To Amend Bylaw 2.13.1 to Clarify Terminology for Specific Ministry Pastor Mentorship and Oversight

Rationale In 1998 the Synod added to its Bylaws a set of definitions, now designated as section 1.2 “Definition of Terms.” Two important definitions are those of supervision and oversight. In the Synod’s Bylaws, outside of “ecclesiastical supervision,” the term “supervision” means “to have authority over, to direct actions, to control activities” [1.2.1(u)]. “Oversight” means “to monitor; to make inquiry and receive a response there to; to make suggestions; to bring concerns to the attention of a higher authority” [1.2.1(p)]. In 1998 it proved necessary, for example, to make it clear that the Synod’s Board of Directors cannot control the activities of the various synodwide corporate entities or issue binding directives to their boards. With respect to synodwide corporate entities, it has oversight. When the Synod established its Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program almost a decade later, via 2007 Res. 5-01B, it adopted Bylaws providing that a specific ministry pastor serves under the supervision (not specifically termed “ecclesiastical supervision”) of his district president and another pastor who is not a specific ministry pastor. The next sentence refers again to the specific ministry pastor being under supervision of another pastor, who in some instances may be a neighboring Synod pastor who has no call to the church served by the specific ministry pastor. The definition of supervision (“to have authority over, to direct actions, to control activities”) that had been placed into the Bylaws largely to clarify the spheres of authority for various governing boards does not apply to the relationship between a specific ministry pastor and his district president. Nor does it necessarily apply to the specific ministry pastor’s relationship with the non-specific ministry pastor who oversees him. This inapt use of defined terms, along with its potential for introducing confusion, was noted by the Commission on Constitutional Matters (Op. 23-3017) and referred to the Commission on Handbook for improvement. The word oversight, as defined in the Bylaws, seems much more fitting for the efforts of non-specific ministry pastors who work with all specific ministry pastors. In the revision below, this term is paired with another, mentorship. Current nomenclature within the SMP program speaks of specific ministry pastors and their “mentors.”Together,the two words account for both the monitoring and the nurturing services that designated non-specific ministry pastors render to specific ministry pastors. Therefore be it

Resolved, That Bylaw 2.13.1 be amended as follows: Specific Ministry Pastor Status and Limitations 2.13.1 A “specific ministry pastor” is a minister of religion— ordained who has completed the requirements for service as a specific ministry pastor and has been examined by one of the Synod’s seminaries, has received a regular call, and has been placed by the Council of Presidents into a specific Word and Sacrament ministry context. He is eligible to serve only in that specific ministry context for which he has been trained and may not be offered or accept a call for ministry for which he has not been certified as determined by his district president. He shall serve under the ecclesiastical supervision of his district president and under the oversight and mentorship of another pastor who is not a specific ministry pastor. (a) Because he is under supervision of another pastor has been prepared for service of limited jurisdiction and because a specific ministry pastor’s theological education has been formed in part by and for a specific ministry context, he may not be placed or called into ecclesiastical roles that exercise pastoral oversight outside the context of his call. (b) A specific ministry pastor is not eligible to (1) serve as a voting delegate to a national convention of the Synod—but may serve as an advisory delegate to national conventions and as a pastoral delegate to district conventions; (2) hold any elected or appointed office on the district or national Synod level that is assigned by the Bylaws of the Synod to “a pastor” or “an ordained minister” (although specific ministry pastors may serve in all other capacities, especially representing the ministerial contexts in which they serve); (3) supervise vicars; or (4) serve as a circuit visitor. (c) The ministers of religion—ordained records maintained by district presidents as well as the official membership roster of the Synod shall distinguish between specific ministry pastors and other pastors.