To Expand and Strengthen Distance Learning Routes to Ordination

WHEREAS, The congregations of The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod have been blessed with pastors and teachers who have been prepared for their service in a variety of ways over its history, either more academically or practically oriented; and

WHEREAS, The seminaries of the Synod are currently offering, beyond the now normative residential Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program, a variety of routes for pastoral formation that take into consideration the needs, desires, and contexts of the students, including the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology, Center for Hispanic Studies, Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program, SMP to General Pastor Certification (typically an eight‑year program), the Residential Alternative Route, and the Cross-Cultural Ministry Center at Concordia University, Irvine; the Committee for Colloquy to the Pastoral Ministry also recently offered an SMPcolloquyroute to former lay deacons (2016 Res. 13-02A); and

WHEREAS, These programs, utilizing both in‑person and online instruction, have formed and continue to form faithful and effective pastors; and

WHEREAS, The need for ordained ministers of the Gospel to serve the congregations of the Synod will only grow greater as retirements increase; and

WHEREAS, The need for faithful servants to expand further mission and ministry will also continue to grow; and

WHEREAS, Academic training has taken advantage of technology to offer distance education, and it has become a standard means of delivering training in many contexts in our culture; and

WHEREAS, It has become increasingly difficult and prohibitive for prospective seminary students to leave homes, family, employment, and ministry context to move cross‑country to enroll in a four‑year residential M.Div. program; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod in convention enhance the ability of our alternate routes to ordination to meet the increasing demand for pastoral candidates by removing current restrictions on enrollment, geographic location, and ministry context, while maintaining the Synod’s doctrinal standards and the integrity of pastoral formation;

and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod in convention increase the number of opportunities to prepare candidates for general ministry via existing and new routes (e.g., in person, hybrid, online) through our seminaries, so that congregations throughout the Synod may be served by faithfully formed pastors in a wide variety of contexts.