To Reaffirm Traditional Discretionary Authority of Colloquy Committee for the Pastoral Ministry

WHEREAS, The 2013 convention of The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod (LCMS) adopted Resolution 5-14A, “To Conduct Study of Alternate Routesto Pastoral Ministry”(Proceedings, 155), which resolved: That the Synod President appoint a task force … to conduct a study of the non-Master of Divinity routes to the Pastoral Office, and that it report its findings and the recommendations regarding the appropriateness of each route, the optimal number of such routes, etc., to the Synod President by the end of 2015 for action at the 2016 Synod convention; and

WHEREAS, The 2016 convention of the Synod adopted Res. 13- 04B, “To Clarify Colloquy Requirements” (Proceedings, 239–40), which reads, in part: The task force has concluded that all the several means by which the church recruits, trains, and certifies men to be placed into the pastoral office are both appropriate and needed for the life and mission of our Synod and ought be recognized as such by the Synod. The task force recommends that the Synod by resolution recognize that each of the means we have for the church to recruit and train men for pastoral office is appropriate and needed; and

WHEREAS, The same 2016 Res. 13-04B went on to add a new provision to the Synod’s Bylaws, Bylaw 3.10.2.4, which reads: The LCMS laymen and commissioned ministers who receive a Master of Divinity or equivalent degree from a non-LCMS seminary may seek certification for call and placement in the Synod by participating in the Residential Alternate Route program of one of the seminaries of the Synod, if otherwise eligible for admission to the seminary. and

WHEREAS, The current Colloquy Committee for the Pastoral Ministry is interpreting the language “may seek certification for call and placement in the Synod by” of Bylaw 3.10.2.4 to mean “may seek certification for call and placement in the Synod onlyby,” such that Bylaw 3.10.2.4 does not merely provide a permissible route for such men to be certified but establishes the only route; and

WHEREAS, By this interpretation, the addition of Bylaw 3.10.2.4 would not recognize “that all the several means by which the church recruits, trains,and certifies men to be placed into the pastoral office are both appropriate and needed for the life and mission of our Synod” but rather would remove one of those means—namely, the means by which some LCMS laymen and commissioned ministers who receive a Master of Divinity or equivalent from a non-LCMS seminary might be certified by colloquy without necessarily required participation in a Residential Alternate Route (RAR) program; and

WHEREAS, Because the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod did not previously require that all LCMS laymen and commissioned ministers who receive a Master of Divinity or equivalent from a non-LCMS seminary participate in the RAR program (a program that includes approximately two years of coursework), Bylaw

3.10.2.4, under this interpretation, has introduced a profoundly consequential change in practice—which change did not receive proportionate attention, study, or debate within the Synod before its adoption; and

WHEREAS, Historically the Colloquy Committee for the Pastoral Ministry has had authority to make case-by-case determinations regarding requirements appropriate for a given colloquy applicant, including authority to grant exemptions to the standard requirements in its own published policies, in order to account for unique situations; and

WHEREAS, Because, under this interpretation, this new requirement has been placed into the Synod’s Bylaws, the Committee no longer has authority to grant an exemption from this requirement, even in cases where an applicant’s situation clearly warrants an exemption and would have been granted one previously; and

WHEREAS, While residential study at one of the Synod’s seminaries is the preferred option for preparation for pastoral ministry, it is not an absolute necessity, as attested to by the number of ministers of religion—ordained of the Synod, past and present, who did not complete any program of residential study, much less a two-year residential program, at either of the Synod’s seminaries—a cohort of men that includes even past Synod presidents and past and present professors of the Synod’s seminaries; and

WHEREAS, The Committee’s published policies do not universally require participation in a RAR program for colloquy applicants who are active pastors from other Christian church bodies or who are from other Christian church bodies and have prepared for pastoral ministry but are not in active service as pastors—meaning that of those applicants for colloquy who hold the Master of Divinity or equivalent, the most burdensome requirements would under this interpretation of Bylaw 3.10.2.4 be imposed necessarily only on those who have remained faithful members of the Synod throughout their seminary studies; and

WHEREAS, The absence of such a universal requirement for the other categories of applicants just mentioned confirms that participation in a RAR program is, even according to other current policies, not considered universally necessary for adequate formation for pastoral ministry; and

WHEREAS, The Bylaws of the Synod state that “Decisions to declare applicants qualified for the pastoral ministry and to certify for placement shall be at the sole discretion of the committee” (Bylaw 3.10.2.2 [b]); in the absence of Bylaw 3.10.2.4 the committee could still choose to require applicants to participate in the RAR program when appropriate; and the men selected to serve on the committee have been selected on account of their demonstrated ability to carry out such discretion on behalf of the Synod; therefore be it

Resolved, That while the Synod continue “To Promote Residential Seminary Education as the Preferred Option for the Preparation of Men for Pastoral Ministry” (2019 Res. 6-02, Proceedings, 158–59), at the same time the Synod resume its historic recognition that proper formation for pastoral ministry can vary in certain circumstances, depending on the specific details of each applicant; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod therefore reaffirm clearly the traditional discretion al authority of the Colloquy Committee for the Pastoral Ministry to determine colloquy requirements as appropriate on a case-by-case basis, by removing the aforementioned Bylaw added by the 2016 convention, Bylaw

3.10.2.4, and renumbering Bylaw 3.10.2.5 to 3.10.2.4:

PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING

B. Colloquy Committee for the Pastoral Ministry …

3.10.2.4 The LCMS laymen and commissioned ministers who receive a Master of Divinity or equivalent degree from a non-LCMS seminary may seek certification for call and placement in the Synod by participating in the Residential Alternate Route program of one of the seminaries of the Synod, if otherwise eligible for admission to the seminary.

3.10.2.54 All men desiring the ordained ministry who do not meet the eligibility requirements of the foregoing bylaws shall be directed to the seminaries for consideration in other programs. Zion Orange, Connecticut