LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 247

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7. Structure and Ecclesiastical Matters
7-01

To Set Forth Clear Mutual Expectations
in Carrying Out Office of Visitation
Preamble
The 2010 LCMS convention created by means of Res. 8-07 a task
force that was charged among other things to make recommendations
concerning “the purpose and function of a district.” This fundamental directive to all of the other work assigned to it has been the first
priority of the task force.
While “visitation” has been noteworthy in the history of the church
through the ages, the importance of the Office of Visitation in evangelical Lutheranism has been recognized from the time of Dr. Martin
Luther all the way through recent LCMS conventions. Because of
the central concern for the Word and the need to reform parish life
and pastoral work according to the evangelical doctrine, Luther proposed formal visitations at the outset of the Reformation. Philip
Melanchthon drafted the Visitation Articles in 1528 for the proper
supervision of the congregations and pastors in Ducal Saxony with
Luther providing the Preface (Luther’s Works, 40:262–319).
The importance of episcope (i.e., the task of ecclesiastical supervision or visitation) to Luther was described in letters in which he
articulated the need for all parishes to be inspected in regard to poor
economic and spiritual conditions. His concern was for the souls of
people and the preaching of the pure Gospel. The instructions for the
visitors of parish pastors cited the Old and New Testament evidence
of the divinely wholesome value of pastors and Christian congregations being visited by understanding and competent persons (Acts
8:14; 9:32; 15:2; 1 Sam. 7:17; 10:8; 11:14; 13:8; 15:12; 21:1; 1 Kings
17–21; 2 Kings 2–13; Luke 1:39).
Other Scripture passages helpful in understanding the Office
of Visitation not cited in Luther’s Preface in the 1528 “Visitation
Articles” include “And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let
us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the
word of the Lord, and see how they are’” (Acts 15:36); “Simeon has
related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for His name” (Acts 15:14); “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for He has visited and redeemed His people … because of the tender
mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high”
(Luke 1:68, 78); “Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us!’ and ‘God has visited His
people!’” (Luke 7:16); and “It has been testified somewhere, ‘What
is man, that You are mindful of him, or the son of man, that You care
for [visit] him?’” (Heb. 2:6).
At the founding of the Synod, the 1847 Constitution stated:
Article IV. I. Business of the Synod.
1. Supervision of the purity and unity of the doctrine within the synodical constituency, and opposition to false doctrine.
2. Supervision over the administration of the preachers and teachers of
the synodical constituency.
Article V. I. Execution of Synodical Business.
7. The Synod requires a report from the president on the result of his
visitations in the preceding year in conformity with instruction [viz.
from Synod], in order to supervise [the] doctrine, life, and administration of the preachers and school teachers (see under Article VI A.,
Para. 7).

Article VI. Rights and Duties of the Officers and Remaining
Members of the Synod.
Of the President
7. He is to make use of all diligence during his three-year administration to visit every parish of the synodical constituency at least one
time, whereupon he presents his report at the annual synodical convention.
13. In his supervisory capacity he himself is to act strictly according to
the written instructions, which he hereto received from the Synod.

In 1854, seven years after the founding of Synod, and with only
89 congregations and 15,000 baptized members, the 73 voting delegates found it “necessary” and “salutary” to reorganize the Synod with
providing a new “outward means of assistance” by “arranging” and
establishing the structure and governance of districts and the office
of the district president as ecclesiastical supervisor in the district. It
was stated that administrative matters [ecclesiastical supervision/visitations] could be dispatched with much greater ease if broken down
to the district level with greater participation of both pastors and congregations anticipated in district sessions.
In 1866, 19 years after the founding of the Synod, with 205 congregations and over 65,000 baptized members, the 215 delegates at the
Synod convention found it “necessary” and “salutary” to reorganize
the Synod by providing yet another “outward means of assistance” by
“arranging” and establishing the structure and governance of circuits
and the office of the circuit visitor as assistant to the district president
in his function as ecclesiastical supervisor in the district. This new
circuit structure was for the purpose of more effectively carrying out
ecclesiastical administration (including visitations) and to broaden
the engagement of pastors and congregations.
Thus, the 1854 and 1866 Synod conventions placed the matter of
the office of the visitor into the hands of the individual districts. By
1866, President C. F. W. Walther deplored the fact that only two of
the district presidents had salaried assistants (Western and Eastern)
and encouraged that others follow suit. The district presidents by
this time were so overburdened with other responsibilities that they
could no longer adequately supervise the parishes in their districts on
a planned visitation program.
In his 1879 essay “Duties of an Evangelical Lutheran Synod,”
Walther indicated: “A Synod that is ‘faithful to the Confessions’ must
also ‘supervise the faithfulness of its members.’” In the essay, Walther
clearly bases the supervision polity of the Synod on Scripture and
Confessions as well as the provision and practice of the Early Church
and the Reformation, as evidenced by “church-visitations,” “visitorial responsibility,” and the “true episcopal and supervisory Office.”
In this essay, Walther also stated: “However, for the welfare of the
church we set up a system of supervision … the church must be beautifully united by the bond of love; it must work together under the best
possible system of supervision.” Walther also quoted Gerhard: “In
our churches, however, we maintain a system of supervision among
church workers …, and we insist that such supervision must be continued, so that there are ‘some bishops’ [supervisors], ‘some presbyters’
[pastors], ‘some deacons’ etc. … the establishment of a system of
supervision among church workers promotes harmony and unity, prevents divisions that arise from self-love and ambition on the part of
lower-level (Niedrigerer) church workers and curbs the presumption
of those who want to destroy the tranquility of the church.”
The 2001 Synod convention resolved “To Clearly Delineate [the]
Ministry of Visitation in [the] Bylaws” (Res. 8-01), now reflected in
Synod Bylaw 4.4.4:
(a) He shall arrange in advance for an official visit to each congregation of his district at least once every three years and otherwise as he

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2013 Convention Workbook