LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 427

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Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Task Force
Pre-Ordination
Given that a pastor is called by the church (1) to speak the Gospel,
we have to ask (2) what is the master story of the Gospel that the Christian church has proclaimed everywhere and at all times; and (3) what
are the key episodes and themes of that story? (4) What distinctions and
themes do Lutherans find vital for the telling of Jesus’ story to others
so that it is in fact the Gospel? (5) Having explored the story, we now
explore the questions, “How does the story of the Gospel become my
story?” and (6) “How do we encounter this story in worship?” (7) With
the Gospel having become ours, “How do we bring this story to others
through preaching?” and, (8) “how do we teach the story of the Gospel
to those who have little acquaintance with Christianity?” Finally, (9)
how do we confess the Gospel before the world until Christ returns?

[Certification, Call, and Ordination may now take place in the
SMP program.]
Post-Ordination
Here we return to the master story of the Gospel but consider its
instantiation in the particularities of the biblical texts and history. Thus
we begin by (10) exploring the role and use of the Scriptures for speaking the Gospel. Then we explore how the Gospel narrative is told and
lived out in (11) the Old Testament and (12) the New Testament as well
as (13) how the Reformation recovered the Scriptural Gospel for a new
generation. Then we turn to the questions about how we include others
in that story today through (14) the task of preaching and (15) by means
of the church as the means and goal of the missio dei within (16) the
midst of the world. SMP curriculum concludes where it began, with
the (17) pastor as theologian and leader. This course also provides the
transition to the second part of the curriculum leading to a Certificate/M.
Div.

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This course will explore how the pastor moves from the study and interpretation of the word of God (1/3) to the construction of sermons and the
proclamation of the Gospel (2/3).
7. SMP107 Teaching the Faith
Because the story of God’s dramatic redemption of the world takes
a minute to hear but requires a lifetime to live, pastors are called not
only to proclaim the Gospel but also to lead people into an ever deepening understanding and appreciation of that inexhaustible story. This
course will explore the nature and task of teaching the faith from cradle
to grave. Special emphasis will be given to the task of catechesis and the
teaching of Luther’s Catechisms.
8. SMP108 Introduction to Worship
The story we proclaim and teach becomes “incarnated” through its
reenactment in the church year and the liturgy. Together pastor and people re-live the story as God comes to them corporately in worship and
the means of grace. This course will explore the theology and practice
of worship in the context of the local congregation.
9. SMP109 Lutheran Confession of Faith
The task of telling and confessing the dramatic story of God’s mission within the world continues until Christ returns. The pastor confesses that story against all errors that seek to distort it. This course will
explore how the confessions of the church, the roadmap to the heart of
Scripture, inform the pastoral task of dealing with errors that distort the
master story of the Gospel.

SMP Program Curriculum

10. SMP110 Scripture and Faith
The master story of the Gospel is instantiated within the Biblical
accounts and told by them in various ways. As one who proclaims the
Gospel, the pastor uses these Biblical accounts as the source and norm
for preaching and teaching. This course will explore the nature of the
Scriptures, how the canon was collected, and the purpose and use of the
Scriptures within the Christian life.

1. SMP101 Introduction to Pastoral Ministry
An introduction to the theology and practice of the pastoral ministry
as a ministry in which the pastor is called to speak the Gospel. This
course will explore issues related to the foundation of the pastoral office,
the nature of the pastoral ministry, and the pastor’s relationship to the
priesthood of the baptized.

11. SMP111 Old Testament Theology
God’s dramatic involvement in the world begins with the mission of
God in creation and the commission that He gave to his human creatures
to care for it. Because they failed, God re-enters his creation to redeem
and restore it. This course will explore the theology of the Gospel story
as told in the Old Testament.

2. SMP102 The Master Narrative
In speaking the Gospel, the pastor confesses the work of Jesus Christ
as central to God’s involvement with the world (from creation to consummation). This course will explore how in worship and in the world,
the master narrative of the Gospel re-stories our individual and corporate lives and shapes how we live.

12. SMP112 New Testament Theology
God’s mission to save the world culminates in the incarnation,
death, and resurrection of his Son. With the creation of the New Israel on
Pentecost, the church took the story of the Gospel to the far reaches of
their world. This course will explore the theology of the New Testament
with special emphasis on the themes that emerge as the New Testament
writers tell the master story.

3. SMP103 Creedal Themes
The Gospel as summarized in the creed has a number of theological subplots that interlock with one another and whose meanings (doctrines) are indispensable for the master story. This course will explore
how the Scriptures teach and how the church confesses the doctrinal
truths that form the Creedal Story.
4. SMP104 Lutheran Distinctions
The grand narrative of the Gospel has focused thus far upon the
presence and work of God within created history. It will now highlight
the anthropological dimensions of that story and will explore how the
Reformation brought those dimensions out by making distinctions between law and Gospel, the two kinds of righteousness, the two kingdoms, etc. in order to confess the Gospel in its day.
5. SMP105 Means of Grace God’s dramatic involvement within
the world from creation to consummation centered in Christ also involves us. In a certain sense, the master story of the Gospel re-stories
our lives by incorporating us into the mission and work of Jesus Christ.
This course will explore how God’s story of redemption becomes our
story through the visible and spoken words of baptism, absolution and
the Lord’s Supper.
6. SMP106 Preaching I
People who have become part of God’s story of redemption are
called upon to tell that story to others as they have opportunity. Pastors
are called to proclaim that word publicly on behalf of the congregation.

13. SMP113 Lutheran Reformation
The Reformation was a recovery of the Biblical story that resulted in
a concomitant preaching revival. This course will demonstrate how the
creedal and biblical narrative was at times hidden or lost in the centuries
preceding the Reformation, how it was recovered by Martin Luther and
the Reformation, and how it is proclaimed today.
14. SMP114 Preaching II
With a more thorough grounding in the nature of the Scriptures as
well as the theology of the Old and New Testaments, the pastor recognizes a number of interpretative questions and challenges to the proclamation of the richness of the biblical Gospel. This course will deal in
more depth than course #6 did with the issue of hermeneutics (2/3) as it
applies to preaching the text (1/3).
15. SMP115 The Church
Within the grand narrative of the Gospel, the church appears as
both the means and the goal of the mission of God. It is the means by
which the mission of God is furthered in the world today and the goal of
the mission of God in the new creation. This course will examine how
Americans hear and filter the Biblical Gospel, and will explore ways in
which the church can tell the story in today’s cultural context.
The church has taken the master narrative of the Gospel into other
cultures and it has found it necessary to translate that story. In the living

2013 Convention Workbook