Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 420

Ov. 6-33 
To Address Pastoral Formation  
and Routes to Ministry 
WHEREAS, Jesus instructs us that the “harvest is plentiful, but the 
workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out 
workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2 NIV); and 
WHEREAS, The means and methodologies of teaching and 
learning have greatly changed in recent decades; and 
WHEREAS, Technology has greatly changed the delivery methods 
of education and the shaping of higher education in the same period; 
and 
W
HEREAS, Younger students are more comfortable with blended 
forms of education, using more non-traditional methods, including 
video conferencing, computer interaction, and other distance 
learning, rather than exclusively brick and mortar forms of 
instruction; and 
W
HEREAS, There are some students, potential candidates for the 
pastoral office, who need greater flexibility in acquiring the best 
possible theological education and formation; and 
W
HEREAS, The Pastoral Formation Committee (PFC) has already 
examined many of the existing pieces for creating a distance 
education program leading to ordination; therefore be it 
Resolved, That the Synod in convention encourage the Council 
of Presidents , the Office of the President, and the PFC, in 
conjunction with the two s eminaries of our Synod, to examine 
current best practices in educational methodologies and outcomes  
and to produce a plan , to be presented to the 2029 Synod 
convention, for blended distance education methods leading to 
ordination; and be it further 
Resolved, That prior to implementation of distance education, 
each district of the Synod have the opportunity to discuss and 
comment on the program or programs. 
Board of Directors 
Nebraska District 
Ov. 6-34 
To Direct Pastoral Formation Committee to Bring 
Recommendation to 2029 Convention to Establish 
New Route(s) to Ordination, Utilizing and Making 
More Accessible Treasure of Synod Seminaries 
WHEREAS, Jesus commanded His disciples to make disciples by 
baptizing them and teaching them (Matt. 28:19–20); and 
WHEREAS, Scripture teaches us that Jesus gave some to be 
shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, 
for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11–12); and 
W
HEREAS, Those who are to fill the role of 
shepherd/teacher/elder/overseer are to be men first of high 
character—“ above reproach … not be arrogant or quick-tempered 
or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover 
of good, self -controlled, upright, holy, and discipline d”—and 
second, they “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught,” so 
that they “may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also 
to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:7–9); and 
W
HEREAS, Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession states, that 
“no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the 
Sacraments unless he be regularly called” (Triglotta); and 
WHEREAS, The Synod’s objectives include to “recruit and train 
pastors … and provide opportunity for their continuing growth” 
(Const. Art. III 3); and 
WHEREAS, During the history of the S ynod, the methods of 
training pastors have frequently changed due to both external 
factors (wars, financial depression, and theological movements) and 
internal factors (surplus of pastors, shortage of pastors, “practical” 
needs and “theoretical” needs, as well as language, educational, and 
cultural challenges) (John C Wohlrabe  Jr., “The Role of the 
Seminaries in the LCMS, 1847 –2001,” Concordia Theological 
Quarterly 85 [July/Oct. 2021]: 215–39); and 
WHEREAS, Those methods have utilized varying levels of 
academic training, both at the seminaries and in partnership with the 
seminaries including a Bachelor of Divinity, Master of Divinity  
(M.Div.), non -academic certification, Specific Ministry Pastor 
(SMP), the Cross-Cultural Ministry Center, and others; and 
WHEREAS, The Pastoral Formation Committee (PFC) has been 
charged with “ ensuring that the Synod’s objective of training 
pastors is fulfilled consistently,” with seminaries governed by 
boards of regents (Bylaws 3.10.4–3.10.5); and 
WHEREAS, Through the years, the seminaries themselves have 
seen the importance for them to fulfill different purposes, including 
scholarly, theological, pastoral, and missionary needs, and in the 
case of the Springfield seminary “to train men who, because of their 
e
ducational background or age, could not fit well into the 
preparatory school – St. Louis system” (ibid., n54, quoting Erich H. 
Heintzen, Prairie School of the Prophets : The Anatomy of a 
Seminary 1846– 1976 [St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 
1975],177); and 
WHEREAS, In 2007 Resolution 5 -01B, “To Establish Specific 
Ministry Pastor Program,” which established the SMP program and 
was adopted [Yes: 908; No: 287 ] (Proceedings , 133– 38), the 
convention recognized the need to “retain our commitment to the 
importance, need, and great strengths of residential pastoral 
education at both the certificate and M.Div. level, along with a 
commitment to the continuing education of all clergy” (136); and 
WHEREAS, That same resolution  (pp. 136– 37) also recognized 
the necessity to: 
a. find a way to meet the existing and expanding needs for 
pastoral ministry, especially in the variety of contexts of 
mission and ministry in today’s church; 
… 
e. restore our past creativity in recognizing the importance, 
need, and great strengths of alternative models of 
pastoral education leading to ordination, including a 
commitment to continuing education; 
f. utilize the advances in educational technology that allow 
for responsible pastoral education and formation through 
distance-education models; and 
g. develop a more coherent and comprehensive model for 
pastoral education by which various routes leading to 
certification, call, and ordination are coordinated and 
potentially interrelated, so that, for example, a student in 
a nonresidential certificate route might be able to engage 
also in a residential degree program; 
and 
W
HEREAS, “The 2023 LCMS convention appealed to all LCMS 
congregations, districts and seminaries to prioritize and strongly 
2026 Convention Workbook
385PASTORAL MINISTRY AND SEMINARIES