LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — April 8–9, 2022, Page 7

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effective date of the first call to service in the church, as assigned by the Council of Presidents
acting as the Board of Assignments as provided in Bylaw section 2.9.
Question 1:

Does the term graduate (with respect to an authorized educational institution of the Synod)
include any persons other than those who have received an earned academic degree from
that institution (or from any previously existing institution to which the current institution
is the legal successor-in-interest)? If so, what other persons are included as graduates?

Opinion:
Many of the above-noted individuals responded to the commission’s request for input, and
the commission thanks each for his contribution.
In addressing itself to the sense of the term “graduate” in Bylaw 2.7.1, the commission finds that this term
cannot be defined in isolation from its context in the Bylaws of the Synod. The commission’s opinion
therefore relies on the entirety of Bylaw sections 2.7 and 2.8 (although it addresses only those individuals
whose certification as qualified for ministry is addressed by Bylaw 2.7.1—not those, for example, received
via colloquy).
In the context of Bylaw sections 2.7 and 2.8, the term graduate functions not simply as an equivalent for
“one who has ‘received an earned academic degree,’” as the question seemed to imply, but for “one who
will have, at the effective time of first call, ‘satisfactorily completed the prescribed course of studies’ and
‘received [a] diploma[ ]’ in a program approved by the Synod to lead to qualification for ordained or
commissioned ministry” (Bylaw 2.8.1 [a]). These passages are clearly parallel, so that the more precise
sense of the latter must be understood to impart a specific sense to the former term, “graduate.”
Adding to this interpretive context, historically and in a variety of programs, faculties of the seminaries,
colleges, and universities of the Synod have certified as qualified for first placement many individuals who
have received theological or vocational diplomas that were not equated to or connected with academic
degrees. Examples for ordained ministry include those who complete the Specific Ministry Program (which
does not lead to a degree at either seminary), the Residential Alternate Route program, the General Pastor
Certification Program, or a program of studies through the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology or the
Center for Hispanic Studies. Among the auxiliary office programs, the Director of Church Ministries
Program at Concordia University Wisconsin leads to a certificate, not a degree, but nonetheless also to
certification for this commissioned ministry.
Question 2:

Other than pursuant to the colloquy process outlined in Bylaw 3.10.3, may the faculty of
an authorized educational institution of Synod declare a candidate qualified for a first call,
where such candidate is not a graduate of such institution? If so, are there any limitations
on such authority?

Opinion:
The Answer to Question 1 also answers the first part of Question 2. The commission has
clarified the meaning of the term “graduate” to mean: “one who will have, at the effective time of first call,
‘satisfactorily completed the prescribed course of studies’ and ‘received [a] diploma[ ]’ in a program
approved by the Synod to lead to qualification for ordained or commissioned ministry” (Bylaw 2.8.1 [a]).
In this sense of the term graduate, as regards the individuals discussed in Bylaw 2.7.1, the faculty of an
educational institution of the Synod may declare qualified for a given office of the ministry only a graduate
of a program of their respective institution that is approved by the Synod to admit graduates to the respective
office of ministry. Such a program could be a joint program between two institutions of the Synod operating
through their respective boards of control, with the faculty of the appropriate institution (that is, of the
participating institution authorized by the Synod to prepare graduates for the particular ministry in question)
declaring the candidate qualified for a call.
The certification of a candidate as qualified for placement includes not only the satisfactory completion of
an academic program, but also the factors indicated in Bylaw 2.8.1 (b) and (c), and in the case of seminary
students, (d). The appropriateness of a faculty certifying a candidate rests, therefore, not only on the
faculty’s connection with a given academic program approved by the Synod as leading to ordained or

CCM Minutes – April 8–9, 2022 – Page 94