LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 189

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THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 189

tion or the scriptural and confessional teaching that all preachers
are given by Christ, appointed by the Spirit, and therefore need to
be “regularly called” through the church; therefore be it

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod issue
calls to all ordained ministers who are employed by the Synod’s
auxiliaries (Lutheran Laymen’s League, Lutheran Women’s Mis-
sionary League, and any others that may be established), if these
men are expected to preach and teach God’s Word, do the work of
an evangelist, or oversee the teaching and doctrine of others; and be
it further

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod work
out an arrangement with its auxiliaries concerning the means by
which all of these called men will be compensated; and be it finally

Resolved, That these men be called into office and be overseen
in office in accordance with the Scriptures and the Lutheran Con-
fessions, just as the Synod calls and oversees its evangelistic mis-
sionaries.

Holy Cross, Golden, IL; Quincy Circuit Forum, Central
Illinois District

3-83

To Work to Achieve Uniformity and Doctrinal
Integrity in Use of Lay Assistants

WHEREAS, One of the objectives of the Synod is to “recruit and
train pastors, teachers, and other professional church workers” (Art.
Ill 3); and

WHEREAS, One of the purposes of this objective of the Synod is
to achieve the first objective to “conserve and promote the unity of
the true faith (Eph. 4:3-6: 1 Cor. 1:10)” (Art. III 1); and

Wuereas, The proliferation of “quasi-seminaries” in some Dis-
tricts for the training of lay assistants who are presently being au-
thorized by some Districts to do pastoral ministry in vacant or geo-
graphically isolated congregations, often without adequate
supervision of a theologically trained and ordained pastor, may
frustrate the fulfillment of the first objective; and

WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures clearly teach that a congrega-
tion is lacking in something when it does not have a properly ap-
pointed elder/bishop or pastor (Titus 1:3, 7); and

WuereEaS, The use of lay assistants who are not under the su-
pervision of a called pastor/bishop is not in keeping with the apos-
tolic instruction (Titus 1:5); and

Wuereas, Continuing this “tribalization” of Districts of the
Synod will result in the loss of the unity of the true faith (Eph.
4:3-6); and

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) has
experienced confusion during its history with regard to the doctrine
of church and ministry; and

WterEAS, The Synod in convention in July 2001 affirmed that
“Dr. C. F, W. Walther addressed this confusion in 1851 through his
‘Theses on Church and Ministry,’ which were subsequently declared
to be the position of the LCMS in 1851” (2001 Res. 7-17a); and

WhereEAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod desires to be
true to Scripture and her confessional subscription (especially in
regards to Art. XIV of the Augsburg Confession) when develop-
ing any office within a congregation to assist the Office of Holy
Ministry or the pastoral office; and

WHEREAS, The liberty of the pastor and the congregation needs
to be maintained when special circumstances arise in the congre-
gation to address specific tasks that may involve the use of lay as-
sistants; and

WHEREAS, This subject is addressed in part by a report of the
CTCR, The Ministry: Offices, Procedures, and Nomenclatures
(September 1981); therefore be it

Resolved, That the 2004 Synod convention be memorialized to
direct the CTCR to study more specifically the issue of lay assis-
tants, as presently used in our Synod, and provide scripturally and
doctrinally sound guidelines for any use of same; and be it further

Resolved, That the 2004 Synod convention be memorialized to
direct the CTCR to work in consultation with the seminaries to pro-
vide a curriculum for uniform education of lay assistants; and be it
further .

Resolved, That such CTCR report and seminary recommenda-
tions be submitted to the 2007 Synod convention; and be it finally

Resolved, That if such report and recommendations are adopted
by the Synod convention, the Council of Presidents work to achieve
uniformity in the use of lay assistants throughout the Synod.

Montana District

To Clarify Terminology and Call
for “Licensed Deacons”

Rationale

The 2001 Synod convention, in Res. 3-08B, “To Address Needs
and Opportunities for Pastoral Ministry in Specialized Situations,”
authorized its Districts to continue training lay deacons as directed
by the spirit of the 1989 Wichita Res. 3-OSB, in which trained lay
ministers serve under the supervision of an ordained pastor and are
subject to annual certification by the District President. In order to
address the needs to recruit and train more ordained pastors, it cre-
ated a DELTO Oversight Committee to revise the DELTO (Dis-
tance Education Leading to Ordination) program. The DELTO cur-
riculum has now been revised and consists of 30 courses, with the
first 10 courses being acceptable as taught through District-level
programs, based on equivalency to the syllabi agreed to by the
DELTO Oversight Committee and the seminaries.

A variety of titles are being used by the Districts for those men
who have completed the District programs, the first 10 DELTO
courses, or their equivalent and are performing Word and Sacra-
ment ministry. These titles include Lay Deacon, Licensed Deacon,
Lay Minister, Certified Lay Minister, and Assisting Pastor. A com-
mon title would be appropriate for use throughout Synod. In order
to aid in removing the confusion with regard to nomenclature the
1989 Wichita convention in Res. 3-05B recommended “that the
title deacon be established by which a layman would be addressed
while he is temporarily serving in Word and Sacrament ministry in
‘exceptional circumstances or in emergencies.’ This title would dis-
tinguish him from an ordained pastor.” That same resolution pro-
vided that “such laymen shall have been approved and licensed by
the President of the District to which the congregation belongs” in
keeping with criteria and standards adopted by the Council of Pres-
idents. The title “licensed deacon” has been used for many such
laymen and seems to fit best the intent of the Wichita resolution.
(An acceptable alternate title would be “assisting pastor,” proposed
to the 2001 convention by a Synod task force.)

A licensed deacon serves a specific place under the supervision
of an ordained pastor, normally the vacancy pastor, and under the
ecclesiastical supervision of the District President, who is respon-
sible for granting and renewing the license to serve. Such ministry
may be in short term emergency situations or long-term for small
congregations or preaching stations in remote locations or in spe-
cialized situations. A licensed deacon has the option of enrolling
in the remaining 20 DELTO courses being offered by one of the
Synod’s seminaries. In so doing he is designated a DELTO vicar;
completion of all 20 remaining DELTO courses leads to ordina-
tion. The DELTO vicar is paired with an ordained pastor of the
LCMS, who will serve as his pastor-mentor throughout the course
of study. A licensed deacon not enrolled in the DELTO vicar pro-
gram is expected to be in a District-approved continuing education
program for his license to be renewed.

Questions have surfaced as to whether a licensed deacon, re-
quested by a congregation for Word and Sacrament ministry with
the approval of the District President, is filling a “divine call.” Ac-
cording to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions, the preach-
ing of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments require a
man with a proper public call (Jer. 23:21; Rom. 10:15; Heb. 5:4;
AC XIV). A regular call requires training and examination in the