To Suspend New Specific Ministry Pastor Admissions pending Conformity with the Synod in Convention

Official Workbook overture source text

6-53 
To Suspend New Specific Ministry Pastor 
Admissions pending Conformity  
with the Synod in Convention 
Preamble 
The Synod in convention established the Specific Ministry Pastor 
(SMP) program (2007 Res. 5-01B, “To Establish Specific Ministry 
Pastor Program”, Proc., 133–138) as a flexible and exceptional 
pastoral formation pathway to address particular ministry needs and 
special circumstances, replacing the DELTO program and 
permitting a broad range of “specific ministries.” From its 
inception, the program was not intended to function as a general or 
parallel route into the Office of the Holy Ministry, but as an 
accommodation to limited and specific situations. 
In the years following its implementation, concerns arose regarding 
the scope, definition, and application of the SMP program. In 
response, the 2013 Synod convention acted deliberately to narrow 
and clarify the program’s permissible use through Resolution 5-
04B, “To Continue and Strengthen Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) 
Program” ( Proc., 139 –40). That resolution explicitly directed 
district presidents not to approve SMP ministry sites that could 
reasonably be expected to support a general pastor or where the  
duties could be fulfilled by a minister of religion —commissioned, 
and reaffirmed that residential theological education remains the 
primary means for training men for pastoral ministry in the Synod. 
Experience since the adoption of these restrictions indicates that the 
limitations established by the Synod in convention have not been 
consistently observed, and that the SMP program has been utilized 
in contexts beyond those authorized. This has resulted in ongoing 
confusion regarding the nature of “specific ministry,” weakened 
2026 Convention Workbook
396 PAST ORAL MINISTRY AND SEMINARIES