LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 160

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6. PASTORAL MINISTRY AND SEMINARIES
WHEREAS, SAS is collaborating with the Office of National
Mission, CPS, Concordia universities and seminaries, districts
and congregations, Standing Partnership, and other key
partners to address church worker wellness, which includes
student debt, compensation and benefits, care and
encouragement of church workers, worker appreciation, and
spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being; therefore be it
Resolved, That Synod congregation members and families,
church workers, congregations, schools, and recipients of the
ministry of Synod church workers and institutions be
encouraged intentionally to pray for more ordained and
commissioned workers in the church, for the continued and
increased proclamation of the Gospel of Christ; and be it
further
Resolved, That everyone in the Synod, including key
influential adults (pastors, parents, teachers, deaconesses,
directors of Christian education, youth workers, congregation
members, and other church workers) be urged to encourage
youth and adults to consider full-time church work; and be it
further
Resolved, That congregations, schools, missionaries, and
all recipients of the forthcoming CPH curriculum be strongly
encouraged to use SAS strategies, resources, and curriculum;
and be it finally
Resolved, That all primary agencies of the Synod (i.e.,
boards, commissions, councils and committees, seminaries
and universities, districts, CPS, and each synodwide corporate
entity) be requested to endorse, advocate, and engage with
SAS as we strive together to accomplish one of the Synod’s
crucial official objectives, to “Recruit and train pastors,
teachers, and other professional church workers and provide
opportunity for their continuing growth” (Constitution
Article III 3) in our life together.
Action: Adopted (6)

Upon immediate closure of debate as suggested by the chair, the
resolution was adopted by voice vote.

To Encourage Proper Pastoral Formation
through Our Synod’s Seminaries
RESOLUTION 6-02A
Report R60 (CW, 124–37); Overtures 6-03–04, 08, 11–12 (CW,
322–23, 325–27); President’s Report, Part 2
(TB, 1:24–25); Resolution 6-02 (TB, 1:130–31)
WHEREAS, “The Office of the Holy Ministry has been
instituted by Christ Himself (John 20:19–23; Eph. 4:11–16).
Through the Christian congregation, as the holder of all
churchly authority, God calls qualified men to fill this divinely
established office and send them as His ministers to proclaim
the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to administer the Sacraments
publicly in the stead of Christ and by His command” (Lutheran
Service Book: Agenda, 155); and

160 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION

WHEREAS, The Synod, under Scripture and the Lutheran
Confessions, shall—
1. Conserve and promote the unity of the true faith (Eph.
4:3–6; 1 Cor. 1:10), work through its official structure
toward fellowship with other Christian church bodies,
and provide a united defense against schism,
sectarianism (Rom. 16:17), and heresy;
2. Strengthen congregations and their members in giving
bold witness by word and deed to the love and work of
God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and extend that
Gospel witness into all the world;
3. Recruit and train pastors, teachers, and other
professional church workers and provide opportunity
for their continuing growth (Constitution Article III 1–
3); and
WHEREAS, “The training of men for the Office of the
Ministry is retained by the Synod through her seminaries, and
not left to the prerogative of individual districts;” (President’s
Report, Part 2 [TB, 1:24–25]; see also Constitution Article III 3;
Bylaw 3.10.4); and
WHEREAS, “Members agree to uphold the confessional
position of the Synod (Const. Art. II) and to assist in carrying
out the objectives of the Synod (Const. Art. III), which are
objectives of the members themselves. While congregations of
the Synod are self-governing (Const. Art. VII), they, and also
individual members, commit themselves as members of the
Synod to act in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws
of the Synod under which they have agreed to live and work
together and which the congregations alone have the
authority to adopt or amend through conventions” (Bylaw
1.3.4.1); and
WHEREAS, “The LCMS collectively prescribes and
maintains the standards by which a man is certified and called
into the Holy Ministry according to the Holy Scriptures and
the Lutheran Confessions (AC V, XIV). Men receiving their first
call into the Holy Ministry in the LCMS must satisfactorily
complete a prescribed course of study within one of the
Synod-authorized routes and both be declared qualified for a
first call and recommended by the faculty of either CSL or
CTSFW. They will have thus received a diploma or certificate
from either CSL or CTSFW (or have fulfilled the requirements
established by the colloquy committee of the Synod)” (Report
R60, CW, 126); and
WHEREAS, “In our life together, all Synod members have
agreed that every one of our rostered ordained ministers be
formally certified for pastoral ministry, either by one of the
Synod’s two seminaries or the Synod’s colloquy committee”
(Report R60, CW, 126); and
WHEREAS, According to Bylaw 4.1.1, “The Synod is not
merely an advisory body in relation to a district, but
establishes districts in order more effectively to achieve its
objectives and carry on its activities,” and Bylaw 4.1.1.1, “A
district is the Synod itself performing the functions of the
Synod. Resolutions of the Synod are binding upon the
districts.”; and

Resolutions