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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 327

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

PASTORAL MINISTRY AND SEMINARIES
Ov. 6-11

To Increase Distance Education Opportunities
to Train General Ordained Ministers
WHEREAS, There is an increasing number of congregations with
pastoral vacancies due to lack of ordained candidates; and
WHEREAS, There is a need for seminary training to address the
variety of ministry contexts in which Synod is engaged in ministry;
and
WHEREAS, The Synod has a history of variety in its training of
ordained ministers (e.g., the practical seminary and the theological
seminary of the 20th century); and
WHEREAS, Academic training has taken advantage of technology
to offer distance education and it has become a standard of
delivering training in many contexts in our culture; and
WHEREAS, The Cross-Cultural Ministry Center (CMC) has
trained, through distance learning, ordained ministers who are
serving effectively across the Synod; therefore be it
Resolved, That the seminaries of Synod be encouraged to study
how to train general pastors by distance education; and be it further
Resolved, That the seminaries and the districts of Synod be
encouraged to implement distance education methods and
technologies for seminary education to provide more general
pastors for the mission of the Gospel; and be it further
Resolved, That the CMC and the districts of Synod continue to
work together to identify ministry settings and candidates and to
provide for their training while they serve alongside ordained
ministers; and be it finally
Resolved, That the Northwest District memorialize the 2023
Synod Convention to identify the CMC as a means to train general
pastors for Synod.
Northwest District
Ov. 6-12

To Explore Non-Residential Opportunities
for Pastoral Education
WHEREAS, Our Lord invites us, “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” (Matt. 9:37–38); and
WHEREAS, Throughout the generations, churches have been and
are called to be led by pastors trained and equipped for biblically
grounded, confessionally sound, and contextually appropriate
ministry; and
WHEREAS, There is great need to raise up new pastors in a time
when current pastors are retiring, and residential enrollment is
decreasing at our seminaries; and
WHEREAS, The challenges of residential education in the 21st
century include the financial costs, not only of tuition (which is
currently covered by the seminaries), but also housing and basic
living expenses such as food and clothing, the length of study while
living with these burdens, and the challenges of these transitions in
various life stages all limit the opportunities for men to answer the
call to service; and
WHEREAS, There are opportunities for life and ministry in the
21st century, including technological advances for communication
and learning, mid-life career changes, and the potential to recruit

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men whose life situations may limit the possibility of residential
formation; and
WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS)
showed adaptability in sending workers for the harvest, even in an
age before our current technology: "More than half of those who
graduated from the seminary in Fort Wayne during the first nine
years of the school's existence attended from one to two years: about
one third of them, two to three years. The aim was to provide men
with the most practical instructions so that they would enter the
work as early as possible” (Carl S. Meyer, Moving Frontiers:
Readings in the History of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
[St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1964], 217); and
WHEREAS, The LCMS has historically provided training in our
present context, including the decision to create seminaries in North
America, rather than returning to Germany for pastoral education;
and
WHEREAS, The Southeastern District in its 2022 convention
voted to forward this overture to the Synod convention for
consideration; therefore be it
Resolved, That the seminaries and leadership of the LCMS
explore and implement further non-residential opportunities for
pastoral education and ordination, for the sake of the Church.
Southeastern District
Ov. 6-13

To Regularize Specific Ministry Pastoral
Classification
WHEREAS, Our Lutheran Confessions state “… that no one
should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments,
without a rightly ordered call” (Augsburg Confession XIV) and that
ordination is an essential component of a regular, ordered call
(Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope 67, 69–71); and
WHEREAS, Membership Status and Limitations noted in the
Handbook of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (2019
Handbook, Bylaw section 2.13) applies requirements and
limitations on Specific Ministry Pastors (SMP) that include:
• remaining in a specific ministry context;
• remain under supervision by a general pastor;
• limits his Call outside of the context of his Call;
• is not eligible to serve as a voting delegate to the national
convention;
• is not eligible to be elected or appointed to offices at the
district and Synod level;
• may not supervise vicars; and
• may not serve as circuit visitor;
and
Whereas, Other classifications of pastors (Ethnic Immigrant
Institute of Theology [EIIT], Hispanic, and others) who are not
graduates from a residential program track (Master of Divinity and
Alternative Route) have been granted ordination without notation
of how these non-residential tracks are to be managed in the context
of Bylaw 2.13.1 (a–c); and
Whereas, Confusion on how to deal with ordained pastors who
are not SMP or graduates from residential ministry tracks continues
to exist; and

2023 Convention Workbook