LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 370

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370 THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

B. The Service of Women in Congregational and Synodical
Offices

The Synod has asked the Commission on Theology and Church
Relations to prepare a study of the service of Christian women in
assigned areas of responsibility in the church.!

Specifically, the Synod has requested “that the CTCR, in con-
sultation with the Council of Presidents, prepare a study on the el-
igibility of women for service in all offices of the congregation,
including that of chairman, vicechairman, and elder and district and
synodical boards and commissions where their official function
would in effect involve public accountability for the function(ing)
of the pastoral office.”* Simply stated, this assignment has arisen
because the Synod has previously taken the position that the Scrip-
tures themselves qualify or limit the eligibility of women for ser-
vice in the church. The Scriptures do so in those passages which
require that only men are permitted to serve in the office of pastor
and carry out the functions which God has assigned to it (1 Corinthi-
ans 14; | Timothy 2). The question before the Commission, there-
fore, is this: In applying what the Scriptures teach concerning the
pastoral office and its functions, what additional limitations, if any,
should Christians place upon the service of women in the church,
specifically with reference to offices established in and by the
church?

In our judgment a scripturally informed response must seek to
hold in tension two equally valid themes. On the one hand, we must
take care not to diminish in any way what the Bible teaches us about
the full possession by men and women, equally, of the rights and
privileges of the priesthood of believers. At the same time, we must
remain faithful to biblical teaching regarding the uniqueness of
God’s gift of the pastoral office, and the divinely given require-
ments which circumscribe it.

IE. Offices within the Christian Congregation
A. The Pastoral Office

1. A Divine Institution (ture divino)

According to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions, our
Lord has mandated and instituted the office of the public min-
istry—the only divinely established office in the church (Matt.
28: 18-20; John 20:22—23; Acts 20:28; | Cor. 12:28-29; Eph. 4:11;
1 Peter 5:1; Titus 1:5; AC V; AC XIV; Ap XIII; Treatise 67-72).
This office is distinct from the universal priesthood of believers
and has its origin in the divine institution (iure divino) of the of-
fice. The Scriptures speak of the office uniquely as one to which
God appoints men with the responsibility of oversight and care for
His flock (Acts 20:28). To this office belongs the “shepherding”
(serving as “pastor’’) of that portion of God’s flock assigned to him
(1 Peter 5:2-3). This charge to serve as pastor of God’s flock is
conferred by God through the call of the church, which places a
man under a special obligation for which he is accountable to God
and to those who have called him (1 Cor. 4:1-15; Heb. 13:17;
| Tim. 3:1-7, 14-15; Titus 1:5-9).

2. Divinely Given Functions (iure divino)

The pastoral office requires the performance of specific functions
that carry out the mission of God in His church as it carries out its work
in the world. Some of these functions are “distinctive,” for they entail
the public exercise of the ministry of Word and sacrament that has
been assigned by God to this office for the nurture, care and equipping
of His people. In summary form, the Augsburg Confession asserts
“that according to the Gospel the power of the keys or the power of
bishops [pastors] is a power and command of God to preach the
Gospel, to forgive and retain sins, and to administer and distribute the
sacraments” (AC XXVIIL, 5; cf. 8-9, 21 etc.). We recognize that nei-
ther the Scriptures nor the Lutheran Confessions provide a detailed list
of the activities required of pastors as they carry out these responsi-
bilities in the Christian congregation which they are called to serve.

2007 Convention Workbook

However, intrinsic to this office of overseeing and shepherding of the
flock are the following functions: 1) preaching in the services of the
congregation; 2) leading the formal public services of worship; 3) the
public administration of the sacraments; and 4) the public administra-
tion of the office of the keys.*

3. Eligibility for Service

In addition to the moral and vocational qualifications required
of those divinely placed into this high office in the church (1 Tim.
3:1-7; Titus 3:5—9), the Scriptures teach that the incumbent of the
pastoral office must be a man. On the basis of Old Testament Scrip-
ture, St. Paul taught that “the women should keep silence in the
churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subor-
dinate, as even the law says” (1 Cor. 14:34). Understood within its
context, this passage means that women ought not lead the public
worship service, specifically carry out the teaching-preaching as-
pects of the service.‘ In 1 Tim. 2:12 St. Paul instructs the church,
“Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no
woman to teach or have authority over man; she is to keep silent.”
Again on the basis of scriptural arguments, the apostle holds in this
text that women are not to take the position of one to whom is as-
signed responsibility for the formal, public proclamation of the
Christian faith.°

In summary, Scripture teaches that women not hold the formal
position of the authoritative public teaching office in the church,
that is, the office of pastor.®

B. Other Offices Established by the Church

1. Established by Human Right (jure humano)

Throughout its history the ehurch in Christian freedom has es-
tablished other offices distinct from the one divinely instituted of-
fice of pastor in order to meet various needs in different times and
places. Since the church is under no divine command to create such
offices, they and their functions exist only “by human right” (iure
humano). Already in apostolic times, and under apostolic direction,
the church selected individuals to assist the apostles in carrying out
their work (cf. Acts 6:1—7; 1 Tim. 3:8-13). Similarly, the contem-
porary church has continued to establish offices which have their
origin not in a divine command but in the decision of the Christian
congregation and groups of congregations (e.g., Synod) to facilitate
the mission given to them by God.

2. Functions Assigned by the Church (iure humano)

When a congregation or group of congregations (the Synod) as-
signs “official functions” to a particular office established by the
congregation or the Synod, this too is done not by divine mandate
(iure divino), but by human arrangement. That is to say, the as-
signment of duties to all offices in the church belongs in the sphere
of Christian freedom exercised in love. Congregations are free to
assign functions to various offices in their midst as they deem ap-
propriate and necessary, for the edification of the church and in
keeping with the principle of good order (1 Cor. 14:40). This prin-
ciple also holds true for all synodical and District offices.

3. Eligibility for Service.

In determining the eligibility of women for service in these hu-
manly established offices, it will be helpful to bear in mind that
many of these offices are created for the purpose of assisting pas-
tors, to a lesser or greater extent, in carrying out the duties of their
office. There is a long tradition in the church of proceeding in this
way and such a practice, which engages the service of both men
and women, ought to be encouraged, especially in circumstances
where burdens of time and increased organizational commitments
severely limit pastors’ ability adequately to care for those in their
charge.

At the same time, such assisting in pastoral work should be dis-
tinguished in practice as in theory, from the public exercise of those
functions that belong to the pastor’s supervision of the flock through