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LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 75

2026 Convention Workbook
40 
OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
pastors possible for the congregations of the Synod. The active par-
ticipation of both seminary presidents on the CCPM, the revised 
policy, application, and procedures, together with all the CCPM 
work described above, are together serving to proclaim the good 
news that Christ Is Risen Indeed!
Peter K. Lange, First Vice-President
Endnotes
1. This bylaw mandate was established in 1956. In 1995, the phrase 
“and personal” was added. Also in 1995, the bylaws began specifying four 
standards with the language, “including but not limited to…” In 2010, these 
four specific standards were transferred from the bylaws to policy, and two 
more standards were added.
2. 1992 Bylaw 6.97 (a) required one full academic year of residential 
training at an LCMS seminary, plus a vicarage, for colloquy candidates 
from other Lutheran church bodies; and Bylaw 6.97 (b) required “not less 
than two and up to three full academic years of instruction” at an LCMS 
seminary, plus a vicarage, for colloquy candidates from non-Lutheran 
Christian church bodies.
R2.2
Colloquy Committee for Commissioned 
Ministry (CCCM)
Colloquy programs for commissioned ministry are not just 
about theological education! They are that, but they are much more. 
These programs exist also for the purpose of vetting applicants to 
ensure that they are fit to serve as ministers of religion—commis -
sioned in the congregations, schools, and agencies of the Synod 
(Bylaws 3.10.3 [a–b]). Commissioned colloquy programs are for 
men and women who are not graduates of Synod-affirmed pro-
grams for the various commissioned ministries that are available 
through our Concordia University System (CUS) universities yet 
who still desire, or are required by their congregations or schools, 
to be called and rostered as commissioned ministers in the LCMS 
(Bylaw 2.8.1 [a]).
Though the vast majority of those who colloquize as commis-
sioned ministers do so as teachers (92 percent during the last tri-
ennium), there are nevertheless seven distinct colloquy programs 
for commissioned ministry: teacher, director of Christian educa -
tion (DCE), director of Christian outreach (DCO), director of 
family life ministry (DFLM), director of parish music (DPM), 
deaconess, and director of church ministries (Bylaw 2.6.1.1).
1 Each 
CUS university offers some of these colloquy programs, though no 
CUS university offers all of them. For additional information about 
commissioned colloquy programs and how to apply, see lcms.org/
colloquy-ministers-of-religion-commissioned. 
“Colloquy” for “schoolteachers” has been a part of the Synod’s 
bylaws since its second constitution (1854). Still today, the Synod’s 
commissioned colloquy programs address the third objective of the 
LCMS—to “recruit and train pastors, teachers, and other profes-
sional church workers and provide opportunity for their continu -
ing growth” (Constitution Article III 3) as well as the second and 
sixth of the Synod’s seven mission priorities for this triennium to 
“support and expand theological education” and to “enhance ear -
ly childhood education, elementary and secondary education, and 
youth ministry.”
For this reason, the CCPM intends to be more proactive in dis-
cussing this issue with a wider circle so that it better understands if 
and how Bylaw 2.5.2 should factor into colloquy decisions. 
F. Licensed Lay Deacons (LLDs)
With 2016 Resolution 13-02A, the Synod ended the ongoing li-
censing of lay deacons for Word and Sacrament ministry. The only 
exception to that is for a small group of LLDs who were already 
trained and licensed when the resolution was adopted. For these 
deacons only an annual exception to continue to serve in Word and 
Sacrament ministry may be requested of and granted by the CCPM 
and the COP. Every fall, both the CCPM and the COP vote on these 
annual exceptions. In 2019, the number of those exceptions was 51. 
With retirements, etc., that number decreases each year. During the 
three years of this triennium, the number of exceptions granted was 
eight in 2023, six in 2024, and five in 2025, with the average age of 
the five being 74.
G. Challenges
Two of the greatest challenges for the CCPM are (1) having to 
discern an applicant’s readiness to serve in the LCMS based only 
on the written application packet and one 90-minute interview and 
(2) the limitation (at least perceived) on the seminary coursework 
that can be assigned by the committee for what it considers to be 
necessary remedial work. Because of this second challenge, espe-
cially, the CCPM often feels it is left with no choice other than to 
deny colloquy since it has insufficient tools at its disposal.
There are two primary reasons for this second challenge. First, 
over the last 30 years, a culture or expectation has developed that it 
is only reasonable for the committee to assign a few courses (per -
haps one to three, with four being the rare absolute maximum). 
Second, because residential seminary coursework is no longer 
the norm for colloquy (as it was from 1959–95), the committee 
is largely limited to the smaller selection of online SMP courses, 
perhaps with an occasional residential intensive. Related to this is 
the complicating factor that colloquy candidates have historically 
not received seminary financial aid for colloquy coursework, partly 
because such coursework is not eligible for federal financial aid 
since colloquy is neither a degree nor a certificate program.
As it grappled with these challenges during this triennium, the 
committee undertook a study of the history of pastoral colloquy in 
the LCMS since the mid-20th century, and especially the significant 
change that was made in 1995, prior to which one to three year(s) 
of residential seminary coursework was required of all colloquy 
candidates.
2 
One opportunity that the committee has begun discussing is the 
possibility of offering seminary financial aid as one element of an 
increased partnership between pastoral colloquy and our two Synod 
seminaries.
H. Strengths and Threats
The committee has been increasingly mindful of how the use of 
artificial intelligence can impact essays and sermons for colloquy 
applications. One safeguard to this is the required in-person inter -
view where what an applicant writes can be probed to ascertain 
better whether the applicant “thinks like a Lutheran.”
The strengths of the colloquy process are many. Numerous ap-
plicants have thanked the CCPM and LCMS for our great care in 
vetting colloquy applicants with a view toward maintaining the 
high standards of the LCMS ministerium and providing the best