LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 151

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HIGHER EDUCATION
by the Council of Presidents acting as the Board of Assignments.
6.121 Report to the Convention
The Colloquy Committee shall render a full report
on teacher colloquy activities to each convention of the
Synod.

Action: Adopted as amended (6)
(This resolution was introduced in session 4 and decided in
session 6. By common consent, the words synodically certified
were added before the word teachers in the second whereas. An
amendment to change 25 to 22 in the first line of proposed Bylaw
6.106 failed. The resolution was adopted as edited without
amendment [yes: 1,012; no: 81].)

To Amend Bylaw to Restore Three-Year
Terms for Regents for Colleges
and Universities
RESOLUTION 5-04A
Overture 5-06 (CW, p. 206)
WHEREAS, Members of the Synod’s college and university Boards of Regents have historically served for threeyear terms, renewable twice (for maximum consecutive service of nine years); and
WHEREAS, When the 1998 synodical convention decided
to allow twelve years of consecutive service on these Boards
of Regents (like other synodical boards, including those of
the seminaries), the convention set the terms of all regents
at six years, to ensure continuity of membership particularly on the seminaries’ boards, which are elected entirely
by synodical conventions; and
WHEREAS, This specific need to ensure continuity is not
the case for the colleges and universities, whose boards are
elected in part by the Synod in convention, in part by the
local synodical District, and in part by the regents elected
by the Synod and the District (in the triennial year with
neither a synodical nor a District convention); and
WHEREAS, The Synod’s Commission on Constitutional
Matters has ruled that those college and university regents
that are elected neither by the Synod nor by the District
are, legally speaking, appointed, so that they may serve a
maximum of three three-year terms (LCMS Bylaws 3.59 a
and 3.61 b); and
WHEREAS, As a result, college and university Boards of
Regents will now have members serving under two different rules, some for up to two six-year terms and others for
up to three three-year terms, potentially resulting in confusion, that was surely not intended by the 1998 convention; and
WHEREAS, The need for continuity in the case of the colleges and universities is adequately provided for by the
overlapping terms of regents elected in different years by
different bodies; therefore be it
Resolved, That LCMS Bylaw 6.01 be amended to provide
that all members of college and university Boards of Regents shall be elected or appointed for three-year terms, renewable two times (for maximum consecutive service of
nine years); and be it further
Resolved, That all action taken in this resolution shall
be used to help carry out “The Great Commission” and shall

151

not in any way detract or distract from the primary mission
of God’s kingdom here on earth. We will remember 1-02!
Action: Adopted (9)
(After brief discussion the resolution was adopted as presented [yes: 849; no: 136]. The final resolve is added as required
by Res. 1-02, adopted by the convention in an earlier session.)

To Amend Bylaws re Deaconess Colloquy
RESOLUTION 5-05
Overture 5-34 (CW, pp. 217–18)
Rationale
This proposed change will provide the church with competent deaconesses who have met rigorous standards and
who are fit for ministry, but for whom obtaining a bachelor’s degree is prohibitive. The most common obstacle is a
language barrier, usually Spanish.
The LCMS has historically recognized that church
workers need not be identically educated for a particular
church office. At simultaneous points in our history, some
pastors did not earn a degree, others earned bachelor’s degrees, and others completed master’s degrees. In exceptional cases, the degree requirement can be waived.
Some Lutheran women who desire to become deaconesses but are not fluent in academic English find that
they cannot obtain collegiate general education in their own
language. Over 50% of the more than 30 Spanish-speaking
women who desire to pursue deaconess education are over
the age of 40. To learn English well and to then complete a
general education would place them into their 50s or 60s.
During those years they could have been actively serving
in the church as called deaconesses.
Rigorous theological and diaconal education is currently
available in Spanish. Spanish-speaking women in the deaconess colloquy are currently required to take the following
college-level courses offered through Concordia Seminary—
St. Louis, Hispanic Institute of Theology, and Concordia
University—River Forest:
18 theology courses at the diaconate level (36 semester hours)
3 theology courses at the seminary level (6 semester hours)
3 deaconess courses in theology (8 semester hours)
field experience (4 semesters)
internship (1 year full-time)

New standards may include courses to ensure professional expectations (in communication skills, for example),
but without the requirement of a degree.
The current Bylaw 6.129 c does allow for “two-year renewable approval for deaconess ministry” for women without a degree, but this provision has proven insufficient because some ministry positions require full deaconess
certification.
This proposal originates from the Coordinator of the
Deaconess Program at Concordia University, River Forest,
IL. It has the support of the institution and the synodical
Colloquy Committee for Deaconess Ministry.
Note: The synodical Deaconess Colloquy Committee is
composed of the First Vice-President of the LCMS and the
President of Concordia University, River Forest, together
with the institutional colloquy committee (University College Dean, Theology Dept. Chair, elected faculty member,
200l Convention Proceedings