Delegate Newsletter -- No. 10

The LCMS Leadership Debacle 

A debacle is the sudden break-up of something, whether it is the ice in a river or the leadership of Synod. Gerald Kieschnick was elected President of the LCMS in 2001. Very soon thereafter, the leadership of Synod displayed deep fissures and fundamental disagreement, to the detriment of the mission of the church.

From Day One, on the occasion of his inauguration on September 8, 2001, President Gerald Kieschnick was clear that The LCMS – then a divided and divisive denomination – needed to repent in order to move forward, united in mission. Former Council of President’s Chairman Arleigh Lutz echoed the same theme.

The events of September 11 transfixed the world, forcing it to confront its own divided and hostile terrain in a new way. On September 23, Dr. David Benke, affirmed by President Kieschnick, prayed for healing “in the precious name of Jesus.” Christians around the world hailed Benke’s prayer as critical to their understanding of the presence of God in Christ as a time of global crisis.

By October 1 the divisiveness and fissures in the LCMS showed no sign of healing through repentance. This was most apparent when First Vice-President Daniel Preus, without consulting President Kieschnick, voiced the public opinion on synodically-sponsored radio station KFUO) that the prayer at Yankee Stadium was wrong. The bylaws stipulate that the First Vice-President “shall be responsible to the president at all times.” This irresponsible action by Daniel Preus indicated that the leadership debacle had begun, obstructing Kieschnick’s outreach emphasis.

Soon after, LCMS Pastor David Oberdieck of the Missouri District brought doctrinal charges against President Kieschnick for his approval of a prayer offered in Jesus’ name at a time of national crisis – with the clear sanction of a fellowship resolution approved by the 2001 convention. Dr. Kieschnick had been in office all of one month. Oberdieck was encouraged by the divisive tactics of Rev. Preus. Later these incredible and embarrassing tactics were rebuffed by the Commission on Constitutional Matters. However, divisive leaders continued their plans through the process of highly orchestrated “ganged-up” complaints against Dr. Benke. The leadership debacle gained momentum.

In December 2001 Dr. Kieschnick, designated by the Constitution as the officer who “has the supervision of all District Presidents,” prepared a letter closing the case of complaints against Dr. Benke. On the day and the hour the letter was to be printed, the synodical presses were stopped through the intervention of two men, Synod Secretary Dr. Raymond Hartwig and Vice President Preus. At the same time Rev. Preus’s friend and colleague from Colorado, Rev.  James Bauer, initiated action to REMOVE the synodical President from his appropriate ecclesiastical supervision in the Benke case! For what reason? Because President Kieschnick had an opinion in the matter! That Synod’s constitution requires the President between synodical conventions to render an opinion did not matter. That his opinion on the matter was based on a synodical resolution regarding civic events, adopted in convention, did not matter. Authentic Presidential leadership was hindered from functioning.

At the end of 2001 a divisive document entitled, “That They May Be One” appeared. Top synodical leaders would subsequently identify it as schismatic, inflammatory, and church-divisive because the pastors and congregation who subscribed to it give it the status of a confession – a confession which divides the fellowship on the basis of who signs it and who doesn’t sign it.

Also at the end of December 2001 Fort Wayne faculty members Dr. Dean Wenthe and Rev. Kurt Marquardt (currently candidates for the presidency of Synod) along with current Vice-President Dr. William Weinrich made their foray into the leadership debacle by authoring and distributing a letter calling Dr. Kieschnick and Dr. Benke wrong for their actions. This was done PRIOR TO ANY ADJUDICATION OF THE CASE against Dr. Benke and PRIOR TO DR. KIESCHNICK’S removal as the ecclesiastical supervisor in the case. By what authority was this letter released? For what common good was it distributed? It served only to embolden the complainants, including the signers of “That They May Be One,” and further dividing the LCMS. Electing or reelecting these men to leadership positions would be a debacle. Rev. Daniel Preus, Dr. Raymond Hartwig, Dr. Dean Wenthe, Dr. William Weinrich, and Rev. Kurt Marquardt are the very source of division!

By the end of January, 2002, the leadership debacle intensified as three of the five synodical Vice-Presidents voted to REMOVE the PRESIDENT OF THE LCMS from the Yankee Stadium controversy. The object has always been simple and clear: To render Gerald Kieschnick impotent in his presidency and ultimately to un-elect him from office. When we consider the state of the nation and the membership of the LCMS in the months immediately following September 11, our sense of embarrassment at these divisive tactics only deepens.

In 2003, a year and a half after the events of September, 2001, a Dispute Resolution Panel ruled that indeed the pastoral decisions of Dr. Benke and President Kieschnick were appropriate and affirmed by synodical resolution - the same decision that President Kieschnick would have announced in his aborted letter to Synod’s members eighteen months before.

Where do these kinds of actions originate: to remove President Kieschnick from appropriate supervision of Dr. Benke; public disagreement with him without prior conversation; advancing extreme theology; and erecting walls within the LCMS? The leadership debacle comes from elected officers who will not unite behind the vision of President Kieschnick for One Mission, One Message, and One People.

What if…

• Daniel Preus had simply consulted with President Kieschnick in September 2001, after the great national tragedy, and agreed that according to a Synodical resolution “charity must prevail”?
• Dr. Hartwig and Dr. Preus has told Rev. Bauer that President Kieschnick HAD THE RIGHT to make the final and ultimate ecclesiastical decision in the LCMS?
• The Ft. Wayne Seminary Faculty had let the process proceed without forming and expressing an independent opinion?
• The Vice-Presidents of the LCMS had allowed the President to care for the Synod spiritually, as he was elected to do?

None of these things transpired. Instead President Kieschnick’s goal to reach out to the world with the Gospel of Christ has been repeatedly blocked. What has been proven is that President Kieschnick’s call to our badly divided denomination to repent was the call that should have been heeded.

A House divided cannot stand. Next week we will share with you our list of candidates to elect as a new team with re-elected President Kieschnick toward authentic repentance and renewal for the sake of millions of people who do not yet believe in Jesus Christ.

By Pastor Eugene Brueggemann – Pastor Emeritus