LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 143

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2. MERCY
2-01

PROPOSED WORDING

To Allow Extension of Calls to Specialized Pastoral
Ministers
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 LCMS CTCR 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) do not serve outside of the Church’s healing ministry of Christ, but rather 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 divine 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
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, Res. 6-03 was not presented to the convention but
was withdrawn by Floor Committee 6 because the committee was
informed by a CCM board member that the passage of Res. 8-08A
had made Resolution 6-03 moot; 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:

143

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

and be it further
That Bylaw 2.11.1 (i), which provides for active membership on
the roster of Synod, be amended to read as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
2.11.1 (i) A military or institutional chaplain or other specialized
ministry minister endorsed and called by the Synod, including endorsement by one of its districts in consultation with the appropriate district
president(s).

Board for National Mission
2-02

To Show Support for “Religious Liberty: Free
to Be Faithful” Campaign
Whereas, Recent years have witnessed increasing intrusions into
our First Amendment God-given right of free exercise of religion,
which run contrary to our strongly held faith-based convictions—
issues such as the definition of marriage; same-sex marriage;
requiring social service agencies to accord equal status to traditional
marriage couples and same-sex couples; and the provisions of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which will, as presently
written, require employers to cover contraception, sterilization, and
abortion-inducing drugs (although presently the Concordia Health
Plans have a grandfathered status which does not require this coverage); and
Whereas, The Bible instructs us to obey the governing authorities
(Rom. 13:1–7 and 1 Pet. 2:13–17), paying taxes and giving government officials due honor; however, in the case of competing directives
the Scriptures exhort us, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts
5:29 ESV); and
Whereas, It is time to stand up and to let our voices be heard on
these issues, informing those in government that our First Amendment
rights are being trampled on; and
Whereas, The church has a prophetic duty to provide leadership
to the flock, speaking winsomely on issues of faith so that members of the LCMS might know the issues and support those political
candidates and positions that safeguard our precious freedom of religion; and
Whereas, On October 5, 2012, the LCMS launched the
“Religious Liberty: Free to Be Faithful” campaign “aimed at inspiring LCMS rostered and lay members to take action to protect the
freedom of religion” (10/5/12 launching letter); therefore be it
Resolved, That our Synod gathered in convention show our strong
support by delegate vote for this campaign and for our Synod leadership as they speak on these issues; and be it further
Resolved, That we encourage our pastors and as well as Synod
leaders to speak not only within the walls of our sanctuaries but also
in the public square so that our nation might know what we stand for
and that God’s Word has dictated our beliefs.
Circuit 3
North Wisconsin District

2013 Convention Workbook