Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2019 · 67th Convention, Tampa › Page 509
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 509

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

STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION
other calling body is located or with which it is otherwise identified
that will have supervision of the worker (see Bylaw section 2.12)
shall be responsible for the rites of ordination and commissioning of
candidates for the ministry called to that congregation, agency, or
other calling body.
(a) The rite of ordination or commissioning should normally take
place in the presence of the congregation, agency, or other calling
body by which the candidate has been called.
(b) In the case of missionaries called by the Synod, members of
a faculty of an institution of the Synod, or non-foreign specialized
ministers called by the Synod, the rite shall take place in a setting
approved by the district president of the calling entity.
(c) If an unusual circumstance warrants it, as in the case of
missionaries and non-foreign specialized ministers, the district
president may authorize that the rite take place in the home
congregation of the candidate, or another appropriate
congregation, with the permission of the calling congregation or
other agency or calling body.
(d) A service of celebration on the part of the candidate’s home
congregation is encouraged.
(e) The district president shall issue a diploma of ordination or
commissioning.
4.4.3
The district president of the calling congregation, agency,
or other calling body (e.g., in the case of corporate-Synod-issued
calls, the president of the Missouri District) shall represent theThe
Synod shall be represented, in connection with all ordinations,
commissionings, and installations, by the president of the district
that will have supervision of the worker being ordained,
commissioned, or installed (see Bylaw section 2.12).
(a) An ordained or commissioned minister shall be installed into
each called position, whether for full- or part-time service.
(b) Each installation shall be authorized by the appropriate
district president and conducted, in accordance with forms and
practices developed by the Synod for that purpose, by the district
president or by an ordained minister designated by the district
president.
(ac) First calls: Ordinations, commissionings, and initial
installations shall be conducted by or at the direction of the
district president when the The requirements of Bylaw 2.10.2 (a)
have been shall be satisfied before a worker is ordained or
commissioned and initially installed in a first call.
(bd) Missionaries and non-foreign specialized ministers: The
authorizationAuthorization for the ordination or commissioning
and/or installation of a missionaryan ordained or commissioned
minister called into the foreign fieldsfor foreign service, other
than to a foreign member congregation, whether as a first or
subsequent call, shall be provided by the appropriate district
president upon the request of the Board for International Mission
by the president of the Missouri District.
(e) The authorization Authorization for the ordination or
commissioning and/or installation of a Synod-called non-foreign
specialized ministers, whether as a first or subsequent call, shall
be provided by the appropriate district president upon the request
of the Board for National Mission by the president of the
Missouri District.
(c) Synod staff members: Ordained and commissioned ministers
who are members of the Synod called by the Synod to serve the
national Synod shall be installed, in accordance with forms and
practices developed by the Synod for that purpose, by the
president of the Missouri District, or by his representatative.
(d) Professors and instructional staff members: Ordained and
commissioned ministers who are members of the Synod called or
appointed to serve at the Synod’s educational institutions as
professors and instructional staff members shall be installed, in
accordance with forms and practices developed by the Synod for

509

that purpose, by the president of the district in which the
institution is located, or by his representative.
(e) Second and subsequent installations of ministers: Rostered
ordained and commissioned ministers who have been duly called
to positions of full- or part-time service shall be installed upon
authorization provided by the president of the district from which
the call originates. Each installation shall be conducted, in
accordance with forms and practices developed by the Synod for
that purpose, by the district president or by an ordained minister
designated by the district president.
…
4.4.7
The district president shall be responsible for maintaining
the official rosters of his district.
(a) He shall add the names of those ordained or commissioned
ministers initially placed in the district and those accepting a call
to or otherwise transferring to the district.
(b) He shall remove the names of those who have died or have
resigned their membership or have had their membership in the
Synod duly terminated.
(c) An ordained or commissioned minister accepting a call to a
congregation in a sister district or to an institution which relates
to such district shall immediately report such decision to his
district president and ask for ashall request his district
membership be evaluated transfer of membership (Bylaw
2.12.1.1). The district president shall forward such any requisite
transfer to the president of the sister receiving district.
(d) Upon receipt of the transfer and of a request for installation
from the minister of religion, the district president of the sister
receiving district shall install or authorize installation of such
minister.
(e) He shall regularly forward roster reports to the Secretary of
the Synod for publication in The Lutheran Annual.

B. CALLING BODY CONSULTATION WITH DISTRICT
PRESIDENT
Rationale
It was also found to be desirable for bylaws dealing with call,
ordination/commissioning, and installation to deal more uniformly
and completely with all types of called service (not simply
congregational calls), including a clearer requirement of
consultation with the supervising district in every call situation, for
the protection of both calling bodies and called workers and for the
more effective exercise of ecclesiastical supervision. Obtaining a
district president’s counsel in the call process is essential for many
reasons, most apparently because he has access to ecclesiastical
supervisory information on call candidates (including any
restrictions that may be in place, Bylaws 2.13.2–2.13.2.4).
Therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw section 2.5 be amended as follows, to
clarify and extend the requirement of a calling body’s consultation
with the appropriate district president when it begins the call
process:
2.5 Calling Ministers of Religion by Congregations
2.5.1
Congregations, school associations, agencies, auxiliaries,
and recognized service organizations of the Synod shall seek the
counsel of their respective the appropriate district presidents when
calling ordained or commissioned ministers.
(a) A congregation or school association shall seek the counsel
of its own district president.
(b) An agency, auxiliary, or recognized service organization
shall seek the counsel of the district president who would, by

2019 Convention Workbook