LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 406

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

406

Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Task Force

p. 143). It noted that 19 districts had developed lay ministry education
and training programs and recognized, affirmed, and encouraged such
work by districts. It also instructed the Council of Presidents and the
new Board for Pastoral Education to develop (with the guidance of
seminary faculties) “a standardized core curriculum for district laytraining programs and coordinate a national listing of participants.”
2007 Res. 5-01B, which established the SMP program, also called
for a study of “situations currently served by licensed lay deacons
to determine whether there continues to be a genuine need for this
program within the Synod and to present a report with recommendations to the 2010 convention of the Synod.” As a result, 2010 Res.
5-03A, “To Address Lay Deacons” (Proceedings, pp. 132ff.), proposed accepting the report and recommendations of the requested
study, i.e., that district deacon instructional programs be retained in
the LCMS and that a series of recommendations be implemented following the 2013 Synod convention. The resolution also provided a
plan through which deacons would be permitted to preach and administer the sacraments in certain cases, and ultimately be examined,
called, and ordained within three years as “assisting pastors.” This
resolution was not adopted but was referred back to the floor committee. It was not brought back to the floor of the convention for
further consideration.

•

Specificity
•

A. 2007 Res. 5-01B
2007 Resolutions 5-01B and 5-02 along with a videotaped record
of the presentation of the resolution to the 2007 convention of the
Synod have served as primary sources of information for the task
force. They reveal the content and intentions of the SMP program as
explained to and understood by the convention’s delegates at the time
of the resolutions’ adoption. The following are excerpts from the resolution and from the floor committee’s presentation and responses to
questions that relate to current discussions of issues associated with
the SMP program.

•

Specific Ministry Pastor Concept:
•

•

Res. 5-01B: “Historically, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and
its antecedents have attempted to meet [Word and Sacrament] needs
by preparing men as quickly as possible to be called and ordained in
order to meet the urgent mission needs of the church. Such men were
prepared to catechize, preach, and provide pastoral care. Within the
LCMS, the need for such a track to ordination was initially embodied in the seminary begun by F. C. D. Wyneken and Wilhelm Loehe
in Fort Wayne, Indiana... The Specific Ministry Pastor program seeks
to address the needs of the church by reinstituting a multiple-track
approach... [E]merging needs and economic pressure often make it
impossible to call a pastor who has received a broad and thorough
theological understanding to every congregation or mission station
where, nevertheless, people need to hear the Gospel.”
Committee 5: “[An] improvement on the DELTO program... designed
to meet specific needs which in part are not being filled by traditional
seminary graduates... speaking to the needs for pastoral ministry in
specific contexts... doing so in a theologically responsible way... the
next level of doing distance education... and in that regard will supersede DELTO... In short, the Specific Ministry Pastor program is an
in-ministry program of pastoral education that leads to call and ordination within and for special ministry situations, and thus it meets
specific needs for pastoral ministry that are not being met by traditional seminary students.”

Theological Integrity
•

Res. 5-01B: “Amidst today’s mission challenges, including the persistent need to provide pastoral ministry in ways that go beyond the
current residential models, we will do well to engage the best collaborative thinking and creativity that we can muster to provide missional
pastoral leadership driven by the depth of theological integrity that

2013 Convention Workbook

remains a hallmark of our church and its ministerium... This proposal
is offered as a sincere and thoughtful attempt to address real-world
needs with an urgency for bringing the Gospel to a dying world and
to do so with theological integrity with respect to the doctrine of the
ministry and our commitment to high standards of pastoral education
and formation.” (p. 133)
Committee 5: “Unlike other programs that have been designated specifically for ethnic membership, we are not setting any kind of lower
standard for ethnic ministry. We are setting the same standard for
everybody... In short, he is a specific ministry pastor, a called and
ordained servant of the Word for one specific ministry area. He is a
pastor ably prepared to serve his congregation faithfully, taught by the
teachers who teach all our pastors.”

Res. 5-01B: “The mission focus ignited by the Ablaze! movement has
generated the need to identify laymen already in place in local community to serve as church planters and missionaries... In addition to the
original objective of the Distance Education Leading To Ordination
(DELTO) Program to provide pastoral ministry where full-time ministry cannot be maintained, such specific ministries will include such
categories as church planter, staff pastor, and others as needs arise...
Specific ministry pastors are recognized as just that: pastors certified
for calls into specific ministry contexts, who serve under the supervision not only of the district president but also of a designated general
ministry pastor. As such, they are eligible for calls into a similar specific ministry context, where they continue under the supervision of a
general ministry pastor... The needs for providing pastoral ministry in
specific and specialized situations where a traditionally prepared seminary candidate or pastor is not available continue to multiply... Our
Synod needs to find a way to provide for an increase in pastoral ministry to meet such needs of the church, especially in light of the mission
challenges of today’s world... Our Synod has resolved to plant 2,000
new congregations by 2017, for which a net gain of 2,000 pastors will
be needed.” (pp. 133, 135, 136)
Committee 5: “In short, the Specific Ministry Pastor program is an inministry program of pastoral education that leads to call and ordination
within and for special ministry situations, and thus it meets specific
needs for pastoral ministry that are not being met by traditional seminary graduates... Because his theological foundation is educational and
because his education is limited to a specific ministry context in which
he is being formed, his service is restricted to this place and under
supervision... [L]imited to a specific context, but within the boundaries of his specific ministry where he provides Word and Sacrament,
he is a pastor... An example of this in-service preparation was demonstrated in the introduction video to Saturday evening’s worship with
the Lutheran Church and the Liberians settling in Virginia.”

Specific Ministry Context
•

•

Res. 5-01B: “‘[S]pecific ministry pastor’ will be the designation for
those educated for a specific ministry context through distance education... by developing a program that combines a commitment to
faithfulness to a Lutheran theological confession with a missionary
perspective and that is tailored by the preparation of men for service
in specific kinds of ministries... [T]his foundational core will be both
contextualized and specialized within and for a specific ministry...
[T]he student will participate in several residential and field seminars
aimed at cultivating the requisite ministry skills for his specific ministry context...” (pp. 133, 134).
Committee 5: “Because his theological foundation is educational and
because his education is limited to a specific ministry context in which
he is being formed, his service is restricted to this place and under
supervision... In short, he is a specific ministry pastor, a called and
ordained servant of the Word for one specific ministry area... As a
specific ministry pastor, his ministry is restricted to that specific congregation, which would be represented at a district convention, but
a delegate to a national convention represents several congregations
from the circuit.”