No. 58. >> Tell me about the roles of those who are commissioned ministers. I'm thinking of DCEs, church musicians, teachers and the like. How do they serve the church? How does their work relate to that of the pastor? >>DR. KLAUS DETLEV SCHULZ: Yes, Josh, the roles of such offices as you have just mentioned are described differently as those of a pastor. Or let me call it they have different functions to perform as that of a pastor. As I have said before, the function of a pastor is one to forgive sins, to stand publicly before the congregation and to proclaim God's Word and to administer the sacraments for them. I would like to see the functions of a pastor, therefore, in the context of a worship life, if you will. And also in a sense of being clothed with an authority to forgive sins on behalf of all others. So if we look at the auxiliary offices, those that have been commissioned by the Synod, then I would say in terms of functions, they perform something different. Something that works outside the realm of the worship life, if you will. But they nonetheless perform a very important function to serve the church, to build it up as Ephesians 12 would say. To edify it. And to lead the church to eternal life. In other words, we need to appreciate the offices that are considered auxiliary. And therefore, the Synod commissions them into those offices. And sees these binding for them for wherever they go, whatever locality, and if they are called to another congregation, they are reserved in that position by not being recommissioned. By actually being called into it. However, since we have two different functions being performed, that by the pastor and those various functions of those in the auxiliary positions, we need to say that the call is of somewhat a different quality here. I might say that Jesus called Peter and the apostles for a specific purpose. He also called others. But it means that these calls extended to the ministry of public preaching and teaching are something of a different quality. And therefore, the Synod has chosen not the word ordination. But commission. And that distinction I think needs to be maintained. And that distinction, also, relates to authority, as I've said. I do not consider commissioned teachers of being clothed with the same authority over God's Word, over dispensing public sin -- the forgiveness of the public sinners. So we have to have a clear alignment of duties that all together serve the church. I have one reservation over the word lay minister. Because I would like to say that it somehow seems to infringe on the rights of ordained ministry without giving them the opportunity to be ordained. It is crucial, I believe, that the church needs to see those that are in some ways actually relating to the worshiping life and are performing pastoral functions and are not considered ordained, that the church should do so immediately and see to it that these are instated into the pastoral ministry through call and ordination. We need not resort here to a pragmatism. But we need to see it as an important component of our church's life. And an authority imprinted on us that we have to do so because the Lord wants us to follow proper order in the life of the church. Now, order does not only mean that we decide what order to choose. As I have said before, Augsburg Confession XIV tells us that we are given something that the Lord has given us. It is instituted by him. So whatever we say about this or that thing, we need to always be accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ about what we do. But let me make very clear here that those functions that are performed by the auxiliary offices, those commissioned teachers, those DCEs, DCOs, they are all absolutely crucial for the life of the church. I sometimes would like to have the DCE be called a catechist. Because he does serve the education sector of the church. The DCOs, perhaps, who organize things could be called deacons. So we have usually a modernized version of all Ecclesiastical auxiliary offices. And in some ways I would perhaps out of traditional reasons prefer us to go back and return to those functions that the church had always used. I am glad to see that we have the office of the deaconess again put in place. For it is so crucial that the life of the church is devoted to mercy acts. To perform those on people who are in great need. It has great missionary potential, as well. Internationally speaking, we look at churches around the world that are in great need, especially Africa with the problems of AIDS, of poverty and of wars. And I would personally like to see that we put in place a missionary office, such as a missionary deacon or deaconess that enables us to pursue human care in a deliberate way for people around the world who are in great need. If you would like to be given greater clarity on the status of auxiliary offices, I advise you to read the CTCR statement of 1981 on the ministry of the church. For therein there is given to us a definition of what it means to be put in the auxiliary office. And I would like to explain this a little more had in regards to the qualification and the process that is needed to put somebody in that position. It is done with careful scrutiny. And it is done very, very carefully in terms of selecting individuals for that position. Just like we have explained that the office of the ministry carefully evaluates people, trains them and then also ordains them into that office, so, also, the positions in auxiliary offices are not being put in place at pure random. A selection process is needed. Education is there. And also the proper commissioning. So that everything is done in good order. And that the Missouri Synod can be proud of those people that find themselves in such auxiliary offices. Because they have been considered as perfectly qualified for that position.