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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 33

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (since 2018); and Dr. Detlev
Schulz representing the president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (occasionally since ca. 2002; full-time since
2017).

the report was written, 178 men “for whom 2016 Res. 13-02A
somehow applied.” Of these men, the following are a few summary statistics for SMP colloquy (2016–2022):

Colloquy for General Pastors
Since 2007 and the advent of SMP, the term general pastor has
come to be used for pastors other than SMP pastors. The unique status and limitations of SMP pastors are delineated in Bylaw 2.13.1.
Until the 2016 Synod convention, all colloquies resulted in general
pastors who, among other things, are eligible to accept calls without restriction to any particular ministry context. With the end of
the limited and temporary opportunity for SMP colloquy (see below), pastoral colloquy once again results only in general pastors.
The following are a few basic statistics for general pastor colloquies during this triennium from September 2019 through January
2023:
•

Applications: 66

•

Interviews: 49

•

Certified (declared qualified) for first calls: 53

•

Placed into first calls: 41

The SMP Colloquy Process: Final Report
Res. 13-02A from the 2016 Synod convention authorized a temporary opportunity for qualified licensed lay deacons to apply to an
appropriate seminary program or to apply for colloquy as an SMP
pastor (SMP colloquy). This temporary opportunity for colloquy
as an SMP pastor is to be distinguished from the “regular” SMP
program, which is a seminary program. See the CCPM report in the
2019 Workbook for a more detailed explanation of Res. 13-02A.
The deadline for applications for SMP colloquy was July 1, 2018,
though for several reasons, applications were accepted into early
2020. Now, seven years after Res. 13-02A was adopted, only two
of the eligible deacons who applied for SMP colloquy are still finishing requirements. Hence some concluding statistics are in order.
A survey of district presidents in early 2014 by then-First VicePresident Herb Mueller indicated 331 deacons were serving “in
some pastoral capacity” in the LCMS. [2] Four years ago, according to the 2019 CCPM convention report, there were, at the time

Applications received: 164

•

Report of Work Performed / Progress Toward
Goals
During this triennium, the CCPM continued its recent practice
of holding five two-day meetings per year. This has proved sufficient for keeping the pace of interviews matched with the pace
of applications. Generally, the first of these two days is devoted
to conducting up to four 90-minute interviews, though interviews
can also extend into the second day. The remaining time is spent
reviewing applications and policy. Due to COVID-19, three of
these regular meetings were conducted over Zoom, and in-person
interviews were suspended for about nine months. But by December 2020 the committee was back to meeting in St. Louis with inperson interviews. In addition to the five regular meetings per year,
a subset of the committee traveled twice to interview licensed lay
deacons for Specific Ministry Pastors (SMP) colloquy. (See below
for more on SMP colloquy.) During COVID-19, there were also
numerous Zoom interviews conducted with licensed lay deacons.
In addition, there were occasional shorter Zoom meetings for more
urgent business other than interviews.

•
o
o
•
o
o

140 during the 2016–2019 triennium
24 during this triennium
Interviewed: 133
116 during the 2016–2019 triennium
17 during this triennium
Certified: 136
109 during the 2016–2019 triennium
27 during this triennium

It is evident from these statistics that most of the effort for SMP
colloquy occurred during the 2016–2019 triennium, though there
remained considerable work during this triennium to clarify and
continue implementing the resolves agreed upon in Res. 13-02A.
Of the 136 licensed lay deacons who have been certified, 105 were
still serving in October 2022, according to LCMS Rosters and Statistics.
A second provision of 2016 Res. 13-02A is that congregations
being served by qualified licensed lay deacons, who could not or
did not attend seminary or apply for SMP colloquy, are permitted
to apply annually for an exception to be served by said licensed lay
deacon for the upcoming calendar year. Such applications must be
approved both by the COP and the CCPM. This provision of Res.
13-02A continues, for the time being, with the COP and CCPM annually considering these applications each fall. The following are
the numbers of such exceptions that have been approved for the
last five calendar years:
•

51 for 2019

•

49 for 2020

•

23 for 2021

•

15 for 2022

•

11 for 2023

The decreasing numbers are due to the fact that no new licensed
lay deacons can be licensed for Word and Sacrament ministry according to Res. 13-02A. In addition, each year, a few of the eligible
deacons whose congregations have previously requested exceptions begin a seminary route to the ministry (such as SMP, Center
for Hispanic Studies, or Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology),
while others retire.

Colloquy in Comparison with Seminary
Graduates
As of October 2022, during the last three academic years, 36
colloquy candidates were placed into first calls as general pastors,
while 343 general pastors were placed (including the 36 colloquy
candidates). This means that during the academic years beginning
in the fall of 2019 and concluding in the summer of 2022, 10.5
percent of all general pastors who received initial placement came
through colloquy.
Taking SMP colloquies during this same period (as well as
“seminary SMP” placements) into account, the total number of
colloquies—both general and SMP colloquy—accounted for 14
percent of all initial placements (64 out of a total of 458). However,
2023 Convention Workbook