LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 394

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394 THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

appointed use of the means of grace to human factors important for
increasing the size of an institutional organization. At the same
time, a pastor should not hide behind or appeal to his call as an ex-
cuse for being lazy or negligent in his responsibilities. In this case
the third reason given for removing a man from the office may be
applicable.

Resignation and Retirement

In days past it was customary to think that God brought a man’s
service in the office of the public ministry to an end by calling him
home, declaring of him “well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
Certainly the apostles themselves served until death, caused by
martyrdom or by natural causes. Until the twentieth century life ex-
pectancy for men did not extend much past sixty years of age. Re-
tirement plans did not exist. It was therefore necessary also that in
order for pastors to have some means of livelihood, they would
have to serve in office until their dying day (as was the case for
many other occupations). But this is often no longer the case. Con-
temporary society raises questions that did not exist for much of
the church’s history.

Can a person retire or resign from the ministry? Some would
argue that since only God can conclude a ministry—and this only
through another call or through death—retirement or resignation in
and of itself involves a rejection of God’s call and will. However,
when Christ instituted the office of the ministry he committed the
administration of that office to the church under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit. In former years many served in the ministry until
the day of their death, but there is no scriptural mandate in this re-
gard.

What about voluntary retirement? Resigning or retiring should
certainly not be done in an arbitrary fashion. A pastor may reach
the conclusion that he has grown physically and mentally less able
to serve. In such cases it would be appropriate and prudent for him
to consider whether or not the church continues to benefit under
his shepherding as it once did. Retirement does not mean that a
man cannot find limited or part-time ways of serving. In most in-
stances such a person continues to be recognized as a pastor and
may choose to assist congregations on a part-time basis.

What should be said about mandatory retirement? Taking into
account societal changes, the church may adopt a policy asking
men to retire at a certain age. That age may continue to rise as it has
this past century. As the church adopts a general retirement policy,
it must also keep in mind that many older pastors remain active,
alert, and capable well past traditional retirement age.

Conclusion

The Word of God is a precious gift that the Lord has given to
his people. Indeed, the Word is the instrument or channel through
which God forgives and recreates his people. The formal responsi-
bility and high privilege of administering the Word publicly in be-
half of the whole congregation has brought excitement and delight
to those who serve within the office of the public ministry. Pastors
and all those whom they are called by God to serve will strive dili-
gently to honor him and the ministry entrusted to them by properly
exercising the call into this holy office.

Notes

1. In 1992 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod requested
that its Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR),
“in consultation with the Council of Presidents and representatives
of our Synod’s terminal schools,” prepare a single document that
answers questions and concerns regarding “the theology and prac-
tice of ‘the divine call,’ utilizing the writings of C.F. W. Walther
(i.e., his book Church and Ministry and essay ‘The Congregation’s
Right to Choose Its Pastor’).” In this request the Synod specifically
asked the Commission to address the practices—together with their

2004 Convention Workbook

theological foundations—for the placing of individuals into, or re-
moving them from, their office or location of service. The Synod
mentioned issues such as the “initial placement of candidates, dis-
missal from office, retirement, the appropriateness of the term di-
vine call for those serving in elected and appointed offices, etc.”
(1992 Res. 3-09A “To Study Theology and Practice of ‘the Divine
Call’”’). It should be noted that the 1992 resolution does not call
upon the CTCR to revisit its 1981 document The Ministry: Offices,
Procedures, and Nomenclature (See 1998 Res. 7-14A “To Address
Nomenclature of Church Workers,” in which the Synod com-
mended the CTCR’s 1981 report to congregations and profes-
sional church workers for study.). The Ministry is online at
http://www.lcms.org/ctcr/docs/ctcr-01.html.

The present document takes as its point of departure the theo-
logical and practical questions regarding a man’s call into the office
of the public ministry, which consists in the teaching of the Gospel
and the administration of the sacraments (Predigtamt; ministerium
docendi evangelii et porrigendi sacramenta). This “is the divinely
established office referred to in Scripture as ‘shepherd,’ ‘elder,’ or
‘overseer.’ This term, the office of the public ministry, is equivalent
to ‘the pastoral office.’ Within this office are contained all the func-
tions of the ministry of Word and sacrament in the church’(The
Ministry, 12). Conclusions may then be drawn about calls of indi-
viduals into auxiliary offices to the extent that these participate in
and support the office of the public ministry. As the Commission
has noted in its 1981 report, auxiliary offices are those established
by the church: “Those who are called to serve in them are autho-
rized to perform certain of the function(s) of the office of the pub-
lic ministry. These offices are ‘ministry’ and they are ‘public,’ yet
they are not the office of the public ministry. Rather, they are aux-
iliary to that unique pastoral office, and those who hold these of-
fices perform their assigned functions under the supervision of the
holders of the pastoral office. Such offices are established by the
church as the need arises, and their specific functions are deter-
mined by the church” (The Ministry, 12).

2. See AC XXVIII, 21, which teaches that the ministry of Word
and sacraments consists in forgiving sins, rejecting doctrine that is
contrary to the Gospel, and excluding from the fellowship of the
church ungodly persons whose wickedness is known—and doing
all of this without human power, simply by the Word. Iuxta evan-
gelium (according to the Gospel) refers to the task of the clergy in
Apol. XXVIII, 12.

3. These texts are the only places in the gospels where the dis-
ciples are called apostles.

4. This latter text, it should be noted, remains a subject of con-
siderable debate. Do the apostles represent the holders of the of-
fice of the public ministry or do they represent the entire church,
pastors and people alike (cf. Matthew 10 and 16)? It seems that
until the twentieth century most exegetical writings understood
Matthew 28 with reference to holders of the office distinct from
that of the laity. In the twentieth century this passage became more
popular as a mandate that addresses every individual Christian. The
view that this passage refers to a group larger than the twelve—
i.e., the church—is found in A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Po-
sition of the Missouri Synod, adopted by the Synod in 1932. Re-
cent exegesis has returned more to the previous view by noting that
Matthew identifies two distinct groups of Jesus’ followers, so that
here we have only the inner circle of disciples present. At best, the
issue remains ambiguous and continues to be a matter of discus-
sion.

5. Luke Timothy Johnson, The Acts of the Apostles, Sacra Pag-
ina Series, ed. Daniel J. Harrington, Vol. 5 (Collegeville, MN: The
Liturgical Press, 1992), 37.

6. See C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on
the Acts of the Apostles (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1994), 1:104,
for examples in post-biblical Judaism of the casting of lots.