LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — May 27–31, 2026, Page 5

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members” require workers to be called for commissioned service (Bylaw 2.5.3) and those to be called or
simply who will be serving in a pastoral capacity (Bylaw 2.5.2) within the Synod to be admitted to the
ministry by the Synod for said purpose.
It is one thing for a member of the Synod to advocate for changes to the Bylaws or even Constitution of the
Synod, which may be made by the congregational member delegates in convention if so persuaded (Bylaw
1.3.4.1). It is another thing for a member of the Synod to advocate for or participate in the circumvention
of the Bylaws or Constitution of the Synod, for example, by facilitating and promoting to member
congregations a route to pastoral ministry that is incompatible with the requirements of Bylaw 2.5.2. As
noted above from Ag. 682, “The Synod has stated in great detail that it will train its own pastors, set its own
requirements, do its own certifying, etc. In short, the Synod has made it plain that it will not permit a small
group within the Synod to usurp these functions which the Synod has reserved to itself.”
The Synod has provided exclusive mechanisms for preparing and qualifying workers to serve in the
ordained and commissioned ministries of the Synod (Bylaw section 2.7), apart from which no one can be
qualified for such service. Bylaw section 2.5 makes clear that congregations, as regard the ordained
ministry, are to call and be served only by those who have been so qualified. The contemplated seminary
cannot so qualify men for service as one of the Synod’s own seminaries could. As far as members of member
congregations being prepared for such service are concerned, neither can colloquy complete what such a
seminary began. Bylaw 3.10.2.4 states clearly that members of Synod congregations are not permitted to
seek pastoral training elsewhere and then to enter onto the roster of the Synod by colloquy. By this
prohibition, the Synod fully closes the door on the idea that members of member congregations should be
so induced. There is no legitimate route to ordained ministry in a Synod congregation for a member of a
member congregation other than through a seminary authorized by the Synod for such formation and
qualification. Participating in and promoting an unauthorized seminary for individuals who are drawn from
and to be commended for the service of congregations of the Synod is therefore contrary to the order set
forth in the Bylaws of the Synod.
The commission has held previously (Ag. 729 H, J, “Opinion re Removal of District Presidents from
Office,” Minutes of Feb. 21–22, 1975) that “the first object of the Synod is the conservation and promotion
of the unity of the true faith and a united defense against schism and sectarianism (Const. Art. III 1)” and
that “a district president who deliberately acts contrary to the Bylaws may have the effect of creating an
unrest and a schism in the Synod,” and that “any member of the Synod (which includes District Presidents)
whose deliberate acts have the effect of creating a schism in the Synod may be guilty of an offensive conduct
(Rom. 16:17–18), which, if persisted in after proper admonition, may lead to expulsion.” (Const. Art. XIII
1). The “regular call of pastors and any commissioned ministers” is a condition of membership in the Synod
(Const. Art. VI 3). Inducing or facilitating a Synod member congregation to call or be served otherwise
(contrary to Bylaw 2.5.2) risks separating that member from the Synod (see especially Bylaw 2.5.4),
creating, in effect, a schism. For at least this reason, participation in or promotion of the training of church
workers, outside institutions approved by the Synod for this purpose, who are drawn from Synod
congregations and to be commended for the service of congregations of the Synod is an activity that could
result in removal from the roster of the Synod, provided that the ecclesiastical supervisor and subsequent
panel conclude that this is, in fact, an offensive conduct. The commission’s former opinions have indicated
this conclusion to be possible.
Finally, the commission notes, considering questions 2 and 3, a broader concern. Can a member
congregation extend the Office of the Holy Ministry to “others” by way of men not admitted to ministry
under Bylaw 2.5.2? A congregation in relation to “others” is not acting alone but as a member of the Synod.
A congregation establishing some relationship with “others” as the congregation acting independent of its
synodical commitments, as it would in such a case, would seem to be engaged, at least, in “selective
fellowship.” Where a member congregation of the Synod arranges for some other group to be served with
pastoral ministry, the congregation gives of that with which it is served—that is, of ministers admitted to
the ministry by the Synod under Bylaw 2.5.2—and not of something else.
CCM Minutes – May 28–31, 2026 – Page 156