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	December 29, 2004 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 89

	Task force completes guidelines on women's service

	Guidelines should be in the mail by early January to help
congregations implement a 2004 Synod convention resolution that permits
women to hold any congregational office that does not involve the
exercise of distinctive functions of the pastoral office.

	The guidelines, prepared by a special task force, will be
included as an appendix to a 1994 report of the Commission on Theology
and Church Relations (CTCR) that is being published now in booklet form
for the first time. The conclusions of that report, "The Service of
Women in Congregational and Synodical Offices," were affirmed by the
convention.

	CTCR Executive Director Samuel H. Nafzger said that the
commission agreed to include the guidelines with its report at the
request of Synod President Gerald Kieschnick. Nafzger also chaired the
five-member task force, which Kieschnick appointed after the convention.

	Also included as an appendix to the report is the CTCR's
response to questions from the Minnesota South District regarding women
serving as executive director, president, assistant director, or vice
president of a congregation. That response, adopted by the CTCR in
April, also is cited in the 2004 convention action.

	"Scripture does not prohibit women who possess the requisite
gifts from holding these humanly established offices, assuming that the
occupants of these offices do not 'perform those functions that are
distinctive to the public exercise of the ministry of Word and
sacraments,'" the CTCR responded to Minnesota South's questions.

	Regarding the office of "elder," the CTCR's response refers to
its 1994 report. That report notes that in LCMS congregations, elders
historically "work closely with the pastor in his divinely assigned
responsibility to feed the whole congregation with the Word of God and
to watch over it for the sake of its spiritual welfare." In such
situations, the report says, "women may not serve in this office."

	The guidelines include a sample paragraph for the constitutions
of LCMS congregations that want to permit women to hold all offices
covered by the 2004 resolution, Res. 3-08A. The sample paragraph
suggests this wording:

	"Women who have reached the age of ______ may serve as officers
and as members of all boards and committees of this congregation which
do not call upon them to carry out the specific functions of the
pastoral office (preaching in or serving as the leader of the public
worship service, the public administration of the sacraments, the public
exercise of church discipline). Accordingly, a woman shall not serve as
pastor of this congregation or as ______."

	The age given in the first blank is to be at least the minimum
age required by state law for not-for-profit organizations, according to
the guidelines. The second blank is for a list of offices that carry out
"specific functions of the pastoral office as listed in this sample
paragraph."

	Nafzger said the guidelines simply pull together what the Synod
already has said about the service of women. They recommend that:

	* the term "elder" be reserved for the congregational office
assigned to assisting the pastor "in the public exercise of the
distinctive functions" of the pastoral office;

	* in the words of a 1989 Synod convention resolution, "to avoid
confusion regarding the office of the public ministry and to avoid
giving offense to the church," only lay men assist in distributing the
elements in the Lord's Supper; and

	* while there are situations in which it is desirable or
necessary for women to be in leadership position in the congregation,
"men be encouraged to continue to exercise leadership in their
congregations even as they are encouraged to exercise their God-given
leadership in a God-pleasing manner in their homes."

	The booklet containing the 1994 report and three appendices --
Res. 3-08A itself is the third appendix -- will be mailed to all LCMS
congregations and rostered LCMS church workers, Nafzger said.

	****************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

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