LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 161

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6. PASTORAL MINISTRY AND SEMINARIES
WHEREAS, “It is inconsistent with the LCMS Constitution
and Bylaws for an LCMS district to develop and/or promote
new or amended routes to ministry apart from the procedures
and approvals to which the Synod—in its bylaws, policies,
and resolutions—has previously committed itself” (Report
R60, CW, 126; see also Bylaws 3.10.4–3.10.4.5). Such efforts
subvert our shared commitment towards pastoral formation
and erode our Synod’s harmony; and

fourth, “That district presidents and seminaries be strongly
encouraged to direct men to any proper Synod-approved route
to ordination that is appropriate for the individual and their
context.” With twenty minutes of debate elapsed, debate was
closed at the chair’s suggestion and the resolution was adopted
by voice vote.

WHEREAS, “Over the course of the Synod’s history, the
LCMS has continually developed and refined its residential
and nonresidential routes to ordination in order to address
the needs of the church as they have arisen and dynamically
changed through time” (Report R60, CW, 128); and

To Affirm and Strengthen the Synod’s
Commitment to Well-Formed Clergy
for the Sake of the Gospel

WHEREAS, The Master of Divinity route to call,
examination, and ordination into the Office of the Holy
Ministry is the most robust route in terms of academics and
additional means of pastoral formation when compared to
other approved routes in The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod and is considered “the most complete means of
preparing a man for the general responsibilities of the pastoral
office” (2016 Resolution 6-03, Proceedings, 168), and “the
preferred option for the preparation of men for pastoral
ministry” (2019 Res. 6-02, Proceedings, 159); therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod give thanks to the Lord for His
provision to the Church of the Office of the Holy Ministry and
commit itself to full and faithful preparation of men for this
office; and be it further
Resolved, That we give thanks to God for the blessings He
gives to His Church through the men He has raised up to serve
in the Office of the Holy Ministry; and be it further
Resolved, That we affirm the necessity and fruitfulness of
Synod-approved alternate routes to ministry to be used in
appropriate ministry settings and for appropriately qualified
candidates (currently, the Specific Ministry Pastor program,
the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology, the Center for
Hispanic Studies, the Specific Ministry PastorEspañol/English Program, the Cross-cultural Ministry Center,
and the Residential Alternate Route program; previously,
DELTO); and be it further
Resolved, “That the district presidents and seminaries be
strongly encouraged to direct men to residential pastoral
ministry routes [at our Synod’s seminaries] as the preferred
option” (2019 Res. 6-02, Proceedings, 159); and be it finally
Resolved, That districts and members of the Synod honor,
use, and promote Synod-approved programs and not create
independent programs of pastoral preparation or direct men
to pastoral preparation programs outside of our Synod’s
seminaries as such efforts are not in accord with the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod (Const. Art. III 3; Bylaw
3.10.4).
Action: Adopted (6)

An amendment was proposed but not pursued on the chair’s
suggestion that it was germane instead to Res. 6-03A. An
amendment was moved but failed to strike from the fourth
resolve the word “strongly” and to insert a new resolve as the
Resolutions

RESOLUTION 6-03A
Overtures 6-03–07, 13–21, 24, 28, 40 (CW, 322–25, 327–32,
334, 337, 344); Resolution 6-03 (TB, 1:131–33)
WHEREAS, “The Office of the Holy Ministry has been
instituted by Christ Himself as a gift to His Church (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 sends 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
WHEREAS, We confess, “So that we may obtain this
[justifying, saving] faith, the ministry [das Predigtamt or
preaching office] of teaching the Gospel and administering
Sacraments was instituted” (Augsburg Confession [AC] V 1),
and “our churches teach that no one should publicly teach in
the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a rightly
ordered call” (AC XIV; 2016 Resolution 6-02); and
WHEREAS, The Synod is committed to a robust program of
formation and education for those preparing for the sacred
Office of the Holy Ministry, to which they are held accountable
to God (1 Cor. 4:1–5; Heb. 13:17); and
WHEREAS, The Master of Divinity (M.Div.) route to call,
examination, and ordination into the Office of the Holy
Ministry is the most robust route in terms of academics and
additional means of pastoral formation when compared to
other approved routes in the Synod and is considered “the
most complete means of preparing a man for the general
responsibilities of the pastoral office” (2016 Res. 6-03,
Proceedings, 168), and “the preferred option for the
preparation of men for pastoral ministry” (2019 Res. 6-02,
Proc., 159); and
WHEREAS, Candidates for the Office of the Holy Ministry
declared qualified for first calls are those who “will have
satisfactorily completed the prescribed courses of studies and
will have received diplomas from their respective educational
institutions of the Synod or have fulfilled the requisites of a
colloquy or other approved education program of the Synod
(Bylaws 2.7.2 and 2.7.3)” (Bylaw 2.8.1 [a]); and
WHEREAS, Despite intervening efforts to address
ambiguities in the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program
route to ordination and Synod membership status, there
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION | 161