Pastors and divorce

I have a Catholic friend who raised this question to me: I have searched Q&A and have not found a specific answer to her question. Could you please write me a response based on God's Word about this that I can share with her? "Can a minister be divorced and still be a minister in your (WELS) church? Or remarry and be a minister?" Thanks so much.

A divorce would not necessarily and automatically disqualify a man from the pastoral ministry. There are a number of unknown factors with your question. What were the circumstances of the divorce? Was the pastor’s wife unfaithful to him (Matthew 19:1-9), or did she desert him (1 Corinthians 7:15)? Was the pastor guilty of unfaithfulness or desertion?

There can certainly be circumstances whereby a pastor disqualifies himself from the public ministry through a divorce. There can be other circumstances whereby a pastor is not guilty of sin in his divorce, but it might be best for the gospel ministry if he resigned from that particular call—whether or not he seeks to remarry. There can be additional circumstances whereby a wife divorces her husband, a pastor, and the pastor remarries and continues serving in the public ministry.

Again, different factors like these prevent giving a simple “yes” or “no” answer to your question.