Resolution 6-07A

To Encourage and Support Specific Ministry Pastors to Pursue General Pastor Certification

Current verified published text from Today's Business, Issue 3. Proposed business, not final Synod action unless adopted.

Current published version

Resolution 6-07A

Today's Business, Issue 3
Monday, July 20, 2026
Printed pp. 331-332
Proposed business unless official action indicates otherwise

Supersedes the immediately prior published version of Resolution 6-07.

Official Action Source

Convention Minutes, Sessions 3 and 4

Monday, July 20, 2026

Use these published minutes for the controlling record of actions, votes, elections, and parliamentary dispositions. Today's Business remains the source for exact published proposal wording.

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Previous published version

This version has been superseded by a later published version. It remains available for source history and comparison.

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Version History

Current published version

Today's Business, Issue 3. pp. 331-332. Revised published proposal.

Official Resolution Source Text

Resolution: 6-07

Canonical number: 6-07

Committee: Pastoral Ministry and Seminaries

Source: Today's Business, Issue 1

Printed pages: p. 116

PDF pages: 116

Version: original, superseded

Source reference: Issue 1, p. 116

Line numbers follow Today's Business, Issue 1, with numbering reset on each printed page, so delegates can compare this page with the official PDF.

Page 116

  1. To Encourage and Support Specific Ministry Pastors to Pursue General Pastor Certification
  2. RESOLUTION 6-07
  3. Overtures 6-46–48 (CW, 392–94)
  4. WHEREAS, The Synod is blessed with faithful specific ministry pastors who serve under call for the sake of Christ’s
  5. Church; and
  6. WHEREAS, Specific ministry pastors, the congregations they serve, and the Synod as a whole are blessed when specific
  7. ministry pastors pursue the hybrid General Pastor Certification (GPC, ordinarily achievable in an additional three years),
  8. the Residential Alternate Route (RAR) Program, or the Master of Divinity (M.Div.), enabling them to deepen their
  9. theological understanding, learn biblical Greek, and serve the Synod in additional roles of responsibility (circuit visitor,
  10. district or Synod officer or board member, pastoral delegate at Synod convention, etc.); and
  11. WHEREAS, Many specific ministry pastors desire to pursue GPC but are limited due to financial constraints and limits
  12. on access to needed classes; therefore be it
  13. Resolved, That the Synod encourage specific ministry pastors to pursue hybrid GPC, the RAR Program, or the M.Div.;
  14. and be it further
  15. Resolved, That the pastors’ congregation(s), district, and seminary work collaboratively to fund all tuition and fees
  16. for specific ministry pastors pursuing GPC; and be it further
  17. Resolved, That the seminaries work in partnership with each other and prospective GPC candidates to accommodate
  18. the schedules of students (evening courses, intensive classes, etc.); and be it finally
  19. Resolved, That we give thanks for the specific ministry pastors who have completed or are in the process of completing
  20. the GPC.
  21. The Chief Financial Officer and LCMS Accounting and Financial Services staff, in consultation with the Finance
  22. Committee, note no incremental costs to corporate Synod but that districts and seminaries will bear costs related to
  23. collaborative funding of "all tuition and fees" (estimate required by Bylaw 3.1.7 [g]).

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