LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 130

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130

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
to student participants (e.g., preservation of secular employment opportunities, flexibility and convenience, elimination
of relocation hassles and expense, and asynchronous instructional environments) that might increase the likelihood of a
man enrolling in the program. Arguments for the expansion
of the SMP route based on these presumed advantages to
the individual student, however, fall flat when the aforementioned churchwide considerations are taken into account.
According to the Synod’s intentional design and authorization, the SMP route neither has been nor should be the
“typical” LCMS route to service as an ordained minister.
Going forward, the Synod will most faithfully maintain the
integrity of her confessional commitment to the Office of the
Holy Ministry by remaining steadfastly alert to any emerging trend indicating inappropriate displacement of general
ministry pastorates by SMP pastorates, and take proactive,
timely steps (both systemwide and in local individual contexts) to prevent such a drift.

5. In keeping with the aforementioned desire to achieve greatly improved clarity within the Synod’s congregations and
among congregation members and church workers with
respect to a firm, comprehensive definition of appropriate
contexts for the service of SMP pastors, the PFC recommends that the Synod direct it to thoroughly identify and
evaluate options and rationales and prepare a report to the
2026 Synod convention that proposes such a definition.
6. Only under the premise of the Synod’s concurrence on the
understanding set forth in the preceding Recommendation
4, the PFC recommends that there be no change to the timing of SMP vicarage and ordination as currently practiced
in the Synod. Valid, yet differing, opinions and arguments
were expressed by the faculty of both seminaries concerning the timing of SMP vicarage and ordination. These arguments include the integrity of the call according to AC V and
XIV, varying practices through LCMS history, qualification
and fitness for the pastoral ministry, and the consciences of
God’s people. While a man is to be personally and theologically qualified for the office (1 Tim. 3:1–7; 2 Tim. 2:24–26;
Titus 1:5–9; 1 Peter 5:1–4), he is also to have a rightly ordered call to publicly teach in the church or administer the
Sacraments (AC XIV). The PFC also notes that in the Synod’s history and life together, there have been and continue
to be instances in which MDiv vicars serve in Word and
Sacrament ministry roles under limited, tightly defined preauthorizations and coordinative oversight between district
presidents and seminary representatives.
7. Under the same premise of the Synod’s concurrence on the
understanding set forth in the preceding Recommendation 4,
the PFC also recommends the following:
a. That biblical languages not be made a mandatory part of
the SMP curriculum. To add biblical languages to the SMP
program would extend the SMP program of studies from
a current four years to six. There is historical precedent in
the LCMS for not requiring prior training in biblical languages for candidacy and ordination in every case.
b. That SMP students during their service as vicars—that
is, in the first two years of SMP study—be consistently
addressed and referenced as “vicar” and not as “pastor.”
Words count. Consistent use of nomenclature lends increased clarity of understanding to the Synod and her con2023 Convention Workbook

gregations’ members about the SMP formation program
and its distinctiveness from the Synod’s general pastoral
ministry route. Such clarity and distinctiveness is maintained when congregations and congregation members
acknowledge the difference between the roles and responsibilities of those who have been publicly called and ordained in the church and those who have not.
c. That seminaries, districts, congregations, and pastors
should consistently encourage and strive to make provisions for prospective SMP students to consider entering
instead into an MDiv or Residential Alternate Route program.
8. The PFC recommends that all nonresidential routes to pastoral ministry not be consolidated under the SMP program.
The Appendix describes the purpose and distinction of each
route toward ordination. Because of the distinct purposes of
each route, it would not be strategically prudent or operationally feasible to place all routes under SMP.
9. The PFC endorses the Specific Ministry Pastor Supervision
Plan adopted by the Council of Presidents in response to
Resolution 6-03A, authored and modeled by the LCMS Pacific Southwest District. This plan includes the following:
a. Consistent, timely identification of the supervising pastor for every SMP. Each SMP will work with his district
president to establish and implement a continuous working
relationship with an SMP supervising pastor. The SMP supervising pastor may or may not be the pastor who served
as the SMP’s mentor during the course of SMP studies.
Should a change in the SMP supervising pastor be necessary at any point, a new SMP Supervision Information
Form is to be submitted to the district president for prompt
action (Bylaw 2.13.1 and COP Policy).
b. Completion of an annual SMP Supervision Information
Form and timely submission of the same to the district
president.
c. Annual submission of an SMP Supervision Plan to the district president. The SMP supervising pastor must review
and sign off on this plan. The written SMP Supervision
Plan will include the following:
i.

Regular meetings with the supervising pastor to discuss
sermon writing and delivery, ministry challenges, leadership and polity, and doctrine and practice.

ii. Faithful participation in circuit winkels, district pastors
conferences, and annual meetings with the district president for all district SMP and colloquy pastors and supervising pastors.
iii. A written Spiritual and Personal Growth Plan, which
includes Bible and devotional reading, theological and
doctrinal readings (Book of Concord, Law and Gospel,
etc.), conference and seminar attendance, continuing-education podcasts, and online sermon studies (i.e., those
offered by the seminaries).
iv. Congregational Mission and Ministry Plan, which includes objectives, outcomes, methods, timeline, and collaboration with supervisor and congregation.

C.3. 2019 Resolution 6-04
“To Support, Encourage, and Expect Continuing Education for