To Review Practice of Divine Call in Synod Constitution and Bylaws

WHEREAS, Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry in Matt. 28:18–20 and John 20:21–23, and our Lutheran Confessions teach us, and we are bound to the doctrine that the ministerium docendi ev angel ii et porrigendi sacramenta, “the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments” (AC V 1), is a divinely instituted office, which should never be confused with human offices and positions; and

WHEREAS, The Synod’s theology teaches us that, in its practice, the church may transfer an ordained minister to another post only by means of another legitimate call or else depose him for only one or more of these causes: ungodly doctrine, ungodly life, or incompetence; and

WHEREAS, The Synod has over the years, at almost every convention, revised its Bylaws with regard to aspects of governance and structure that affect the divinely instituted office of the ministerium docendi ev angel ii et porrigendi sacramenta (AC V 1); and

WHEREAS, In the Synod’s Bylaws, the following sections pertain to the employment and de pos al of persons holding the divinely instituted office: (1) expulsion from the Synod of either congregations or roster ed workers (Bylaw sections 2.14–2.17); (2) restricted or suspended status (Bylaws 2.13.2–2.13.4); (3) removal of officers or board members of the Synod or districts (Bylaws 1.5.7–1.5.8); (4) removal of seminary faculty or administrators (Bylaws 3.10.5.7.5–3.10.5.7.9); (5) removal of university faculty or administrators (Bylaws 3.10.6.9.4–3.10.6.9.6); and (6) dispute resolution (Bylaw section 1.10); and

WHEREAS, The Commission on Handbook (COH) regularly revises and reviews the constitution and Bylaws according to the directives of the Synod in convention; therefore be it

Resolved, That in the coming triennium the COH be assigned the project of reviewing not only all the sections listed in the fourth whereas above, but also all parts of the Handbook, to ensure that such sections and parts are in compliance with our doctrine and practice of the divinely instituted office of the ministerium docendi ev angel ii et porrigendi sacramenta (AC V 1); and be it further

Resolved, That in order to assist with this task, the COHbeurged to consult three orthodox statements of our doctrine of the ministry: (1) The 2003 report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, Theology and Practice of “the Divine Call”; (2) Kurt Marquart, The Church and Her Fellowship, Ministry, and Governance (Fort Wayne: IFLCR, 1990, 103–173, especially 157– 160); and (3) Robert D. Preus, “The Doctrine of the Call in the Confessions and Lutheran Orthodoxy”, (John A. Maxfield, ed., Church and Ministry Today: Three Confessional Lutheran Essays [Saint Louis: Luther Academy, 2001], 1–50); and be it finally

Resolved, That the COH report its findings to the 2029 Synod convention, along with any proposed revisions to the Bylaws to bring them more fully into compliance with the Scriptures, the Lutheran Confessions, and our doctrine and practice of the divine call. Mission of the Cross