To Require Theological Competency Standards for Eligibility to Exercise Ecclesiastical Oversight De Iure Humano

Official Workbook overture source text

6-08 
To Require Theological Competency Standards  
for Eligibility to Exercise Ecclesiastical Oversight 
De Iure Humano 
Rationale 
One of the historic strengths of The Lutheran Church— Missouri 
Synod (LCMS) has been its theologically competent clergy. From 
the earliest days of its history the Synod has developed and utilized 
a variety of avenues for the preparation of its pastors, each with a 
focus upon theological competency in providin g pastoral care to 
God’s people. From the log cabin seminary in Perry County to the 
establishment of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, from the early 
work of Wyneken and Loehe to Concordia Springfield and  
Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, theological 
competency has been a hallmark of our work together. (For more 
on this see the white paper, “An Ordained LCMS Pastor for Every 
Synod Congregation: Nine Recommendations for Forming and 
Providing Pas tors in the LCMS,” posted May 2, 2024, 
nowlcms.org/resources/pastoral-formation-paper/; John C. 
Wohlrabe Jr., “The Role of the Seminaries in the LCMS, 1847 –
2001,” Concordia Theological Quarterly  85, nos. 3– 4 [July/Oct. 
2021]: 215– 39, ctsfwmedia.s3.us-east-
1.amazonaws.com/CTQ/CTQ%2085.3-4.pdf.) 
One of the challenges before the Synod over the past few decades 
has been to meet the need of identifying, training, forming, and 
certifying enough men for the pastoral office in order to serve the 
congregations of the Synod. This has required a continuation of our 
historical pastoral formation legacy coupled with creative 
development of newer routes and programs. Recent studies have 
demonstrated that this need has become acute (see James A. 
Baneck, “A White Paper on the Current Context of Pastoral 
Formation,” LCMS Pastoral Education, May 12, 2020, 
files.lcms.org/file/preview/0EjuRAbQuTtWmQiglpaMvaazkDv7L5
ng). 
In order to meet the demand for ministers of religion— ordained the 
Synod has considered a number of routes to the pastoral office. 
Currently the Synod has at least seven programmatic routes for 
pastoral formation. These are: 
• Residential Master of Divinity (M.Div.) 
• Residential Alternate Route (RAR) 
• Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) 
• Specific Ministry Pastor to General Pastor Certification 
(GPC) 
• Center for Hispanic Studies (CHS) 
• Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology (EIIT) 
• Cross-Cultural Ministry Center (CMC) 
Of these many routes, some are certificated programs and some 
award graduate degrees. They can result in differing rostered status 
with differing opportunities for service. All are committed to the 
formation of certified men for the pastoral office. 
While all varied routes yield competent and certified men to serve 
in the pastoral office, the theological depth of formation varies from 
program to program. This overture is concerned with developing a 
mechanism or standard by which those ordained pastors called upon 
to supervise other ministers of religion—o rdained will possess and 
demonstrate higher levels of theological acumen. Such offices of 
2026 Convention Workbook
365PASTORAL MINISTRY AND SEMINARIES