Late Nights

Blogging really burns the midnight oil.




photo credit: Will Brenner

The Congress of the Lutheran Confessions: Worth the Trip

I attended the Congress of the Lutheran Confessions last week in Minneapolis, with my wife joining me on the last day (don’t tell Pastor Fehrmann – I wouldn’t want to get busted). The Congress is jointly held by the Association for Confessional Lutherans and the Luther Academy, and was really nothing short of spectacular. They had great speakers, snacks (although no chocolate), lots of displays and books to buy – even a book signing by a guy named Pastor Matt Harrison.

It was encouraging to see so many laymen at the conference, comprising nearly half of the 200 total attendees.

Fellow blogger Norman Teigen introduced himself. He’s a former LCMS member who’s now in the ELS. Now there’s a dedicated blogger! He was on tour, attending the events of several synods to get an idea of what’s going on across Lutheranism. This was his second stop (with a couple more to go), after first attending the Word Alone convention. His blog, Lutheran Colportage, has a liturgical emphasis, including a wealth of wonderful music.

I bumped into a few Stand Firm readers, including Mary, who though she checks in to see what’s going on once in a while, says she hasn’t left any comments yet. That’s probably wise. I also met up with Kari Anderson, who I’ve been corresponding with for years, although this is the first time we’ve met in person.

If you’re into Preus sightings, there were plenty of those to go around, with Pastors Daniel, Klemet, Rolf, and Peter Preus in attendance, as well as brother Christian, mom Donna, Klemet’s very sweet wife Janet, and probably a couple of others I missed since I don’t know all of them.

Sitting at my table the first day was another fellow blogger (although in a state of semi-retirement at the moment), Pastor Christopher Esget. He’s taking a sabbatical from his blog Esgetology. He also happens to be the pastor of my friend Mollie Ziegler Hemingway. Oddly enough, later on that night I met Mollie’s dad, Pastor Larry Ziegler. Pastor Ziegler had the singular honor of being awarded the 2010 Neo-Methodist Award the next evening at the banquet, a memory I’m sure he will cherish for years to come. If Zieglers keep winning awards, I might begin to think this thing is rigged, since Mollie won the 2009 Confessional Lutheran of the Year Award.

Pastor Klemet Preus and his wife Janet hosted a fun party at their house the first night. Lots of people and delicious food. Pastor Preus definitely knows how to fix up salmon the correct way – tasty and moist. We hung out by the fire outside. It got a little chilly in the late evening Minnesota darkness, and so I borrowed one of Pastor Preus’s jackets. Being downwind from the fire, I’m not sure that jacket is ever going to recover from the smell of smoke. I sheepishly hung it back up in the closet before I left. They may have to fumigate the closet as well.

Pastor Burnell Eckardt and his seminarian son Peter were also at the party, so I got to say “hi” to them. Pastor Eckardt informed me that he’s quoting something I wrote in the next issue of Gottesdienst. Fortunately I was able to dispel his notion that I’m a pastor, or I would have been elevated to the ministry without a rightly ordered call, right there in the sacred pages of Gottesdienst. I wonder if that wouldn’t work out okay though, sort of like an honorary doctorate. Rt. Rev. Scott Diekmann has a nice ring to it, although it should probably say the Less-than-Reverend Scott Diekmann. My copies of Gottesdienst have been arriving in the mailbox addressed to “Rev. Scott Diekmann.” I told my wife our postman must be the most confused guy around, since I get mail addressed to Mr., Rev., Capt., and Dr. He asked me one day what I “do,” and all I told him was that I’m a pilot, not admitting to also being a dentist. Now he probably thinks I’m some kind of impersonator, like Frank Abagnale Jr. in the movie “Catch Me if You Can.”

Though we stayed with friends, the hotel is decent, although a little dated. It’s very close to the airport, and only a block away from the Mall of America, in case you’re in the mood for a roller coaster ride and some shopping on your lunch break. They plan to have the conference there again next year.

Receiving the layman Confessional Lutheran of the Year Award was Robert Van Gundy, and the pastor’s version of the award was given to Pastor Matt Harrison. The banquet featured Dr. David Scaer as the speaker. While I’ve heard Dr. Scaer speak before, this was the first time it’s been on a non-theological topic. I figured if the speech headed south I had an alternative form of entertainment in the person of Pastor Charlie Henrickson, who was seated at my table and is always good for a laugh or two. Fortunately, I didn’t have to resort to my backup plan. Dr. Scaer’s assigned topic was “Witnessing: the Power of Personal Testimony,” but let’s just say he strayed from the assignment a bit. His speech was certainly humorous, and could best be described as a rambling stroll down memory lane as he examined the accuracy of a printed media report in which he was described during a Paris(?) dinner with Robert Preus and John Warwick Montgomery as an ugly American dressed like a lumberjack.

If my memory lasts that long, next week I’ll give you a rundown on the presentations of the speakers. If not, I give the Congress of the Lutheran Confessions a big thumbs up. It’s definitely worth the trip.


photo credit: woodleywonderworks

Pastor Harrison's Convention Report

One of the bright spots in the Convention Workbook for the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s upcoming Regular Convention is the report of Pastor Matt Harrison, the Director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care (WR-HC). Beginning on page 102, Pastor Harrison joyously reports on the accomplishments and challenges of WR-HC over the last triennium. “It is impossible to adequately express the profound honor, thankfulness, and joy that we at LCMS World Relief and Human Care have and experience as a result of the unfathomable generosity of you, the dear members and congregations of the LCMS.”

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll discuss several aspects of his report. I’ve copied his remarks at the end of this post. Today I’d like to discuss Pastor Harrison’s candid remarks on WR-HC’s dealings with the ELCA.

Reflecting on the work that has been done over the past nine years, Pastor Harrison states

It has been a blessed endeavor, but a very hard road. Our offices have had more direct contact and involvement with the ELCA than any other in the LCMS. The complications brought about by the recent decision on homosexuality are only the most recent high-water mark of what has been a rising tide of pain, sorrow, and frustration in dealing with ELCA leadership, whom I have personally heard confess that there is salvation outside of faith in Christ. The decisions on homosexuality are symptomatic of a fundamental difference with them on what the Bible is and what the Gospel is. It has been supremely challenging to kindly but firmly insist on respect for the LCMS’s biblical positions, and to do as little damage as possible to agencies that serve so many with mercy. That said, the status quo with the ELCA cannot hold.

He is spot on when he states that the ELCA decisions on homosexuality are symptomatic of fundamental differences. Some in the ELCA don’t believe the Bible is the Word of God, but rather that it contains the Word of God. Once you’ve crossed that line, you rule over the text of Scripture, not the other way around. You may not realize how serious this has become. The ELCA preaches another Gospel. If it sounds far-fetched that Pastor Harrison has personally heard ELCA leadership “confess that there is salvation outside of faith in Christ,” consider this: On the official ELCA Synodical website, under the “What We Believe” heading, the salvation section comes with a near full-fledged endorsement of universalism:

Click HERE to continue reading >>

Mollie Hits a Home Run

On The Brothers of John the Steadfast website, Mollie Ziegler Hemingway has dug up a confidential report from consultants hired by President Kieschnick in 2008 (to the tune of $500,000) which sheds light on the construction of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance recommendations. Among other things, it’s readily apparent from the report that the consultants’ high priced recommendations were often ignored. The consultants make it clear that trying to sell a polity that results in more centralization of power and the need for drastic structural changes would be a difficult task – which explains much of the sense of urgency language that we’ve been hearing from the Task Force for the last couple of years. Pasted below are several quotes from Mollie’s article. I’d encourage you to make the trip over to BJS and read the whole thing. It’s a rather sobering commentary on the way the Task Force recommendations have been designed and marketed. The entire confidential report can be found here.

In a “Confidential Final Report on the President’s Blue Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance,” dated June 2008, the President’s own consultants noted that a number of the proposals would be a hard sell to pastors and congregations of the Synod. Despite President Kieschnick’s claim that the BRTFSSG was an independent entity, the consultant’s report makes it clear that it was Kieschnick and his staff’s task force all along.

…In fact, considering that people in the Synod do not see a need for change, the consultant noted, “Given that there is no groundswell of a call for change, the Blue Ribbon Task Force’s most critical task is to make clear to LCMS members the need for change.” (pg. 18) As we saw in the preconvention delegate gatherings this past year, President Kieschnick and his team have tried to create a sense of urgency and “need for change” in the structure and governance on the basis of financial reasons. It has been reported that President Kieschnick stated at these regional gatherings that if the recommendations of the BRTFSSG were not implemented there would be severe financial consequences forcing the Synod BoD to take drastic action. President Kieschnick holds this position despite the public statement of Tom Kutcha, the Synod’s Treasurer in last June’s Reporter, “In my opinion, the current recommendations by the BRTFSSG will have an immaterial effect on the financial operations of the Synod.” In other words, according to the Synod’s Treasurer, the recommendations of the BRTFSSG will NOT help the Synod’s finances – hardly showing a compelling reason for change. …What is apparent is that President Kieschnick has expended a lot of energy, time, and money trying to make his proposals seem “reasonable.”

…Again on page 84, the consultant notes, “most people believe there is no need for change in the structure and governance of the LCMS.” In light of this, it is interesting that President Kieschnick is so adamant on changing the structure of the LCMS. Each day, the BRTFSSG looks more and more like Obama’s health care bill – a top down proposal that is force-fed into the mouths of Americans. Regarding this top down approach the consultant noted, “The centralization of power and authority on the office of the president could certainly be viewed as anathema to the history and traditions of the LCMS. Certainly a number of study participants commented on the intrinsic distrust of a centralization of authority within the LCMS. This observation did not surface to any substantial extent among the advisory panel members. However, one advisory panel member believed this model placed too great a concentration of power in the office of the Synod president, and was particularly concerned about the communications function reporting to him. Overall, advisory panel members did not feel this model would gain the support necessary for adoption.” (pg. 88) This is why President Kieschnick and the BRTFSSG members spent so much time saying, “We have a congregational bias.” It is as if by repeating “congregational bias” they could over come what the consultant noted and advised against – the centralization of power and authority.

Shepherds Without Sheep

Written by Pastor Doug Taylor. Reprinted with permission.

For many men at at least one seminary of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, today is a day of sorrow. They have received, or will soon receive, the word that there is no congregational placement for them at this time. All of them at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne four or more years ago to study for one purpose: to serve the Lord Jesus and His Church as a pastor, a steward of the mysteries of God. They worked ardently, immersing themselves in the Holy Scriptures, the Book of Concord, the Church Fathers and the proper and reverent conduct of the Divine Service. They spent, or are spending, a year on vicarage, where they took on more of the public work of the Church under the supervision of a pastor. They then returned to seminary to complete their studies, circling, back in the fall, Wednesday of this week on their calendars, the day when they would hear where they would first serve as a pastor.

Wednesday was to be a joyous culmination of all their preparation, a day of excitement and wonder enjoined by the weight and responsibility of the cure of souls. It was to be a day that would spark dreams of a quickly arriving future of preaching and teaching, baptizing and celebrating, absolving and retaining, marrying and burying. Instead, for these men, it is, to borrow from the poet Langston Hughes, “a dream deferred,” a delay of the future that feels like the cancellation of a wedding. Fighting through feelings of loss and rejection, they will celebrate with those men who have received their placements into the Office of the Holy Ministry, but the knot in their hearts will firmly tighten in these next 48 to 72 hours. Despite their best efforts, they will envy their brothers in Christ who are heading out to labor in the harvest, who get to fully participate in the pomp and circumstance that is Call Day. They will refocus on their studies, finish their coursework, possibly look for employment in a suffering economy, and also figure out whether to move back near family or continue their current living arrangements. They are, as of this moment, shepherds without sheep, a challenging and stressful position to be in.

In this context, it seems a cruel irony that the respective lectionaries of the church year have spent the last two successive Sundays on the concept of shepherding. The cure of souls has been ringing in our ears in the last eight days, whether your congregation uses the 1-year or 3-year lectionary. Last Sunday, those following the 1-year heard the Lord bring word to the prophet Ezekiel, declaring that He Himself would search for His sheep and seek them out, seeking the lost and bringing back the strayed and binding the injured, all tasks given to the pastoral office by the Lord Jesus after His resurrection. St. Peter, in the epistle for Misericordias Domini, refers to Jesus as “the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls,” the same Jesus who works His shepherding and overseeing through called and ordained servants of the Word. In the 3-year lectionary, today were heard St. Paul’s words to the overseers of the church of Ephesus, of his imploring them “to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood,” the blood of the Good Shepherd who gathers His flock to hear His voice and receive the means of grace through men He places in His stead and by His command. The lessons for the last two weeks have inundated us with the work of the pastoral office: the burden and responsibility of the task; the great sense of duty and service that comes with it; and most importantly, the One who surely and certainly accomplishes His work through pastors, our Lord Jesus. To hear the Word of the Lord in the last two weeks, to prepare for certification for four years and then be informed that work will not be yours to do, for an indefinite period of time, must be immensely difficult. To all of you not receiving placements this week, and to your families, my most sincere and true condolences to you. To quote St. Paul in the 3-year’s first reading for today, “I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Click HERE to continue reading >>

You Didn’t See Any of These in the BRTFSSG Recommendations

If you missed it, the Convention Workbook for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) 2010 Regular Convention is out, and can be downloaded here.

The most interesting section of the Workbook contains the overtures, found on pages 149-248. The overtures are broken down by section. I’ve included the number of overtures for each section, as follows:

p. 149    Missions – 11
p. 153    District and Congregational Services – 25
p. 165    Theology and Church Relations – 33
p. 179    Administration and Finance – 23
p. 189    Seminary and University Education – 36
p. 207    Human Care – 8
p. 211    Ecclesial Matters - 21
p. 221    Synod Structure and Governance – 81

The greatest number of overtures, by far, relate to the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synodical Structure and Governance (BRTFSSG). Having read through the list, I don’t think it would be too strong of a statement to say that confusion rules. It's going to take a whole room full of Solomons to figure out this mess. It's entirely possible that multiple resolutions could be passed at the convention which contradict each other. If these overtures are any indication of the overall feelings of the Synod, the BRTFSSG recommendations are going to be in for a rough ride.

While there are, significantly, six overtures which request that these decisions be postponed for further study over the next three-year convention cycle, one that requests they be rejected in toto, and one that recommends none of the changes to the Constitution be considered at this convention, it is the glowingly favorable overture of the Pacific Southwest District that is the first overture listed. They seem to think that the Task Force has allowed more than an adequate amount of time for the members of Synod to have considered the recommendations and be prepared to vote on them, although even they recommend that the language of Article II of the Constitution remain unaltered, because “it most fully expresses the confession of our church.” I wonder if the selection of this particular overture as the first one in this section is a blatant attempt to influence the delegates - call it a große Lüge.

There is one overture that really stands out in my mind as the best of the bunch – overture 8-13 of the Montana District. They really get to the core of the issue:

Click HERE to continue reading >>

Out with the Old…

My computer wallpaper gets changed fairly often. I get tired of looking at the same old thing. The same can’t be said of my profile photo over there on the right. I kinda figured for the sake of consistency and “brand recognition” I wouldn’t change it, although that technique has been fraught with peril.

My wife and daughter don’t like the sunglasses look, although I do. Maybe it’s the pilot in me.

One of my fellow parishioners at church says I look like an alien.

Another of our friends says I must be having a midlife crisis. No, that’s not it, although I might be having a midlife monetary crisis with one kid in college and another soon to be there.

But anyway, I’ve succumbed to peer pressure.

It’s out with the old:

And in with the new:



Hope you like it. It might be there for a while.

77 Days, Plus a Couple?

Get the full story here.


HT: TW

Filled with the Fullness of God

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

Are You Worthy?

Quoting from Pastor Charlie Henrickson's sermon titled "How Do We Receive It Worthily? The Reception of the Sacrament of the Altar,” posted on his Wittenberg Trail blog page:

“That person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’” You see, the right reception of the Sacrament is not a matter of how personally worthy you are in yourself. No. Indeed, Christ says this sacrament is “for the forgiveness of sins,” and that means you must be unworthy in order to receive it! You must qualify as a sinner! You must have sins to forgive--that’s the whole point! So a worthy reception is not based on how worthy of persons we are in ourselves.

No, a worthy reception consists in faith. And even that is not a matter of what we can muster up, how strong of a believer I am, how pious I feel on a given day. No, it is faith in Christ’s words. Faith has value only because of its object, and that object, the thing we believe in, is Christ Jesus and his words and his gift for us. It’s all about Jesus. He is our worthiness, from start to finish.