To Review and Clarify Prior Approval

WHEREAS, One of the expressed purposes of the Synod is to “recruit and train pastors, teachers, and other professional church workers and provide opportunity for their continuing growth” (Const. Art. III 3); and

WHEREAS, The Synod has the responsibility to oversee that training, and has done so in various forms throughout its history; and

WHEREAS, The Synod has delegated a portion of that responsibility to the prior approval panels outlined in various bylaws (Bylaws 3.6.6.1; 3.10.5.7.3; 3.10.6.8.2; 3.10.6.9.2); and

WHEREAS, The restructuring of the Synod by the 2010 Synod convention eliminated existing agencies tasked with prior approval for seminary faculty members (namely, the Board for Pastoral Education; 2010 Res. 8-08A, “To Realign the National Synod Ministries around Two Mission Boards”); and

WHEREAS, The Synod in convention adopted 2013 Resolution 5- 11B, “To Amend Bylaw 3.10.4.7.3 re Appointment of Seminary Faculty” (the noted bylaw being subsequently renumbered to 3.10.5.7.3), which established a three-person prior approval panel for the appointment of full-time seminary faculty members, to be comprised of three ordained members, including “the President of Synod (or his design ee), the chairman of the Council of Presidents (or his design ee), and the chairman of the Board for National Mission (or his design ee)” (Bylaw 3.10.5.7.3 [a]); and

WHEREAS, The Synod in convention subsequently adopted 2016 Res. 7-06B, “To Assist Our CUS Institutions in Demonstrating Our Common Confession,” which established a three-person prior approval panel for the appointment of those teaching theology classes at a Concordia University System institution, to be comprised of three ordained members, including “the President of Synod (or his design ee), the chairman of the Council of Presidents (or his design ee), and a member of the Concordia University System (CUS) board selected by the chair” (Bylaw 3.10.6.9.2); and

WHEREAS, Those panels not only have responsibility to work on behalf of the Synod but also are responsible to the Synod; and

WHEREAS, Some questions have arisen in recent years regarding the transparency of the process, the standards by which approval is determined, and the exact composition—and appropriateness there of—of the panels themselves; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod in convention give thanks to the Lord of the Church for using the Synod and its agencies to preserve and enlarge the workers of the harvest (Matt. 9:35–38); and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod give thanks to those engaged in the various prior approval processes for being engaged in difficult and important work; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod reexamine the composition and processes of prior approval panels, especially those involved in the appointment of full-time seminary faculty members and those teaching theology classes at a CUS System institution; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod expand the composition of those two panels to include a total of five voters each, possibly drawing from other boards, commissions, and entities of the Synod charged with oversight or guidance of doctrine and practice (including, for example, representatives from the Commission on Doctrinal Review or the Commission on Theology and Church Relations);

and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod establish bylaws that might guide the members of the prior approval panel in assessing candidates and providing rationale for the decisions they make to the candidates themselves and to their calling institutions, taking into account all due privacy concerns and laws; and be it finally

Resolved, That the Synod in convention propose amended bylaws no later than the 2029 Synod convention.