LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 405

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Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Task Force
• “Teaching New Dogs Old Tricks: Reconsidering Theological Education
in a Postmodern Society.” Paul Jacobs. American Theological Inquiry
July 2008;
• The Anonymous God: The Church Confronts Civil Religion and
American Society. David L. Adams and Kenneth Schurb. St. Louis:
Lutheran News, Inc.;
• “The Call Into the Glorious Office of the Holy Ministry.” A.H.
Schwermann. Convention Essay to the 1954 South Dakota District
Convention;
• “The iSeitiinary Cometh—Online Education is Jolting Seminaries
with Rapid Enrollment Growth.” John W. Kennedy. Christianity Today,
April 2010;
• “The Ministry and Its Relation to the Christian Church As Seen
On the Basis of Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions with
Applications to Specific Problems of the Church of Our Time.” Report
of the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations (March
1973);
• “The Problems with Lay Pastors: Ready to Lead?” Barbara Wheeler.
Christian Century, July 13, 2010;
• “The Sheep and the Voice of the Shepherd: The Ecclesiology of the
Lutheran Confessional Writings.” Robert Kolb. Concordia Journal 36;
• “The Spirit’s Gifts in the Confessions and in Corinth.” Concordia
Journal 18, no. 3 (1992);
• “Theological Education in the Changing Context of World
Christianity—an Unfinished Agenda.” Dietrich Werner. International
Bulletin of Missionary Research 35, no. 2;
• Three Books about the Church. Wilhelm Loehe. Trans. and ed. James
L. Schaaf. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, p. 59;
• “Time for Reflection: High-Quality Online Education Requires Careful
Thought and Ample Resources.” Jennifer Woodruff Tait. In Trust, 2010
www.intrust.org;
• “Who Makes a Pastor?” Concordia Journal 26 (2000);
• “Why Have Theological Schools?” Daniel Aleshire. ATS Colloquy
(November/December 2004).

III. Information Gathered
The Synod’s 1989 convention Res. 3-05B, “To Adopt
Recommendations of Lay Worker Study Committee Report as
Amended,” resolved: “It is in the best interest of the Synod and an
effective means of promoting the Gospel that the ministry of lay
people be regarded as a way to multiply, enhance, and extend the
ministry of the church.” The resolution noted that approximately 135
lay ministers were already serving in the Synod in ongoing Word
and Sacrament ministries without the benefit of guidelines for their
service. The resolution discussed “Forms of Lay Ministry” and
“Nomenclature” and offered “Guidelines for Congregations regarding the Performance of Pastoral Functions When No Ordained Pastor
Is Available,” specifically addressing preaching, leading worship services, administering Holy Communion, and publicly administering
the Office of the Keys.
Res. 3-05B prompted a variety of responses from the conventions that followed. In 1992, Res. 3-08, “To Provide for Ordination
of Certain Laymen Involved in Word and Sacrament Ministry”
(Proceedings, p. 115), added a bylaw measure recommended by
the Standing Committee for Pastoral Ministry allowing licensed lay
ministers having more than 10 years’ experience in preaching and
sacrament ministry to be ordained when approved by the Synod’s
Colloquy Committee.
1995 Res. 3-07A, “To Establish the Procedure by Which Laymen
Licensed to Perform Functions of the Pastoral Office Be Called and
Ordained into the Ministerium of the LCMS” (Proceedings, pp.
120ff.), resolved that “any layman who is licensed to perform pastoral functions under the guidelines of said Res. 3-05B be required
(if he wishes to continue preaching and leading in public worship)

405

to apply for admission into the pastoral ministry of the Synod” by
means of a “common program of theological education” established
by the seminaries. This was to happen within “a grace period of no
longer than two years,” with district presidents being permitted to
extend this grace period beyond two years with the consent of the
Council of Presidents.
In 1998, late overture L5-64 “To Establish an Ordained
Deaconate” (one of several overtures on the same subject) was submitted to the convention by the Board for Higher Education. It was to
address that which was described in the resolution’s rationale section:
There is a growing number of congregations whose pastoral needs
cannot be provided by full- time pastors. Frequently, this is due to financial constraints in rural and urban areas, but now an increasing number
of immigrants need to be reached in their native language. It is not unusual for a congregation to have immigrants from places such as Sudan,
India, and Asia, necessitating pastoral care in several languages. Our
Synod needs to meet these challenges in rural and urban congregations
as well as the rapidly growing opportunities among immigrant groups.

The overture provided a detailed plan for the institution of an
ordained deacon program in the Synod. The convention instead
adopted 1998 Res. 5-01 “To Continue Support of Distance Education
Leading to Ordination (DELTO)” (Proceedings, p. 127) which recognized the increasing number of special-need pastoral vacancies
and “a need to provide off-site seminary education to meet these special needs.” It commended the DELTO program to the Synod as a
means “to provide a reasonable educational process supervised by the
two seminaries.” The 1998 convention also adopted Res. 5-09, “To
Convene Task Force to Provide Pastoral Assistance Where Full-Time
Ministry Cannot Be Maintained” (Proceedings, p. 138), which asked
the Board for Higher Education “to convene a task force to create a
church worker position that will respond to the urgent needs” that had
been identified by a consultation group appointed by the President
of the Synod. It also empowered the Synod’s Board of Directors “to
authorize a provisional implementation of this church worker position within the next triennium.”
In response, the following convention (2001) adopted Res.
3-08B, “To Address Needs and Opportunities for Pastoral Ministry
in Specialized Situations,” which thanked the task force for its work,
authorized districts to continue training lay deacons, called for an
oversight committee to revise the DELTO program to meet the needs
of the church, and rescinded 1995 Res. 3-07A (which had required
licensed laymen to complete a seminary program for ordination).
Following the 2001 convention, Dr. L. Dean Hempelmann,
Executive Director of the Synod’s Board for Higher Education,
offered “A Proposal to Address Needs for Pastoral Ministry in
Specialized Situations.” In addition to sections on theological assumptions, educational presuppositions, objectives and desired outcomes,
and discussion of issues associated with such a program, his proposal
specifically called attention to the “Rationale” portion of the 2001
resolution which spoke of “a significant need for pastors to serve in
a number of specialized ministry situations” such as:
a.
b.
c.
d.

English as a second language (ESL), including deaf ministry
Small/vacant congregations that are unable to afford/call a full-time
pastor
Mission opportunities that are in remote locations and special areas
Multiple staff situations that are utilizing resident personnel.

The DELTO oversight committee concluded that the DELTO program would not be able to answer sufficiently the need for training
additional pastors. Dr. Hempelmann’s “Proposal to Address Needs
for Pastoral Ministry in Specialized Situations” provided the foundation for the discussions that ultimately led to 2007 Res. 5-01B, “To
Establish Specific Ministry Pastor Program.”
Meanwhile, the 2004 convention adopted 2004 Res. 5-09, “To
Affirm District Programs that Equip Laity for Ministry” (Proceedings,
2013 Convention Workbook