Traditional Lutheran elected Missouri Synod president!
The church body in which I was baptized and confirmed took a major step toward becoming "your grandfather's Missouri Synod" again today.
The Reverend Matt Harrison, a confessional Lutheran, has been elected as the president of what was once a traditional Lutheran denomination, and which may soon be one again.
Harrison, who has served as the executive director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care since 2001, received 643 percent votes, or 54 percent, on the first ballot this afternoon. Incumbent President Gerald B. Kieschnick received 527 votes, or 45 percent. The Rev. Herbert C. Mueller Jr was elected First Vice President, receiving 631 votes, or 53 percent, to 339 votes, or 28 percent, for incumbent Dr. William Diekelman.
In 2001, following the death of confessional President Alvin Barry, Texas District President Kieschnick was narrowly and unexpectedly elected president to head the denomination, "sneaking in" between two confessional candidates some of whose supporters had been engaged in nasty intramural infighting. Kieschnick- the candidate of groups called "Daystar" and "Jesus First," dedicated to making the LCMS more of a mainstream "Evangelical" denomination in one hand and a more ecumenical, less confessionally Lutheran denomination on the other- made the celebrated comment that "this is not your grandfather's Missouri Synod" shortly after his election. Denying in a radio interview that Lutherans believed in baptismal regeneration, he also supported the decision by Atlantic District President Dr. David Benhke to lead a group of assorted Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and other worshipers of various and sundry deities in prayer at an joint service held at Yankee Stadium in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. His supporters maintained that this was acceptable because it was an exceptional situation, and because Behnke added "in Jesus' precious name" at the end of his prayer. The resulting controversy led to the ouster of Lutheran Hour Speaker Wallace Schultz, who as First Vice President of the Synod was the highest ranking officer not involved in the decision, and thus placed in the position of disciplining Behnke. Schulz's suspension of Behnke was ultimately overturned.
Kieschnick presided over a period of decline for the Missouri Synod, despite claims by his supporters that endorsement of Baptist-style "contemporary worship" and the theologically un-Lutheran Ablaze! "movement" or program (which downplayed Lutheran teaching that people are brought to Christ through the Word and the Sacraments and emphasized human marketing programs and other efforts more in keeping with Reformed "Evangelical" theology), would make the Missouri Synod more accessible to mainstream Americans and reverse previous membership losses. Denying the fact that open communion,- a practice contrary both to traditional Lutheran and official Missouri teaching- was being widely practiced in the LCMS, President Kieschnick frustrated confessional Lutherans who protested the practice.
I was baptized and confirmed at Grace Lutheran Church at 28th Street and Karlov Avenue in Chicago. My family joined the LCMS when I was ten years old, and my sister and I graduated from Grace's parochial school. I eventually left because, although I could not have articulated this at the time, already then I had a sense that Missouri was becoming more and more an"evangelical" denomination with a high view of the Sacraments rather than a theologically solid Lutheran communion rooted in the Word of God. In retrospect, widespread difficulty among LCMS pastors and teachers in distinguishing between Law and Gospel also led to my increasing sense of alienation from Missouri.
When I went to seminary, it was to an institution of The American Lutheran Church, Wartburg in Dubuque. Regrettably, the theology I found there- while less inclined to the legalistic tendencies I'd encountered in Missouri- was even less Lutheran, if judged by the theology of the Confessions and Luther himself. I soon discovered that I had little in common theologically with most of my collegues in the ministerium of first The ALC and then the ELCA, and that the laity had an even stronger bent toward Pietism and Reformed-style "evangelical" legalism than I'd encountered in the LCMS .
I rejoined Missouri after leaving the ELCA. I was married in a Missouri congregation where, with the District President's approval, I later served as a supply preacher. I belonged to that congregation and a second one in a neighboring district from then until I accepted a call to become pastor of Saint Mary Evangelical Lutheran Church, an independent confessional congregation in Des Moines.
While a member of that second LCMS congregation I had begun the colloquy process to become a member of the LCMS ministerium. While I was approved, for a variety of reasons- some financial- I did not pursue the matter further. I don't know whether I will nor not at this point; after all, there isn't much call, or many calls, for sixty year-old pastors. But having asked for and received a release from my call at Saint Mary in April, the election of Rev. Harrison as LCMS president gives me a clear sense that I have a home to which I can now return.
Whether as a pastor or, more likely, as a layman, I'm returning to Missouri. My own grandfather wasn't even a Lutheran. But once again, I have reason to hope that even if it's not my grandfather's Missouri Synod, the LCMS may once again be mine.
ACL Conference with Pastor Matt Harrison from Norm Fisher on Vimeo.
ACL Conference with Pastor Matt Harrison, Part 2 from Norm Fisher on Vimeo.
HT: LCMS Reporter On Line
The Reverend Matt Harrison, a confessional Lutheran, has been elected as the president of what was once a traditional Lutheran denomination, and which may soon be one again.
Harrison, who has served as the executive director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care since 2001, received 643 percent votes, or 54 percent, on the first ballot this afternoon. Incumbent President Gerald B. Kieschnick received 527 votes, or 45 percent. The Rev. Herbert C. Mueller Jr was elected First Vice President, receiving 631 votes, or 53 percent, to 339 votes, or 28 percent, for incumbent Dr. William Diekelman.
In 2001, following the death of confessional President Alvin Barry, Texas District President Kieschnick was narrowly and unexpectedly elected president to head the denomination, "sneaking in" between two confessional candidates some of whose supporters had been engaged in nasty intramural infighting. Kieschnick- the candidate of groups called "Daystar" and "Jesus First," dedicated to making the LCMS more of a mainstream "Evangelical" denomination in one hand and a more ecumenical, less confessionally Lutheran denomination on the other- made the celebrated comment that "this is not your grandfather's Missouri Synod" shortly after his election. Denying in a radio interview that Lutherans believed in baptismal regeneration, he also supported the decision by Atlantic District President Dr. David Benhke to lead a group of assorted Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and other worshipers of various and sundry deities in prayer at an joint service held at Yankee Stadium in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. His supporters maintained that this was acceptable because it was an exceptional situation, and because Behnke added "in Jesus' precious name" at the end of his prayer. The resulting controversy led to the ouster of Lutheran Hour Speaker Wallace Schultz, who as First Vice President of the Synod was the highest ranking officer not involved in the decision, and thus placed in the position of disciplining Behnke. Schulz's suspension of Behnke was ultimately overturned.
Kieschnick presided over a period of decline for the Missouri Synod, despite claims by his supporters that endorsement of Baptist-style "contemporary worship" and the theologically un-Lutheran Ablaze! "movement" or program (which downplayed Lutheran teaching that people are brought to Christ through the Word and the Sacraments and emphasized human marketing programs and other efforts more in keeping with Reformed "Evangelical" theology), would make the Missouri Synod more accessible to mainstream Americans and reverse previous membership losses. Denying the fact that open communion,- a practice contrary both to traditional Lutheran and official Missouri teaching- was being widely practiced in the LCMS, President Kieschnick frustrated confessional Lutherans who protested the practice.
I was baptized and confirmed at Grace Lutheran Church at 28th Street and Karlov Avenue in Chicago. My family joined the LCMS when I was ten years old, and my sister and I graduated from Grace's parochial school. I eventually left because, although I could not have articulated this at the time, already then I had a sense that Missouri was becoming more and more an"evangelical" denomination with a high view of the Sacraments rather than a theologically solid Lutheran communion rooted in the Word of God. In retrospect, widespread difficulty among LCMS pastors and teachers in distinguishing between Law and Gospel also led to my increasing sense of alienation from Missouri.
When I went to seminary, it was to an institution of The American Lutheran Church, Wartburg in Dubuque. Regrettably, the theology I found there- while less inclined to the legalistic tendencies I'd encountered in Missouri- was even less Lutheran, if judged by the theology of the Confessions and Luther himself. I soon discovered that I had little in common theologically with most of my collegues in the ministerium of first The ALC and then the ELCA, and that the laity had an even stronger bent toward Pietism and Reformed-style "evangelical" legalism than I'd encountered in the LCMS .
I rejoined Missouri after leaving the ELCA. I was married in a Missouri congregation where, with the District President's approval, I later served as a supply preacher. I belonged to that congregation and a second one in a neighboring district from then until I accepted a call to become pastor of Saint Mary Evangelical Lutheran Church, an independent confessional congregation in Des Moines.
While a member of that second LCMS congregation I had begun the colloquy process to become a member of the LCMS ministerium. While I was approved, for a variety of reasons- some financial- I did not pursue the matter further. I don't know whether I will nor not at this point; after all, there isn't much call, or many calls, for sixty year-old pastors. But having asked for and received a release from my call at Saint Mary in April, the election of Rev. Harrison as LCMS president gives me a clear sense that I have a home to which I can now return.
Whether as a pastor or, more likely, as a layman, I'm returning to Missouri. My own grandfather wasn't even a Lutheran. But once again, I have reason to hope that even if it's not my grandfather's Missouri Synod, the LCMS may once again be mine.
ACL Conference with Pastor Matt Harrison from Norm Fisher on Vimeo.
ACL Conference with Pastor Matt Harrison, Part 2 from Norm Fisher on Vimeo.
HT: LCMS Reporter On Line
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