45930 Divine Call CTCR final - The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

period to describe the whole process of election and ordination.” 26 When
these terms are laid alongside one another, a distinction may be discerned
between them but the distinction cannot be made into a hard and fast rule.
The “right of choosing”(jus eligendi) refers to the nomination and selection
of an individual. The “right of calling” (jus vocandi) designates the actual
request or call of the individual to serve. The “right of ordaining”(jus ordinand)
refers to the act by which one is placed into the public office of ministry.
27
The Right of Choosing (jus eligendi). With the coming of Luther’s
reforms new attention was paid to the teaching of the candidate, with the
result that some ecclesiastical constitutions prescribed lengthy examinations
for those who were about to be called to the pastoral office. The examination
certified the competence of candidates according to the apostolic
admonitions (tuchtige Personen of Tr 72). Together with the trial sermon, the
examination stressed the importance of the proclamation of the Gospel
that stood at the heart of the pastoral ministry. One is not to peddle personal
opinions but to proclaim the public message of the church. The
examination (examen pro candidatura) was for the office of the doctors/theologians.
Generally speaking the theological faculty carried it out. At other
times the superintendent had the responsibility for examination. Martin
Chemnitz also performed examinations in his role as superintendent. The
process culminating in examination most closely corresponds to what we
in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod call certification.
The Right of Calling (jus vocandi). The church calls properly qualified
men to the office. The call comes “from without,” that is, through the congregations
and structures to be served. In a sense, then, the call is a public
matter. The process of choosing does not necessarily refer to a democratic
type of procedure like an election by all qualified adults, male or female, in
a congregation. During the period of the Reformation, the call derived
from a church was effected through various means (councils, magistrates,
princes, those acting on behalf of the church). A superintendent or prince
would frequently nominate or choose someone for a congregation, or perhaps
a consistory of laymen would do this. The congregation may have
had little input, but it was not excluded. The sheep must approve the shepherd.
The church agendas of the day frequently mentioned the importance
of a congregation not having a pastor imposed upon them. They have a
26
Piepkorn, 114. In footnote 23 on this page Piepkorn cites Luther in a sermon of 1524:
“‘But we who already have ministries will recommend [others] into our ministry. . . . If . . .
we know a devout man, we take him out and by virtue of the Word that we possess we give
him the authority to proclaim the Word and to administer the sacraments. This is what it
means to ordain’ (WA 15, 721, 1-5).”
27
See Ap XIII. Gerhard Forde has a helpful discussion of what ordination involved and
meant over against a Roman Catholic understanding. See “The Ordained Ministry,” 128-35.
14