Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2026 · 69th Convention, Phoenix › Page 30

LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 30

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

FAQs, Talking Points for Encouraging Second-Career Church
Work, Routes to the Office of the Ministry booklet, Pastor’s Guide
to Mentoring Future Second-Career Pastors, Encouraging Men to
Consider a Second Career as a Pastor, Teacher Colloquy 101, testimonial booklet for Second-Career Pastors, and testimonial booklet
for Second-Career Teachers. View all SAS resources at lcms.org/
set-apart-to-serve.
View the 2025 annual report at files.lcms.org/file/preview/
sas-annual-report-2025.

B. Post Seminary Applied Learning and
Support
Post Seminary Applied Learning and Support (PALS) was created by the Council of Presidents and the LCMS Commission on
Ministerial Growth and Support in 1998, thus going for 28 years.
The purpose of PALS is to support and encourage pastors, and their
wives and families, as they transition from seminary to parish life
for the first three years of the pastor’s ministry.
PALS utilizes geographic cohorts. Each cohort is facilitated by
an experienced pastor and his wife. The pastor facilitates the men
and the pastor’s wife facilitate the women. PALS cohorts meet six
days per year. Pastors can self-report up to six PALS continuing
education units each year on their district Self Evaluation Tool.
PALS also serves the purpose of the pastor’s first years of continuing education. Each time a PALS cohort meets, they participate
in worship, a study topic, support and casuistry, and fellowship. Cohorts can use either curriculum developed by the PALS office or a
study topic of the group’s choice.
PALS is a rich partnership between the LCMS, districts, congregations, and pastors. The FY26 PALS budget is $259,987. This
includes PALS administration, facilitator contacts and expenses,
seminary presentation dinners to concluding-year seminarians entering PALS, conference expenses, and books and materials. Participating districts contribute $500 per participating pastor per year.
LCMS PALS more than matches that amount. It could be said that
the Synod invests more than $1,000 per year per pastor to facilitate
a successful transition into the pastoral ministry.
In the last three years, there has been an average of 22 active
PALS groups across the Synod. Approximately 136 pastors and
102 wives have been active in PALS over this past triennium. We
encourage congregations calling candidates from the seminary to
support and expect their pastors to participate in PALS. Such participation is of great benefit to both the pastor and the congregation
for many years to come. Currently, 23 of the 35 LCMS districts participate in the PALS program. The director of PALS, Rev. Jonathan
Manor, strongly encourages all 35 districts to participate in PALS
for the benefit of the pastor, his wife and family, the congregation he
serves, and the district and Synod at large.
In this past triennium, an online PALS (Post-Certification Applied Learning and Support) for deaconesses was developed. PALS
for deaconesses was developed to support and encourage deaconesses as they transition from graduation and certification to fulltime deaconess service in the church. There are three online cohorts
facilitated by an experienced deaconess. Each cohort meets six
times per year for one to two hours each time. Seventy-five percent
of eligible deaconesses participate in PALS.
To learn more about PALS, including PALS courses, annual report, and Facebook page, go to lcms.org/pals.
2026 Convention Workbook

C. Theology Professors Conference
The Theology Professors Conference (TPC) is a biennial event.
It is directed toward our Synod’s valued theology professors serving at the LCMS colleges, universities, and seminaries. The LCMS,
the formation of pastors, and the teaching of theology in our Synod’s higher education institutions have all been strengthened because of these conferences.
This conference brings together the Synod’s theology professors
to think carefully about God’s Word, the Lutheran Confessions, the
Church, and society. This is the only event that gathers all those
teaching theology to future church workers and students preparing for various God-given vocations at the Synod’s universities and
seminaries. This conference is a prized opportunity for our Synod’s
theology professors to examine Scripture, the ecumenical creeds
and Confessions of the LCMS, church history, and worldview to
address life in both of God’s kingdoms, church and state.
The 2024 TPC was held at Concordia University Ann Arbor,
May 20–22. The conference theme each year is focused on a portion of the Lutheran Confessions. The 2024 conference focused
on AC XIV and XV, “Order in the Church” and “Church Ceremonies.” Four plenary speakers presented on “Pastoral Formation in
Lutheran Orthodoxy: New Ideas on How to Better Prepare Future
Pastors,” “From Boethius to Bladerunner: A Trinitarian Response
to Constituting Personhood,” “The rite vocatus of AC XIV in the
Lutheran Church of the Nineteenth Century,” and “Don’t Freak
Out: Disability and the Resurrection Body in Light of the Fiction of
Flannery O’Connor.” Other features of the conference included 15
sectionals, professors meeting by theological disciplines (exegetical, historical, practical/pastoral, systematics), and fellowship and
conversation.
The 2026 conference will be on the campus of Concordia University, St. Paul, May 18–20, under the theme “God’s Gift of Order” (AC XV and XVI) and a secondary theme, “The Work of the
Holy Spirit: Calls, Gathers, Enlightens, Sanctifies.”

D. Preach the Word
Preach the Word (PTW) was developed to help pastors work
together to hone the craft of preaching through video modules and
accompanying resources. PTW also enables pastors to interact with
seminary professors and fellow preachers, the authors of these
modules. PTW was designed for pastors to gather with brother pastors to watch and discuss the modules and to learn with and from
each other. PTW is an excellent resource for continuing education
for pastors.
Since 2017, 10 modules have been completed. After a threeyear pause, the PTW steering committee reconvened in fall 2025.
The steering committee is working to give PTW a refresh with new
modules and a new podcast format to encourage continued growth
for pastors in their vocation of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Committee members are Dr. Carl Fickenscher (chair), Dr. David
Fleming, Rev. Timothy Mech, Dr. Richard Stuckwisch, Dr. David
Schmitt, and Rev. Jonathan Manor. PTW resources are available at
resources.lcms.org/preach-the-word/.

E. Support of Our Seminaries through the
Synod
The people of the Synod cherish our two seminaries, which supply the LCMS with faithful pastors. Many of these people support
the seminaries through their prayers and gifts. Often, this support is