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New video explains Licensed Lay Deacon Recommendations

Comments (12)
  1. The Rev. BT Ball says:

    Thanks so much for posting this video. It is very helpful, and I hope all the delegates to the convention this summer watch it. I especially appreciated the Deacon’s words and his desire to serve as a Pastor to the people of his congregation.

  2. Delwyn X. Campbell says:

    If he, and other Deacons like him, wants to serve as a Pastor, then either he should go through the path that we went through, or we should not be required to go though that path. If they are doing pastoral duties, it should not have happened, while treating others, like the CMC graduates, as inferior.
    If you’re going to ordain him, you should pay off every last dime that I, and the rest of the CMC grads, have spent to go through the process that we worked through, with no guarantee that there would be anything for us at the end.

    1. Pete Meneghello says:

      So you’re more concerned about money than mission work? May the Lord help us.

  3. Carl Vehse says:

    The 2016 Convention Workbook contains fifty overtures dealing with the Licensed Lay Deacon, which were submitted by districts (18), seminaries (2), circuits (4), and one of more congregations (26). (Some districts submitted more than one overture.)

    Here’s a breakdown of the positions on the LLD program taken by the fifty overtures:

    Continue the LLD program – 34
    Have the LLDs go through the SMP program – 8
    Ordain LLDs – 2
    Stop the LLD program completely – 3
    Study the LLD program some more and come back with recommendations for the 2019 convention – 3

  4. Todd Roeske says:

    There seems to be a big push to convince us all that the Task Force recommendations are in line with the prevailing sentiment in the LCMS. If this were true, there would not be a need for the administration of Synod to spend so much time and effort to push this view. Not all Licensed Deacons want to or should be ordained but they can extend the ministry of the Pastoral office under supervision. We have the freedom in the Gospel to allow and encourage this. These are not men who are usurping the office of the ministry. They are dedicated followers of Jesus who want to support the ministry of Ordained Pastors. I side with Moses who said, “I wish that all God’s people were prophets.”

  5. Rev. Jeffrey Gross says:

    So, deacons who “function” as a Pastor want to be ordained. Well, our seminaries have openings. Apply and attend.
    The deacon in the video improperly applied a Biblical passage. Is that what we are to give Christ’s lambs in the parish? Men who don’t fully understand the Scriptures teaching others the Scriptures? I believe Christ said something about both falling into a pit.
    We are being urged to ordain men who want to “function” as a Pastor without making the sacrifice of leaving hometown, father and mother, taking only his wife and children, and dedicating years of study to the Bible before ordination.
    The Holy Spirit warned, “Do not lay hands on anyone in haste.” I guess the LCMS is no longer concerned with giving the Church the best Pastors and theologians possible, just the most the quickest. Kyrie Eleison!

  6. Luke Isaac says:

    I appreciate all the work the licensed lay deacons conduct, but why “should” we ordain them? The argument that Mr. Schutte made – I perform the work of a pastor, so why shouldn’t I be ordained or called a pastor? (paraphrase) – is a flawed argument. For example, if both my wife and I died in a car accident and my brother and sister-in-law took care of my children, they would perform all the functions/work of father and mother, but they could never actually be father and mother to my children. They perform the duties of father and mother because of the extenuating circumstances. (It may not be a perfect analogy, but I think it drives home the point).

    We should praise and support our licensed lay deacons and the work they do. And we also need a more complete solution that will encourage more men to go to seminary to be properly trained and called for their work as shepherds.

    1. Luke Isaac says:

      An even better analogy would be if my wife and I went out of town and a relative looked after our kids. They could perform certain duties/functions, but they don’t have the full legal rights of guardianship that my wife and I have. If something happened to my wife and me, someone would need to go through a formal, legal process to become a guardian/parent to the children. My relative could sign forms or perform all sorts of duties, but it has no authority unless they have gone through the formal process to become guardian.

      Similar with the licensed lay deacons – their duties and functions should match their role in the church and in the circumstances that are appropriate.

      Let’s not put a band-aid on the problem, let’s address the root cause of the lack of pastors and make that our focus. Support the licensed lay deacons in their appropriate work, and also support seminarians and pastors in their work.

      Scripture makes clear the distinction between a deacon and a pastor/elder/overseer. Let us always come back to Scripture to guide our efforts in ensuring the sacraments are rightly administered and the Word faithfully preached.

  7. Dacia Reinke says:

    Disappointed that this is NOT captioned. Deaf Ministries in the LCMS heavily rely on lay ministers to do the ministry. It is too bad that the deaf lay leaders do not have access to this video.

    1. LCMS Church Information Center says:

      Thank you for your comment. Our Communications staff looked into this with YouTube and discovered that there are certain videos that cannot be captioned using the close-captioned feature they offer. Among the list of reasons why some videos can’t be captioned are periods of silence in the video, two people talking over one another and unfamiliar terminology or use of jargon. As it happens, this video has all of these elements. Our Communications staff is working to get this transcribed and captioned for those still wishing to view the video. Thank you for your patience.

    2. LCMS Church Information Center says:

      A captioning file has now been created for the “Licensed Lay Deacon” video found at https://youtu.be/ZjtPa-RTSyU. The viewer will need to activate the “CC” button on the YouTube view screen in order to see the captions as it will not come on automatically. We hope this is helpful.

  8. Ron Whitaker says:

    Where is the concern for souls?
    Why – I had to so you must too?
    When will we give more than lip service to to lost?
    Where does God say there can only be one level of preacher?
    Why do we graduate way fewer pastors than we need year after year?