LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 111

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

To Allow Extension of Calls to Specialized
Pastoral Ministers
RESOLUTION 2-05B
Overture 2-01 (CW, p. 143)
Whereas, The LCMS currently calls ordained pastors to serve
as full-time active-duty military chaplains through the Board for
International Mission; and
Whereas, The LCMS had called Veterans Administration (VA)
chaplains and Federal Bureau of Prison (BOP) chaplains through
the former Board for Mission Services, but the LCMS restructuring has resulted in moving VA and BOP chaplains to the Office of
National Mission; and
Whereas, The Commission on Theology Church Relations has
recognized the validity of the divine call in specialized fields of service such as chaplains:
The call to proclaim Law and Gospel does not take place
in a vacuum. It occurs within specific contexts and situations.
According to the second principle [recognition of the congregation’s needs] we may conclude that, in addition to regular Word and sacrament ministry within congregations, the
church’s need for particular gifts or specialized skills at times is
best met by something less than an open-ended call. We may
proceed in this way [and have already done so] as long as we
do not undermine the divine institution of the office or hinder in any way the proclamation of the whole counsel of God.
Such has been the case within The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod for much of its history with regard to theological professors, district and Synod officials, military chaplains,
campus pastors, missionaries, church planters, etc. Several
examples can illustrate such situations. (The Divine Call, Feb.
2003, p. 39)
And
Whereas, LCMS specialized pastoral ministers (rostered institutional chaplains, pastoral counselors, and teachers of chaplaincy
and pastoral counseling) serve within the Church’s healing ministry of Christ and are an integral part of a long tradition in the LCMS
of providing specially trained ministers to carry out the mission
and ministry of the Church in very challenging and demanding
settings in life; and
Whereas, The LCMS currently endorses specialized pastoral
ministers through the Office of National Mission but does not call
ordained or commissioned ministers to serve as specialized pastoral ministers through the Board for National Mission, which has
resulted in ordained and commissioned ministers currently serving in ministries of chaplaincy, pastoral counseling, and clinical
education without a call for ministry; and
Whereas, The former Board for Human Care Ministries had
thoroughly studied this matter in consultation with the Secretary
of the Synod and the Synod’s legal counsel over several years; and

R e s olu t i on s

Whereas, The former Board for Human Care Ministries
appointed LCMS World Relief and Human Care staff to submit
an overture to the 2010 LCMS convention to amend bylaws to allow
the extension of calls to specialized pastoral ministers (2010 Res.
6-03); and
Whereas, The current bylaws for the Board for National Mission do not provide for the calling of workers for the ministries in
domestic areas; therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.8.2 be amended by the addition of the
following paragraph after the bulleted items under the first paragraph as follows:
PROPOSED WORDING
Board for National Mission
3.8.2

…Upon recommendation of the Office of National
Mission, the Board for National Mission shall serve
as a calling agency for institutional and agency chaplains and other non-foreign specialized ministers (e.g.,
Veterans Administration chaplains, Bureau of Prison
chaplains, hospital chaplains, pastoral counselors, and
teachers of chaplaincy and pastoral counseling) after
consultation with the appropriate district president(s)
(cf. Bylaw 2.12.1.4).

Action: Adopted (5)
(After brief discussion, Res. 2-05B was adopted as presented
[Yes: 875; No: 61].)

To Encourage a Strong Finish for the Lutheran
Malaria Initiative (LMI) and Give Thanks
for the Effect LMI Has Had on the Global Fight
to End Malaria-Related Deaths in Africa
RESOLUTION 2-06
Report 1-7-CMO (CW, pp. 26, 32)
Whereas, One hundred percent of LCMS districts and twenty-six percent of LCMS congregations are actively engaged in
fundraising efforts to help end malaria deaths in Africa; and
Whereas, To date, the Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI), in
partnership with Lutheran World Relief (LWR) and the United
Nations Foundation (UNF), has received over seven million dollars from US Lutherans to help educate, treat, and prevent malaria
deaths in sub-Saharan Africa; and
Whereas, God has granted a measure of success to our and
other organizations’ efforts to eradicate malaria deaths in Africa, so
that the rate of children dying from malaria has decreased from one
every thirty seconds in 2010 to one every sixty seconds in 2012; and
Whereas, One hundred percent of dollars received enabled
church partners in sub-Saharan Africa to provide quality malaria
education, prevention, and treatment programming; and
2 0 1 3 C o n v e n t io n P r o c e e d i n g s

|

111