To Direct Districts and Council of Presidents to Provide Strategic and Comprehensive Plan for Worker Care

WHEREAS, One of the objectives of The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod (LCMS) is to “Recruit and train pastors, teachers, and other professional church workers and provide opportunity for their continuing growth” (Constitution Article III 3); and

WHEREAS, Another objective of the LCMS is to “Provide evangelical supervision, counsel, and care for pastors, teachers, and other professional church workers of the Synod in the performance of their official duties” (Const. Art. III 8); and

WHEREAS, Yet another objective of the LCMS is to “Aid in providing for the welfare of pastors, teachers, and other church workers, and their families in the event of illness, disability, retirement, special need, or death” (Const. Art. III 10); and

WHEREAS, 2016 Resolution 18-02A tasked the Board for National Mission to develop policies for assessing worker wellness and make recommendations for worker care; and

WHEREAS, A report was made to the 2019 Synod convention stating the progress of such policies, which includes a webpage on worker wellness on the Synod website; and

WHEREAS, Worker wellness and health—physically, spiritually, emotionally, and relation ally—continues to be a significant issue for the church, especially post-COVID and in light of a March 2022 Barna report indicating that 42 percent of pastors considered quitting full-time ministry in the past year, and 46 percent of pastors under the age of 45 considered the same; and

WHEREAS, Such statistics indicate the need to further prioritize this Synod objective; and

WHEREAS, There were no resolutions passed addressing worker wellness and care in the 2019 Synod convention, nor was there a floor committee to consider any such resolutions (which followed the 2016 Synod convention where the 18th and last floor committee focused on worker wellness); and

WHEREAS, A significant aspect of ecclesiastical supervision is “evangelical encouragement and support, care, protection, counsel …” (Bylaw 1.2.1 [j]), a responsibility intentionally passed down to district presidents to be more effectively administered on a local level; and

WHEREAS, Such care takes on various forms and takes place to differing degrees across the Synod’s districts; and

WHEREAS, The Texas District provides one model for care that has positively impacted the health of church workers and their families through a strategic and comprehensive collaboration of counselors, coaches, and mentors, a model which could either potentially be replicated by other districts individually or through partnerships, or could serve as a guide to other district presidents and the members of the Council of Presidents (COP) to develop and provide a strategic and comprehensive plan for worker care as part of their responsibility for ecclesiastical supervision; therefore be it

Resolved, That the COP prioritize the matter of wellness of church workers and their families through the development of a strategic and comprehensive plan of worker care that can be disseminated to and replicated by the district presidents; and be it further

Resolved, That the 2023 Synod in convention direct the district presidents and district boards of directors to establish such plans for care of workers and their families, utilizing the COP resources or their equivalent; and be it finally

Resolved, That Texas District Board of Directors memorialize the 2023 Synod in convention with this overture.