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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 168

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

168

a. Serving congregations of mixed confession, as such, by
ministers of the church;
b. Taking part in the services and sacramental rites of heterodox congregations or of congregations of mixed confession;
c. Participating in heterodox tract and missionary activities.
3. Regular call of pastors and any commissioned ministers and
regular election of lay delegates by the congregations, as
also the blamelessness of the life of such.
In the original 1847 constitution, current Const. Art. VI 3 (in the
1847 arrangement, as Const. Art. II 5) reads, “Proper [ordentlicher]
(not temporary [nicht zeitweiliger]) calling of the pastors and orderly [ordentliche] election of congregational delegates by the congregation. The life of both minister and delegate must be beyond
reproof” (Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly, April 1943, p.
3) This wording of today’s Const. Art. VI 3 was intended to reject
two common trends then occurring in the Lutheran churches in the
United States: The one was a mentality of “we hired the pastor and
pay him, so we can tell him what to do and fire him at will.” The
other was the practice of licensing candidates for the ministry for a
set period of time as a trial period. The wording rejects these based
on the nature of a call as a divine call, directed by God; as such, it
should not have any preset time limitation.
More recently, the Synod’s current understanding of the phrase
“regular call of pastors” is described in 1969 Res. 5-23. The resolution states: “The term regular call as used in our Synod has always
meant a call extended in conformity with the procedures adopted by
the Synod as set forth in the Handbook” (p. 120).
Const. Art. VI 1 and 2 would also apply to the questions as asked.
Const. Art. VI 1 refers back to the confessional statement of the
Constitution and requires acceptance of that statement as a condition of membership. Const. Art. VI 2 requires congregations and
individual members to reject all mixing of doctrine and practice
with those who teach differently. There is to be doctrinal agreement
between the congregation and the pastor serving it. This precludes
an individual who is a member of a church body not in altar and
pulpit fellowship with the LCMS from being called or serving a
member congregation.
Regarding Bylaw 2.5.2: Bylaw 2.5.2 currently reads:
Congregations that are members of the Synod, as well as
association schools, agencies, auxiliaries, and recognized
service organizations shall call and be served only by (1) ordained ministers who have been admitted to their respective
ministries in accordance with the rules and regulations set
forth in these Bylaws and have thereby become members of
the Synod; (2) candidates for the pastoral ministry who have
satisfied the qualifications and requirements for assignment
of first calls by the Council of Presidents acting as the Board
of Assignments; or (3) ordained ministers who are members
in good standing of church bodies that have been formally
recognized to be in altar and pulpit fellowship with the Synod
when agreements for such calls are in place.
A bylaw requiring congregations to call and be served only by ordained members and teachers who are on the roster of the Synod
was first adopted by the 1969 convention partially in response to
1969 Ov. 5-05, which referenced pastors who had resigned from the
Synod but still wished to continue to serve the congregation which
had called them (Workbook, p. 229).
2026 Convention Workbook

In part, the preamble to the resolution, 1969 Res. 5-23, “To Reiterate in Bylaws that Member Congregations Must Be Served by
Members of the Synod,” states (Proceedings, pp. 119–20):
One of the very purposes of synodical fellowship is to provide guidance and help in the exercise of congregation’s right
to call a pastor, and one of the very reasons why a synod
exists is to set standards for the parish pastorate so that the
individual congregation may be assured that the man whom it
calls is qualified to serve as its parish pastor (Charter, Art. II
b; Const., Art. III 3).
To this end The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod establishes procedures for determining whether men meet the standards. One of the advantages which a congregation receives
when it joins the Synod is the protection against pastors who
do not meet such standards.
…
In order that there may be no misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the condition that the membership of congregations in the Synod requires of a congregation that all
pastors, as also all teachers, who are called to and who serve
the congregations of the Synod must have been admitted to
the ministry of the Synod in accordance with the procedures
provided by the Synod for certification, recommendation, ordination, or commissioning of such pastors or called teachers,
this committee deems it advisable to reiterate the basic constitutional requirements in clear and unmistakable words also
in the Bylaws:
The convention adopted Bylaw 4.02, below (printed in the 1969
Handbook as 4.01; Proceedings, pp. 119–20):
4.02 Eligible Pastors and Teachers
a. Congregations which are members of the Synod, in conformity with Article III, 3 of the Constitution of the Synod,
shall call and be served only by pastors and called teachers
who have been admitted to these respective ministries in
accordance with the rules and regulations set forth in the
synodical Handbook and have thereby become members of
the Synod.
b. Congregations which violate this requirement and persist
in such violation shall after due admonition forfeit their
membership in the Synod.
While the Bylaws were renumbered in the following year, and
the term teachers was eventually changed to commissioned ministers, this bylaw remained essentially unchanged until the 2001
convention of the Synod. During this intervening period, the status
of women who were graduates of colleges of the Synod and were
teaching in the schools of the congregations of the Synod changed,
so that they were allowed to become members of the Synod and be
placed on the roster of the Synod. In addition, the use of teachers
who were not trained in the institutions of the Synod and therefore
not eligible for membership in the Synod greatly increased in the
day schools of the congregations of the Synod, which placed them
in violation of this bylaw. The result was that 2001 Res. 7-12, “To
Separate Calling and Service of Clergy from Other Church Workers” (Proceedings, p. 168), changed the bylaw to read:
2.45 Calling Ministers of Religion
a. Congregations shall seek the advice of the respective District President when calling ordained or commissioned
ministers.