LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 417

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Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Task Force
The breadth, rigor, and depth of theological training by residential seminaries cannot be equaled. For larger congregations who need
staff pastors and for engagement of the mission field through church
plants, residential training is the first and best way for the benefit of
the whole church. The SMP program must not become the mainstay
for theological training in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
Therefore, the task force recommends limiting the use of the SMP
program for men who will serve small congregations who are not able
to support a full-time pastor and for ethnic ministries, and not using
it for the planting of churches or for staff pastors.
3. Conduct a Study of the Alternate Routes to the Pastoral
Ministry
Presently, there are eight routes to ordained ministry:
a. Residential
1. Master of Divinity
2. Certificate Route
b. Distance routes:
3. Center for Hispanic Studies (CHS)
4. Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology (EIIT)
5. Specific Ministry Pastor Program (SMP)
6. Deaf Institute of Theology (DIT)
7. Cross-Cultural Ministry Center (CMC)
8. Colloquy of a Ten-year Licensed Deacon

Therefore for the sake of clarity and simplicity, the non-Master of
Divinity routes could be reduced. The task force recommends a study
of the non-Master of Divinity routes to the Pastoral Office.
4. Add Greek to the Curriculum
For the sake of the congregations that will be served by SMP
pastors, as well as the lost, original language skills will equip the pastor for clear and concise proclamation and application of Law and
Gospel. Therefore, the task force recommends Greek as a prerequisite for or as a basic requirement of the SMP program.
5. Maintain a Level of Enrollment that Protects Residential
Seminary Formation
Residential seminaries may not be able to do everything, but they
are the best and most formative places for the essential learning that
is necessary for preparation for the Pastoral Office. They provide
hybrid formational centers that combine classroom, chapel, and offsite training in congregational settings by a constellation of mentors,
faculty, and pastors. Men who are to preach with the prophetic voice
of Christ’s Word need time and training to develop a beginning and
continuing habitus for theological reflection and contextual engagement. They need to learn to read and practice not only the sacred
text but also how others read, learn, and apply it as well. Theology
is ever practical, for it has as its purpose the application of Christ
to the sinner. Robert Preus (Preaching to Young Theologians, pp.
65–66) writes:
Our theology is always practical, practical for many reasons, but
chiefly because its goal is practical. Its goal is the Christian life, the
life hidden with Christ in God, the life of faith and hope and joy in our
Lord, the life of obedience and love. We study and work and speak that
we might have direction for this life, comfort for our faith, power and
insight for our calling. And our final goal is life eternal. What could be
more practical than that?

The Church must continue to train her men primarily the residential way. Thinking like a Lutheran pastor takes a long time, a lifetime;
it takes a village and more to shape a faithful ministerium for the
sake of the Triune God’s mission.1 Therefore, the task force recommends maintaining a SMP seminary enrollment at a level that does

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not threaten residential seminary formation as the primary route into
the Office of the Pastoral Ministry.2
6. Continue to Provide Appropriate Paths to Certification as a
General Pastor
SMP students need the opportunity to increase their theological
skills for the sake of the proclamation of the Gospel. Advancement
through the rigors and joys of additional studies which lead to the
certification as a general pastor will not only be of benefit to them
but the whole Church. Therefore, the task force recommends that the
seminaries continue to provide appropriate paths to certification as
a general pastor.
VII. The Best Way Forward: A More Acceptable Outcome
As the task force went about its business, it was clear the SMP
program requires adjustment, not only for clarity on its specificity
(i.e., a narrower scope of work for its graduates), but also for a careful
maintenance of its enrollment in light of the seminaries’ enrollments
in residential seminary training. The above recommendations begin
to address this, all for the sake of a faithful ministerium for God’s
use. But the task force has come to believe that there is a need for one
final recommendation:
7. Conduct a Feasibility Study for an Ordained Diaconate
There is always more than enough work to do as God exercises
His lordship to redeem and save everyone everywhere. Currently, laymen (licensed deacons) who are not in the Office of the Holy Ministry
are conducting Word and Sacrament ministry, contrary to our public doctrine (AC XIV). They should follow the churchly order of rite
vocatus: examination, certification, call, and ordination. The large
majority of the SMP student body as staff pastors reveals another
pressing need of the church as well. Could an ordained diaconate be of
help to the church at this present time, for both situations? Should they
be placed within the Pastoral Office but with distinctions and limitations made by human authority (de iure humano)? Perhaps they could
preach and baptize but not consecrate the elements. How might this
be of help or hindrance to the church at this present time? Theological
engagement and study are needed.
For engagement of the mission field, the first and best option is
a well-trained pastor.
Distinctions within the Office are by human authority (de iure
humano) while the Pastoral Office is by divine authority (de iure
divino). Certainty is most crucial for the Church—not only for those
who are called as they do His speaking but also for those who hear
as they receive His Word. The divine call remains a necessity for
those who are sent by Him to exercise the Office of the Keys (AC
XIV, XXVIII).
For these reasons, the task force recommends a feasibility study
for an ordained diaconate.
Conclusion
The church lives in and for Him, as He leads her to live and exist
for the world. His call of the church also invites and privileges her to
join the cooperative work of fidelity to doctrine and its distribution
to anyone who has ears to hear, the whole earth. According to His
instruction, He has so ordered faithful men to fill and exercise the
Office of the Keys on His behalf and that of the church. The church
can do no other, as she marvels at the sheer generosity of the Father
revealed by the Spirit in the preaching about His Son.
This is clear: The Lord is always in motion toward the lost,3 leading the way, bringing His church along as His privileged coworker
in mission. Christ Himself extends His gracious Lordship through
the church as He calls preachers to herald His one and alone saving
2013 Convention Workbook