To Encourage Brotherly Speech about All Approved Pastoral Formation Routes and To Review Specific Ministry Pastor Pathways

WHEREAS, Our Lord commands His disciples to love one another and to use words that give grace (John 13:34–35; Eph. 4:29); and

WHEREAS, Our Lord tells His disciples that the “harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” (Matt. 9:37) and calls His disciples to, “therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest,” (Matt. 9:38); and

WHEREAS, The Augsburg Confession (AC) teaches that “the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted” (AC V) and that “no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a rightly ordered call” (AC XIV); and

WHEREAS, The Augsburg Confession and its Apology (Ap) confess that for the Church’s unity “it is enough to agree about the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments” (AC VII 2; Ap VII&VIII [IV] 30); and

WHEREAS, The Small Catechism bids us under the Eighth Commandment to “defend [our neighbor], speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way”; and

WHEREAS, Luther exhorted this same brotherly encouragement amongst those serving in pastoral ministry in his Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (Tr), “In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul makes ministers equal. He also teaches that the Church is superior to [or more than] the ministers. Superiority or lordship over the Church or the rest of the ministers is not attributed to Peter. For he says, ‘All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas’ [3:21–22]. That is, do not let the other ministers or Peter assume for themselves lordship or superiority over the Church. Do not let them burden the Church with traditions. Do let the authority of anyone prevail more than God’s Word. Do not let the authority of Cephas be opposed to the authority of the other apostles, as they reasoned at the time, ‘Cephas, who is an apostle of higher rank, observes this. Therefore, both Paul and the rest ought to observe this.’ Paul removes this claim from Peter and denies that his authority is to be preferred to the rest or to the Church” (Tr 11); therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod exhort pastors, professors, and congregational leaders to adopt a pastoral attitude of brotherly care toward all men serving through Synod approved routes to the pastoral office, including those in alternative or non residential programs, by refraining from labels or slogans that imply tiers among pastors, such as using “gold standard” to describe residential education over and above other routes towards ordination approved by the Synod, and outlined in Bylaw sections 2.6–2.10, and by practicing the Eighth Commandment through prayer, mentoring, welcome into circuit life, and encouragement in ongoing theological study; and be it further

Resolved, That official communications, curricular materials, and public forums of the Synod and its entities use consistent, up building language when speaking of residential and non residential pastoral formation routes alike; and be it further

Resolved, That the appropriate Synod boards and commissions, in consultation with both seminaries and the Council of Presidents, review bylaws and policies related to the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program, including continuing‑education expectations and years‑in‑ministry benchmarks, and bring recommendations that clarify fair and orderly pathways by which experienced SMP pastors, meeting defined theological and pastoral competencies, may be examined for eligibility to serve in general pastoral service;

and be it further

Resolved, That this report and any proposed changes be published on the Synod website and submitted for inclusion in the Workbook no later than 180 days prior to the opening of the 2029 Synod convention; and be it finally

Resolved, That we commend one another to the Lord of the Church and seek to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3), so that our life together may bear a clear confession of Christ to the world.