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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 383

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

X. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS: 13-03 TASK FORCE
by Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and Concordia Theological
Seminary, Fort Wayne, to this end, especially the recent establishment of 100 percent guaranteed tuition, and encourage continued
support of our seminaries at the Synod, district, congregational, and
individual level.
7.

To consider relevant recommendations in the 4-06A and
5-14A task force reports
Recommendation: That in concurrence with 4-06A (“Districts vigorously encourage the establishment of multi-point parishes”), the LCMS Office of Pastoral Education with the Council of Presidents develop resources that assist districts in serving
congregations that are no longer able to support a full-time pastor.
These resources will include, but are not restricted to, materials to
assist consideration of the consolidation of congregations, creation
of multiple-point parishes, models of ministry in rural and urban
settings, revitalization, peer-to-peer congregational support, and bivocational pastors.
Recommendation: Recognizing the benefit of local expertise,
circuit visitors are encouraged to fulfill their duties to ensure the
provision of pastoral care for vacant congregations within the circuit and to work with area congregations to provide fraternal support for one another.
8.

That in its work the task force encourage the ongoing
work of the district lay training programs and the CUS
programs for evangelism and outreach in order to identify, equip, encourage, and empower men and women for
mission, witness, and service to Christ and His Church
Recommendation: The No. 1 lay training program is regular
attendance at the Divine Service, where God’s Word is proclaimed
and His Sacraments administered. This should be supplemented
by each pastor by the availability of regular adult classes in each
congregation studying not only God’s Word, but also our Lutheran
Confessions that are a faithful exposition of it, so that all our laity may know and understand that which they believe and confess.
Additional resources are available through Every One His Witness,
the publications of Concordia Publishing House, and resources for
advanced theological education both at the CUS and seminary level for laity who wish for a deeper understanding without pursuing
full-time church work. We must start by recognizing that all of us in
our daily vocations are masks of God, as Luther wrote. We encourage all congregations and their members to use these resources so
that they may be immersed in God’s Word and the Confessions and
ready to confess them boldly to all whom God places in our daily
lives. The Synod should emphasize the importance of lay people
carrying out their God-given vocations as members of the priesthood of all believers in this increasingly diverse and challenging
world. Existing district lay training programs are to be commended
for helping prepare people for this important service in their congregation and communities.
The task force recommends that all such programs include a
study of Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession to educate participants with a right understanding of the great blessings received
by members of the congregation when they are served by their pastor, the servant of the Word. This will ensure that there is a clear
exposition of the difference between those ministerial acts that
are appropriately performed only by those holding the Office of
the Holy Ministry (public teaching, preaching, and administration
of the Sacraments, not as a matter of lording over, but of service,
e.g., Matt. 23:11) and the work of the laity as members of the royal
priesthood of believers.16

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Summary of the Minority Report
There are several reasons for the submission of this minority
report:
+ Omitted from the majority report are recommendations for
church leaders who are “commissioned ministers” of the
Synod, along with those who belong to “the priesthood
of all believers”—they, too, exercise significant church
leadership positions and are facing current and future
challenges in their ministry.
+ The majority report fails to establish a minimum standard
for pastoral formation; instead, it focuses the majority
of its task force labors in defending and promoting one
model of theological education—the residential model
of pastoral formation—and minimizes proven nonformal and alternative models of theological education
that sufficiently form pastors and that meet the biblical
standard (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1).
+ It was necessary to share additional comments and recommendations that are derived from personal graduate
studies and from ministry experiences as a parish pastor,
overseas missionary and theological educator, and
district president.
Summary of the recommendations:
+ That a significant number of LCMS congregations consider
the gathering of His people around Word and Sacrament, and for the extension of His Gospel in new places,
through a network of house churches.
+ That male teachers who were educated at one of our
Concordia universities, and who possess the pastoral
qualifications expressed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, be
encouraged to pursue SMP pastoral formation so that
they can serve in a bi-vocational ministry.
+ That those who occupy and serve within the pastoral office
be strongly encouraged to acquire at least a “S-3 level”
of fluency in the Spanish language.
+ That the SMP curriculum be developed in the major
languages spoken in the U.S., beginning with the Spanish language, so that congregations can be established
within, and pastors formed among, the indigenous leaders of that language group.
+ That the SMP curriculum be digitalized and made available
at the district level at no cost as a way of equipping
congregational elders, and other selected congregational
members within “the ministry of the baptized,” so that
they might become mature disciples of Jesus Christ
and be better equipped for their leadership and ministry
among God’s people.
+ In response to the task force assignment to establish a
minimum standard for pastoral formation, we would
recommend that the current SMP program serve as
the minimum standard for pastoral formation, with the
M.Div. serving as the optimum standard.
+ That a “university model” of pastoral formation be incorporated into our Concordia University System through onsite and distance-education platforms, with the student
being assigned to a local LCMS congregation for his
fieldwork ministry practicums.
2019 Convention Workbook