Some information has been floating down the pipe about the “Specific Ministry Pastor Proposal”. (I referenced this in December of 2006.) If your pastor or elder is attending as a delegate, make sure he is aware of the proposal in his handbook.
From The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod – Letters to the Editor (March)
Specific Ministry Pastor program
A December 2006 Reporter article (“COP eyes ‘harmony and trust,’ OKs proposed alternate-route ‘in principle’ â€) may have given the impression that the Specific Ministry Pastor program (referenced in that article as “Pastor-Specific Ministryâ€) was developed through the work of the Pastoral Formation Leadership Summit, held last year.Although it was discussed and supported in concept at the summit, much work has gone into it over the past few years. In fact, the origins go back to earlier work on Distance Education Leading to Ordination (DELTO). The seminary faculties discussed the issues addressed in this proposal already in 1995, and again in 1998.
The church’s needs and our confessional commitment, as well as a strong desire to maintain the integrity of theological education and the implementation of a more comprehensive approach for pastoral formation (enveloping residential and non-residential, distance education, and continuing education), inspired and gave birth to the Specific Ministry Pastor program proposal soon to appear in the Convention Workbook.
The Synod’s DELTO Oversight Committee, the seminaries, the Board for Pastoral Education, and the COP are part and parcel of the formation of the proposal and support its implementation. It is very significant in the life of the church.
A church-wide discussion of the Specific Ministry Pastor program proposal will benefit our church’s confessional and missional commitments.Dr. L. Dean Hempelmann
St. Louis
Dr. Hempelmann is executive director of the LCMS Board for Pastoral Education and chairman of the DELTO Oversight Committee. — Ed.
From Pr. Stefanski of CAT41.org:
+ Information for Confess And Teach For Unity’s eList Subscribers +
The Rev. Dr. Dan Gard of the Ft. Wayne seminary has written a
response to the “Specific Ministry Pastor Proposal” that he would
like all delegates to see, so that they may vote in an informed
manner at the 2007 LCMS synodical convention.We are making Dr. Gard’s paper available in Adobe Reader (.pdf)
format for easy reading and printing, as well as Microsoft Word
(.doc) and Rich Text (.rtf) formats for the use of those who might
want to serialize the paper in more ‘bite-size’ chunks (although it
really is not very long at all, in spite of its Scriptural and
Confessional thoroughness).The links from which to download are:
Please circulate these links as you see appropriate.
EJG
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This saddens me.
I wonder how seriously the convention will take this — or will they just get bogged down in confusing language and rubber-stamp it by default?
As an aside: Why would Stefanski even care about what happens in the LCMS? He left a few years ago.
Resolution 8-01A in 2004 was the same sort of story. The word didn’t get out, the implications weren’t clear, and the consequences are ugly.
I don’t know Stefanski’s story but expect Dr. Gard chose to use him for his wide distribution. I’m glad he wrote a response as the seminaries’ response is yet to come.
Is the text of the proposal itself available online?
I scoured http://www.lcms.org/pages/default.asp?NavID=8410 and found nothing. I’m not sure how Dr. Gard managed a copy before the workbook came out. Watch for it…
From LCMS website:
http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=11797
The workbook will be mailed the first week of May to the rostered members.
1
2 5. SEMINARY AND UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
3
4 To Establish Specific Ministry Pastor Program
5
6 RESOLUTION 5-01
7
Overtures 5-01–10 (CW, pp. 205–216) 89
10 Introduction
11
12 Amidst today’s mission challenges, including the persistent need to provide pastoral ministry in ways that
13 go beyond the current residential models, we will do well to engage the best collaborative thinking and creativity
14 that we can muster to provide missional pastoral leadership driven by the depth of theological integrity that remains
15 a hallmark of our church and its ministerium. The mission focus ignited by the Ablaze! movement has generated the
16 need to identify laymen already in place in a local community to serve as church planters and missionaries. This
17 work will certainly entail Word and Sacrament ministry. Historically, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and
18 its antecedents have attempted to meet such needs by preparing men as quickly as possible to be called and ordained
19 in order to meet the urgent mission needs of the church. Such men were prepared to catechize, preach, and provide
20 pastoral care. Within the LCMS, the need for such a track to ordination was initially embodied in the seminary
21 begun by F. C. D. Wyneken and Wilhelm Löhe in Fort Wayne, Indiana. However, developments in ministerial
22 formation since World War II have effectively eliminated this track altogether.
23
24 Ministers of religion—ordained will have two designations. “General ministry pastor†will serve as the
25 designation for pastors graduated from a current approved theological education program (e.g., M.Div., Certificate,
26 DELTO), and “specific ministry pastor†will be the designation for those educated for a specific ministry context
27 through distance education. The Specific Ministry Pastor Program seeks to address the needs of the church by
28 reinstituting a multiple-track approach and by developing a program that combines a commitment to faithfulness to
29 a Lutheran theological confession with a missionary perspective and that is tailored to the preparation of men for
30 service in specific kinds of ministries.
31
32 Such an effort must attempt in some measure to uphold two significant considerations in the service of our
33 Lord’s mission and Great Commission. On the one hand, we are committed to upholding the Lutheran
34 understanding of the pastor as theologian and insist on as much education as possible for the good of the church. On
35 the other hand, emerging needs and economic pressures often make it impossible to call a pastor who has received a
36 broad and thorough theological education to every congregation or mission station where, nevertheless, people need
37 to hear the Gospel. This proposal is offered as a sincere and thoughtful attempt to address real-world needs with an
38 urgency for bringing the Gospel to a dying world and to do so with theological integrity with respect to both the
39 doctrine of the ministry and our commitment to high standards of pastoral education and formation.
40
41 Theological Foundations Guiding the Proposal
42
43 1. All those who regularly and publicly perform the functions of the Office of the Holy Ministry should
44 do so as those called to and placed into that office. “It is taught among us that nobody should publicly
45 teach or preach or administer the sacraments in the church without a regular call†(AC XIV). As it is
46 true that means of grace, the Gospel and the sacraments, are the rightful possession of all believers in
47 Christ as members of the priesthood of all believers, only the one Office of the Holy Ministry is
48 entrusted with the public exercise of these means. As such, we affirm that only those who are rightly
49 and publicly called and ordained should publicly exercise the functions which are entrusted to this
50 ministry.
51
52 2. Lutherans affirm that there is only one Office of the Holy Ministry, established by God for the public
53 conduct of the ministry of Word and Sacrament. However, the church may recognize certain
54 distinctions within that one Office of the Holy Ministry and establish degrees of supervision without
55 undermining the unity of the office.
1
a. All those who serve Christ and the church in the Office of 2 the Holy Ministry exercise de
3 iure divino (by divine authority) the power to preach the Gospel, forgive sins, administer
4 the Sacraments, and exercise church discipline. There is no distinction within the one
5 office with respect to this power and authority.
6 b. Nevertheless, all ministers serve under supervision. In ancient times, the practice of
7 making certain distinctions within the one Office of the Holy Ministry de iure humano (by
8 human authority) was established so that those ministers with broader and deeper
9 theological understanding should be able to provide doctrinal supervision for less
10 experienced, or less well-prepared, ministers. These distinctions were made to ensure that
11 the Gospel was rightly preached and taught, and to preserve the unity of the church.
12 c. By the time of the Reformation, the common way of talking about such distinctions within
13 the Office of the Holy Ministry was to speak of the differentiation between the power (or
14 authority) associated with the Office of the Holy Ministry and the jurisdiction (or scope of
15 the administration) of the office.
16
17 3. The church may establish, by human authority, distinctions in jurisdiction and in categories of service
18 of its pastors so long as these distinctions do not compromise the authority of the office, undermine the
19 Gospel, or burden the consciences of Christians by confusing human regulations with divine
20 commands.
21
22 4. Ordination vows may be taken prior to the conclusion of a complete course of study provided that the
23 ordinand has received a preparation sufficient to preach and teach the Gospel rightly, administer the
24 Sacraments correctly, and take his vows with integrity.
25
26 5. The church should provide the opportunity for a pastor who has been certified and ordained to serve in
27 a specific kind of ministry subsequently to be prepared to serve the church more broadly through a
28 combination of further academic preparation, accumulated pastoral experience, and examination.
29
30 Overview of the “Specific Ministry Pastor†Program
31
32 The student will take a core curriculum so as to acquire a foundational competency in Lutheran theology
33 for pastoral ministry. This foundational core will be both contextualized and specialized within and for a specific
34 ministry. In addition to the original objective of the Distance Education Leading To Ordination (DELTO) Program
35 to provide pastoral ministry where full-time ministry cannot be maintained, such specific ministries will include
36 such categories as church planter, staff pastor, and others as needs arise.
37
38 The specific curriculum will be determined and developed by the seminary faculties, in collaboration with
39 those from the field who represent the specific ministerial contexts at district and congregation levels. It will be
40 based on the following principles:
41 1. Curricular goals based on outcome competencies appropriate to the stages of the program
42 2. The contextual nature of this educational model, which includes experiential learning within a mission
43 context
44 3. The engagement of supervisors/mentors by the seminary in consultation with the district president as a
45 critical element of the distance education model
46 4. A combination of distance education and residential components (likely through short-term seminars
47 and the option to take courses within the residential curriculum)
48 5. The potential applicability of coursework for academic credit towards an M.Div.
49 6. A time frame for completion of approximately 4–5 years
50
51 The Specific Ministry Pastor Program will be divided into a pre-ordination curriculum and a post52
ordination curriculum. The pre-ordination curriculum will equip the student in such a way that the church has
53 confidence that the student will preach the Gospel in its truth and purity and conduct his ministry in conformity with
54 Lutheran doctrine and practice. In order to do this, the pre-ordination curriculum will address such basic
55 competencies as Catechism, interpretation of Scripture, God and Christ and the work of Christ, the Sacraments,
56 introduction to the Book of Concord, the conduct of worship, and preaching.
The post-ordination curriculum will address these topics in greater depth and 1 detail and will include such
2 topics as OT content and theology, NT content and theology, gifts of Christ, body of Christ, Church history and the
history of Lutheranism, Christian education, pastoral theology, and theology of missions. 34
5 In addition, the student will participate in several residential and field seminars aimed at cultivating the
6 requisite ministry skills for his specific ministry context (e.g., church planters, staff pastors, and evangelists).
7 • Possible residential seminars might include pastoral formation, issues in pastoral ministry, team ministry,
8 urban ministry, spiritual formation.
9 • Possible field seminars might include basic mission planter training, edge gathering, and advanced
10 mission planter training.
11
12 The Specific Ministry Pastor Program will utilize selected mentors in the preparation of a man for pastoral
13 ministry with an emphasis on the area of spiritual formation.
14
15 Step 1: Preparation for and Admission to the Program
16
17 The identification of an applicant will be carried out by the congregation and district through a
18 comprehensive screening process.
19
20 For entry into the program, a student will need to show that he possesses the requisite social skills and
21 passion for theology and mission, as well as demonstrating the specific skills and competence needed to be
22 successful in a distance-education program.
23
24 For entry into the program, a student will need to pass the Entry Level Competency Exams (ELCEs) in the
25 areas of OT, NT, and Catechism/Christian Doctrine. Preparation for the ELCEs may be accomplished by taking the
26 corresponding district-level courses or seminary-offered courses. In addition, other courses within a district’s lay
27 training program may be helpful, such as courses on evangelizing and catechizing. All students will need to
28 demonstrate competency to engage the program in the English language and in public speaking.
29
30 Based upon completion of the above requirements and with recommendations from congregation and
31 district, the student’s application will be presented to the admissions committee of the seminary for action. As part
32 of the application process, each student, sponsoring congregation, and district will sign a covenant of commitment to
33 complete the entire specific ministry pastor curriculum, including all coursework and seminars following
34 examination and ordination.
35
36 Step 2: Pre-Ordination Curriculum
37
38 Upon entrance into the Specific Ministry Pastor Program, students will be assigned as vicars in a specific
39 locality but normally will not be authorized to administer the Sacraments. They will preach sermons prepared in
40 collaboration with and approved by his supervisor. At this point, they will participate in the pre-ordination courses
41 and seminars designed to prepare them in the following areas:
42 • Catechism, hermeneutical principles, God and Christ, work of Christ, the Sacraments, Worship, intro to
43 the Book of Concord, and preaching
44 • Possible residential seminars: intro to pastoral formation; issues in pastoral ministry
45 • Possible field seminars: basic mission planter training, etc.
46
47 Step 3: Certification/Call/Ordination
48
49 After demonstrating competence in the pre-ordination areas (approximately a year and a half), a student
50 may apply for an examination hearing by the seminary in order to be certified for call and ordination. Students will
51 be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The examination hearing may include a review of the student’s portfolio,
52 vicarage reports, an interview by the faculty, and recommendations by the district president and circuit counselor.
53
54 After call and ordination according to the usual order, the student is placed on the pastoral roster of the
55 Synod as a “specific ministry pastor.†He now may preach and administer the Sacraments under supervision in a
56 specific locality.
1
Step 4: Post-Call and Ordination Curriculum 23
4 Upon call and ordination, the student will complete the remainder of the Specific Ministry Pastor Program.
5 The following areas are intended to continue development of the foundational competencies necessary for serving as
6 a specific ministry pastor:
7 • OT content and theology, NT content and theology, gifts of Christ, Body of Christ, Church history and
8 the history of Lutheranism, Christian education, pastoral theology, and theology of missions
9 • Residential seminars, possibly including pastoral formation, issues in pastoral ministry, team ministry,
10 urban ministry, and spiritual formation
11 • Field seminars, possibly including basic mission planter training, edge gathering, and advanced mission
12 planter training
13
14 Refusal to complete the Specific Ministry Pastor Program would result in the pastor’s removal from the
15 Synod roster, at which point he is not eligible for a call.
16
17 Step 5: Completion of the Specific Ministry Pastor Program
18
19 Upon completion of the program, the candidate is examined by a committee of faculty, laity, and district
20 representatives in order to be recognized as eligible for calls elsewhere within his rostered status. Apart from the
21 usual need for continuing education, he is not required to take any further prescribed course of studies (but see
22 below).
23
24 Specific ministry pastors are recognized as just that: pastors certified for calls into specific ministry
25 contexts, who serve under the supervision not only of the district president but also of a designated general ministry
26 pastor. As such, they are eligible for calls into a similar specific ministry context, where they continue under the
27 supervision of a general ministry pastor.
28
29 Because their theological education is formed within the context of their specific ministry and does not
30 represent the breadth and depth of theology and ecclesiology that forms a basis for pastoral oversight beyond the
31 local level, they may not be placed into ecclesiastical roles of exercising pastoral oversight outside the location of
32 their specific call (i.e., in the church-at-large), such as
33
34 a. holding elected or appointed office at the district or Synod level that is assigned by the Bylaws to “a
35 pastor†(though they will serve in all other capacities, especially representing the ministerial contexts in
36 which they serve);
37 b. serving as circuit counselors;
38 c. serving as a voting delegate to a national Synod convention (but they may serve as an advisory delegate
39 at national conventions and as a pastoral delegate at district conventions); and
40 d. supervising vicars.
41
42 Step 6: Continued Service and Status
43
44 Students who have completed the Specific Ministry Pastor Program may decide to remain in their rostered
45 status as “specific ministry pastor†for the remainder of their ministry or they may choose to pursue a growth path
46 that leads to a change in roster status to “general ministry pastor.†It is envisioned that most students will pursue the
47 second path, either through an M.Div. route or nondegree certification. Thus, they have three options:
48
49 1. They may remain rostered as a specific ministry pastor.
50 2. They may enroll in an M.Div. program. It is anticipated that coursework done for the Specific Ministry
51 Pastor Program may become applicable to an M.Div., determined by equivalencies.
52 3. They may continue their theological education and pastoral formation, reaching a level appropriate to
53 general ministry pastor without a full M.Div. (cf. current “alternate routeâ€) and then complete an
54 interview with an examining board in order to have their rostered status changed to “general ministry
55 pastor.â€
1
Resolution 23
4 WHEREAS, The DELTO Oversight Committee was formed by the 2001 convention and given the task “to
revise DELTOâ€; and 56
7 WHEREAS, This oversight committee concluded that original assignment, and a revised DELTO Program
was deployed by the two seminaries in the fall of 2004; and 89
10 WHEREAS, The original and ongoing intent of DELTO was to “provide ordained pastoral service to
11 congregations that cannot support a full-time pastor, ordained pastoral service to contexts where English is not
12 spoken, ordained missionary personnel where finances and/or conditions do not permit calling a full-time
13 missionary†(BHE document, “What Is DELTO?†Sept. 2000); and
14
15 WHEREAS, The needs for providing pastoral ministry in specific and specialized situations where a
16 traditionally prepared seminary candidate or pastor is not available continue to multiply; and
17
18 WHEREAS, Our Synod needs to find a way to provide for an increase in pastoral ministry to meet such
19 needs of the church, especially in light of the mission challenges of today’s world; and
20
21 WHEREAS, Our Synod has resolved to plant 2,000 new congregations by 2017, for which a net gain of
22 2,000 pastors will be needed; and
23
24 WHEREAS, Any way of providing for pastoral ministry must be faithful to our Lutheran Confessions,
25 faithful to our historic commitment to a well-educated and well-formed ministerium, faithful to our historic
26 commitment to provide pastors in both academic and practical tracks, and faithful to our historic commitment to
27 provide pastoral ministry and leadership at the cutting edges of the mission fields, wherever they might be; and
28
29 WHEREAS, Those who would regularly provide pastoral ministry should do so from within the Office of the
30 Public Ministry and be placed into that office by the public action of the church through certification, call, and the
31 laying on of hands (AC XIV); and
32
33 WHEREAS, A variety of programs and routes leading to pastoral service have arisen at both district and
34 seminary levels; and
35
36 WHEREAS, The DELTO Oversight Committee, after concluding its original assignment, was given the
37 further assignment by the President of Synod to “study the various routes leading to ordination currently available,
38 to study which routes leading to ordination would be most helpful to the Synod in producing a sufficient number of
39 able and effective pastors to provide leadership to Synod’s congregations in fulfilling the Great Commissionâ€; and
40
41 WHEREAS, In carrying out this further task, it was apparent that
42
43 a. the existing focus of DELTO, even as it was redesigned and redeployed, would not be sufficient to meet
44 these needs;
45 b. the Synod would benefit from a more coherent and comprehensive approach to pastoral preparation and
46 certification for ministry in specialized and specific contexts;
47 c. the past years have provided the church, in general, and the seminaries, in particular, with substantial
48 experimentation and experience with distance-education models, including the evaluation of both the
49 advantages and disadvantages; and
50 d. the Synod is presented with an opportunity to build on such experience and to coordinate and
51 consolidate programs and curriculum into a more cohesive and comprehensive curriculum design that
52 engages the best practices of educational design and pedagogy, including much of the current course
53 materials already proven and in use; and
54
WHEREAS, The process of conversation and collaboration over the past six years 1 has brought together
2 representatives of the needs of the field with the entities of the Synod to whom leadership for pastoral education and
certification is entrusted, and in so doing provided a helpful model for continuing such collaborative work; and 34
5 WHEREAS, Both seminaries have provided leadership in this process and worked together on written
6 documents affirming the need for a new category within the one office of the pastoral ministry and in affirming an
7 educational process that will lead to certification and ordination for such pastoral ministry, utilizing both traditional
residential components along with new distance education models; and 89
10 WHEREAS, The DELTO Oversight Committee in seeking to fulfill its further task has
11
12 a. worked closely with both seminaries in honing a proposal for a category of specific ministry pastor, and
13 an education and formation program that will lead to certification and ordination for such pastoral
14 ministry; and has
15 b. worked closely also with many other constituencies throughout the church in developing this proposal,
16 including the Board for Pastoral Education, the Council of Presidents, district and Synod mission
17 leaders, and pastors in the field;
18
19 and
20
21 WHEREAS, The great strengths of this proposal bring together several issues that have concerned our Synod
22 for many years as it seeks to
23
24 a. find a way to meet the existing and expanding needs for pastoral ministry, especially in the variety of
25 contexts of mission and ministry in today’s church;
26 b. respect our commitment to the doctrine of church and ministry, especially in light of AC XIV;
27 c. honor our commitment to responsible theological education that provides the church with well-educated
28 pastors, who as missional leaders are faithful to Lutheran theology and practice;
29 d. retain our commitment to the importance, need, and great strengths of residential pastoral education at
30 both the certificate and M.Div. level, along with a commitment to the continuing education of all clergy;
31 e. restore our past creativity in recognizing the importance, need, and great strengths of alternative models
32 of pastoral education leading to ordination, including a commitment to continuing education;
33 f. utilize the advances in educational technology that allow for responsible pastoral education and
34 formation through distance-education models; and
35 g. develop a more coherent and comprehensive model for pastoral education by which various routes
36 leading to certification, call, and ordination are coordinated and potentially interrelated, so that, for
37 example, a student in a nonresidential certificate route might be able to engage also in a residential
38 degree program;
39
40 and
41
42 WHEREAS, The Specific Ministry Pastor Program has the support of the Board for Pastoral Education, the
43 faculties of both seminaries, and the Council of Presidents; and
44
45 WHEREAS, The Specific Ministry Pastor Program has been reviewed by the Commission on Theology and
46 Church Relations, and was found to be consistent with Scripture and the Confessions; therefore be it
47
48 Resolved, That the Specific Ministry Pastor Program as described in this resolution be adopted and the
49 seminaries be authorized to implement the program; and be it further
50
51 Resolved, That Bylaw sections 2.13 and 2.14 of the Handbook of the Synod be amended accordingly, as
52 follows:
53
54 PRESENT/PROPOSEDWORDING
55
56 (A) Change the title of Bylaw section 2.13 to read as follows:
1
2.13 Restricting, 2 Suspending, and Expelling
Congregations or Individuals fromMembership 34
Membership Status and Limitations 56
(B) Incorporate current Bylaws 2.13.1 and 2.13.2 into Bylaw 2.14.1 as follows: 78
9 • Current Bylaw 2.13.1 becomes Bylaw 2.14.1
10 • Current Bylaw 2.13.2 becomes Bylaw 2.14.1 (a)
11 • Current Bylaw 2.14.1 becomes Bylaw 2.14.1 (b)
12
13 The early paragraphs of Bylaw section 2.14 therefore read as follows:
14
15 2.14 Expulsion of Congregations or Individuals
16 fromMembership in the Synod
17
18 Preamble
19
20 2.13.1
21
22 2.14.1 Termination of membership in the Synod is a serious matter involving both the doctrine and life of
23 those to whom it has been granted. Such action should only be taken as a final step when it is clear that
24 those who are being terminated after previous futile admonition have acted contrary to the confession
25 laid down in Article II or the conditions of membership laid down in Article VI or have persisted in
26 offensive conduct (Constitution, Art. XIII 1). For this reason the Synod establishes procedures for such
27 action including the identification of those who are responsible for ecclesiastical supervision of its
28 members. Such supervision includes not only suspension or termination of membership but also
29 advice, counsel, encouragement, and, when necessary, admonition regarding teaching and/or practice.
30 Furthermore, the procedures that may lead to termination of membership also provide for the
31 protection of members by including provisions for challenging the decisions of ecclesiastical
32 supervisors in these matters as well as provisions for restoration of membership that has been
33 suspended or terminated.
34
35 General
36
37 2.13.2 (a) Although the Constitution (see Art. VI 3 and Art. XII 7–8) deals with the “life†of ordained and
38 commissioned ministers of the Synod and provides for dealing with “ungodly life†or ordained and
39 commissioned ministers, this does not suggest that the Synod, including any district of the Synod, has
40 the duty or even an opportunity to observe the activities in the life of an individual member of the
41 Synod or has the means or authority to regulate, restrict, or control those activities. The only remedy
42 available to the Synod in response to improper activities in the life of such a member of the Synod is,
43 as is true with respect to violations of other conditions of membership or is otherwise appropriate
44 under the Constitution or these Bylaws, and following the procedures set forth in these Bylaws, to take
45 such action as may lead to termination of that membership and the attendant rights and privileges.
46
47 2.14.1 (b) The action to commence expulsion of a congregation or individual from membership in the Synod
48 is the sole responsibility of the district president who has the responsibility for ecclesiastical
49 supervision of such member. This Bylaw section 2.14, among others, provides the procedures to carry
50 out Article XIII of the Constitution, “Expulsion from the Synod.†However, it does not provide the
51 procedure for the expulsion of the district presidents and the officers of the Synod (Bylaw section
52 2.15), the President of the Synod (Bylaw section 2.16), or individual members in cases involving
53 sexual misconduct or criminal behavior (Bylaw section 2.17).
54
55 (C) Add a new section at the beginning of Bylaw section 2.13 to define a “specific ministry pastor†and the
56 limitations on membership privileges and responsibilities that pertain, as follows:
1
Specific Ministry Pastor Status and Limitations 23
4 2.13.1 A “specific ministry pastor†is a minister of religion—ordained who has completed the requirements
5 for service as a specific ministry pastor and has been examined by one of the Synod’s seminaries,
6 called by a congregation of the Synod, and placed by the Council of Presidents into a specific Word
7 and Sacrament ministry context. He is eligible to serve only in that specific ministry context for which
8 he has been trained and may not be offered or accept a call for ministry for which he has not been
9 certified. He shall serve under the supervision of his district president and another pastor who is not a
10 specific ministry pastor.
11 (a) Because he is under supervision of another pastor and because a specific ministry pastor’s
12 theological education has been formed in part by and for a specific ministry context, he may not be
13 placed or called into ecclesiastical roles that exercise pastoral oversight outside the location of his call.
14 (b) A specific ministry pastor is not eligible to
15 (1) serve as a voting delegate to a national convention of the Synod—but may serve as an advisory
16 delegate to national conventions and as a pastoral delegate to district conventions;
17 (2) hold any elected or appointed office on the district or national Synod level that is assigned by the
18 Bylaws of the Synod to “a pastor†(although specific ministry pastors may serve in all other capacities,
19 especially representing the ministerial contexts in which they serve);
20 (3) supervise vicars; and
21 (4) serve as a circuit counselor.
22 (c) The ministers of religion–ordained records maintained by district presidents as well as the official
23 membership roster of the Synod shall distinguish between specific ministry pastors and other pastors.
24
25 (D) Change the titles and bylaw numbering of subsequent paragraphs of Bylaw section 2.13 to accommodate
26 the introduction of the “specific ministry pastor status and limitations†paragraphs, as follows:
27
28 Restricted Status and Limitations
29 2.13.3
30 2.13.2 An individual member of the Synod may be placed…
31
32 Removal of Restricted Status and Limitations
33 2.13.4
34 2.13.3 An individual member of the Synod who is placed…
35
36 Suspended Status and Limitations
37 2.13.5
38 2.13.4 When formal proceedings have been commenced…
39
40 (E) Change Bylaw 3.1.3.1 to read:
41
42 3.1.3.1 Each district shall select one advisory delegate for every 60 advisory ordained ministers and specific
43 ministry pastors, and one advisory delegate for every 60 commissioned ministers on the roster of the
44 Synod. Fractional groupings shall be disregarded except that each district shall be entitled to at least
45 one advisory delegate in each category;
46
47 and be it further
48
49 Resolved, That the DELTO Oversight Committee be renamed the Specific Ministry Pastor Committee; and
50 be it further
51
52 Resolved, That the Specific Ministry Pastor Committee be placed under the supervision of the Board for
53 Pastoral Education; and be it finally
54
Resolved, That the Specific Ministry Pastor Committee develop comprehensive 1 guidelines that are
2 consistent with the introductory portion of this resolution, thereby establishing the theological foundations,
3 educational expectations, rostering process, and membership limitations intended for this Specific Ministry Pastor
Program. 4567