LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 391

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THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 391

The Specific Contents of the Call

In light of the two dimensions of the church (as an institution,
and as a spiritual reality) and thus the two dimensions of the call is-
sued by the church, it is important to distinguish between those as-
pects of a call that are “by divine right” (de jure divino) and, those
that are “by human right” (de jure humano).

In as much as the church properly speaking is the assembly of
believers, the call from Christ entails the responsibility and obliga-
tion to proclaim the Gospel in its purity and administer the sacra-
ments in accordance with the Gospel. The pastor, therefore, feeds
and guards the flock of God as an undershepherd of Christ. This is
the essence of the call and is the one component that is common to
the call of every man who serves in the pastoral office. The pastor
possesses and carries out this task by the authority of Jesus Christ.
Christ himself commissions him through the Holy Spirit and so
when he speaks the words of Christ within the church he speaks
for Christ (Luke 10:16).

In so far as the church possesses sociological characteristics as
an institution within society, the congregation may include in its
call specific tasks that can be assigned only by human authority.
Such things would include a congregation’s asking its pastor to
carry out administrative tasks, leading it through a building project,
and assisting it in charting out a course or “vision” for its future.
These are important functions, but they play a supportive role for
Word and sacrament ministry, just as the location and size of the
building or the time of worship provide the setting and context for
the proclamation of the Word. Since the pastor carries out such
tasks by human authority, he cannot claim that one particular re-
sponsibility, practice, or method is uniquely “God’s plan”—any
more than he can claim that a particular meeting time or architec-
tural style is ordained by God. Moreover, these particular tasks will
vary from congregation to congregation. They are. not applicable
to all who serve as pastors.

Thus the call issued by a congregation includes elements that
are by “divine right” and others that are “by human right.”° But
these elements must be distinguished. Christ has called the pastor
through the congregation faithfully to administer the means of
grace for the expansion and edification of the assembly of believ-
ers. The congregation may authorize the pastor to carry out leader-
ship, administrative, and counseling responsibilities for the expan-
sion and well being of the congregation. While they overlap, these
two dimensions are not identical or coextensive.

Is a Divine Call Open-Ended?

May calls be issued for a particular location or a specialized
field of service for pre-determined lengths of service (e.g., 3-5
years)? Again we are reminded that neither the Scriptures nor the
Confessions explicitly address the details of the call process, in-
cluding also this issue. They exhibit less concern about the tenure
of a particular call than they do about the pure proclamation of the
Gospel and the right administration of the sacraments. It may well
be the case that the length of service, like location and salary, is
also an issue that is entrusted to the church to administer “by
human right”’(de jure humano). Such determinations will vary from
congregation to congregation and pastor to pastor, and may not be
of equal importance. Not all serve at the same location. Not all
serve with the same salary. So also, not all serve the same length of
time. Yet, this does not mean that “anything goes” or that congre-
gations may do whatever they want. Rather, the church in its wis-
dom has the responsibility of administrating the call into the office
of the ministry in a way that is consistent with its divinely insti-
tuted purpose: the proclamation of the Gospel. At the same time,
the church will take into account the particular needs of the con-
gregation within which the Gospel is proclaimed through this of-
fice.

The Local Pastor (Pastor ‘Loci’)

The normal practice within the history of Lutheranism has been
to treat the call of the local pastor (pastor loci) as open-ended. Cer-
tainly this has also been the regular practice throughout the history
of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. There have been good
and solid reasons for regarding the calls of parish pastors as open-
ended or of unspecified duration. In fact, the principles enunciated
above (the institution of the office of the public ministry for pro-
claiming the Gospel, and the particular needs of the congregation in
a given situation) come together in such a way that an open-ended
call serves best, and this for three reasons.

First, “the divine call” of a pastor is usually spoken of in a way
that emphasizes the divine institution and work of the pastoral of-
fice. Any discussion of pre-determined time limitations for a call
has been tempered by the recognition that the man whom the con-
gregation calls is God’s man in that particular location summoned
to carry out God’s work. Consequently, neither the pastor nor the
congregation are free to enter into a contractual arrangement that
militates against the divine institution of the pastoral office and the
scriptural teaching that the pastor is a gift given to the church (Eph
4:11; Acts 20:28). The divine origin and character of the call re-
quire that both pastor and congregation, as teacher and hearers, be
faithful to God. Thus the practice has been to urge special caution
against the creation of arbitrary time limits (apart from intrinsic
need), since they encourage carnal motives in both pastors (moving
on to better positions) and hearers (treating pastors as hirelings).

Second, as God’s man the pastor has the responsibility of pro-
claiming the Gospel in all its purity. The free and unhindered
proclamation of the whole counsel of God has been a fundamental
reason why the call of a local pastor has been considered perma-
nent in a particular congregation. Where the possibility exists that a
call will be terminated because the preaching of the Law is offen-
sive, or where a “hire and fire” mentality is present, or where insti-
tutional regulations permit the congregation to dismiss pastors eas-
ily, it will be difficult for pastors to carry out the task of preaching
the whole counsel of God. In such situations the pressure will in-
crease for the pastor to become a “people-pleaser.” To speak of the
call to the pastoral office as permanent can help forestall abuses
that undermine the work of the Word and thus contributes to the
well being of the church.

Third, parish pastors are responsible for administering all the
means of grace to meet the full range of needs within a parish. This
involves everything from evangelism to edification, from baptisms
to burials. To prepare Christians for the return of Christ, the parish
pastor feeds and leads the entire congregation. Such ministry of
Word and sacrament by definition, therefore, has to be open-ended
because these needs and tasks are not completed until Christ re-
turns. An open-ended call will help impress upon a pastor who ac-
cepts a cal] that he should never view the congregation as a field of
temporary service while on his way to building a resumé qualifying
him for more prestigious or better paying positions. A call to a con-
gregation is not merely a rung on a ladder of advancement.

The above paragraphs assume a normal, settled situation in
which the parish pastor is the local pastor (pastor loci) of a partic-
ular congregation. A call is not open-ended in the sense that it per-
sists beyond the existence of a congregation. Situations can and do
change, having an impact on the pastor and perhaps altering the
specifics of his call—as when, for example, a congregation must
enter into a dual parish arrangement. To take another example, a
situation could exist where a congregation may want to plant a
cross-cultural congregation. So they may decide to call a man to
serve as a church planter for a specified length of time considered
reasonable for assessing whether such a ministry is feasible or sus-
tainable.

2004 Convention Workbook