Concerned
members
of
our
congregations
have
been
asking
me
with
increasing
frequency,
“What
does
Concordia
Theological
Seminary,
Fort
Wayne
(CTSFW),
think
about
the
two
online
MDiv
programs
that
some
in
our
Lutheran
Church—Missouri
Synod
(LCMS)
have
been
promoting?”
Study
in
one
of
those
programs,
Luther
House
of
Study
(LHOS),
has
been
promoted
among
LCMS
members
by
Unite
Leadership
Collective
(ULC),
a
parachurch
organization
focused
on
developing
local,
congregational
leadership.
Meanwhile,
the
Center,
another
parachurch
organization
focused
on
outreach,
is
inviting
LCMS
members
to
study
at
the
Center
for
Missional
and
Pastoral
Leadership
(CMPL),
a
venture
under
the
umbrella
of
the
Institute
of
Lutheran
Theology
(ILT).
Students
in
these
programs
can
earn
the
Master
of
Divinity
(MDiv)
degree
through
online
coursework
and
practicums
in
their
home
congregations.
If
you
read
no
further,
it’s
important
to
know
the
following:
Graduates
from
neither
of
these
programs
may
be
ordained
or
installed
in
an
LCMS
congregation
or
ministry.
Neither
of
these
seminaries
is
owned,
operated,
authorized,
or
governed
by
the
LCMS.
Let
me
explain
why
that
matters.
The
Lord
Christ
has
called
His
church
to
faithfulness
in
the
things
of
God
(John
8:31),
to
love
toward
one
another
(John
13:35),
and
to
unity
in
His
mystical
Body,
the
Church
(John
17:20-21,
Ephesians
4:4-6).
This
unity
is
grounded
in
“continuing
steadfast
in
the
apostles’
teaching”
(Acts
2:42).
To
foster
that
unity,
the
LCMS
has
from
its
inception
owned
and
operated
two
seminaries,
CTSFW
and
Concordia
Seminary,
St.
Louis
(CSL).
They
are
the
only
two
seminaries
authorized
by
the
LCMS
to
prepare
and
examine
future
pastors
for
the
parishes
and
missions
of
our
Synod.
The
Synod
maintains—and
the
seminaries
gladly
accept—Synod
governance
so
that
they
may
be
held
to
account
for
their
fidelity
to
our
shared
doctrine
and
witness.
In
turn,
our
LCMS
ordains
into
the
ministry
only
those
men
whose
doctrine
and
life
have
been
formed
and
examined
by
them.
This
arrangement
has
proven
an
inestimable
blessing
for
the
LCMS.
I’ve
often
put
it
this
way:
If
your
pastor
confesses
and
teaches
and
believes
that
the
Son
of
God
really
was
conceived
by
the
Holy
Spirit,
was
born
of
the
Blessed
Virgin,
bore
your
sin
and
death,
put
them
to
death
in
His
own
death,
and
rose
again
bodily,
and
that
bodily
you
will
rise
on
the
Last
Day,
thank
God
for
our
seminaries.
If
your
pastor
believes,
teaches,
and
confesses
that
you
are
justified
by
faith
alone
in
Christ
alone,
without
any
decision
on
your
part
or
merit
or
worthiness
in
you,
thank
God
for
our
seminaries.
If
your
pastor
believes,
teaches,
and
confesses
that
the
Bible
is
the
inspired,
inerrant
Word
of
God,
thank
God
for
our
seminaries.
If
your
pastor
believes,
teaches,
and
confesses
that
the
host
is
the
Body
and
the
wine
the
Blood
of
Christ,
and
that
they
should
not
be
administered
to
those
with
whom
we
disagree
in
doctrine,
thank
God
for
our
seminaries.
If
your
pastor
pronounces
the
Absolution
with
the
scriptural
conviction
that
this
Absolution
forgives
your
sins,
thank
God
for
our
seminaries.
Such
things
are
hardly
luxuries.
They
are
eternal
life
and
eternal
salvation.
It
is
telling
that
both
LHOS
and
CMPL
stand
and
wish
to
stand
outside
of
our
long-established
and
beneficial
Synod
governance.
They
simply
do
not
have
the
same
responsibility
or
accountability
to
the
Synod.
CMPL
faculty
and
advocates
of
LHOS
voice
concerns
about
the
dearth
of
LCMS
pastors
yet
steer
potential
pastors
away
from
the
two
LCMS
seminaries
and
gladly
receive
tuition
from
LCMS
men
for
an
MDiv
that
cannot
lead
to
LCMS
ordination;
decry
the
cost
of
seminary
attendance,
even
as
the
two
LCMS
seminaries
offer
a
tuition-free
MDiv;
characterize
moving
to
seminary
as
an
insurmountable
hurdle,
even
as
“no
one
who
puts
his
hand
to
the
plow
and
looks
back
is
fit
for
service
in
the
kingdom
of
God”
(Luke
9:62),
and
movement
is
an
inconvenience
that
a
healthy
ministerium
must
simply
accept;
champion
the
effectiveness
of
online
education,
even
as
the
experience
of
COVID
exposed
its
weaknesses
and
limitations;
insist
that
they
are
only
raising
up
“leaders,”
not
pastors,
but
steer
students
into
a
professional
degree
intended
to
lead
to
ordained
pastoral
ministry
and,
in
the
case
of
CMPL,
present
themselves
as
the
Center
for
Missional
and
Pastoral
Leadership;
maintain
that
the
micro-context
of
a
single
parish,
often
the
student’s
only
experience
with
Lutheranism,
can
provide
the
theological
and
pastoral
depth
that
our
seminaries’
students
gain
from
experience
in
their
own
congregation,
their
fieldwork
congregation,
and
their
vicarage
congregation,
and
from
a
CTSFW
faculty
with
over
230
years
of
cumulative
pastoral
experience
and
over
500
cumulative
years
of
forming
pastors;
wish
you
to
believe
that
their
graduates’
Lutheran
bona
fides
can
be
achieved
by
a
liberal
Lutheran
faculty
(LHOS)
and
an
LCMS
faculty
that
has
willingly
opted
against
LCMS
governance
(CMPL).
Some
have
suggested
that
the
residential
MDiv
education
and
formation
offered
by
CTSFW
and
CSL
should
be
regarded
as
“the
gold
standard,”
leaving
the
online
MDiv
programs
as
an
acceptable—albeit
silver
or
bronze—standard.
The
history
of
our
LCMS
tells
a
different
story:
residential
MDiv
education
and
formation
is
simply
the
standard—it
always
has
been.
But
because
of
that,
it’s
easy
for
the
CMPL
faculty
and
advocates
for
LHOS
to
claim
otherwise.
The
fact
is,
the
vast
majority
of
LCMS
Lutherans
really
know
nothing
but
the
teaching
and
sacramental
administration
of
pastors
residentially
educated
and
formed
at
CTSFW
and
CSL.
When
CTSFW
pastors
“make
it
look
easy”
that’s
exactly
what
they’re
doing:
making
it
look
easy.
Their
deftness
in
handling
the
Word
of
God
and
applying
it
faithfully
is
based
on
hundreds
of
hours
of
formal
study
of
God’s
Word,
our
Lutheran
Confessions,
Christian
dogma,
the
history
of
the
Church,
and
pastoral
theology.
They’ve
been
steeped
in
Lutheran
liturgy
and
hymns.
During
seminary
they’ve
taken
in
over
600
sermons.
And
they’ve
learned
from
expert
pastors
at
their
home
churches,
fieldwork
congregations,
and
vicarage
congregations
how
to
apply
the
Word
of
God
to
different
situations
in
the
same
place
and
to
the
same
situation
in
different
places
in
faithfulness
toward
God
and
in
love
toward
the
people.
That’s
because,
by
the
grace
of
God,
our
LCMS
seminaries
know
what
we’re
doing.
We’ve
been
doing
it—and
doing
it
exceedingly
well—for
nearly
180
years.
Our
seminaries
are
a
“luxury”
our
church
can’t
do
without.
So,
if
you’d
like
an
LCMS
pastor
in
your
LCMS
church
today
and
twenty
years
down
the
road,
support
our
seminaries
with
your
prayers
and
financial
resources.
If
you
prize
the
unity
of
love
and
doctrine
in
our
LCMS,
treasure
our
seminaries.
And
if
you’re
moved
to
serve
the
church
as
a
pastor,
contact
us
at
CTSFW.
The
fields
are
white
for
harvest (John
4:35).
I
know
that
as
I
write
all
this,
I
echo
the
studied
perspective
of
my
good
friend
and
colleague
at
CSL,
President
Tom
Egger,
and
invite
you
to
take
a
moment
to
read
his
statement
on
this
matter.
Meanwhile,
hold
fast
to
Christ;
and
may
the
good
and
gracious
Father
of
our
Lord
Jesus
Christ,
who
raised
Him
from
the
dead,
guard
and
keep
you
by
the
power
of
His
Spirit
in
the
one,
true
faith.
Amen!
+
pax
domini
+
J.
S.
Bruss
President,
Concordia
Theological
Seminary,
Fort
Wayne
About
Concordia
Theological
Seminary,
Fort
Wayne
Founded
in
1846,
Concordia
Theological
Seminary,
Fort
Wayne,
forms
servants
of
Jesus
Christ
in
a
vibrant,
Christ-centered
theological
community
that
engages
and
resources
the
church
and
the
world,
domestically
and
internationally,
with
distinctively
Lutheran
teaching,
practice,
and
worship.
To
learn
more,
visit
ctsfw.edu.
