LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 140

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140 CONGREGATIONAL SERVICES

WHEREAS, The PIFs are often made available to voting mem-
bers of calling congregations at call meetings, but the SETs are
often not made available to voting members of calling congrega-
tions at call meetings; therefore be it

Resolved, That we commend the Council of Presidents (COP)
for creating and improving the SET over the years; and be it further

Resolved, That we commend the COP and our seminaries for
gathering a completed SET from each of the pastors in our Synod;
and be it further

Resolved, That we commend the District Presidents and Circuit
Counselors for making completed SETs available to call committee
members: and be it finally

Resolved, That District Presidents, Circuit Counselors, and call
committees make the completed SETs available to voting members
of calling congregations at call meetings.

University
Minneapolis, MN

2-22

To Provide Pastoral Reference
Forms to Calling Congregations

WHEREAS, It is good and salutary that calling congregations be
allowed full information concerning prospective candidates for
calls; and

WHEREAS, The present system does not allow calling congrega-
tions to have full and complete information and also limits a pas-
tor’s opportunity to respond to the District President’s official eval-
uation included in the call lists returned to the calling
congregations; and

WHEREAS, The present system has evolved away from the in-
tent of the synodical Bylaws; therefore be it

Resolved, That the President of The Lutheran Church—Mis-
souri Synod in consultation with the Vice-Presidents of the Synod,
the Synod’s Executive Director for Human Resources, and the Dis-
trict Presidents develop a new Pastoral Reference Form (PRF) to
replace entirely the existing Pastors Information Form (PIF) and
Self Evaluation Too! (SET); and be it further

Resolved, That the PRF consist entirely and only of information
supplied by the pastor himself, with no notes or comments by any
other person; and be it further

Resolved, That provision be made for PRFs to be filled out by
pastors in several ways: online through a Web-based form, by
e-mail, by computer program on disk, or by a typed or handwritten
form; and be it further

Resolved, That at least once every three years every Circuit
Counselor physically make an official on-site visit to each congre-
gation in his Circuit as well as a personal visit with every pastor
on CRM or Emeritus status and prepare a written evaluation of
each of the pastors using a standardized evaluation procedure and
form to be developed by the President of the Synod in consultation
with the Vice-Presidents of the Synod, the Synod’s Executive Di-
rector of Human Resources, and the District Presidents; that this
Pastoral Evaluation Form (PEF) be shared in full with the pastor
being evaluated and signed by him as acknowledgment of the
same; and that he be given opportunity to attach an addendum to
the PEF with his own comments, which will always be included
with the PEF; and be it further

Resolved, That the Circuit Counselor and District President may
mutually agree to have a PEF for a pastor completed in the same
manner by the District President rather than by the Circuit Coun-
selor, always including a physical, official, on-site visit to the con-
gregation or a personal visit with pastors on CRM and Emeritus
status, using the same standardized evaluation procedure and form,
with the PEF shared in full with the pastor being evaluated and
signed by him as acknowledgment of the same, and that he be
given opportunity to attach an addendum to the PEF with his own
comments, which will always be included with the PEF; and be it
further

2001 Convention Workbook

Resolved, That no changes or updates ever be made to a PEF
without a physical, official, on-site visit to the congregation or a
personal visit with pastors on CRM and Emeritus status, using the
standardized evaluation procedure and form, with the PEF shared
in full with the pastor being evaluated and signed by him as ac-
knowledgment of the same, and that he be given opportunity to at-
tach an addendum to the PEF with his own comments, which will
always be included with the PEF; and be it further

Resolved, That in the case of pastors not serving in parish set-
tings the PEF be completed in the same manner by their respective
supervisors; and be it further

Resolved, That PRFs and PEFs be maintained by the Synod’s
Executive Director of Human Resources and always be supplied
without fail upon request to any congregation or other synodical
entity, and that they be withheld only if a pastor has requested the
same or is currently on Restricted Status according to the provi-
sions of the Bylaws; and be it further

Resolved, That pastors may at any time receive from the
Synod’s Executive Director of Human Resources a complete writ-
ten record (with dates) of the congregations or other entities to
which his PRF and PEF have been supplied or denied for the two
reasons stated above; and be it further

Resolved, That PRFs and PEFs be supplied by the Synod’s Ex-
ecutive Director of Human Resources within two weeks of a re-
quest, or, if either the PRF or PEF is unavailable, that the request-
ing congregation or other entity, the pastor, and the Circuit
Counselor be notified within two weeks so that the information can
be made available as quickly as possible; and be if further

Resolved, That no other information, comments. or evaluation
of any type ever be supplied, either in writing or orally, by any syn-
odical or District official, including, but not limited to, District
Presidents and Circuit Counselors; and be it further

Resolved, That this modified system of supplying pastoral in-
formation to congregations be in place no later than July 1, 2002;
and be it finally

Resolved, That all existing PIFs and SETs in any synodical or
District files be destroyed after the modified system is activated,
as determined by the Synod’s Executive Director of Human Re-
sources and no later than July 1, 2002.

Circuit 2 Forum
Ohio District

2-23
To Refer RSO TF Report to BCS

Preamble

The synodical Task Force on Recognized Service Organizations
(RSO) was charged by the 1998 synodical convention to review
the status of the RSOs of the Board for Congregational Services.
Because recent official action of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) has diverged from historic Lutheran doctrine,
the task force recommends that secondary schools clearly align
their religious practices to conform to historic LCMS doctrine and
remove from governance and religious academic positions those
affiliated with the ELCA. Schools are given until 2006 to comply
with this directive or they will lose their RSO status.

With regard to administrative and instructional practices, our
Northern Illinois District high schools are in conformity. They are
also supervised by the President of the Northern Illinois District to
assure acceptable practices. Governance documents (constitutions
and by-laws) are in conformity to The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod positions.

Because the RSO Task Force report would negatively impact
our Lutheran high schools in varying degrees, the Northern Ilinois
District Board of Directors at their January 29, 2001, meeting,
passed the attached resolution as a memorial to the 2001 synodical
convention. The Board for Congregational Services of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is asked to further study this
issue, hoping to refine the directives of the task force so as to con-