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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 452

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

452

ROUTES TO MINISTRY

capacity to preach and administer the Sacraments across the LCMS
and a total of 525 are serving in a variety of assisting roles in ministry; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod establish the office of deacon as a subordinate or auxiliary office of preaching and administration of the
Sacraments in the church under the oversight of the pastoral office;
and be it further
Resolved, That to minimize the financial burden upon congregations needing the services of deacons, the district training and
licensing programs continue to be utilized for the raising up of such
men for ministry; and be it further
Resolved, That those currently serving as licensed lay deacons and
all subsequently trained to be deacons be called by their respective
congregations into this office in accord with Augsburg Confession
Article XIV; and be it finally
Resolved, That the Synod thank the Res. 3-06A Task Force for
its work.
Board of Directors, Northwest District; Board of Directors,
Florida-Georgia District
13-22

To Affirm Use of Licensed Lay Deacons
as Expression of Partnership between Office
of Ministry and Priesthood of Believers
Whereas, There exists a blessed partnership in the ministry of
the Gospel between the priesthood of believers and those called to
the Office of the Ministry; and
Whereas, The apostle Peter affirms the priesthood of all believers, establishing that all are called to “proclaim the excellencies of
Him who called you out of darkness” (1 Pet. 2:9); and
Whereas, The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
quotes from the words of Jesus in Matt. 18:19–20, where He says,
“If two of you agree on earth,” to affirm that Jesus “grants the power
of the keys principally and without mediation to the church”1; and
Whereas, Augsburg Confession XXVIII defines the power of
the keys in this way: “According to the gospel the power of the keys
or of the bishops is a power and command of God to preach the
gospel, to forgive or retain sin, and to administer and distribute the
sacraments”2;and
Whereas, C. F. W. Walther’s Church and Ministry quotes Luther
to affirm this, noting that not only does this power belong to the whole
church but to each individual believer, saying that “the keys belong to
the whole communion of Christians and to everyone who is a member of that communion, and this pertains not only to their possession
but also their use and whatever else there may be”3; and
Whereas, Martin Luther cautioned regarding the use preaching
and administration of the sacraments in his treatise The Babylonian
Captivity of the Church, saying, “However, no one may make use of
this power except by the consent of the community or by the call of a
superior. (For what is the common property of all, no individual may
arrogate to himself, unless he is called)”4; and
Whereas, Augsburg Confession XIV likewise says, “No one
should publicly preach, teach, or administer the sacraments unless
properly called”5; and
Whereas, Christ has given the Office of the Ministry for this purpose: “He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors
and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building
up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11–12); and
2016 Convention Workbook

Whereas, C. F. W. Walther’s sources cited in Church and Ministry
affirm, “There can be no doubt that in an emergency, when no duly
called pastor can be obtained, every Christian has the power and is
permitted, according to God’s Word and out of Christian love, to
attend to the ministry of the Word by preaching the divine word and
administering the sacraments”6; and
Whereas, The same source cited in C. F. W. Walther’s Church and
Ministry affirms that even this is a “true and due” call of God, saying, “In such emergencies a Christian should not be troubled about
being a busybody in another’s business, but he should know that he is
performing a true and due call of God and that his ministry is as efficacious as if it were ratified by the laying on of hands for the office
of the ministry in the whole church”7; and
Whereas, Examples of such emergencies given in the same quote
include “when some Christians are in a place where no appointed pastor is to be had … or when some Christians are among Calvinists,
Schwenckfelders, Adiaphorists, or Majorists, whom they must avoid
as false teachers”8; and
Whereas, 1989 Res. 3-05B addressed these types of situations
when it made provisions for districts to license laymen to preach and
administer the sacraments in congregations where there was no pastor
available lest “God’s people be deprived of the opportunity for corporate worship and the celebration of the sacraments”; and
Whereas, Licensed lay deacons have been used effectively by
many LCMS districts since 1989 to meet such needs, and districts
have developed training programs and guidelines for their service
which include a formal request from the congregation and commissioning, continuing education, and direct supervision by an ordained
pastor; and
Whereas, The Res. 4-06A Task Force Report reported 276
licensed lay deacons across the districts of the LCMS being used for
preaching and administration of the sacraments under the supervision of pastors; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Res. 4-06A Task Force be thanked for its study
of this issue; and be it further
Resolved, That the LCMS in convention affirm the use of licensed
lay deacon ministry as an appropriate expression of this partnership
between the priesthood of believers and those ordained to the Office
of the Ministry; and be it finally
Resolved, That LCMS districts work together to train men for such
ministry and establish similar guidelines for their service.
Board of Directors
Florida-Georgia District

Notes
1. Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert, eds., The Book of Concord: The
Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press,
2000), 334.
2. Kolb and Wengert, The Book of Concord, 92.
3. C. F. W. Walther, Church and Ministry, trans. J. T. Mueller, (St. Louis:
CPH, 1987), 57.
4. Martin Luther, “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church,” in vol.
36 of Luther’s Works, ed. J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, and H. T. Lehmann
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959), 116.
5. Kolb and Wengert, The Book of Concord, 47.
6. Walther, Church and Ministry, 281 .
7. Walther, Church and Ministry, 281.
8. Walther, Church and Ministry, 281.