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LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 410

recognizing his agreement in doctrine and practice with the Synod, 
and wishing therefore to serve in the ministerium of t he Synod by 
providing such men with the possibility of entering membership in 
the Synod via the colloquy program [Bylaw 3.10.2]); and 
WHEREAS, Through the exclusive use of its two seminaries and 
by His grace alone the Lord has for nearly 180 years preserved in 
the Synod the true confession of His name and practice that accords 
with it; and 
W
HEREAS, The education, formation, and training of pastors are 
best accomplished in a face-to-face, live, and residential setting, as 
the history of our two seminaries demonstrates; and 
WHEREAS, The dangers of educating, forming, and training men 
for the ministry of the Synod in seminaries outside the oversight of 
the Synod associated with heterodox groups are patent; and 
WHEREAS, The Center for Missional and Pastoral Leadership  
Formation (CMPL, thecenter.info/cmpl), an online seminary under 
the umbrella of the Institute for Lutheran Theology (Brookings, SD, 
ilt.edu) affiliated with the heterodox North American Lutheran 
Church, offers coursework to students from LCM S congregations 
leading to the Master of Arts in Religion, the Master of Ministry, 
and the Master of Divinity  (M.Div.), the latter two of which are 
widely recognized as requisite education and formation for the 
pastorate (in other words, no one would seek the Master of Ministry 
or the M.Div. if he did not wish to become a pastor); and 
W
HEREAS, Unite Leadership Collective (ULC, 
uniteleadership.org) directs and facilitates the enrollment of 
students from LCMS congregations in the Master of Arts and the 
M.Div. programs of another online seminary, namely, Luther House 
of Study (LHOS, lutherhouseofstudy.org); and 
WHEREAS, The plea to enroll students from leaders of ULC and 
the CMPL pivots on the pastor shortage in the LCMS, indicating 
that both entities wish to use their respective seminary programs to 
educate, form, and train pastors for the LCMS; and 
WHEREAS, The conditions of membership (Const. Art. VI) for all 
members of the Synod, both rostered workers and congregations, 
require the “renunciation of unionism and syncretism of every 
description” and the “regular call of pastors” (which is defined in 
Bylaw sections 2.7–8); therefore be it 
Resolved, That the Synod gathered in convention rise and sing 
the Te Deum in thankfulness to the Lord for His gracious 
preservation of CTSFW and CSL, and for the faithful ministry of 
the nine generations of graduates in the congregations of the Synod, 
through whom as “fellow workers” (1 Cor. 3:9) the Lord has 
preserved the faith among us; and be it further 
Resolved, That the Synod gathered in convention affirm the 
residential M.Div. education, formation, and training of the future 
pastorate of the Synod as the standard within the Synod; and be it 
further 
Resolved, That Synod congregations and rostered workers pray 
with heartfelt fervor and regularity to the Lord of the harvest to send 
laborers into His harvest (Matt. 9:38); and be it further 
Resolved, That Synod congregations and rostered workers turn 
with renewed vigor to the recruitment of able and apt men for the 
pastorate of the Synod (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1) and encourage and 
support them in completing the residential M.Div. program at 
CTSFW or CSL; and be it further 
Resolved, That Synod congregations and their members 
generously support the work of CTSFW and CSL, in providing a 
theologically rich, residential M.Div. education, formation, and 
training for the future pastors of the Synod; and be it further 
Resolved, That no man be encouraged by pastors or 
congregations in the Synod to seek theological education, 
formation, and training for the pastoral office except at CTSFW or 
CSL; and be it further 
Resolved
, That the district presidents with ecclesiastical 
oversight over the congregations and rostered workers advocating 
for, recruiting for, and teaching in LHOS and the CMPL and using 
their graduates in church work offices admonish those 
congregations and rostered workers for placing at risk their own and 
the Synod’s faithfulness in the things of God; for breaking love by 
intentionally working against the Synod’s Objective to recruit and 
train pastors and the agreed-upon means of achieving that objective, 
which harms love by militating against doing all things decently and 
in order (1 Cor. 14:40); and for inviting false doctrine in from and 
ecclesial association with heterodox church bodies, which militates 
against the Lord’s will that the church be kept in unity of faith and 
confession (Rom. 16:17); and be it further 
Resolved
, That unless the congregations and rostered workers 
advocating for, recruiting for, teaching in, and receiving church 
workers from LHOS and the CMPL heed the admonition of the 
district president under whose ecclesiastical supervision they stand, 
such rostered workers be placed on restricted status (Bylaw 2.13.2) 
as having violated the conditions of membership (Const. Art. VI); 
and be it further 
Resolved, That district presidents follow to their end the 
processes surrounding restricted status; and be it further 
Resolved, That this resolution does not adjudicate specific cases 
but directs the proper ecclesiastical authorities to act in accordance 
with existing bylaws; and be it finally 
Resolved, That if the district presidents fail to fulfill their duty to 
the Bylaws on behalf of the Synod toward those who persist in 
advocating for, recruiting for, teaching in, and employing as church 
workers graduates from Luther House of Study and the CMPL, the 
President of Synod exercise his duty under Const. Art. XIII and 
Bylaw section 2.15. 
Good Shepherd 
Lincoln, NE 
Ov. 6-20 
To Affirm Exclusive Use of Synod Seminaries  
to Prepare Men for Office of Holy Ministry 
WHEREAS, The Lord Christ has called His Church to faithfulness 
in the things of God (John 8:31), which is sustained in the Church 
by the faithful transmission of the faith to and through the future 
pastors of the Church; and 
WHEREAS, The Lord Christ has called His Church to love toward 
one another (John 13:35), which is exercised by the creation of 
agreed-upon modes of undertaking corporate action; and 
WHEREAS, The Lord Christ has called His Church to a unity of 
faith that is identical with and tantamount to continuing steadfast in 
the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42), all the teachings of Holy 
Scripture, and their expression in the Book of Concord, that is, “the 
Gospel in all its articles” (LCMS, A Statement of Scriptural and 
Confessional Principles, [adopted 1973], Article IV ; see also John 
17:20–21; Eph. 4:4–6; FC SD X 31); and 
2026 Convention Workbook
375PASTORAL MINISTRY AND SEMINARIES