To Remove Age Requirement from Specific Ministry Pastor Admission, Administration, and Supervision Policy

WHEREAS, The Synod’s Pastoral Formation Committee (PFC) issued Policy Requirements for the Specific Ministry Pastor Program: Admission, Administration and Supervision (files.lcms.org/dl/f/smp-policy-requirements) in November 2025; and

WHEREAS, The policy, as written, contains a prescriptive minimum age requirement of 40 years old that is only supported by a premise statement (Premise 9)that states “Evidence shows greater completion rates … for men over 40,” and the premise statement does not provide sufficient details to justify this claim, nor defines the completion rates broken down by age of admissions; and

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions consistently teach that the pastoral office depends on the call, the ability to teach the Gospel, and having the right doctrine in accordance with the Scriptures; the Lutheran Confessions never mention age; and within the Augsburg Confession (AC XIV) there are no age requirements; and

WHEREAS, Holy Scripture itself mentions no age requirements for pastoral ministry. For example, Jesus chose young men tobe His disciples and the Apostle Paul entrusted ministry responsibilities to Timothy, who was perhaps in his late teens or early 20s, saying “let no one despise you for your youth” (1 Tim. 4:12); and

WHEREAS, The wider history of the Christian Church—including the Early Church, the Reformation, and the history of the Synod— shows no pattern of an age requirement to serve in the pastoral office. For example, St. Augustine was ordained around 36–37 years old (New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, “St. Augustine of Hippo,” new advent.org/cathen/02084a.htm, accessed March 18, 2026), Martin Luther was ordained around 23–24 years old (Hans J. Hiller brand, “Martin Luther,” Britannica, Feb. 14, 2026, britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther), and C.F.W. Walther was around 25 years old (Molly Lackey, “Our Great Heritage: C.F.W. Walther,” The Lutheran Witness, Aug. 14, 2024, witness.lcms.org/2024/CFW-Walther); and

WHEREAS, As the Synod faces a pastoral shortage, with Synod documentation (LCMS Pastoral Vacancy Report, Nov. 1998–Feb. 2026, lcms.org/how-we-serve/education/pastoral/pre-seminary), reporting more than 800 pastoral vacancies, including both calling and non-calling congregations and a shrinking membership (Joe Isenhower, Jr., “Reversing the LCMS Membership Decline: Not Just by Having More Children,” Reporter Online, Feb. 28, 2017, reporter.lcms.org/2017/reversing-lcms-membership-decline), we should be encouraging men to seek the pastoral office if so led; while there should be well-defined requirements for those seeking the pastoral office, a prescriptive age should not be one of those requirements; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod Board of Directors direct the PFC to remove the age requirement from the Policy Requirements for the Specific Ministry Pastor Program: Admission, Administration and Supervision and amend any related bylaws or other policies of the Synod to reflect the above.