Why Were
Long-time Legal Counsel
and Long-time Editor
Released?
By Jon J.
Coyne
At
its February 24-25 meeting the Board of Directors of the LCMS
voted by 8 to 7 to release long-time Synod legal counsel The
Stolnar Partnership headed by Leonard Pranschke and to retain
Thomas Colburn LLP. No explanation was given.
At
its March 11 meeting the Board for Communication Services
voted to release long-time editor of The Lutheran Witness and
Reporter Rev. David Mahsman.
Yes,
they could do that. But
should they have done so?
We
Can, But Should We?
There are two types of questions leaders face: those starting
with the words “Can we…?” and those starting with the
words “Should we…?”.
Questions that ask,“Can we…?” are based on the
law, and therefore are relatively easy to answer.
Answering just this question rarely provides the moral
insights necessary to make good decisions. In churches,
answering questions of “Should we…?” ought to reflect an
inherent Gospel-centeredness that requires greater care. These questions are more difficult to answer and should draw
on important moral insights that make a decision good.
The
Facts–“Can we…?”
The
LCMS Board of Directors (BOD) has the authority to choose the
legal counsel for the LCMS. Therefore, they had the authority
to release legal counselor Leonard Pranschke. The BOD appoints
the majority of the members on the Board for Communication
Services (BCS). The BCS has the authority to fire or retain
the editor for The Lutheran Witness and Reporter,
as well as other staff members for those publications.
Their
authority is not in dispute.
The
Circumstances–“Should we…?” Part I
Leonard
Pranschke was counsel to the LCMS for over 20 years. He served
the LCMS in this capacity during the terms of at least three
different LCMS Presidents. Each of these leaders experienced
different legal issues that were competently handled by Mr.
Pranschke during his time of leadership.
No
LCMS President has ever complained about the work of Mr.
Pranscke. He has served and continues to serve numerous boards
and LCMS auxiliary organizations. He has served with countless
individuals who have appreciated his service to the LCMS,
including the members on the Council of Presidents (COP).
Support
by Council of Presidents
The
COP recognized the value of Leonard Pranschke’s wise counsel
and years of experience. Knowing that the BOD was considering
a change, with no apparent reason for that change, the COP
voted to send a memo to the BOD expressing their appreciation
and support for Mr. Pranschke and to send COP President
Hoesman to the BOD with a letter expressing their desire to
keep Mr. Pranschke in the service of the LCMS.
The
initial BOD vote to retain new counsel was defeated. However,
the next day a new vote was taken and by a margin of 8 to 7
the BOD voted to release Mr. Pranschke and retain the law firm
of Thompson Coburn.
What
was the motivation to dismiss the advice given from the COP
and to release Mr. Pranschke?
In the minutes of their meeting the BOD does not
provide an answer for this question.
The
Circumstances–“Should we…?” Part II
Rev.
David Mahsman was called to the staff of the LCMS as the
editor for The Lutheran Witness and Reporter and
has served the LCMS in this capacity for 20 years. Rev.
Mahsman has received numerous awards for his articles and
editing. Likewise, many staff members under his supervision
have received similar awards.
President
Kieschnick was aware of the fact that new appointees to the
Board for Communication Services (BCS) were attempting to fire
Rev. Mahsman. While
Rev. Mahsman had a call, he was also serving at the will of
the BCS.
President
Kieschnick asked the BCS in written correspondence to share
with him their reasons for any action to terminate Rev.
Mahsman. The BCS never gave a response to the President of the
LCMS! Likewise,
the BCS has not shared a single reason for the firing of Rev.
Mahsman. President Kieschnick has shared that Rev. Mahsman is
not accused of doing anything wrong. By stating this,
President Kieschnick showed great care to protect the
reputation of Rev. Mahsman.
The
BCS simply fired a 20-year veteran for reasons they will not
share.
Answers
Why
did the BOD replace Leonard Pranschke and move to a new law
firm? Why did the BCS fire Rev. David Mahsman without cause?
They will claim that for legal reasons they cannot
share answers. However, the Gospel question of “should we do
these things” has not been answered either. Why did the BOD dismiss the importance of the COP letter? Why did the
BCS
refuse to communicate with President Kieschnick?
I
will not try to answer questions that can only be answered by
the respective boards. However, I will state that these are
reasonable questions that should have reasonable answers.
I
will also share one statement by Rev. Rolf Preus, a former
LCMS pastor and brother to Christian Preus (current member of
the BOD), Rev. Daniel Preus (former LCMS 1st VP)
and Rev. Klemet Preus (writer for Consensus). Pastor
Rolf Preus writes
on a public website the following:
“There
is life outside of Missouri! But as a former member of
"our" Synod I must say that I am overjoyed at the
fact that Pranschke and Mahsman have both been fired.
The wheels of justice grind very slowly.
But they grind very fine . . .”
Later
Rev. Preus continues his statement with these words:
“Back
in 1989 (during the days when the LCMS had an adjudication
system) Ralph Bohlmann engineered the firing of my father as
president of CTS (Concordia Theological Seminary) in Ft. Wayne
through his lackeys on the BOR (Board of Regents) at CTS by
means of a fraudulent "honorable" retirement. During
my father's efforts to regain his office through the
adjudication system of the synod, Mahsman regularly distorted
the facts of the case by means of selective reporting that
deliberately left out crucial information. He, Pranschke, and
many other members of the permanent bureaucracy at the Purple
Palace regularly carried water for Ralph Bohlmann in
Bohlmann's vendetta against CTS, Robert Preus and anyone else
in the confessional movement who might threaten Bohlmann's
hegemony over the LCMS. Mahsmann pretended objectivity in print while spreading
rumors about how the BOR "honorably" retired Robert
Preus to spare him embarrassment.”
Final
Question
Is
this the way we want our church to behave? I pray that your
final answer is NO!
