The Pastoral Formation Debate: Fear, Faith, and the Future of the Church

The LCMS currents are shifting related to the topic of theological education and pastoral formation. Here is the short(ish) story. 

I’ve spoken and written about the need for more adaptive pastoral formation pathways for quite a while. I’ve prayed that leaders would want to honestly listen, as I listened to them, regarding a plan that could both serve churches of all sizes and aid residential seminary enrollment. 

Our congregation then ran a test with Kairos University and the Luther House of Studies to raise up more local leaders who could, in time, serve in pastoral leadership roles to accomplish our multi-site vision. Four students have completed their MDiv training, another will graduate in the next two months, and several more are on track to finish in the next year. They have all loved their learning journey, and the ways they have served (and will continue to serve) in local congregational and community ministry. We are grateful for this partnership with Kairos and Luther House. 

Yet, our ultimate hope was a partnership with one (or both) of our LCMS seminaries. Change SMP to an online MDiv. Make it affordable and contextual. We’ll send our young leaders who have gone “through the system” for residential training (just as I did). Older leaders (we could debate what “older means) - established in their vocations and faith communities - can take the online MDiv.

No distinction between pastors. All could be general ordination pastors with all the rights and privileges of voting members of the LCMS. 

We hoped to gain a legitimate hearing with members of the Pastoral Formation Committee. In my multiple meetings with seminary presidents over the years, it was very evident that the above-stated plan was threatening. They feared it would hurt residential seminary enrollment. They feared the learning experience would be decreased. I tried - unsuccessfully, it would appear - to kindly and consistently assuage these fears. 

We have never spoken with leaders in LCMS offices. We have tried to set up meetings with LCMS leadership, but have been unsuccessful—too many declinations for the conversation to count. 

It saddens me that more LCMS leaders don’t, at the very least, want to deeply hear the story and observe the impact raising up local leaders is having on our congregation. The Holy Spirit is alive. Profoundly biblical and Lutheran teaching is being shared. It is a lot of fun. 

Fast forward to last spring. We had our first male graduate. We celebrated him - we did not ordain him. The church is excited about his ongoing ministry. A member kindly made him a stole. A photo was taken and shared on social media. It looked like we ordained him - again, we did not. 

Because of this controversy, I was counseled by my wonderful District President, Rev. Dr. Mike Gibson, to stop talking about pastoral formation on our ULC podcasts. I was counseled to apologize for giving the appearance that we ordained him. (You can see that public apology here) I was counseled to pursue the formal Dissent process as outlined in the LCMS bylaws. This is the path we began to pursue, while staying silent on the topic online. 

Some even accused us of going against the doctrine of the LCMS by training students in a non-LCMS-approved program. Going outside of the bylaws was similar to going against doctrine.

This was puzzling. Can’t bylaws change? They change in the local church all the time to meet the needs of the congregation, reaching their city with the Gospel. Doesn’t it work the same in the LCMS? I know it does. For example, we’ve not always had the SMP pastoral training program. Bylaws changed to accommodate this program. 

I posit they need to change again. 

In the midst of asking these questions, I was told by my District President that after conversation with the Secretary of the LCMS, Rev. John Sias, that the debate over pastoral formation was not a doctrinal issue. We wish someone had made this clear sooner. Better late than never. 

This means two things:

1. We are not hosting a Formal Dissent Gathering of Peers.. We will not be submitting a formal report to CTCR for review. Instead, we have been counseled to have a Koinonia Gathering on January 7-8, 2026 at Faith Lutheran Church in Las Vegas. We hope people on all “sides” of this dialogue can join us. We will meet as brothers and sisters in Christ in the spirit of the church in Acts 15. Registration details will be coming out soon!

   
   

2. Since pastoral formation is not a matter of doctrine, I can start talking about it again. Our podcasts are open forums for people with diverse backgrounds and opinions on this topic and many others. I was well aware that many others - on all “sides” - spoke into the topic publicly during our silence. I was grateful to see the church talking. I am optimistic our Koinonia gathering will be a wonderful gathering for ongoing conversation. 

Finally, what is next? 

We are praying that the Pastoral Formation Committee will observe what God is doing through two programs currently not recognized by the LCMS - the Luther House of Study (LHOS) and the Center for Missional and Pastoral Leadership (CMPL). LHOS has over 40 LCMS students, while CMPL just began its first semester of training with 25 LCMS students enrolled. 

If over 65 LCMS students take these classes when the LCMS does not recognize them, imagine if online, affordable, and contextual training were formally supported by the LCMS? How many empty pulpits could we fill? How many more people would hear the Gospel? How many more laymen would raise their hands and say, “Please give me theological education in my local context so I can serve my congregation and community with Word and Sacrament!”