To Reexamine Prior Approval Process

Official Workbook overture source text

7-18 
To Reexamine Prior Approval Process 
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 2013 Synod convention passed Resolution 5-
11B, “To Amend Bylaw 3.10.4.7.3 re Appointment of Seminary 
Faculty,” which amended what is now  Bylaw  3.10.5.7.3 (a) to  
establish 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 the Synod (or his 
designee), the chairman of the Council of Presidents (or his 
designee), and the chairman of the Board for National Mission (or 
his designee)”; and 
WHEREAS, The Synod in convention subsequently passed 2016 
Res. 7-06B, “To Assist Our CUS Institutions in Demonstrating Our 
Common Confession,” which added what is now Bylaw 3.10.6.9.2 
to establish a three-person prior approval panel for the appointment 
of those teaching theology classes at a Concordia University System 
(CUS) institution, to be comprised of three ordained members, 
including “the President of Synod (or his designee), the chairman 
of the Council of Presidents (or his designee), and a member of the 
Concordia University System board selected by the chair”; and 
WHEREAS, Those panels not only have responsibility to work on 
behalf of the Synod but are also accountable to the Synod; and 
WHEREAS, Some questions have arisen in recent years regarding 
the transparency of the process, the standards by which the approval 
is determined, and the exact composition —
and appropriateness 
thereof—of the panels themselves; therefore be it  
2026 Convention Workbook
430 UNIVERSITY EDUCA TION