Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1973 · 50th Convention › Sheet 490
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Sheet 490

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

Z-04

THE MINISTRY IN ITS RELATION TO THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
As Seen on the Basis of Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions

with Applications to
Specific Problems of the Church in Our Time

A Report of the
Commission on Theology and Church Relations

of

The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod
March 1973

Introduction
The Task

The present study on the Ministry endeavors to carry
out the instructions given to the Commission on Theology
and Church Relations by the 1965, 1967, 1969, and 1971
conventions of The Lutheran Church-— Missouri Synod.
The resolutions of the Synod with which this study is
concerned are the following:

1. 1965 Resolution 5-14. This resolution called for the
ordination of called male teachers. It was not acted
on by the Synod, but referred to the CTCR for
a report to the next convention.

1967 Resolution 2-28. This resolution, among other

things, referred the request of Overture 2-78, ‘“‘To

Study Nature and Function of Diaconate in the

Lutheran Church,” to the CTCR for comprehen-

sive study.

. 1969 Resolution 2-15. In view of the fact that the
CTCR had not yet completed its study of the
Ministry and related questions, and in view of the
further fact that other groups within the Synod
and in the Lutheran Council were studying the
question of the Ministry, the Synod asked the
CTCR ‘to coordinate these various studies and
issue a statement to the Synod by the next con-
vention.”

. 1971 Resolution 8-07. The Synod requested the

CTCR “‘to study and define the office of evangelist,

especially as it relates to the office of the pastor

and to the doctrine of the church and ministry, and
that the Commission report to the Synod on this
at an early date.”’

1971 Resolution 5-03. In refraining from granting

franchise to teachers ‘“‘at this time,” the Synod re-

solved ‘‘that continued study be given to the ques-
tion, especially as it relates to the current CTCR
study of teacher ordination.”

1971 Resolution 2-05. The Synod encouraged the

CTCR “‘to give high priority to the early completion

of its assignments in this area.”

458

The Commission’s Procedure

Even a cursory reading of the above resolutions indi-
cates something of the magnitude of the task assigned
to the CTCR by the Synod. Some of the questions are
complicated, and even hotly debated. The task of coor-
dinating a number of studies on the Ministry is very
great. If different study groups have reached different
conclusions, it may not be possible to coordinate the
studies in any real sense of the term.

The CTCR recognizes that the doctrine of the Minis-
try does not stand alone as an isolated doctrine, but is
intimately related to the salvation which God provided
for mankind in Christ; to the Gospel which is the good
news of this salvation; and to the church, which comes
into being and is sustained and nourished through this
Gospel.

In approaching its study of the Ministry, the CTCR
did not proceed on the assumption that we do not yet
know what the Ministry is, or that we must wait for a
number of other studies before we can speak with
assurance on the subject. Although we have not found
Biblical and confessional statements which contain
a direct answer to each question, the Commission be-
lieves that Holy Scripture presents a view of the Min-
istry which can be clearly set forth, and that the Lutheran
Confessions also speak clearly and Biblically on the
Ministry. The Commission also holds that specific ques-
tions concerning the diaconate, called male teachers,
evangelists, and other ministries can and must be
answered on the basis of Holy Scripture and the Lu-
theran Confessions.

In response to the Synod’s request that the Com-
mission coordinate various studies on the Ministry, the
CTCR decided to draw up its own statement on the basis
of Scripture and the Confessions; to examine its own
statement critically by comparing the findings of other
groups which studied the same questions; and finally to
make any necessary corrections or amendments.

An examination of various contemporary ministry
studies in the Lutheran Church reveals the fact that some