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

WHEREAS, “The Office of the Holy Ministry has been instituted by Christ Himself (John 20:19–23; Eph. 4:11–16); and calls qualified men to fill this divinely established office and send 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 (justified, saving) faith, the ministry of teaching (das Predigtamt, preaching office) the Gospel and administration of the 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 Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) 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 LCMSandisconsidered“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, Proceedings, 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, “To Continue and Strengthen Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Program,” Proceedings, 139–40) among members of Synod; and

WHEREAS, New, non-approved routes to ministerial service in the LCMS 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 67th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in July 2019 adopted resolutions which 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 M.Div. route continue to be positioned and understood as the Synod’s strongly preferred route to ordination, supplying LCMS 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 2023–2026 triennium by the Synod’s residential seminaries to maintain the continuance of 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: 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 LCMS 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. 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 program;

and be it further

Resolved, That each approved non-residential route to ordination in the LCMS remain independent from the other and not consolidated under the SMP program; 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 2023–2026 triennium for inclusion in the 2026 Workbook: 1. to prepare a report that analyzes and assesses ministerial or pastoral formation programs that have emerged within the LCMS 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 current LCMS Constitution and Bylaws and are not included in the current list of Synod-approved routes to ordination (Master of Divinity, Residential Alternate Route, General Pastor Certificate, Specific Ministry Pastor, Specific Ministry Pastor Español, Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology, Center for Hispanic Studies, Cross-Cultural Ministry Center); 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 thoroughly 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 be encouraged and expected to engage in continuing education throughout their pastoral ministry, beginning with their participation in Post-Seminary Applied Learning and Support, and self-report all continuing education experiences on their Self-Evaluation Tool. Pastoral Formation Committee