Various written reactions to the news about a report and the report itself, in addition to these, have been received by the 4-06A Task Force. Some have stated disagreements with the report, others have expressed appreciation.

The Task Force appreciates the interest of those who have responded. Our prayer is that the Lord would use our efforts to bring about a God-pleasing consensus on a matter that has divided our Synod and diminished its focus on the work of sharing the Gospel. To that end, we would like to try to clarify a few misunderstandings about our report.

1. The report is genuinely appreciative of the work of deacons. Almost without exception, the men serving as deacons are humble servants of Christ who were asked to provide a genuine practical answer to genuine practical challenges. They are dedicated, serve in most cases without any or with minimal remuneration, and deserve our thanks, not our criticism. Having said that, the sad reality is that these men are in a position of uncertainty in the LCMS, through no fault of their own. We have sent them to go and do pastoral work but we have not recognized them as pastors. The people of the congregations they serve often do call them “pastor,” but the question remains—are they in the public ministry or not? They serve in a pastoral role, but they are not included on any of Synod’s public ministry rosters. Both they and their congregations deserve to have this uncertain status addressed by the whole Synod. Anyone who on an ongoing basis is preaching and administering the sacraments in an LCMS congregation should be a member of the Synod – that is, a “rostered” public minister, a pastor recognized by the Synod as a whole, and not simply a deacon licensed by a district (a local portion of the Synod). While the details of how this is done are a matter of human order (see #2 below), to fail to do this inevitably results in confusion or worse.

2. The report is not in any way unsympathetic to the plight of those small congregations that are served by lay deacons. Our recommendations seek to provide a way of providing the public ministry—pastoral care—that is scriptural and affirmed not by part of Synod, but the entire Synod. The time-honored Lutheran means of providing the ministry has involved three aspects:
a. first, examination of the doctrine and life of the man who will preach and teach and administer the sacraments (1 Cor 4:1-2; 1 Tim 3:2-3; 2 Tim 2:1-2, 24-26);
b. second, the public acceptance of a local congregation for the individual to serve them (Acts 20:28; Titus 1:5); and
c. third, public recognition of the ministry of the individual by the rest of the church, which is what ordination represents. This aspect is attested to in Paul’s warning not to “be hasty in the laying on of hands” (1 Tim 5:22) and his reminder to Timothy of its importance (2 Tim 1:6).

3. The report seeks to uphold both the importance of the priesthood of believers and that of the office of the public ministry. Neither must be minimized, confused, or neglected.

4. The report addresses practical concerns such as:
a. By a special colloquy process that involves representation from the Synod, the District, and area pastors, those deacons serving as de facto pastors of congregations will be able to become rostered LCMS pastors whose ministry is affirmed by the whole Synod. Their work will essentially remain the same and they will continue with the same supervision as they had as deacons, but their work in the ministry will be fully recognized by the Synod as a whole.
b. Any financial challenges posed by the colloquy process will be addressed, with funding assured wherever there is legitimate need.
c. Future candidates for challenging circumstances will still be identified locally, just as the current deacons have been identified given initial training locally, while the further training programs for these men that enable them to be rostered members of the LCMS are already in place. Financial obstacles will be addressed with the assistance of the LCMS Office of Pastoral Education.
d. Individual congregations have always been and will continue to be free to have lay men assist their pastors in various ways (by whatever title a congregation may use for such lay service) and also to provide emergency service in the pastor’s absence (for example, giving a sermon prepared by or approved by a pastor).

Pr. Larry M. Vogel
Associate Executive Director
Commission on Theology & Church Relations