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.

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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

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.

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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

A New Twist on Homosexual Marriage: Conscience Equals Discrimination

Gay Marriage Bill Falls Short in New Hampshire House

The link above will take you to the news story from the Washington Post, but the gist of it is that a bill came before the New Hampshire House of Representatives to legalize "gay marriage". The bill failed by a margin of two votes. Apparently the reason the bill failed was that the governor wanted a conscience clause added so that religious leaders could refuse to marry homosexuals on the grounds of religious conscience, and this was unacceptable to some because it would legalize discrimination. In other words, conscience equals hatred.

This is the way they fight the battle. It doesn't matter why a person does not approve of gay marriage. If a person disapproves, they're automatically homophobes and "gay-bashers". This is the kind of "tolerance" we're allowed to have these days.

When this becomes law anywhere I live--and I'm sure it will--I will no longer perform weddings at all.

What I figured out this evening

I watched Dave Letterman this evening, and his guest was Bill O'Reilly. Their discussion gave me food for thought. I used to watch Letterman every night when I was in high school and through my first couple years of college. Nowadays I watch The Factor with Bill O'Reilly.

I think the difference is that I've grown up and I've started thinking for myself. Letterman used to be good enough for me. I just wanted to be entertained. Now I like my entertainment to have some substance to it.

Strange Days

Well, today is the day. I joke about President-Elect (or maybe by the time I post this it will just be "President") Obama being the Second Coming of Christ, and even today I joked about him parting or walking on the waters of the Reflection Pool in Washington DC on his way to the inauguration. I don't take talk of Barack Obama being the new Messiah as seriously as some of my Democrat associations do. However, I do hope he succeeds as President, if for no other reason than that I'm selfish. I don't want our economy to complete its downward spiral by completely crashing--and yes, I know we're on our way there, anyway. I don't want us to be the target of numerous terrorist attacks. I don't want the United States to become weak militarily. I hope President Obama overcomes his lack of experience. More than that, I hope he overcomes his lack of respect for life, especially that of the pre-born. He has a lot to prove. A lot of people put a lot of faith in him, and for the sake of our nation (and for my own sake), I hope he doesn't disappoint. So yes, today is a great day. The election process of our democratic republic has succeeded yet again, and we have brought to office another President of the United States of America, a Commander-in-Chief for our Armed Forces, a Chief Executive. Though I will treat him with a lot more respect than President Bush ever received from his detractors, don't expect me to be excited about the man we as a nation picked. After all, I voted for the other guy. However, congratulations, President Obama. You will be in my prayers.

As he leaves office, I would like to thank President Bush for his service to our nation. Less than a year into his presidency he faced the greatest test any of our elected officials has ever had to take, and he passed. He took a nation at its lowest point and gave us hope and confidence that we could overcome. It has been 2,689 days since we've faced a terrorist attack on domestic American soil, and much of that is thanks to the fact that President Bush had the chutzpah to make the difficult decision to send our fighting men and women to the Middle East to seek our terrorists where they were instead of waiting for them to come to us. Yes, the economy has taken a nosedive on his watch, but there is plenty of blame to be shared, especially with Clinton who pushed for mortgages to be given to people who could not repay them. I was very proud to call President Bush "my President". I'm one of the 29%. And even if I weren't, I would have spoken of and treated him with a lot more respect than he received from the media and a majority of our nation.

On a much happier note, this past Sunday my wife became a Lutheran, and we were able to receive Holy Communion together for the first time. I am very proud of my wife. After the way she was treated by those who called themselves Lutherans at my last congregation, Faith would have had every right to tell me, "I'm sorry, dear, but if that's the way Lutherans act, there's no way I will ever become one." I wouldn't have forced her to become a Lutheran under any circumstances. She made the choice herself, and I am very happy to have a Lutheran wife.