LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 228

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228 HIGHER EDUCATION

6.85 Vicarage

An eeademie calendar year of supervised internship (vic-
arage) is required of all seminary students before graduation
completion of their study program. Every vicar shall be assigned
by the Council of Presidents, acting as the Board of Assign-
ments.

Commission on Structure

5-20

To Overturn Council of Presidents’ Policy
re Seminarians’ Wives

WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures lay out the qualifications for a
man to serve in the pastoral office (1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1); and

WHEREAS, It is more important for us as a church to be faithful
to those qualifications before creating our own; and

WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures indicate that pastors’ wives
(wife of the diakonos) should be “women worthy of respect, not
malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything”
(1 Tim. 3:11 NIV); and

Wtereas, A vicar’s/candidate’s wife can meet the qualifica-
tions of 1 Tim. 3:11 without being a member of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod; and

WHEREAS, St. Paul’s exhortation in 2 Cor. 6:14 is for Christians
not to be “yoked together with unbelievers”; and

WHEREAS, It is the congregation’s decision to call; and

WHEREAS, The policy of the Council of Presidents that states
that “the wives of married seminary students must be members in
good standing of a congregation of The Lutheran Church— Mis-
souri Synod before the student will be assigned to a vicarage. In all
cases, the student’s wife must be a member of an LCMS congrega-
tion before he receives a call at placement” interferes with, super-
sedes, and blocks a congregation’s decision to call an otherwise
qualified candidate; ‘and

Whereas, The congregation calls the candidate to fill the pas-
toral office, not the candidate’s wife (or family); and

WHEREAS, The congregation should have the right and, at the very
least, the opportunity to call an otherwise qualified candidate; and

Wrereas, While the Council of Presidents’ policy of requiring
LCMS membership for a vicar’s/candidate’s wife may make prag-
matic sense, it is not consistent with our church’s understanding of
the call and of the office of the ministry; and

WHEREAS, Ensuring a vicar’s/candidate’s wife’s LCMS status does
not insure any sort of congregational acceptance or harmony; and

WHEREAS, It is more important for the health and well-being of
both the congregation and of the pastor himself that he have a lov-
ing, supportive, Christian wife and a good marriage than that he be
married to an LCMS woman; and

WHEREAS, Neither the candidate, nor his wife, should be pres-
sured into her attaining LCMS status so that he might receive his
vicarage assignment or placement call, thereby encouraging an ac-
tion from false motives that is rooted in hypocrisy; therefore be it

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, in con-
vention, overturn the Council of Presidents’ policy requiring sem-
inarians’ wives to be members in good standing of a congregation
of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod before the student will
be assigned to a vicarage or before he will receive a call at place-
ment; and be it further

Resolved, That the congregations requesting either vicarage or
placement assignments be fully informed if a potential candidate’s
wife is not a member in good standing of a congregation of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod before accepting a particular
assignment; and be it finally

Resolved, That the decision to call an otherwise qualified can-
didate, or accept an otherwise qualified vicar, be left up to the in-
dividual congregation.

Christ
Austin, TX

5-21

To Encourage Seminaries to Affirm Role of Women

Whereas, Our Missouri Synod has affirmed in many ways the
total partnership of men and women within the work of the king-
dom; and

WuerEAS, Many changes in society, including racial and cul-

‘tural changes, affect the way the church’s ministry is perceived and

received; therefore be it

Resolved, That the English District encourage the 2004 LCMS
convention to encourage the seminaries to affirm the role of women
within our Synod, as mentioned in the CTCR document of 1985, as
the seminaries do their blessed work of the formation of pastoral
candidates; and be it further

Resolved, That the English District memorialize the 2004 syn-
odical convention to encourage the seminaries in their blessed work
of the formation of pastoral candidates to utilize this same CTCR
document of 1985, continuing to affirm the role of women within
our Synod.

English District

5-22

To Direct Board for Higher Education to Provide Same
Standard for All Alternate Routes
Leading to Ordination

Wrereas, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has had a
tradition of maintaining a high standard of education for its clergy;
and

WHEREAS, One critical attribute of theological education is the
study of Hebrew and/or Greek, in which the original text of Scrip-
tures were written; and

WHEREAS, The knowledge of the original text is critical to the
proper understanding of Scripture; and

WHEREAS, A called and ordained servant of the Word is re-
quired to properly distinguish Law from Gospel; and

WHEREAS, The recent development of the Ethnic Immigrant In-
stitute of Theology (EIIT) in St. Louis, the People of the Book
Lutheran Outreach (POBLO) in Fort Wayne, and Distance Educa-
tion Leading To Ordination (DELTO) have omitted the study of
the aforementioned original languages; and

WHEREAS, These programs undermine the high standard of ed-
ucation of LCMS clergy; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Montana District in convention request the
Synod in the 2004 convention to direct the Synod Board for Higher
Education in conjunction with the faculties of both seminaries to
review the inconsistencies and standardize the educational require-
ments for those who seek ordination; and be it further

Resolved, That all alternate programs leading to ordination meet
the minimum standards as outlined in the DELTO program (30
courses) and include the additional study of the Greek language;
and be it finally

Resolved, That the Board for Higher Education present its find-
ings to provide the recommendation for standardized guidelines for
all alternate routes leading to ordination to the 2007 Synod con-
vention.

Montana District

5-23

To Encourage DELTO and TEE

Whereas, Our Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod continues to
be challenged by rapidly expanding opportunities for outreach with
the power of the Gospel, especially to the diverse racial, language,
and cultural groups that are found everywhere in our nation, so
much so that in sparsely settled parts of our country, we simply
cannot meet the need. Likewise, we have many willing to serve