Official Handbook Source Text
Handbook page 58
Source: LCMS Handbook 2023, page 58.
This page reproduces text from the 2023 LCMS Handbook for study and navigation. Readers should verify procedural, legal, parliamentary, or governance questions against the official LCMS Handbook and appropriate LCMS authorities.
2.6.1.1 The roster of commissioned ministers shall admit eligible teachers,
directors of Christian education, directors of Christian outreach, directors of family life ministry, directors of parish music, deaconesses, parish assistants, and directors of church ministries.
2.6.2 Individuals who have been declared qualified for a first call and assigned
first calls in accordance with Bylaw sections 2.7 – 2.9 shall, by the rites of both ordination or commissioning and installation in accordance with Bylaw section 2.10, become members of the Synod.
2.6.3 There is no inherent right to membership in the Synod, and the decision as
to qualification for a first call and the assignment of first calls shall be at the sole discretion of the Synod.
2.6.4 Transfers of an individual member to or from the roster of a partner church
shall be conducted according to the operating agreement established between the Synod and that partner church, and as further implemented in policies of the Council of Presidents. A former member of the Synod who, having transferred to a partner church , applies for re -rostering with the Synod shall, provided the member remained continuously in good standing on the roster of a partner church, and insofar as agreements and policies allow, be handled by transfer and shall not require reinstatement (Bylaw section 2.18).
2.7 Eligibility for Individual Membership
2.7.1 A graduate of an authorized educational institution of the Synod must be
declared qualified for a first call and recommended by the faculty of the respective educational institution before the effective date of the first call to service in the church , as assigned by the Council of Presidents acting as the Board of Assignments as provided in Bylaw section 2.9.
2.7.2 Candidates who have satisfactorily completed an approved colloquy
program of the Synod for the ordained or commissioned ministry must be declared qualified for a first call and be recommended by the appropriate colloquy committee (see Bylaws 3.10.2ff. and 3.10.3ff.) before the effective date of the first call to service in the church as assigned by the Board of Assignments as provided in Bylaw section 2.9.
2.7.3 Candidates who have satisfactorily completed an approved educational
program of the Synod for the ordained or commissioned ministry involving extensive use of distance learning and/or a mentoring system must be declared qualified for a first call and recommended by the faculty of one of the seminaries, colleges, or universities of the Synod before the effective date of the first call to service in the church, as assigned by the Board of Assignments as provided in Bylaw section 2.9.
2.7.4 Graduates of one of the colleges, universities, or seminaries of the Synod
who desire to continue their professional studies after they have completed the prescribed undergraduate curriculum, or who for any other valid reason are not ready for first calls to service in the church, shall continue to be eligible for unqualified recommendation for first calls as long as they can be recommended by the faculty of the educational institution of the Synod from which they have graduated. The respective facult y shall annually ascertain through personal interviews with the candidate or through
