LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 266

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266

THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS­­—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

First, more should be said about the concept of auxiliary offices and how they have been understood
within the LCMS. For instance, in its 1981 report on the ministry, the CTCR described auxiliary offices
this way:
These are offices established by the church. Those who are called to serve in them are authorized
to perform certain of the function(s) of the office of the public ministry. These offices are
“ministry” and they are “public,” yet they are not the office of the public ministry. Rather, they
are auxiliary to that unique pastoral office, and those who hold these offices perform their
assigned functions under the supervision of the holders of the pastoral office. Such offices are
established by the church as the need arises, and their specific functions are determined by the
church. The most common auxiliary office today is the office of the teaching ministry. (Ministry,
12) 27
The church has freedom to create, use and oversee these “helping offices” or “auxiliary offices” however
and whenever it sees fit. Yet there remains a consistent proviso that, whatever these auxiliary offices are
and however they function, they are not the Office of the Public Ministry established by Christ and so the
church must avoid any confusion of the auxiliary offices with the pastoral office.
An important question that arises with auxiliary offices is whether or in what way such offices can be
seen or characterized as “divine” in nature, especially in view of the fact that in the LCMS “divine calls”
are issued to individuals serving in these offices. In light of the discussion above, two opposite positions
are to be avoided. One position is to argue that such offices are divine offices in the same sense that the
Office of the Holy Ministry is a divine office (i.e., they are instituted by God and testified to in the
Scriptures). The Scriptures testify that the Office of the Holy Ministry is divinely given and mandated by
Christ Himself. Scripture does not testify that Christ gave or mandated any other office. The other
extreme is to assert that these auxiliary offices have no divine character whatsoever, so that individuals
should not be called to such offices by the church.
One way to view these auxiliary offices that have been established by the church is to recognize that
they exist to assist and support the divinely instituted Office of the Holy Ministry, and to carry out certain
(but not all) of its divinely instituted responsibilities under the oversight of an ordained pastor. Auxiliary
offices created by the church can therefore be seen as “divine” by virtue of their close relationship to the
Office of the Holy Ministry. Those who hold auxiliary offices (established in good order by the church)
are called and commissioned by the church to carry out certain specific divinely given responsibilities
under the oversight of those who hold the divinely instituted Office of the Holy Ministry.

A second important question concerning auxiliary offices is how they are established by the church —
in this case, by the LCMS. In the LCMS, congregations and districts have a certain degree of freedom to
use nomenclature for humanly instituted offices even when this nomenclature is not used in official ways
by the Synod itself. As noted above, some congregations use the term “deacon” for the congregational
office more commonly known as “elder” or specifically for laymen who assist in public worship. 28 While
this may be somewhat confusing (especially for those who transfer their membership from one
congregation to another), this is an area of congregational polity that is not mandated by the Synod and
falls into the realm of Christian freedom (as long as a congregation’s constitution complies with other
matters of theology and polity that are mandated by the Synod and the congregation’s district).
Generally speaking, the same is true for districts of the Synod. In the case of districts, however, the
potential for confusion is much greater because of issues such as:
•

The frequency and “normalization” of such nomenclature within a district;

•

Perceptions and misunderstandings about the relationship between districts and the Synod
(e.g., “the district has an office of ‘deacon,’ so this office must also be recognized by the
Synod”); and

•

Inevitable questions about definition, job description, oversight, etc. (It might be noted, for
example, that only rostered workers of the Synod are accountable to the disciplinary
guidelines set forth in the Synod’s Bylaws.)

It is important to emphasize, therefore, that it is not the prerogative of individual congregations
and districts — apart from the LCMS in convention — to establish auxiliary offices into which they call,
commission and install individuals. In order for such offices to be recognized by the Synod as a whole,
they would need to be thoroughly studied and discussed, carefully defined, have proper preparation and
training in place for those who would be called to such an office, and ultimately be approved by the
LCMS in convention. 29 This is part of our “walking together” in doctrine and practice as a Synod.

In its 1985 document, Women in the Church, the CTCR described the “distinctive functions” of the pastoral office
— which are to be performed only by those who hold the Office of the Holy Ministry — as follows: “1) preaching
in the services of the congregation; 2) leading the formal public services of worship; 3) the public administration of
the sacraments; 4) the public administration of the office of the keys,” CTCR, Women in the Church: Scriptural
Principles and Ecclesial Practice (St. Louis: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 1985), 42.

28
Somewhat customary is the use of “liturgical deacons” to assist in the administration of the Lord’s Supper. In the
Early Church, and in other theological traditions today, a deacon was one of the three orders or ranks of clergy
within an episcopal structure (bishop, priest, deacon), often requiring ordination into the diaconate. The primary
responsibility of such deacons was assisting liturgically with the Lord’s Supper. In the medieval church, as for
Roman Catholicism after the Council of Trent, “deacon” was one of the several ranks of clergy, ordinarily the
middle of the three “major” orders or grades (priest, deacon, subdeacon), who administered Holy Communion.
Lutherans inherited the office of deacon at the time of the Reformation and treated the terminology as an
adiaphoron, but considered those occupying that office to have the same requirements of examination, calling and
ordination as any other occupant of the pastoral office — what the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
refers to as “choosing, calling, ordaining” (Tr 67). The practice in the LCMS of using liturgical deacons to assist
with the administration of the Lord’s Supper (sometimes ordained men, other times laymen) is simply understood as
congregational assistance of the pastor and not as an office of deacon, let alone an “ordained diaconate.”
29
The result would be inclusion of such “commissioned minister” offices in the LCMS Bylaws; see footnote 24
above.

Christian freedom in matters (such as polity and nomenclature) that are not commanded or forbidden by
God’s Word is a vital theological principle. But God-pleasing order and uniformity (even in matters of
adiaphora) is also vital in order to avoid confusion and potential division in the church over matters that
ought not disrupt our walking together in confession and mission. The CTCR urges, therefore, that
fraternal, honest, deliberate discussion take place in the Synod regarding this matter to avoid further
confusion that could undermine and threaten our walking together (see below for more specific
commentary on the offices of “deacon” and “evangelist” as examples of this real and/or potential
confusion in the Synod today).

Although (as noted in footnote 28) the New Testament testimony to the office of deaconess is limited
to Romans 16:1, it is an office with a long history in the Christian church and in the LCMS. 31 The
preparation of deaconesses for service in the LCMS originally took place through college and university
programs, but it was expanded to the seminaries with the approval of Resolution 5-06B at the 2001
LCMS convention. 32 The office of deaconess is clearly defined as an auxiliary office that assists the
Office of the Holy Ministry in a variety of ways, especially in the showing of Christ’s mercy. It is an
office limited to females who have the proper preparation to be called and commissioned as deaconesses.

27

A. Teacher and Director of Christian Education
A very prevalent auxiliary office in the LCMS for many years has been the office of Lutheran school
teacher, because the primary responsibility of a teacher in a Lutheran school is to teach the Word of
God. 30 This is an office, therefore, that is closely related to, and assists, the Office of the Holy Ministry.
As noted above, the task of “teaching” is frequently mentioned in the New Testament in relationship to
the Office of the Holy Ministry, and the title “teacher” (didaskolos) appears in tandem with
“shepherd/pastor” (poimēn) in Ephesians 4:11, demonstrating that the terms “teacher” and “pastor” are
used synonymously in the New Testament. The activities of preaching/proclaiming and teaching are often
linked together in the New Testament and were a central characteristic of the ministry of Jesus and His
apostles (e.g., Matt. 4:23; 9:35). The evidence presented earlier from the New Testament — especially
Ephesians 4 — demonstrates that “teacher” is to be viewed as a first-century office in the church that was
not distinct from the Office of the Holy Ministry.
Just as the Early Church established the office of deacon, the office of teacher as it exists in the
church today was established later as a distinct office due to the need and desire of the church for teachers
who were not pastors (e.g., in a Christian school) but who would work closely with pastors in teaching the
Word of God and other subjects. Like other auxiliary offices, it is closely related to the Office of the Holy
Ministry and serves under its authority and supervision. Some Lutheran school teachers have the
additional responsibility of serving as a Lutheran school principal. Closely related to the office of teacher,
director of Christian education is an office that supports and guides the Christian education program of a
congregation. Both of these auxiliary offices can be held by males or females who have the proper
theological and skill preparation to be called as commissioned ministers.

B. Deaconess

30

See the discussion of “teaching ministry” in CTCR, The Ministry, 17–19.

2026 Convention Workbook

C. Other Auxiliary Offices in the LCMS
In addition to teacher, director of Christian education and deaconess, the LCMS Bylaws officially
recognize five other auxiliary offices: director of parish music, director of Christian outreach (see the
further discussion below), director of family life ministry, parish assistant and director of church
ministries. 33 There are specific training programs to prepare individuals to be called and commissioned to
serve in these auxiliary offices of the LCMS.
D. Deacon
The office of deacon, in various forms, has been present throughout history in a number of Christian
denominations. Although deacon is not an officially recognized auxiliary office in the LCMS, 34 some
LCMS congregations (as noted above) use this term as a synonym for the lay office of “elder.” As also
noted above, some LCMS districts use the term “deacon” to denote a lay office that is distinct both from
the Office of the Holy Ministry and from auxiliary offices that are recognized by the LCMS. On the
district level, those who hold this office normally have some training (typically provided by the district
itself) and may be authorized by the district president to provide assistance to a congregation under the
supervision of an ordained pastor. Specific responsibilities of a deacon may vary from congregation to
congregation (and from district to district), but these typically do not (and from the Synod’s perspective,
definitely should not) involve public preaching and the administration of the Sacraments. 35 Confusion
arises when deacons (whether authorized to do so or not) carry out these responsibilities, even if this takes
place under the “supervision” of an ordained pastor. 36
31
See Cheryl D. Naumann, In the Footsteps of Phoebe: A Complete History of the Deaconess Movement in The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2008). Naumann offers a detailed
history, including the establishment of LCMS deaconess preparation programs at Concordia College, River Forest,
in 1980; at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in 2002; and at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, in 2003.
32
See Naumann, In the Footsteps of Phoebe, 507–508.
33
See footnote 24 above.
34
See footnote 24 above.
35
2016 Resolution 13-02A. For discussion, see below.
36
In its 2023 opinion, “President of Synod Request for Opinion on Lay Reading of Sermons and Conduct of
Worship in the Absence of a Pastor,” the CTCR advised that it was theologically permissible for laymen to conduct