To Affirm and Strengthen the Synod’s Commitment to Well-Formed Clergy for the Sake of the Gospel

WHEREAS, “The Office of the Holy Ministry has been instituted by Christ Himself as a gift to His Church (John 20:19–23; Eph. 4:11–16). Through the Christian congregation, as the holder of all churchly authority, God calls qualified men to fill this divinely established office and sends them as His ministers to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to administer the Sacraments publicly in the stead of Christ and by His command…” (Lutheran Service Book: Agenda, 155); and

WHEREAS, We confess, “So that we may obtain this [justifying, saving] faith, the ministry [das Predigtamt or preaching office] of teaching the Gospel and administering Sacraments was instituted” (Augsburg Confession [AC] V 1), and “our churches teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a rightly ordered call” (AC XIV; 2016 Resolution 6-02); and

WHEREAS, The Synod is committed to a robust program of formation and education for those preparing for the sacred Office of the Holy Ministry, to which they are held accountable to God (1 Cor. 4:1–5; Heb. 13:17); and

WHEREAS, The Master of Divinity (M.Div.) route to call, examination, and ordination into the Office of the Holy Ministry is the most robust route in terms of academics and additional means of pastoral formation when compared to other approved routes in the Synod and is considered “the most complete means of preparing a man for the general responsibilities of the pastoral office” (2016 Res. 6-03, Proceedings, 168), and “the preferred option for the preparation of men for pastoral ministry” (2019 Res. 6-02, Proc., 159); and

WHEREAS, Candidates for the Office of the Holy Ministry declared qualified for first calls are those who “will have satisfactorily completed the prescribed courses of studies and will have received diplomas from their respective educational institutions of the Synod or have fulfilled the requisites of a colloquy or other approved education program of the Synod (Bylaws 2.7.2 and 2.7.3)” (Bylaw 2.8.1 [a]); and

WHEREAS, Despite intervening efforts to address ambiguities in the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program route to ordination and Synod membership status, there remains apparent “confusion regarding the definition of ‘specific ministry’” (2013 Res. 5-04B, Proc., 139–40) among members of Synod; and

WHEREAS, The 2007 Synod convention established the SMP program at both seminaries to develop pastors for “specific ministries” which “include such categories as church planter, staff pastor, and others as needs arise” (2007 Res. 5- 01B, Proc., 133–38). 2013 Res. 5-04B went on to clarify that “the authority over admission to and administration of the SMP program remains with the seminaries while the respective district president remains responsible for determining the appropriateness of the specific ministry.” This resolution also resolved “[t]hat district presidents not approve specific ministry sites which could reasonably be expected to support a general pastor or sites where a minister of religion— commissioned could fulfill the duties”; and

WHEREAS, Candidates for the SMP program do not apply for the program in isolation, but are raised up by congregations for service. As such, there must be a specific ministry identified before the application is submitted. The applying congregation that intends to call the SMP applicant once he is certified should formally indicate its desire to do so (a congregation vote is recommended). A mentor and a vicarage supervisor must be identified and agree to fill these roles for the application to be processed. Finally, the district president in whose district the applicant will serve must endorse the applicant for the specific ministry where he will serve; and

WHEREAS, It is the desire of the Council of Presidents (COP) that the LCMS Office of Pastoral Education, Concordia Theological Seminary, Concordia Seminary, and the COP agree on the specific ministry contexts which district presidents are to use in approving SMP applicants; and

WHEREAS, New, non-approved routes to ministerial service in the Synod and the performance of the distinctive functions of the Office of the Holy Ministry are in various instances being encouraged, conceived, developed, and offered to individuals who sincerely desire to serve the church; and

WHEREAS, The 2019 Synod convention adopted resolutions (Res. 6-02, 03A, Proc., 158–60) that assigned certain tasks to the Pastoral Formation Committee (as described in Bylaw 3.10.4) concerning routes to ordination;

therefore be it

Resolved, That the residential Master of Divinity (M.Div.) route at our Synod seminaries continue to be positioned and understood as the Synod’s strongly preferred route to ordination, supplying Synod congregations with well-formed, highly educated pastors who as members of the Synod (ministers of religion—ordained, Bylaw 2.6.1) are prepared to preach, teach, and care for souls over a lifetime of faithful ministry in any and every context into which the Lord calls them into service; and be it further

Resolved, That fiscally sound actions be undertaken over the 2023–26 triennium by the Synod’s residential seminaries to maintain guaranteed tuition support for all students enrolled in the residential M.Div. programs; and be it further

Resolved, That the SMP route be utilized only for its intended purposes (2007 Res. 5-01B; Bylaw 2.13.1) and strengthened under the following principles and boundaries:

1. SMP pastors and their ministries are valid, appropriate to the current needs of Christ’s Body in certain circumstances, fruitful, and treasured by all, even as the Synod gives thanks to God for such men prepared, called, and placed into the Office of the Holy Ministry under this particular Synod route to ordination; 2. the SMP route be understood and positioned as the exception and not become the principal rule with respect to the Synod’s available routes for the preparation and ordination of her pastors; 3. that there be no change to the timing of SMP vicarage and ordination as currently practiced in the Synod and that biblical languages not become a mandatory part of SMP pastoral formation;

4. SMP students be consistently addressed as “vicar” in the first two years of study and not be addressed as “pastor” until after ordination; and 5. seminaries, districts, congregations, and pastors consistently encourage and strive to make provisions for prospective SMP students to consider entering instead into an M.Div. or Residential Alternate Route (RAR/AR) program;

and be it further

Resolved, That each Synod approved non-residential route to ordination remain independent from the other and not consolidated under the SMP program; and be it further

Resolved, That the seminaries, in consultation with the Pastoral Formation Committee, retain responsibility for the academic, admissions, and financial parameters for each approved non-residential route to ordination in the Synod;

and be it further

Resolved, That those involved in the planning and implementation of Set Apart to Serve, the Synod’s church work recruitment initiative, in collaboration with recruitment officers from the Synod’s two residential seminaries, explore, develop, and implement means to encourage and assist men “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Rev. 7:9) toward residential pastoral formation through the M.Div. program; and be it further

Resolved, That the Pastoral Formation Committee be assigned the following tasks, to be completed during the 2023–26 triennium, for inclusion in the 2026 Convention Workbook: 1. to prepare a report that analyzes and assesses ministerial or pastoral formation programs that have emerged within the Synod over the past several years, especially those preparing persons to perform the distinctive functions of the Office of the Holy Ministry, which lack approval of the Synod under its current Constitution and Bylaws and are not included in the current list (i.e., M.Div., RAR/AR, Specific Ministry Pastor to General Pastor Certification, SMP, Specific Ministry Pastor-Español/English Program, Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology, Center for Hispanic Studies, Cross-Cultural Ministry Center) of Synod- approved routes to ordination; 2. to prepare a report that examines and compares approaches and outcomes of residential (i.e., in- person) and non-residential (i.e., distance learning) routes to ordination as these relate to the Synod’s commitment to a well-formed clergy for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and 3. to identify and evaluate options and rationales and prepare a report to the 2026 Synod convention, which proposes a beneficial, clear, and concise definition of appropriate contexts for the ministry of SMP pastors; and 4. to develop and present a comprehensive, uniform, synodwide Specific Ministry Supervision Plan.

and be it finally

Resolved, That all pastors continue to be encouraged and expected to engage in continuing education throughout their pastoral ministry and self-report all continuing education experiences on their Self Evaluation Tool (2019 Res. 6-04, Proc., 160–61