hasn’t got anything to do with it. For it is no mediate
call through the church, but a human contract; it is no life’s calling, but
a passing function outside the divine order; an ecclesiastical, thus a human order, or rather an abominable disorder made contrary to the order
of God. It is therefore, as stated before, without any validity, null and
void, and one so called is not to be regarded as a servant of Christ and of
the church. … A shepherd and cowherd people may hire for a time, and
when their service no longer pleases, they may at a definite time, but not
always, dismiss them, if they wish: but so to treat a shepherd of souls is
not within the power of any man. Nor may the servant of the Word himself accept the holy office in such a way, unless he wants to become a
hireling. [C. F. W. Walther, Amerikanisch-Lutherische Pastoraltheologie
[American-Lutheran Pastoral Theology], 4th ed., 1897, 41–45.]
This temporary calling is a shameful perversion of the order which
Christ Himself has created in the church. Nowhere is it revealed as the
will of God that preachers and teachers should be so engaged that it
depends on the good will and the decision of the others whether they
may remain in their office or not. [J. P. Beyer, “Vom Beruf zum Amt der
Kirchendiener,” LCMS Eastern District Proceedings, (1889) 36–37.]
From the beginning our Synod had to take a definite stand on this question. Among the conditions of membership in Synod the following is
listed [in the Constitution]: “Regular (not temporary) call of the pastor.”
Chapter V, paragraph 11, we find this statement: “Licenses to preach
which are customary in this country are not granted by Synod because
they are contrary to Scripture and the practice of the Church.” … This
has been the consistent practice of our Synod since that time and has
been stated again and again in official papers presented at conventions
and in our periodicals. [P. F. Koehneke, “The Call into the Holy Ministry,” in The Abiding Word (St. Louis: CPH, 1946) 1:380]
The call is always permanent. The notion of a temporary call is inconceivable in the nature of the case, and therefore the matter is not even
considered by Luther or the Confessions or any Lutheran theologian. ...
As the immediate call in apostolic times was for life (until God Himself
called the person to a new place), so it is with the mediate call. It is permanent and irrevocable, unless God Himself intervenes. [Robert D. Preus,
“The Doctrine of the Call in the Confessions and Lutheran Orthodoxy,”
in Church and Ministry Today, ed. John A. Maxfield (Crestwood, MO.:
Luther Academy, 2001), 33.];

and
Whereas, The departure from faithful practice in upholding the
pastoral office and the divine right of a congregation to maintain
that office is evidenced in a myriad of ways today within the LCMS,
including, but not restricted to the following:
•

Congregations firing pastors for no biblical cause and without due
process;

•

Congregations deposing pastors without cause and due process
claiming that the pastor is “an employee at will” and the congregation is autonomous;

•

A district president places a pastor who is in office or who has been
deposed from office, either rightfully or wrongfully, on a so-called
“restricted status.” If this is done prior to due process … , it is per se
a violation of the minister’s call according to AC XIV (Order in the
Church) or of his right to receive a call … ;

•

A district president controlling the call list of a congregation. This is
clear violation of the right of the congregation to have a decisive role

2016 Convention Workbook