LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 214

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

214 SEMINARY AND UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

hastily (1 Tim. 5:22). The completion of the first 10 courses of the
DELTO program or their district equivalent and formal action by
the congregation and the district president satisfies these directions.
Thus the action of the congregation can be considered a “divine
call.” The district president should ordain this person for ministry
in a public worship service in accordance with forms and practices
developed by the Synod for that purpose. Ordination is in order
since it is the public witness that the call of the congregation is a le-
gitimate “divine call.”

God Himself instituted the Office of Holy Ministry, through
which the Gospel is to be purely proclaimed and the Sacraments
are to be administered rightly, so that sheep would be made and
fed. The Lord desires that His sheep should have a shepherd.
Therefore, the Lord of the harvest calls shepherds through the voice
of the congregation to tend His sheep. Such shepherds include li-
censed deacons. When a licensed deacon, at the request of a con-
gregation and with the approval of the district, conducts Word and
Sacrament Ministry, he is serving as a pastor, trained, examined
and certified through an alternate route to ministry and he should
receive a “divine call” and be ordained. The call and ordination of
the licensed deacon brings both comfort and assurance to the peo-
ple of the congregation and to the individual himself that God
wants to effectively use him to preach the Gospel and administer
the Sacraments. Through these means, the Lord will continue to
make and feed His sheep.

As the harvest will continue to be plentiful and the workers will
continue to be few until our Lord’s return, we are to continue to
pray that the Lord of the harvest would send more laborers. Full of
compassion for sheep without shepherds and shepherds without
calls, it is the duty of the Synod to provide various routes to train,
examine, call, and ordain capable men into the Office of Holy Min-
istry. In accomplishing this the Synod’s Bylaws need to be
amended to clarify the terminology, call, and ordination of licensed
deacons, each of whom will now be referred to as Specific Min-
istry Pastor; therefore be it

Resolved, That the convention thank the DELTO Oversight
Committee, President Kieschnick, the Board for Pastoral Educa-
tion, the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, the sem-
inary faculties, and the Council of Presidents for their work in con-
sidering all alternate routes to pastoral ministry and their
recommendations to bring uniformity in the curriculum, titles, su-
pervision, examination, certification, and placement process for
those preparing for Word and Sacrament ministry through alternate
routes to pastoral ministry; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod formalize the DELTO Oversight
Committee, renaming it the “Specific Ministry Pastor Commis-
sion,” authorize it to coordinate and oversee all alternate routes to
pastoral ministry, and include in its membership representatives
from the Synod’s Council of Presidents, Board for Pastoral Educa-
tion, seminaries, Board for Mission Services, and those adminis-
tering or teaching the programs in the districts; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod authorize the Specific Ministry Pastor
Commission to standardize and, where possible, combine the vari-
ous alternate routes to pastoral ministry through a modified
DELTO Program, utilizing the “Specific Ministry Pastor Program”
name for the program, and that such program be considered an ap-
proved colloquy program; and be it further

Resolved, That the Specific Ministry Pastor Program, in a prac-
tical ministry context, include at least two levels of training ap-
proved by the commission—one of which allows for the student to
assist within his congregation while taking the initial courses and
the other which allows the student, with the approval of his district
president and under guidance from his assigned mentor, to conduct
Word and Sacrament ministry in a restricted setting while taking
the remaining courses; and be it further

Resolved, That during the first level of training the student carry
the title of “Specific Ministry Vicar” and during the second level of
training, after call and ordination as hereinafter provided, the stu-
dent carry the title of “Specific Ministry Pastor;” and be it further

Resolved, That, for the sake of unity in the programs and prac-
tices of the Synod, the Specific Ministry Pastor Program be imple-

mented through district level programs and that the districts
presently conducting licensed deacon programs be encouraged to
make such programs compatible with the first level of the Synod’s
Specific Ministry Pastor Program, including the syllabi developed
by the seminaries for courses taught at the district level; and be it
further

Resolved, That for that portion of the Specific Ministry Pastor
Program conducted at the district level, each district president rec-
ommend mentors and instructors for final approval by the partici-
pating seminary; and be it further

Resolved, That after successful completion of the first level of
instruction in the Specific Ministry Pastor Program the student be
examined by the district president or his designated representative
and the designated representative(s) of the seminary faculty as a
colloquy committee prior to their approval of a restricted call and
ordination in a public worship service, utilizing the Synod’s forms
and practices, and proceeding to the second level of instruction;
and be it further

Resolved, That after the successful completion of all courses in
the Specific Ministry Pastor Program the candidate be examined
by the district president or his designated representative and the
designated representative(s) of the seminary faculty as a special
colloquy committee and be declared under Bylaws 2.7.1 and 2.7.2
qualified by the faculty as a graduate of the Specific Ministry Pas-
tor Program eligible for ordination and placement in his first unre-
stricted call before being assigned by the Council of Presidents as
the Synod’s Board of Assignments in accordance with Bylaw 2.9.1;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Specific Ministry Pastor Commission pro-
vide for the appropriate transition into ordained ministry of those
men who are presently serving as licensed deacons and transition
into the Specific Ministry Pastor Program of those presently en-
rolled in district licensed deacon Programs or their equivalent and
those enrolled in the DELTO Program of one of the seminaries;
and be it finally

Resolved That the Synod’s Bylaws be amended as follows to
implement this resolution (Additions Underlined):

Add a new Bylaw 3.9.8 to provide for a Specific Ministry Pas-
tor Commission
3.9.8.1 The Specific Ministry Pastor Commission exists to assist the
di inating and over: Il_alternate re
ministry
3.9.8.2 The commission shall consist of 11 members appointed as
follows:
1. Three distric
dents.
2. First Vice-Presiden
Synod’s Colloquy Committe:
3. The Executive Director of the Board for Pastoral Education
4. The presidents of the seminaries or their designated represen-
tatives
5. The Executive Director of the Board for Missions or his des-
ignated representative
6. Three persons administering or teaching the program at the
is ncil of
3.9.8.3 The commission shal. together with the seminaries. deter
mine the levels of ‘raining and the cou rses taught in the Specific Min-

Past special TORT: OV syl-
ia i for Se
3.9.8.4 The commission shall work with districts in standardizing
and implementing the Specific Ministry Pastor Program through dis-
trict level programs,
Add a new Bylaw 2.12 and renumber the subsequent Bylaws.

2.12 Specilie Ministry Pastor Program

resident inted by th uncil of Presi-

who serves hairman of

12.1 if minis the ri f ongr n
n n_ exami id certifi ation thi
designated representative and the designated rept esehlativ e(s) of the
Ss a special coll an on ment
- m : 7
Wi nt ministry in th lowing situati