LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 322

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322

PASTORAL MINISTRY AND SEMINARIES

WHEREAS, The Lord tells his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful,
but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the
harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2); and
WHEREAS, When we pray God’s Word it forms our thinking and
conforms our will to His; and
WHEREAS, The Synod’s colleges and seminaries stand to benefit
from the answer to this prayer, perhaps with an increased enrollment
of church worker students; and
WHEREAS, Our churches will thrive with an increase of trained
workers and ministers who are “full of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:3
[NKJV]) and “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14); and
WHEREAS, Our Synod will benefit from the establishment of new
Gospel outposts and congregations; and
WHEREAS, The harvest we pray for is constitutive of the one,
holy, catholic, and apostolic Church; therefore be it
Resolved, That the pastors and church workers of our Synod be
encouraged to pray daily for the Lord to send workers into the
harvest (perhaps setting alarms to go off at 10:02 as a reminder);
and be it further
Resolved, That the congregations and institutions of Synod be
encouraged to pray for harvest workers regularly in their meetings
and worship services.
Christ the King
Kingwood, TX
Ov. 6-03

To Affirm and Strengthen
the Synod’s Commitment to Well-Formed Clergy
for Sake of Gospel
WHEREAS, “The Office of the Holy Ministry has been instituted
by Christ Himself (John 20:19–23; Eph. 4:11–16); and calls
qualified men to fill this divinely established office and send them
as His ministers to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to
administer the Sacraments publicly in the stead of Christ and by His
command” (Lutheran Service Book Agenda, 155); and
WHEREAS, We confess “so that we may obtain this (justified,
saving) faith, the ministry of teaching (das Predigtamt, preaching
office) the Gospel and administration of the Sacraments was
instituted” (Augsburg Confession [AC] V 1), and “our churches
teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer
the Sacraments, without a rightly ordered call” (AC XIV; 2016
Resolution 6-02); and
WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) is
committed to a robust program of formation and education for those
preparing for the sacred Office of the Holy Ministry, to which they
are held accountable to God (1 Cor. 4:1–5; Heb. 13:17); and
WHEREAS, The Master of Divinity (M.Div.) route to call,
examination, and ordination into the Office of the Holy Ministry is
the most robust route in terms of academics and additional means
of pastoral formation when compared to other approved routes in
the LCMS and is considered “the most complete means of preparing
a man for the general responsibilities of the pastoral office” (2016
Res. 6-03, Proceedings, 168), and “the preferred option for the
preparation of men for pastoral ministry” (2019 Res. 6-02,
Proceedings, 159); and
WHEREAS, Candidates for the Office of the Holy Ministry
declared qualified for first calls are those who “will have
2023 Convention Workbook

satisfactorily completed the prescribed courses of studies and will
have received diplomas from their respective educational
institutions of the Synod or have fulfilled the requisites of a
colloquy or other approved education program of the Synod
(Bylaws 2.7.2 and 2.7.3)” (Bylaw 2.8.1 [a]); and
WHEREAS, Despite intervening efforts to address ambiguities in
the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program route to ordination and
Synod membership status, there remains apparent “confusion
regarding the definition of ‘specific ministry’” (2013 Res. 5-04B,
“To Continue and Strengthen Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP)
Program,” Proceedings, 139–40) among members of Synod; and
WHEREAS, New, non-approved routes to ministerial service in
the LCMS and the performance of the distinctive functions of the
Office of the Holy Ministry are in various instances being
encouraged, conceived, developed, and offered to individuals who
sincerely desire to serve the church; and
WHEREAS, The 67th Regular Convention of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod in July 2019 adopted resolutions which
assigned certain tasks to the Pastoral Formation Committee (as
described in Bylaw 3.10.4) concerning routes to ordination;
therefore be it
Resolved, That the residential M.Div. route continue to be
positioned and understood as the Synod’s strongly preferred route
to ordination, supplying LCMS congregations with well-formed,
highly educated pastors who as members of the Synod (ministers of
religion—ordained, Bylaw 2.6.1) are prepared to preach, teach, and
care for souls over a lifetime of faithful ministry in any and every
context into which the Lord calls them into service; and be it further
Resolved, That fiscally sound actions be undertaken over the
2023–2026 triennium by the Synod’s residential seminaries to
maintain the continuance of guaranteed tuition support for all
students enrolled in the residential M.Div. programs; and be it
further
Resolved, That the SMP route be utilized only for its intended
purposes (2007 Res. 5-01B; Bylaw 2.13.1) and strengthened under
the following principles and boundaries:
1. SMP pastors and their ministries are valid, appropriate to
the current needs of Christ’s body in certain circumstances,
fruitful, and treasured by all, even as the Synod gives
thanks to God for such men prepared, called, and placed
into the Office of the Holy Ministry under this particular
LCMS route to ordination;
2. the SMP route be understood and positioned as the
“exception” and not become the “principal rule” with
respect to the Synod’s available routes for the preparation
and ordination of her pastors;
3. there be no change to the timing of SMP vicarage and
ordination as currently practiced in the Synod and that
biblical languages not become a mandatory part of SMP
pastoral formation;
4. SMP students be consistently addressed as “vicar” in the
first two years of study and not be addressed as “pastor”
until after ordination; and
5. seminaries, districts, congregations, and pastors
consistently encourage and strive to make provisions for
prospective SMP students to consider entering instead into
an M.Div. or Residential Alternate Route program;
and be it further