Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2026 · 69th Convention, Phoenix › Page 392
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 392

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

392

PASTORAL MINISTRY AND SEMINARIES

• ineligibility to supervise vicars; and
• ineligibility to serve as circuit visitor;
and
WHEREAS, Other classifications of pastors (Ethnic Immigrant
Institute of Theology [EIIT], Hispanic, Cross-cultural Ministry
Center [CMC], and others) who are not graduates from a residential
program track (Master of Divinity and Alternate Route) have been
granted ordination without notation of how these non-residential
tracks are to be managed in the context of Bylaw 2.13.1 (a–c); and
WHEREAS, Confusion on how to deal with ordained pastors who
are not specific ministry pastors or graduates from residential
ministry tracks continues to exist; and
WHEREAS, Non-residential tracks toward ordination are not
currently treated in a similar manner as the Specific Ministry Pastor
program (SMP) and SMP colloquy (2016 Res. 13-02A); therefore
be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention adopt language for all
ministers of religion—ordained trained via non-residential routes;
and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 2.13.1 be amended as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
Specific Ministry Pastor Status and Limitations
2.13.1
A “specific ministry pastor” is a minister of religion—
ordained who has completed the requirements for service as a
specific ministry pastor or of the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of
Theology, Hispanic ministry, Cross-Cultural Ministry Center, or any
other non-residential ministry track and has been examined by one
of the Synod’s seminaries, has received a regular call, and has been
placed by the Council of Presidents into a specific Word and
Sacrament ministry context. He is eligible to serve only in that
specific ministry context for which he has been trained and may not
be offered or accept a call for ministry for which he has not been
certified as determined by his district president. He shall serve under
the supervision of his district president and another pastor who is not
a specific ministry pastor.
…

Mid-South District
Ov. 6-46

To Encourage Equal Outcomes
in Routes to Pastoral Formation in the Synod
WHEREAS, Jesus’ words still ring true such that there remains an
urgent need for sending workers into the harvest fields where, “the
harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Luke 10:2; Matt. 9:37
NIV); and
WHEREAS, Among the main objectives for the purpose of the
Synod listed in the Constitution is the preparation of such workers:
“Recruit and train pastors, teachers, and other professional church
workers and provide opportunity for their continuing growth”
(Const. Art. III 3); and
WHEREAS, Another main objective for the purpose of the Synod
in the Constitution is to “Encourage congregations to strive for
uniformity in church practice, but also to develop an appreciation
of a variety of responsible practices and customs which are in
harmony with our common profession of faith” (Const. Art. III 7);
and
WHEREAS, The Pastoral Formation Committee, working with the
two Synod seminaries, Concordia Seminary and Concordia
2026 Convention Workbook

Theological Seminary, makes provision for both that uniformity
and appreciation of variety in recommending new routes leading to
ordination (Bylaw 3.10.4.1); and
WHEREAS, New routes to ordination may only be implemented
after “approval by resolution of the Synod” (Bylaw 3.10.4.2); and
WHEREAS, The Synod in convention has implemented a variety
of routes of pastoral formation leading to ordination, which include
the residential pathways of Masters of Divinity (M.Div.) and
Residential Alternate Route (RAR), and the non-residential
pathways of the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP), Cross-Cultural
Ministry Center (CMC), the Center for Hispanic Studies (CHS), and
the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology (EIIT); and
WHEREAS, These routes do not offer equal outcomes as students
are only able to earn a M.Div. degree through the residential routes,
as compared to, for example, in the CMC route, only a Masters of
Arts in Theology (MAT); some ordained pastors who have
completed their route to ordination, such as specific ministry
pastors, are also given a distinctly limited roster status; and
WHEREAS, Already in the 19th century the Synod instituted
variety in its routes for training its pastors by offering a more
practical seminary in Springfield, Ill., or a more theological
seminary in St. Louis, Mo., without instituting a difference in roster
status such that throughout the history of the practical seminary
students graduating from the more practical seminary received the
same roster status as those who graduated from the more theological
seminary; and
WHEREAS, The roster distinction introduced for SMP graduates
makes these pastors distinct from EIIT graduates, CHS graduates,
and RAR graduates who also may be ordained without an academic
degree and who have also received a lesser level of theological
training than full M.Div. students; and
WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions in the Treatise of the
Power and Primacy of the Pope state that before God there is no
substantive difference between ordained pastors (Tr 60–65); and
WHEREAS, The difference in roster status for specific ministry
pastors creates confusion over their status as pastors among the
pastorate and laity (such as the ability of specific ministry pastors
to be on call lists, and the ability of specific ministry pastors to serve
as ecclesiastical supervisors for commissioned ministers), even
though the Lutheran Confessions are clear that an ordained pastor
is a full pastor; and
WHEREAS, Congregations recognize and value their pastors
based on the functions of the office they faithfully execute and
spiritual care they provide, regardless of their pathway to ordination
or official roster status; and
WHEREAS, All rostered pastors of the Synod serve under
ecclesiastical supervision and under the mutual admonition of their
fellow pastors; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Pacific Southwest District esteem all who
hold the Office of the Public Ministry in the Synod with honor, and
encourage all those pursuing pastoral ministry regardless of their
pathway to ordination, thanking God for their service to His people
and their commitment to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and
be it further
Resolved, That the district memorialize the Synod in convention
to develop a process through which a specific ministry pastor, after
ten years of faithful and effective ministry, demonstrating
ministerial competence and spiritual fitness, and grounded in the