To Broaden and Reopen Specific Ministry Pastor Program for Wider Pastoral Formation and Service

Ov. 6-60

To Broaden and Reopen Specific Ministry Pastor Program for Wider Pastoral Formation and Service Preamble We observe the following:

• Confessional foundation: Augsburg Confession (AC) V and XIV set the pattern: ministry exists to deliver the Gospel through Word and Sacrament, and it is carried out by men rightly called. Opening Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP)

admission and mobility, with supervision in order, serves precisely this end in places that otherwise lack a pastor.

• Pastoral supply with integrity: The Pastoral Formation Committee’s (PFC) own premises acknowledge the ongoing shortage and the role SMP can play in underserved contexts.

We honor that need while removing blunt constraints that exclude otherwise faithful men and sites ready to be served.

• Order and oversight already exist: Existing bylaws (Bylaw 2.13.1) address supervised service and assisting calls. Using those tools with clear benchmarks prevents disorder while enabling more service where needed.

• C.F.W. Walther’s Synod duty: To “assist [congregations] in acquiring upright [ rechtschaffener ] pastors” (“Duties of an

Evangelical Lutheran Synod,” in At Home in the House of My Fathers, ed. Matthew Harrison [St. Louis: CPH, 2011], 226) is a Synod obligation, not a suggestion. Opening SMP, then bridging to general pastor by competency, fulfills that duty.

• Clarity for candidates: A transparent, stackable bridge dignifies SMP service, encourages continued formation, and provides a credible onramp to the general pastor roster for those who complete the benchmarks. It also signals to congregations that the Synod is committed to placing pastors where sheep need shepherds.

WHEREAS, God desires all people to be saved and He established the Office of the Ministry so that, through the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments, people receive forgiveness and salvation, and no one should publicly teach or administer the Sacraments without a rightly orde red call, as confessed in the Lutheran Confessions (AC V; XIV); and

WHEREAS, The Synod has long entrusted pastoral formation to our seminaries for the c hurch’s mission, and has also created the SMP route to supply pastors in contexts where a residentially prepared pastor could not be called; and

WHEREAS, The SMP program has served the church by providing basic formation for men who serve under appropriate restrictions and supervision, thereby maintaining ministry in small, rural, ethnic, urban, and bi-vocational settings; and

WHEREAS, Recent policy changes to the SMP program have added admissions and supervision requirements, including, among others, a five -year Synod membership minimum, a three-year membership in the congregation of placement, a minimum age of 40, and supervision framed as ongoing for roster retention with only limited exceptions, which has narrowed the pool of otherwise faithful candidates and hindered mission in many contexts; and

WHEREAS, The Synod already provides mechanisms for good order and oversight through supervised calls and assisting capacity calls, therefore the church can prudently broaden access while preserving accountability; and

WHEREAS, C.F.W. Walther urged that a truly Evangelical Lutheran synod deals evangelically with congregations and assists them in acquiring orthodox pastors (ibid.), which directs the Synod toward pathways that supply shepherds for the flock rather than obstacles that prevent men from serving where the c hurch calls them; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod reaffirm the doctrinal foundation for all pastoral formation routes and calls, including SMP, in accord with the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions, particularly A C V and XIV, and direct that all changes below preserve the order of the call and the integrity of Word and Sacrament ministry; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod suspend, for the sake of the mission and pastoral supply, the following recent admissions restrictions for the SMP program : the five-year LCMS congregation membership minimum, the three-year membership in the congregation of placement minimum, and the age-40 minimum, and replace them with broadened criteria under district president and seminary oversight, retaining case-by-case vetting for doctrine, life, catechesis, and congregational need; and be it further

Resolved, That supervision of specific ministry pastors be retained in principle yet applied proportionately, time -bound, and tapered as men demonstrate competency and faithful service, rather than perpetual as a condition for roster retention, with the tapering recorded and reported through the established Church Worker Locator and Pastor’s Information Form (PIF) processes; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod direct the Council of Presidents (COP), the two seminaries, and the PFC to prioritize SMP applicants in underserved contexts, while opening eligibility to additional mission fields including small multi- point parishes, rural and frontier missions, ethnic and language specific plants, chaplaincy extensions under call, campus and mercy outposts, and bi - vocational sites, all under existing supervised call provisions and with seminary faculty and district president review of sites and supervisors; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod create a stackable, competency based bridge from SMP to the general pastor roster, directing the seminaries and the COP to publish, within twelve months, unified benchmarks that grant advanced standing for completed SMP coursework and supervised experience and that define any additional formation, language proficiency options, vicarage equivalencies, and examinations neede d for colloquy or roster transition, with transparent timelines and costs; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod encourage the residential Master of Divinity (M.Div.) route as the preferred comprehensive route while clearly stating that the SMP route is a legitimate path to ordination for specific settings, and that men who complete the SMP program and the defined bridge benchmarks may, by examination and call, serve the wider church as general pastors; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod direct the Commission on Handbook, in consultation with the COP and the seminaries, to propose to the next convention amendments harmonizing bylaws on supervised service and mobility, and to review limitations that prevent specific ministry pastors from serving in certain Synod or district roles, recommending criteria by which experienced specific ministry pastors who complete the bridge benchmarks may be eligible for those roles, thereby aligning leadership eligibility with demonstrated competency and call while safeguarding ecclesiastical oversight; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod authorize the seminaries to admit qualified SMP applicants under age 40 when the district president certifies pastoral need and congregational support, and to accept applicants with fewer than five years of Synod membership when the district president certifies mature catechesis and doctrinal subscription and the site demonstrates readiness to support the man’s formation, and that the seminaries publish uniform admissions rubrics that implement this flexibility within six months;

and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod encourage districts and congregations to fund SMP students through scholarships and site commitments so that cost does not hinder the supply of pastors to underserved communities, and that the seminaries report annually on aid and outcomes by context; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod direct the PFC to withdraw restrictive language that frames SMP as ordinarily unsuitable for younger candidates and to frame SMP suitability by context, character, catechesis, competency, and call, acknowledging that the c hurch, not a demographic metric, discerns fitness for service in accord with AC XIV; and be it further

Resolved, That the President of the Synod ensure that training is provided to district presidents, supervisors, and seminary personnel for consistent application of these policies and benchmarks, and that annual public reports on SMP admissions, contexts served, completion rates, bridge progress to general pastor status, and placement outcomes be made available, so the next convention can evaluate the fruit and make further adjustments; and be it finally

Resolved, That nothing in this resolution be construed as diminishing the church’s esteem for residential M.Div. formation, which the Synod continues to commend as a precious norm, even as we vigorously supply pastors for the fields now white for harvest.

Circuit 16 (Faribault)

Minnesota South District