Sermon for 10/3/23: Southern Illinois District Pastors Conference

This was the sermon I preached for Matins yesterday at the Southern Illinois District Pastors Conference. I've been a pastor for over 23 years; this was the first time I've served in this capacity. Interesting sensation, to bring the Word to your peers. But I guess that's what I get for volunteering, for trying to get more involved in things that I had to say no to before. 

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

Faithful Preaching for the Narrow Gate
Matthew 7:15-22

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you’ve ever seen the Halloween special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” you may recall that Linus Van Pelt believes in the Great Pumpkin. On Halloween, as Linus believes, the Great Pumpkin rises from the pumpkin patch he deems to be “the most sincere,” and he flies around, bringing toys to all the good little boys and girls in the world. In hopes of luring the Great Pumpkin to his local pumpkin patch, Linus cries out, “Just look! Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see!” Linus may be sincere, but ultimately he is a false prophet: the Great Pumpkin does not exist, no matter how sincere Linus may be.

Our text is a firm warning for our parishioners to heed the voice of the Good Shepherd, to flee from false teachers, to refuse to partake of the bad fruit of their lies and deceit. I remind my congregations that it’s their job to keep me faithful, to test what I preach and teach against what our Lord says in His Word; and if I should preach contrary to the Word of God, it is their duty to point out my error to me and even to drive me out if I remain an unfaithful prophet. A false teacher may tell people what they want to hear, but false preaching is neither edifying nor fruitful for their salvation; false preaching is the wide path that leads to the inviting and beautifully-adorned gates of Hell.

In that way, this text is also a warning to us who are called to preach the Gospel that we must not be false teachers, that we must not tickle the ears of our hearers with pleasant but false teachings. We know that the Church is built on the solid rock of Peter’s faithful confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Naturally we all strive to be faithful to the Word of God, to the confession that Jesus is our Savior, as we preach and teach; in fact, we promise to do so with the help of God in our Ordination vows. We know we must answer before the righteous Judge on the Last Day for the souls placed in our care.

And yet…we know how sinful mankind measures success. We know that a church where the attendance is shrinking is seen as a failing congregation and the pastor of that shrinking congregation is viewed as a failure. There is a little false prophet whispering in your ear, trying to convince you that you could be a success, that you could have a growing congregation with a growing general fund, if only you would tone things down a bit. Perhaps the church would not shrink quite so quickly—or maybe even grow—if you would be a little less blunt in your preaching against sin. Oh, you can still preach against sin, but maybe be more generic; don’t call out sins by their names. The abortion industry, for example, is growing quickly here in Southern Illinois. With people flocking in by the trainload to murder their God-given children, maybe you could stop calling it murder. With cohabitation being the norm instead of the exception these days, maybe you could let it slide. Do you really need to preach against gossip when you know it will upset the group that meets in the parking lot after the Divine Service? Would it not possibly help the bottom line in your parish if you’d be a little more tolerant? “Lord, Lord, did we not make the attendance numbers rise in your name? Did we not increase the congregation’s budget in your name?”

That might be the case, but such preaching is negligent; it is not faithful to the Word of God. The truth of the matter is that the Gospel is an offense. Man may judge you by the size of your parish and the number of digits in your general fund, but our Lord does not judge the way man judges. The Lord knows well the difficulties presented by His teaching, but He never compromised the truth of what He said. On the contrary, Jesus at times said things that were so difficult to accept that He lost many of His followers. While that may have troubled His loving heart, it never moved Him to change what He said. He explained how the world would receive those who claim Christ as Master by faith: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” You must preach the offensive Gospel, even if it means your congregation doesn’t grow; even if it means your congregation shrinks or even closes; even if it means the Lord’s enemies cast you out. You cannot compromise for the sake of self-preservation. Bureaucracy exists to protect itself, but the Church exists so that people will die to sin and rise to new life in the waters of Holy Baptism. The Church exists so that sheep will walk through the narrow gate that leads to eternal life.

It is a difficult path. You enter the kingdom of God only by following Jesus through the narrow gate. The true prophets speak the Word of God; false prophets would pass off their own words as God’s Word. What is the Christian to do? Does God leave you to try and sort out all of this yourself, to distinguish the true from the false? St. Paul tells us, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” The Holy Spirit bears witness to you, so that you may cry out, “Lord, Lord!”—not in fear or doubt or deception, but in the boldness of faith.

Our Father in heaven does not forsake His children. He gives His Holy Spirit to you so you may know that you belong to Him, so that you may know that it’s truly the voice of Christ you hear and preach. He gives His Holy Spirit to you to keep you on the narrow way. He set you on that narrow path in Holy Baptism. But He does not leave you to take that path alone; Jesus walked that narrow road to His death for you so that, having been baptized into His death, you would also share in His life. He speaks His word of forgiveness to you when the temptation to compromise overtakes you. He gives you food in His own body and blood to sustain you for the difficult journey. On the Last Day, there will be no need to convince Jesus that you were faithful to Him, for Christ Himself will be your boast, your confidence, your certain entrance through the narrow gate. Covered by the Lamb Himself and bearing the good fruit of His cross, you have eternal life. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

Synod Convention 2023 in Review

I wanted to take a little time to let all the stuff sink in. I didn't want to write immediately, because the cynic in me would have gone out with guns blazing. I hope I have a little more perspective on the whole thing now. Here is what I'm sending to the congregations in my circuit.

___________________________________________________

August 31, 2023

Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

As the duly elected voting pastoral delegate of the Southern Illinois District’s Electoral Circuit 9 to the 68th Regular Convention of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, it is my duty to offer a summary of the convention to those who selected me. You can find a number of viewpoints concerning the events of July 29-August 3, including a fairly comprehensive report on the results through Synod’s newspaper, the Reporter. As you may recall from my 2016 report, I must admit that I'm a little cynical about church politics—maybe more than a little cynical about church politics—so that will likely color my view of what took place.

The election of the President of the LCMS took place electronically in the month of June, and at that time the Reverend Matthew Harrison was re-elected to his fifth term. I believe President Harrison was the best candidate available. He is both a gifted theologian and a responsible churchman. I don't always agree with his decisions, but that would be true even if, God forbid, I was the one making the decisions.

Elections took place throughout the convention. In Synodical elections, one votes based on the biographies provided by the candidates. If you're fortunate, you know some of the candidates personally. In some cases, you seek the opinions of those who have personal knowledge of the candidates. Concerning the candidates with whom I had personal knowledge, the ones elected were people I trust. As is the case with any other kind of election, one must pray for those elected and hope they serve with integrity under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

As far as the resolutions go, every convention has things that seem vital and things that seem like a huge waste of time. As a church body, we like happy news to fill the pages of the Reporter. Still, some of the resolutions had the potential to raise blood pressure, and it seemed from time to time like some delegates were playing parliamentary games to unduly slow the proceedings. But for the most part, the convention conducted its business at a deliberate pace and with a great deal of agreement in most matters.

Perhaps the most contentious matter brought before the convention was the attempt of the leaders of Concordia University Texas (CTX) to remove themselves from the authority of the LCMS. As I understand it, they don’t mind being aligned with the Texas District of the LCMS, but they don’t want to be under the direct authority of the LCMS as a whole. Whatever their motives, their actions are, in effect, an attempt to steal the Concordia University Texas name, reputation, and property which belong to the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The President of CTX spoke at the convention, and he apologized for causing offense, but neither he nor the others involved have repented of their actions. The Synod in convention voted to call these leaders to repentance and urge them to return CTX to its rightful authority. (Since the convention, these leaders of CTX have refused to seat the rightly elected Regents elected to the Board by the convention. This is not an act which demonstrates repentance.)

In the midst of our grief over the discord with CTX and the closing of a number of Concordia University System (CUS) schools—Bronxville (New York) and Portland since the last convention—the Presidents of the remaining Concordias (besides Texas) spoke of their desire to be “more faithful and more tightly tied to the church, her confession, her teaching.” This was the end result of over two years of monthly conversations with the Synod Board of Directors, the CUS board, and the Presidents and Boards of Regents for the various CUS schools regarding the relationship between the CUS schools and the LCMS.

We also addressed Church fellowship. With great joy, the LCMS recognized and declared altar and pulpit fellowship with five bodies: the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Sudan/Sudan, the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, the Lutheran Church of Uganda, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine, and the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sri Lanka. Declaring altar and pulpit fellowship means that the LCMS is in full doctrinal agreement with these bodies. On a more solemn note, we also recognized the severing of altar and pulpit fellowship with the Japan Lutheran Church, a body which has officially begun to Ordain women into the Office of the Holy Ministry in opposition to the clear Word of God.

We heard about the current and growing shortage of clergy available to fill vacant congregations along with the growing shortage of Church-trained teachers for our schools, and we were introduced to the Set Apart to Serve initiative to address these shortages by raising up young men and women from an early age to meet these needs. We discussed matters of ecclesiastical supervision, which determines how district presidents interact with the pastors and congregations under their care. We also addressed various social issues—race, sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy, mental illness, persecution against those who live their lives in Christ, among others—seeking to approach these matters in God-pleasing ways,

The worship opportunities were excellent. Pastor Sean Daenzer, the LCMS Director of Worship, put together a splendid collection of services to remind the delegates that “we preach Christ crucified” in the midst of all the politics and bureaucracy. 

The next convention is scheduled for 2026, and it will be held in Phoenix, Arizona. While I’m always happy to serve when selected, I hope you’ll select someone less sensitive to the extreme summer temperatures in Phoenix!

If you have any questions about the convention or how I voted, I will happily give an account. The peace of the Lord be with you.

Respectfully in Christ,

Rev. Alan Kornacki, Jr.
Voting Pastoral Delegate, SID Electoral Circuit 9

HYMN: How Pleasant and How Sweet

FINALLY a spark of inspiration has hit me after nearly 9 months without. It’s not my best work, I don’t think, and it’s only a first draft, but I would welcome your help in making it better.

I’m currently attending the 68th Regular Convention of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and the theme of this convention is “We Preach Christ Crucified.” I am not the biggest fan of the bureaucratic process, but I also acknowledge that this is how we as a body have chosen to walk together in a way that avoids anarchic chaos. Combining this convention’s theme with Psalm 133, this text has emerged.

Feedback is love.

How Pleasant and How Sweet

In honor of the 68th Regular Convention of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

1. How pleasant and how sweet 

To dwell in unity

As brothers joined in Christ, made one

For life eternally.

2. Anointed at the font,

Refreshed as with the dew,

We sing as one to praise our God

With anthems ever new.

3. Together we confess

Our faith in Him who died,

And as we gather, baptized saints,

We preach Christ crucified.

4. The day is coming soon:

Together we shall see

Our Savior, who has made us one,

For all eternity.

SM (66 86)

Suggested Tune: ST. MICHAEL (LSB 628)

Psalm 133; Life Together

PARODY: A collection of previously unreleased parodies

To apologize for not posting more lately, here's some parody fun for you.

Blest Be the Ties that Bind
(tune of "Blest Be the Tie that Binds")

1. Blest be the ties that bind
Our pastor's hands with "love".
He must commune my Druid aunt
Or we will make him move.

2. Can you believe? That man
Had the audacity
To say it's sin for my girlfriend
To share a bed with me.

3. Our children memorize
That Catechism stuff.
He wants to test them in the church
Though we say it's too tough.

4. At Grandma's burial,
He said that it would be
Wrong to let pagan Auntie Dell
Dance for fertility.

5. We rule with iron fists
With money and with fear.
We will make both him and his wife
Break down in anguished tears.

6. From his closed-minded ways
And meddling we'll be free.
The elders soon will force him out.
Who needs the Word? Not me.

Great Is My Faithfulness
(to the tune of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness")

1 Great is my faithfulness. Why do I bother
Going to church when I'm better? You see?
I sinneth not. Thy compassions, I need not.
But I will give Thee my advice for free.

Great is my faithfulness.
Great is my faithfulness.
Do you not wish all the Church was like me?
I have no need
For what God has provided.
Great is my faithfulness.
Way to go, me!

2 I like to grease all the wheels of church justice.
All the advice they need, I will provide.
I speak today; Pastor is gone tomorrow.
After all, I am the one who should guide.

Great is my faithfulness.
Great is my faithfulness.
Do you not wish all the Church was like me?
I have no need
For what God has provided.
Great is my faithfulness.
Way to go, me!

Just a Closer Walk to Pee
(tune of "Just a Closer Walk with Thee", of course)

(refrain) Just a closer walk to pee
Build a bathroom is my plea
Outhouses are gross to me
Let me pee, dear Lord, let me pee.

1. Some can hold it all day long
Lord, my bladder's not that strong
Peeing pants in church is wrong
Yet I long, dear Lord, long to pee.

2. As I climb the outhouse stairs
I cannot quite make it there
Thankfully I brought some spare
Panty pairs, knowing this just might be.

3. When the sermon's fin'lly o'er
I will run to pee once more
While the elders hold the door
I think they might just build one for me.

Called and Installed: A New Adventure

For my 700th blog post(!!!), I decided I'd go big—so big, in fact, that it takes a second church building and congregation for me to make it happen. Earlier in 2016, Pastor Mark Buetow, who had been serving at Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, Illinois, received a Call to serve a congregation a little ways outside Chicago. His acceptance of that call (the traitor! *wink*) led the members of the Bethel congregation to consider their future. And after much consideration, they decided to contact my congregation, St. Peter Lutheran Church in Campbell Hill, Illinois. The members of Bethel asked the members of St. Peter to consider joining them in a dual parish arrangement. This meant, among other things, that they would share me as their pastor.

In July, after more consideration and prayer, not to mention a number of meetings full of questions and compromises to hash out details, both congregations voted overwhelmingly to join together as a dual parish. For various reasons, the agreement would not take effect until January 1, 2017. However, I would serve Bethel as their vacancy pastor until that time. I would have to be officially Installed as the pastor of the dual parish, and, having already been Installed at St. Peter in May of 2010, we made the decision to have the dual parish Installation at Bethel. I asked to have it the weekend after Thanksgiving so my parents could attend, since they had already planned to come for Thanksgiving.

So we went ahead with the Installation on the 27th of November. The Reverend President Timothy Scharr of the Southern Illinois District officiated at the Installation. Pastor Kirk Clayton of Zion Lutheran Church in Mascoutah was the preacher, and his sermon brought together the names of the two congregations. (I can't post the text of his sermon, since he preaches from an outline, but you can download the audio of his sermon here.) Pastor Peter Ill of Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt was the liturgist. A number of area pastors participated in the laying-on/holy-hover-of-hands. And then, after the Installation, most of us drove from Bethel to St. Peter, where the ladies of both congregations (and a few men, for that matter) put together an impressive meal.

For many of the members, this was their first interaction with members of their new sister congregation. Everything I'd hoped for—love, cooperation, and a joyful spirit—came together on that day. Campbell Hill and Du Quoin may be about 25 miles apart, but the love of Christ has a way of bringing people together, no matter how far apart they may live and worship.

This will change things for all of us. Both congregations are used to having their own pastor; they now share me. Both congregations originally met for Divine Service at 10am; St. Peter now meets at 9am and Bethel at 10:45am. Bethel was used to having the pastor at their preschool every day; now he's only there two days each week. There are others. Many others. Our task going forward together is to do our best to make the arrangement work. I don't think that will be a problem.

And things have changed for the Kornacki family, too. After leaving North Dakota, I said I'd never serve a dual parish again. After writing a book which could be seen as critical of Synod, I also said I'd never receive another Call. If you want to make the Lord laugh, tell Him your plans or say "never." I'm once again taking care of two congregations, which means I have more shut-in and hospital visits, more meetings, more responsibilities, and more time away from my family. It also means I get to work with two youth groups, two church councils, two wonderful organists, and a bunch of preschool kids. I also have a second set of bookshelves, which means I can buy more books! We were able to purchase a new vehicle, which, honestly, we needed. The Lord continues to provide for my family, just as He continues to provide for the two congregations it is now my privilege to serve.

Thank you to everyone who made the day so special! I'll leave you with the picture of the pastors at my Installation. What a seedy-looking bunch of characters!

Left to right: Rev. Timothy Scharr, Rev. Peter Ill, Rev. Kirk Clayton, me, Rev. James Leistico, Rev. Chris Agne, Rev. Timothy Landskroener (also known as OP: Old Pastor), and Rev. Timothy Sims.

My Take on the 2016 LCMS Convention

I wanted to take a little time to let all the stuff sink in. I didn't want to write immediately, because the cynic in me would have gone out with guns blazing. I hope I have a little more perspective on the whole thing now. Here is what I'm sending to the congregations in my circuit.

 ________________________________

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As the duly elected voting pastoral delegate of the Southern Illinois District’s Circuit 9 to the 66th Regular Convention of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, I felt it was my duty to offer some sort of summary of the convention to those who selected me. Anyone who is interested can find a number of viewpoints concerning the events of July 9-14, including a fairly comprehensive report on the results through Synod’s newspaper, the Reporter; however, this is mine. Before I go on, I must admit that I'm a little cynical about church politics—maybe more than a little cynical about church politics—so that will likely color my views of what took place.

The election of the President of the LCMS took place electronically in the month of June, and at that time the Reverend Matthew Harrison was re-elected to his third term. I believe President Harrison was the best candidate of the three available. He is both a gifted theologian and a responsible churchman. I don't always like his choices in delegating authority, but one can only use the tools one has in the truck.

Elections took place throughout the convention. I don't know most of the people who were elected. The nature of Synodical elections is that you vote based on the biographies provided by the candidates. If you're fortunate, you know some of the candidates personally. In some cases, you seek out those who have personal knowledge of the candidates. I will say that, concerning the candidates with whom I had personal knowledge, the one who were elected were people I trust. In the cases of people with whom I had no personal knowledge, the people who were elected were mostly viewed favorably by people I trust. As is the case with any other kind of election, one must pray for those elected and hope they serve with integrity under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

As far as the resolutions go, it was the usual mixed bag that marks every convention. We did a lot of navel gazing. We did a lot of self-congratulation. We patted a lot of backs. We as a church body like to make ourselves feel good and put a positive spin on our life together. We as a church body like happy news to fill the pages of the Reporter and to make us look good in front of whatever secular media outlets choose to cover the convention. Some of the resolutions caused some contention, and there were times when it seemed like some delegates were playing parliamentary games to unduly slow the proceedings. But for the most part, the convention conducted its business at a deliberate pace and with a great deal of agreement in most matters.

As I said, the results are a mixed bag. On a positive note, resolution 13-02a undid a travesty that has made the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod a heterodox church body since 1989. At the Synod convention that year, the delegates passed a resolution which approved the licensing of “lay deacons,” laypeople who would handle the functions of the Office of the Holy Ministry. While the motives were good—providing care for congregations that weren't in a position to support a pastor in a traditional sense—that decision did not square with Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession. Resolution 13-02a gives those men serving as lay deacons an avenue to become Ordained, which legitimizes them and their work. This caused more contention than it should have, but the result balances compassion and faithfulness to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. This should have passed unanimously, but that speaks to the divisions within the LCMS.

Another important and positive bit of business was that Synod in convention voted with a 91% approval to allow the women of our church body to claim conscientious objector status concerning their conscription into military service and serving in combat roles. However, as the Reporter states, “The consciences of women who 'have carefully considered their station in life and Holy Scripture on this issue who wish to voluntarily serve in our nation’s military' are also protected by the measures of this resolution.” On a somewhat related note, the delegates voted nearly unanimously to “reaffirm LCMS military chaplains’ right for free exercise of religion in face of LGBT inclusion in Armed Forces.” We respect the right of our chaplains to serve according to their faith, and we stand behind them.

On a less positive note, one resolution which failed that would have affected most of our Circuit was resolution 11-07a, which would have allowed parishes with more than one congregation to have a lay delegate for each congregation in the parish at district conventions. This bylaw change needed a 2/3 majority to pass, and it only received 66.42% of the vote.

Perhaps the resolution that caused the most contention at the convention was 12-01, which was meant to allow the Synod President to act in ecclesiastical oversight when a District President doesn't act. There was heavy opposition from the district presidents and a vocal minority of the delegates, and this was where the delay and parliamentary games happened. Finally a substitute resolution (12-14) was offered, supported by both President Harrison and the unanimous consent of the district presidents, which would give the district presidents input before the Board of Directors scripted the language for new bylaws. As a cynic and as one who has been burned by both the actions and inactions of more than one district president, I was not impressed with the compromise, as it seems to allow the district presidents to say how they will be held accountable by their ecclesiastical overseer. Still, our own district president has demonstrated his trustworthiness to me. I can only hope the rest will prove theirs.

The worship opportunities were excellent. Pastor William Weedon, the LCMS Director of Worship, put together an excellent collection of services to remind the delegates of the “one thing needful” in the midst of all the politics and bureaucracy. 

If you have any questions about the convention or how I voted, I would be happy to give an account. The peace of the Lord be with you. 

Respectfully in Christ,

Rev. Alan Kornacki, Jr.

Circuit 9 Pastoral Voting Delegate

PARODY: LCMS the Beautiful

With the 2016 LCMS Synod Convention coming up next month, I needed to relieve some tension I feel over being a delegate. With all the reading if overtures and resolutions, biographies, and mail from lobbyists, it's really a lot to handle. And complaining about those things takes even more energy. Snark takes effort! Anyway, I vent in rhyme and verse, and I'm pretty sure this one is a doozy destined to go down in infamy! Here's the result: a parody to the tune of "America the Beautiful." Enjoy! Walther did. See that smile! *wink*

LCMS the Beautiful

O beautiful bureaucracy

O'er endless by-laws made 

For district presidents to be

The popes of lesser grade. 

L-C-M-S!

L-C-M-S!

The by-laws reign supreme!

Let's vote to chunk 

That Bible junk

And live the sinner's dream!

O beautiful for heresy

That long goes unaddressed;

For pastors who are cursed to be

Inactives long oppressed. 

L-C-M-S!

L-C-M-S!

Our DP's hands are clean. 

Let's vote to flush 

That doctrine mush

And drop AC 14. 

O beautiful, we tossed the cross

For syncretistic prayer

We prayed when facing tragic loss

To show the world we care. 

L-C-M-S!

L-C-M-S!

Let's show our charity!

Let's go and scrap

That Concord crap

To Satan's lasting glee. 

O beautiful! O God, please send

The Spirit. Make us wise

To keep your Word unto the end

Before our voting eyes. 

L-C-M-S!

L-C-M-S!

Have mercy, Lord, we pray,

And keep us straight 

As we debate

These six exhausting days. 

The LCMS Needs to Do Some Serious Thinking

Some talking head once said, "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." There is a grain of truth to this. But what this saying leaves out is that sometimes you actually do want to get what you've always gotten, and in that case you *should* do what you've always done. This is especially true of the Word of God. The New Testament is nearly two-thousand years old, and the Old Testament older still. Faithfulness to the Word of God has, by the grace of God, produced many blessings, including the eternal blessings of life and salvation. Setting aside that Word for the imaginations of our own hearts (as do many who call themselves "Christians" and even "Lutherans") will produce something else. And when those who sow have reaped what they have sown, they will not be able to blame Christ; He will have given them exactly what they wanted. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

CRM, Inactive Candidates, and the Resolution 3-10a Task Force

From October of 2005 through May of 2010, I was a pastor without a congregation to serve. If you’ve been along for the ride here on my blog, you know my story. I’ve written a book on the subject. I’ve presented on the subject for the ACELC. I won’t repeat my story yet again. However, you must know by now that I see this as a serious problem in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in convention thought it was a pretty serious problem too. The 2013 Convention passed a resolution to address the issue, asking the President of the Synod to form a task force. It finally looked like the problem would be addressed.

And then the task force met. I was not in the virtual meeting room (the task force met through conference calls), so I don’t know what was said or what any of its members were thinking. However, having seen their report, which is now on the LCMS website, I have some concerns.

I’m going to do my very best to give my first-look answer each of the recommendations made by the task force without violating the Eighth Commandment. God help me and forgive me where I fail…and I know I will, because my first response was very heated.

I also encourage you to read President Harrison's response to the report.

But before I get to the recommendations, I would answer two points the report made before the recommendations were offered. Quotations from the report are indented.

Addendum II to Task Force Membership: LCMS First Vice-President Rev. Dr. Herbert C. Mueller Jr. communicated to the task force that he received correspondence from a pastor on candidate status who expressed disappointment that someone who is, or has been, on candidate status was not appointed to the task force. Dr. Grimenstein provided clarification that he was on candidate status following his medical retirement from the United States Army as a military chaplain and has a fresh perspective of what it means to be on candidate status.

My response to Addendum II: As one of those who spoke to First Vice-President Mueller about the lack of Inactive Candidate representation on the Task Force, my point was not only that there should be members of the Task Force with first-hand experience with Inactive Candidate status—though there should have been more than one—but that the Task Force must also communicate with men who continuously endured said status for extensive periods of time. My knowledge of such men is not exhaustive, but even in my small circle, I’m acquainted with men who have spent eight years or more without a Call. None of the Inactive Candidate or former-Inactive Candidate pastors within my circle of acquaintance were consulted directly by any member of the task force. That doesn’t mean such consultations never happened with others. Still, if it happened, I’m surprised I didn’t hear of it, having been in contact with numerous Inactive Candidates and former-Inactive Candidates.

From the report: “A survey of questionnaires returned from District Presidents reveals…”

My response: The answers to the questionnaire are most likely based on a form called the “Explanation of Candidate Status Form,” a form the Candidate/Non-Candidate/Emeritus pastor must fill out. But what the pastor fills out must first be approved by the district president before it becomes official. I pretty much had to lie on my form before my district president would approve it. That makes the forms a questionable source of information, the data skewed by the bias of the very people who approve the answers to the questionnaire. Furthermore, collecting such information from District offices without contacting individual Inactive Candidates is akin to asking the spider to give information to help the fly stuck in a web. I wish more Inactive Candidates and former-Inactive Candidates would have been contacted directly, but I imagine the time such contacts would take might have seemed daunting.

Now for the Final Recommendations of the Task Force:

1. Military and institutional chaplains and returning missionaries should notify their respective district president as soon as possible when leaving their current call. Graduate students on candidate status should notify their district president of their date of availability for pastoral call. The district president will distribute a list of available chaplains, missionaries and graduate students (biannually – quarterly—as requested) among other district presidents and calling agencies where appropriate.

My response to Recommendation 1: Well done.

2. District presidents should guide pastoral candidates who are no longer qualified to be placed on call lists to explore another vocation.

My response to Recommendation 2: Clarification is needed. By what definition are these pastoral candidates “no longer qualified”?

3. Recommend a Synod-wide process that utilizes existing resources, such as Concordia Plan Services, Soldiers of the Cross and professional counseling, to assist and support candidates while they are in the midst of vocational discernment.

My response to Recommendation 3: Agreed...with the proviso that counseling is not used as a bludgeon against the Candidate. 

4. In circumstances where a pastor resigns as a result of conflict between the pastor and members of the congregation, the district president will provide pastoral care to the congregation and urge that issues be resolved prior to submitting a call list for future calls. The district president will ensure that the pastor and his family receive pastoral care.

My response to Recommendation 4: Clarification needed: “resolved” by what standard? How will the district president “ensure that the pastor and his family receive pastoral care”? How will he be held accountable?

5. Congregations are encouraged, where appropriate and feasible, to provide the opportunity for pastoral candidates to provide pastoral functions under a supervisor who is approved by the district president.

My response to Recommendation 5: Unless a supervisor is himself under discipline, this should not require approval from the district president.

6. Recommend to the Council of Presidents to discuss and clarify candidate and non-candidate status and time limits of candidate status.

My response to Recommendation 6: In my opinion, asking the district presidents to make clarification on this issue is asking the blacksmith to give an unbiased opinion regarding his favorite hammer.

Closing Statement: District presidents are encouraged to provide for the pastoral support of workers while on candidate status and provide periodic information that the candidate’s information has been shared with calling agencies (congregations, schools, Recognized Service Organizations).

My response to the Closing Statement: The words “are encouraged” should read “should be required”.

General response: The list of recommendations is inadequate: skewed toward the power of district presidents and lacking in adequate specifics for providing for the care, rehabilitation, and return to Called duty for Inactive Candidates.

That being said, I know that there will never be universal satisfaction with any report or recommendation. Whether or not I agree with their recommendations or the information they were given to form those recommendations, they put in a great deal of work, and I thank them for their efforts. I hope this report and any response to it will lead to further mercy shown to our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ.

ACELC Presentation

As you know by now if you are a regular reader of my blog, I wrote a book called Lutheran Purgatory: Pastors Without Calls. Late last year, I was asked by the Association of Confessing Evangelical Lutheran Congregations (ACELC for short) to present a summary of the first few chapters of my book at their annual free conference, which this year dealt with the topic of the Unbiblical Removal of Pastors. 

While they have not yet made available the transcripts of the presentations, the audio has already been posted online for all the presentations and sermons during the conference. To listen to my presentation, right-click here and save it to your computer. Or I suppose you could just click on the link to listen without saving it to your computer. As you can tell, I have a face for radio and a voice for newspaper. Anyhow, I hope you find my presentation and the others (which I highly recommend) to be edifying and useful.

When they post the transcripts, I will update this post.

PARODY: Blogged Assurance

After the recent exoneration of Dr. Matthew Becker, a blatant false teacher on the clergy roster of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, a collective roar of disapproval rose up from the Bible-believing people of the LCMS. The Southern Illinois District in Convention voted to urge Dr. Becker to repentance and to urge his district president to begin or continue doing his duty as Becker's ecclesiastical supervisor to bring the false teacher to repentance.

The Council of Presidents, seeing the uproar from the congregations and clergy of the LCMS, released a "Statement of Assurance" regarding their role as ecclesiastical overseers. 

Having seen the dark side of ecclesiastical oversight in my own experiences with certain district presidents and former district presidents, I don't find such assurances to be very reassuring. Their pleas to be mindful of the Eighth Commandment are heartfelt, I'm sure, though I've given up on receiving their aid in restoring my own reputation, which was heavily damaged with the help of at least one of their number. Anyway, as I read the statement, I found myself fighting the urge to make bold statements about its veracity and sincerity. I fought the urge and won, thankfully, but I could not defeat the urge to jest about the subject. With that in mind, here's my parody.

Blogged Assurance

(Parody to the tune of "Blessed Assurance")

1. Blog-ged assurance, statement divine!

The CoP says that everything's fine.

We're in agreement! We walk as one,

Sipping our Mai Tais in Southern sun.

(refrain) This is our statement! Hear what we say!

We lead the Synod! We're a-okay!

This is our statement! Hear what we say!

We lead the Synod! We're a-okay!

2. Blog-ged assurance! What we say goes!

Heretics teaching right under our nose

Can teach for decades, nothing to fear,

While faithful men get kicked in the rear. 

(refrain) This is our statement! Hear what we say!

We lead the Synod! We're a-okay!

This is our statement! Hear what we say!

We lead the Synod! We're a-okay!

3. Blog-ged assurance! What's all the fuss?

Better think twice before questioning us!

We here affirm the integrity

And oversight of the CoP. 

(refrain) This is our statement! Hear what we say!

We lead the Synod! We're a-okay!

This is our statement! Hear what we say!

We lead the Synod! We're a-okay!