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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 385

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

PASTORAL MINISTRY AND SEMINARIES
Ov. 6-33

To Address Pastoral Formation
and Routes to Ministry
WHEREAS, Jesus instructs us that the “harvest is plentiful, but the
workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out
workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2 NIV); and
WHEREAS, The means and methodologies of teaching and
learning have greatly changed in recent decades; and
WHEREAS, Technology has greatly changed the delivery methods
of education and the shaping of higher education in the same period;
and
WHEREAS, Younger students are more comfortable with blended
forms of education, using more non-traditional methods, including
video conferencing, computer interaction, and other distance
learning, rather than exclusively brick and mortar forms of
instruction; and
WHEREAS, There are some students, potential candidates for the
pastoral office, who need greater flexibility in acquiring the best
possible theological education and formation; and
WHEREAS, The Pastoral Formation Committee (PFC) has already
examined many of the existing pieces for creating a distance
education program leading to ordination; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention encourage the Council
of Presidents, the Office of the President, and the PFC, in
conjunction with the two seminaries of our Synod, to examine
current best practices in educational methodologies and outcomes
and to produce a plan, to be presented to the 2029 Synod
convention, for blended distance education methods leading to
ordination; and be it further
Resolved, That prior to implementation of distance education,
each district of the Synod have the opportunity to discuss and
comment on the program or programs.
Board of Directors
Nebraska District
Ov. 6-34

To Direct Pastoral Formation Committee to Bring
Recommendation to 2029 Convention to Establish
New Route(s) to Ordination, Utilizing and Making
More Accessible Treasure of Synod Seminaries
WHEREAS, Jesus commanded His disciples to make disciples by
baptizing them and teaching them (Matt. 28:19–20); and
WHEREAS, Scripture teaches us that Jesus gave some to be
shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11–12); and
WHEREAS, Those who are to fill the role of
shepherd/teacher/elder/overseer are to be men first of high
character—“above reproach … not be arrogant or quick-tempered
or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover
of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined”—and
second, they “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught,” so
that they “may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also
to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:7–9); and
WHEREAS, Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession states, that
“no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the
Sacraments unless he be regularly called” (Triglotta); and

385

WHEREAS, The Synod’s objectives include to “recruit and train
pastors … and provide opportunity for their continuing growth”
(Const. Art. III 3); and
WHEREAS, During the history of the Synod, the methods of
training pastors have frequently changed due to both external
factors (wars, financial depression, and theological movements) and
internal factors (surplus of pastors, shortage of pastors, “practical”
needs and “theoretical” needs, as well as language, educational, and
cultural challenges) (John C Wohlrabe Jr., “The Role of the
Seminaries in the LCMS, 1847–2001,” Concordia Theological
Quarterly 85 [July/Oct. 2021]: 215–39); and
WHEREAS, Those methods have utilized varying levels of
academic training, both at the seminaries and in partnership with the
seminaries including a Bachelor of Divinity, Master of Divinity
(M.Div.), non-academic certification, Specific Ministry Pastor
(SMP), the Cross-Cultural Ministry Center, and others; and
WHEREAS, The Pastoral Formation Committee (PFC) has been
charged with “ensuring that the Synod’s objective of training
pastors is fulfilled consistently,” with seminaries governed by
boards of regents (Bylaws 3.10.4–3.10.5); and
WHEREAS, Through the years, the seminaries themselves have
seen the importance for them to fulfill different purposes, including
scholarly, theological, pastoral, and missionary needs, and in the
case of the Springfield seminary “to train men who, because of their
educational background or age, could not fit well into the
preparatory school – St. Louis system” (ibid., n54, quoting Erich H.
Heintzen, Prairie School of the Prophets: The Anatomy of a
Seminary 1846–1976 [St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House,
1975],177); and
WHEREAS, In 2007 Resolution 5-01B, “To Establish Specific
Ministry Pastor Program,” which established the SMP program and
was adopted [Yes: 908; No: 287] (Proceedings, 133–38), the
convention recognized the need to “retain our commitment to the
importance, need, and great strengths of residential pastoral
education at both the certificate and M.Div. level, along with a
commitment to the continuing education of all clergy” (136); and
WHEREAS, That same resolution (pp. 136–37) also recognized
the necessity to:
a. find a way to meet the existing and expanding needs for
pastoral ministry, especially in the variety of contexts of
mission and ministry in today’s church;
…
e. restore our past creativity in recognizing the importance,
need, and great strengths of alternative models of
pastoral education leading to ordination, including a
commitment to continuing education;
f. utilize the advances in educational technology that allow
for responsible pastoral education and formation through
distance-education models; and
g. develop a more coherent and comprehensive model for
pastoral education by which various routes leading to
certification, call, and ordination are coordinated and
potentially interrelated, so that, for example, a student in
a nonresidential certificate route might be able to engage
also in a residential degree program;
and
WHEREAS, “The 2023 LCMS convention appealed to all LCMS
congregations, districts and seminaries to prioritize and strongly
2026 Convention Workbook