LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 269

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS­­—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

269

R62.11
President of Synod Request for Opinion on Lay Reading of Sermons and Conduct of
Worship in the Absence of a Pastor
The Request of the Synod President
During the extended triennium, the President of Synod repeatedly noted the looming shortage of
clergy and the need to provide direction for (male) laymen assisting vacant congregations or
congregations without ordained clergy available to preach or conduct worship. In November
2022, following extended conversations with CTCR executive staff and the chairman of the
CTCR, the President posed the following questions:
1) Given the biblical and confessional doctrine of the Office of the Holy Ministry, under what
conditions might a layman read sermons or lead worship at a congregation when there is no
pastor available to serve? What precedents are there within orthodox Lutheranism (and the
LCMS, in particular) for such a practice? What qualifications should an individual have to assist
in this way and what supervision should be provided?
2) What practical guidelines could the CTCR offer to ensure this is done “decently and in good
order” (1 Cor. 14:40) and in keeping with Scripture and the Confessions of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church?
It is the President’s hope that, if possible, the CTCR provide answers to these questions in
advance of the 2023 Synod Convention.
The President’s questions require a careful and informed response. In light of this request, the
Commission recommended a two-part opinion. It would include a brief statement on the
qualifications and supervision appropriate for a layman to read a sermon and conduct worship in
the public services of a congregation without a pastor present, especially taking into account the
stipulations already addressed in 1989 Res. 3-05B and the recommendations of the 2013
Resolution 4-06A Task Force. It would also (or furthermore) provide guidelines that offer
direction for laymen serving in this capacity and congregations being assisted by such laymen.
Since the Commission is customarily not the entity tasked with providing liturgical guidance, it
sought to restrict itself to a theological consideration of the President’s request and practical
guidelines in accordance with those theological considerations.

Sacrament Ministry. It particularly recommended the elimination of two practices—the use of
Licensed Lay Deacons in congregations that were already being served or reasonably could be
served by ordained pastors, and the use of Licensed Lay Deacons to serve vacancies in
neighboring congregations. The task force further suggested that Synod should “provide a clear
path forward to certify, call, and ordain men presently serving as lay deacons.” It recommended
that “no new lay deacons be licensed to preach or administer the sacraments after January 1,
2018” and that all previously licensed lay deacons apply to a Synodical path leading to
ordination (seminary or colloquy). 1
At the 2016 convention, the Synod adopted resolution 6-02, by a vote of 875-177, upholding the
biblical and confessional qualifications for the office of the public ministry, including the
ordinary prerequisite that all those carrying out the functions of that office be examined, called,
and ordained. Synod also adopted resolution 13-02A, by a vote of 809-277, affirming the
“theological framework” of the task force and accepting its proposals for regularizing the
ministry of lay deacons through ordination. Again, following the task force, it stipulated the
cessation of licensure of deacons for Word and Sacrament ministry by January 1, 2018. It also
included a provision that would allow qualified deacons to colloquize directly into Specific
Ministry Pastor (SMP) status. It further resolved that the training of lay deacons should continue
for service that does not include public preaching or administration of the sacraments and finally
directed the First Vice-President of Synod and a committee appointed by the Council of
Presidents to direct the implementation of the resolution’s requirements, subject to approval by
the Colloquy Committee for Pastoral Ministry.
As the Word and Sacrament ministry of Licensed Lay Deacons has been phased out in
accordance with these 2016 resolutions, concerns have been raised by the President of Synod and
Council of Presidents about procuring service for congregations which are temporarily or
permanently unable to obtain a pastor, potentially growing more acute in light of present and
future clergy shortages. It is for this reason that the President of Synod posed the current
questions regarding the propriety of laymen publicly reading sermons and conducting worship
services in the absence of ordained clergy. The Commission addresses them as follows. 2
Q. 1) Given the biblical and confessional doctrine of the Office of the Holy Ministry, may a
layman read sermons or lead worship at a congregation when there is no pastor available to
serve?

The Response of the CTCR
2016 LCMS Convention Workbook, 245.
This opinion presupposes the basic Scriptural and confessional foundations and role of the pastoral office in the
church which the LCMS has repeatedly affirmed. For examples, see especially the Commission on Theology and
Church Relations, The Ministry: Offices, Procedures, and Nomenclature (St. Louis: Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod, 1981); C.F.W. Walther, Theses on the Church and the Office of the Ministry (St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 2012), 3-6; “To Uphold the Scriptural and Confessional Principles for the Office of the Holy
Ministry,” 2016 Res. 6-02, 2016 LCMS Convention Proceedings, 166-168; and “To Affirm Synod’s Official
Position on Church and Ministry,” 2001 Res. 7-17A, 2001 LCMS Convention Proceedings, 172-173.
1

The 2013 Synod convention requested that the President of Synod establish a task force to
address questions regarding the service of licensed lay deacons under the terms established in
1989 Resolution 3-05B, whereby qualified laymen were authorized to preach the Gospel and
administer the sacraments in certain extraordinary cases with proper supervision. In advance of
the 2016 convention, 2013 Task Force 4-06A published its report, which laid out important
exegetical, theological, and historical foundations for the office of the ministry and argued that
these were inconsistent with the widespread licensure of lay deacons to carry out Word and

2

1

To this question, the Commission answers a qualified “Yes.” The Commission does not believe
either practice mentioned in the above question necessarily contradicts the biblical and
confessional doctrine of the ministry, provided that certain safeguards remain in place to prevent
confusion with the pastoral office. The Commission has repeatedly identified four distinctive
functions of the public ministry that should be carried out by those who have been rightly called
to the office of the public ministry: preaching in the services of the congregation, leading formal
public services of worship, public administration of the sacraments, and the public administration
of the keys. 3 Apart from certain exceptional circumstances, the laity ought not exercise these
distinctive functions of the public ministry, lest they risk such confusion with the pastoral office.

2

congregation has opportunity to hear the Word of God, to pray together, and to sing
praise (1 Tim. 4:4-5). A proactive approach to such occasional needs is important. On
most occasions a sermon can be prepared by the pastor to be read in the service. 6
The task force recommendation, however, cautioned that such measures should not be taken
haphazardly, without guidelines, or in any way that may cause offense. It added:
In all such cases where it is simply impossible for a pastor to preach or conduct worship,
care should be taken so that an exceptional circumstance does not create confusion or
become a precedent for errant practices. Though “emergency knows no law,” it should
not be an excuse for disorder. Thus, even in such difficult circumstances, every attempt
should be made to address the problem in an orderly way that is consonant with Scripture
and does not cause offense or misunderstanding. For example, while an emergency
pastoral absence may necessitate having a layman lead a service of the Word and read a
sermon prepared by the pastor, our congregations should heed the Synod’s counsel for
women not to exercise liturgical leadership. Moreover, it would be good to distinguish
between an emergency and ongoing challenges. A pastor’s illness and unavoidable
absence on a given Sunday presents an emergency need. But, when there will be no
pastor for the foreseeable future, a thoughtfully considered, theologically orthodox
answer, rather than “emergency” remedies, is needed. 7

In the case of the lay reading of sermons, one would be exercising a distinctive function of the
public ministry only in a qualified sense, because the sermon would simply be read and not
composed by the layman himself. Rather, an ordained pastor, who is regarded as “apt to teach”
(2 Tim 2:24), would prepare the sermon. In the case of conducting worship services, there is
certainly potential for confusion, but the Commission believes that this can be avoided through
the use of services especially designed for lay officiation, or through the use of the daily prayer
offices and existing devotional orders (see Lutheran Service Book 282-89, 294-98). Likewise, it
may be wise for lay officiants to distinguish themselves from ordained clergy in vesture, for
instance, by not wearing a stole, or possibly even an alb, to prevent confusion.
Moreover, there is adequate precedent for these measures. Confessional Lutheran churches
throughout their history have sought to address pastoral shortages and other emergency situations
in ways that are faithful to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. That has at times included
laymen reading sermons written for them by ordained clergy and conducting public services with
certain limitations. This was particularly the practice for Lutheran congregations in America. For
instance, the Berkenmeyer Constitution of 1735 (for congregations of New York and New
Jersey) established the office of Vorleser, or “reader,” who would serve in the absence of a
pastor by leading the congregation in song, or liturgy, and the reading of a sermon provided him
by a pastor or from other authorized books. 4 Likewise, during its early expansion, many Synod
congregations found themselves without called pastors for extended periods of time. In these
instances, laymen were allowed to publicly read sermons and conduct services in what was
called a “read service” (Lesegottesdienst), though this was only seen as a temporary or
emergency provision and never proposed as a permanent solution. 5
In its report to the 2016 convention, the 2013 Resolution 4-06A Task Force specifically made
this same proposal in the fifth of its concluding recommendations to Synod:

It is in the spirit of this rationale and these kinds of concerns that the Commission offers a
qualified “Yes.” We can explicitly affirm that, in temporary or emergency situations, a layman
may read public sermons or conduct public worship in the absence of an ordained minister of
Word and Sacrament. However, certain guidelines, as noted above and expanded upon below,
should be practiced to prevent confusion with the pastoral office and its distinctive functions.
Furthermore, care should be taken so that such temporary or emergency exceptions are in fact
truly temporary or truly emergencies, and thus not seen or encouraged as normative. They are by
definition exceptions and every effort should be made to obtain ordained clergy to preach and
conduct public services of the church in accordance with the distinctive functions of the public
ministry implicit in that office.
Q. 2) What practical guidelines could the CTCR offer to ensure this is done “decently and in
good order” (1 Cor. 14:40) and in keeping with Scripture and the Confessions of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church?
As noted above, the Commission ordinarily does not address itself to strictly liturgical concerns,
such as guidelines for the conduct of lay-led services. However, it can speak to what we believe
are optimal theological and practical standards to guide congregations of Synod in this practice.
To that end, we suggest that, in these situations, congregations select lay readers and officiants
who fit the following criteria. First, the candidate must be a male. Second, the candidate should
hold a position within the congregation that maintains some accountability for the pastoral office
or support of it, such as an elder, officer of the congregation, or, alternately, an auxiliary minister

Emergencies and other unforeseen circumstances will occur that will make it impossible
for a pastor to serve his congregation on a given Sunday. The time-honored approach to
such occasions has been to designate a man (typically an elder or perhaps another called
auxiliary minister) to conduct Matins or another service from the hymnal so that the
CTCR, The Ministry, 35.
Karl Kretzmann, ed., “The Constitution of the First Lutheran Synod in America,” Concordia Historical Institute
Quarterly 9 (1936): 88-89.
5
Karl H. Wyneken, “The Development of the Itinerant Ministries in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 18471865,” Unpublished Thesis (Concordia Seminary, 1963), 27-36.
3
4

6
7

2016 LCMS Convention Workbook, 246–47.
2016 LCMS Convention Workbook, 247.

3

4

2026 Convention Workbook