LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 124

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124

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

B. Partnership Resources
A collaborative effort between ONM and several districts, especially the Kansas District, produced resources for small congregations considering partnerships and mergers. These resources are
available at no cost to LCMS congregations. They include the following:
•

Bible studies

•

Gathered Wisdom (Pros and Cons, Considerations, Partnership Models)

•

Ministry Agreements (Items to Address, Formalizing the
Agreement, Sample Agreement)
Mark A. Wood, Managing Director

R60

2019 Res. 6-02, 6-03A, and 6-04 Report:
Evaluation of 2016 Res. 13-03 Task
Force; SMP Program Review / Joint
BOD Overture re: SMP Vicarage Timing; Certification of Post-Seminary
Continuing Education Programs and
Resources (Pastoral Formation
Committee)
A. Pastoral Formation Committee
The roles and responsibilities of the Synod’s Pastoral Formation Committee (PFC) are outlined in Bylaw 3.10.4. The PFC is
comprised of three voting members: the Chief Mission Officer of
the Synod (Rev. Kevin Robson), who serves as chair, and the presidents of the Synod’s two seminaries (Rev. Dr. Thomas Egger and
Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast). The executive director of the LCMS Office of Pastoral Education (Rev. Dr. James Baneck) serves as the
PFC’s nonvoting advisory member. [1]

B. The LCMS Is Committed to a
Well-Formed, Highly Educated Clergy
A robust program of preparatory and continuing education is
integral to the effective formation of future pastors (Matt. 5:2; Luke
24:44–49; 1 Tim. 4:6–16; 2 Tim. 3:10–4:5; Titus 1:9), as well as
for those who continue in service to the church in the Office of
the Holy Ministry (OHM). On the surface, it may seem simple to
forgive sin, teach the faith, baptize, and distribute the body and
blood of Christ. However, these things are not mere functions to
be carried out in a formulaic fashion; they are the very handling,
application, and delivery of the holy things of God for the eternal
salvation of souls, of which pastors are stewards (1 Cor. 4:1) and
held accountable to God (Heb. 13:17). Men training for service in
the OHM are taught to interpret the Word of God, preach and teach
God’s Word, and apply God’s Word to the myriad conditions of
the individual members of the flock to which the Lord has sent
them by His divine call. Handling and applying God’s eternal Word
in Law and Gospel rightly distinguished is an awesome responsibility that is exercised in humility and wisdom. For instance, who
rightly receives the Sacrament? How does one give pastoral care to
a broken marriage? How does a faithful pastor apply God’s Word
2023 Convention Workbook

to issues of sexual identity? How does one minister God’s Word to
a person suffering crisis or grief? A pastor constantly draws on his
formation—having learned and continuing to learn the Scriptures,
doctrine, church history, the arts of preaching and teaching, pastoral care and practice, and the liturgical life of the church.
Pastoral formation in the LCMS comes from an entire body of
believers that accepts without reservation the Holy Scriptures and
the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Pastoral formation in the LCMS comes from the church that will “conserve
and promote the unity of the true faith …, work through its official
structure toward fellowship with other Christian church bodies, and
provide a united defense against schism, sectarianism …, and heresy” (Constitution Article III 1). Pastoral formation in the LCMS
is undertaken by an assembly of sinner-saints who “join with one
another in the Synod to support one another and to work together
in carrying out their commonly adopted objectives” (Bylaw 1.1.1).
Pastoral formation in the LCMS comes from those who have made
a solemn covenant in love, that they “agree to uphold the confessional position of the Synod (Const. Art. II) and to assist in carrying out the objectives of the Synod (Const. Art. III), which are
the objectives of the members themselves. While congregations of
the Synod are self-governing (Const. Art. VII), they, and also individual members, commit themselves as members of the Synod to
act in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod
under which they have agreed to live and work together and which
the congregations alone have authority to adopt or amend through
conventions” (Bylaw 1.3.4.1). [2]

C. 2019 Assignments to the Pastoral
Formation Committee
The 67th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, in July 2019 (Tampa, Florida), adopted the following
resolutions, which assigned certain tasks to the Synod’s Pastoral
Formation Committee.

C.1. 2019 Resolution 6-02
“To Promote Residential Seminary Education as the Preferred
Option for the Preparation of Men for Pastoral Ministry.” Its final
Resolved reads: “That the recommendations of the 2016 Res. 1303 Task Force be commended to the Pastoral Formation Committee for evaluation and appropriate follow up. The PFC will report
their evaluation to the 2022 convention.” The 2016 Res. 13-03
Task Force’s twelve recommendations included review, evaluation,
and recommendations with respect to the vitality and use of the
seminaries, accreditation, and fully financially supported seminary
education for students. These topics are routinely addressed as a
matter of the ongoing strategic and operational considerations at
each seminary and are summarized in the seminaries’ respective
institutional reports (located elsewhere in this convention workbook), which address matters pertaining to pastoral formation, strategic planning, financial matters, and analysis and assessment of
the Synod’s various routes to ministry. Many of these topics have
also been addressed by the PFC over the course of the last quadrennium. [3] The PFC here specifically highlights the following:

C.1.a. Vitality
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (CSL), and Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTSFW), are both world-renowned
seminaries and leaders in confessional Lutheran theology. These
two seminaries are academically and financially sound institutions
of pastoral, deaconess, and continuing-education formation. Col-