Dr. Kuhn Sets the Record Straight on the BRTFSSG Final Report

Very early in the day on January 18, Rev. Dr. Robert Kuhn, former President of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, stood up before those gathered for the Lutheran Concerns Association Conference to set the record straight. It was obvious from his demeanor that there was something important that he wanted to discuss. He pointed us to page nine of the Final Report of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance (BRTFSSG), which lists the members of the BRTFSSG.

At the bottom of the page, last on the list, Dr. Kuhn’s name is listed:

**Dr. Robert Kuhn, president emeritus of the LCMS, served on the task force until early 2008, when he found it necessary to devote his time to personal matters.

It was certainly to the Task Force’s advantage to leave Dr. Kuhn’s name on the list, even though he hadn’t participated in the Task Force for a year and a half, since his name added a confessional cache to the report. So why did Dr. Kuhn find it necessary to point this out? Because the reason given by the Task Force for his resignation was inaccurate. While it is true that Dr. Kuhn wouldn’t have been able to continue his work on the Task Force because of personal matters, he had already resigned from the Task Force prior to that, not because of personal matters, but because he disagreed with the direction the Task Force was headed. This untruth greatly disturbed Dr. Kuhn – he did not want his name associated with the BRTFSSG Final Report. It seems as though this untruth is yet another example where the words of the Final Report don’t really line up with the facts.