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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 76

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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
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Spoke at several pastoral conferences

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Represented the President at various district conventions and district visitations

••

Gave counsel to many district presidents regarding
ecclesiastical supervision

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Participated in regional meetings of the district
presidents

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Served as a member of the PALS Steering Committee

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Participated in the Synod Prison Ministry Conference

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Preached in various congregations around the Synod

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Conducted various installations at the International
Center

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Was instrumental in facilitating a DOXOLOGY
retreat for the Council of Presidents in February 2019

The Praesidium, which includes the President and First
Vice-President of the Synod, together with the five regional
vice-presidents, met regularly for prayer, Bible study, and discussion of Synod matters, usually in conjunction with a meeting
of the Council of Presidents. The Praesidium gave counsel on a
variety of matters as requested by the President of the Synod,
district presidents, and others.
The First Vice-President serves as chairman of both the
Colloquy Committee for the Pastoral Ministry and the Colloquy Committee for the Commissioned Ministry, the reports of
which follow in this Convention Workbook. By means of colloquy, the Lord of the Church provides for the congregations
of the Synod many qualified commissioned ministers and ordained pastors.
The President and his staff often consult with me or ask
me to work with individuals or groups requesting information regarding ecclesiastical supervision issues in the districts.
We always seek to help and support the district presidents in
their necessary work. The undersigned managed the process of
providing for circuit exceptions in the preparations for the 2019
Synod Convention.
To speak personally, it has been both a privilege and a joy
to serve with President Matthew Harrison, together with the
Praesidium, other Synod officers, and the Council of Presidents.
I speak in the past tense here because, after 40 years of active
ministry, I intend, God willing, to retire from active service at
the end of this present term, August 31, 2019. Gospel ministry is always a team effort, but to thank appropriately everyone
with whom I have served would be impossible. God is very gracious and often shows that grace through brothers and sisters
in Christ. I looked forward to each day to serve the Lord with
them and for you, the members of the Synod, in this capacity.
The President and all the members of his staff, especially my
executive assistant, Mrs. Karen Dowbnia (who followed Mrs.
Brenda Schreder after she retired), are all gifts of God and have
been a pleasure to work with. None of the colloquy work, both
general colloquy and the special SMP colloquy of licensed lay
deacons, would have been possible without Karen’s efficient and
dedicated service. The Lord Jesus blesses our beloved Synod
with rich resources and faithful servants.
Herbert C. Mueller Jr, First Vice-President
2019 Convention Workbook

R2.1

Colloquy Committee
for Pastoral Ministry
The Colloquy Committee for the Pastoral Ministry includes the First Vice-President of the Synod as chairman ex officio (the undersigned), the presidents of the two seminaries (or
their representatives), and one district president elected by the
Council of Presidents. Committee membership was stable this
triennium: Dr. Lawrence Rast, President of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (often represented by Dr. Detlev
Schulz); Dr. Dale Meyer, President of Concordia Seminary, St.
Louis (often represented by Dr. Wallace Becker or Dr. Glenn
Nielsen); President Timothy Scharr of the Southern Illinois
District, re-elected by the Council of Presidents. All served
faithfully the entire triennium.
The Bylaws of the Synod (2016 Handbook 3.10.2) provide
the basic outline of the Pastoral Colloquy Program. Most of
the policy details are included in two policy manuals (one for
regular colloquy and one for the special process for licensed
lay deacons to colloquize to the Specific Ministry Pastor roster). Both manuals are easily accessible on the Synod website at
http://www.lcms.org/page.aspx?pid=1106. Electronic versions of
both colloquy application forms are available at the same location.
There are three categories of men eligible to apply for colloquy to the “general” ministerium of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod: (1) ordained pastors with sufficient education
who are presently actively serving a congregation of another
synod, who desire to colloquize into the LCMS (normally, we
seek to have them bring their congregation along with them into
the Synod, but that is not always possible); (2) men who are
graduates of a seminary program of sufficient academic standards leading to ordination who have been members of LCMS
congregations for at least two years (often, these are men who
have resigned from pastoral positions in congregations of other
synods and have subsequently joined LCMS congregations);
and (3) licensed deacons of the Synod’s districts who have
served in the full Word and Sacrament ministry of an LCMS
congregation under license for at least 10 years. The congregation he is serving must also certify that it desires to call the
individual once he is certified. The Colloquy Committee is empowered by the Bylaws and the policy manual, at the request
of the sponsoring district president, to make some exceptions
to the minimum requirements in categories 2 and 3. All others,
including commissioned ministers of the Synod, are directed to
the alternate-route programs at one of our Synod’s seminaries.
A fourth special category was created by the 2016 Synod Convention for licensed lay deacons functioning as pastors to apply
for colloquy to the SMP roster (see below).
During the course of the triennium, the Colloquy Committee met five times per year to examine applications, conduct
interviews with applicants (no applicant is ever certified without
a personal interview), and to transact business monitoring the
progress of the various applicants. In the work of interviewing
applicants, the committee often draws upon other ordained men
from the staff of the Synod for help. Several Spanish-speaking
pastors assist with Hispanic applicants. The Korean Ministry
Pastoral Conference, an informal group of Korean-speaking
LCMS pastors, together with Dr. Shang Ik Moon of Concor-