My Answer to District President David Benke: “No!”

In yesterday’s post, I commented on the Deacon program that’s going on in the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, based on the parameters set forth in their defining document called “Diaconate Guidelines.” President Benke, on the ALPB forum, responded as follows:

I don't know what the LCMS District Task Force will be doing, but the author of the blog is off base. There is no performance of the distinctive marks of the pastoral office by female deacons either preaching or consecrating Holy Communion in the AD; there is no performance of the distinctive marks of the pastoral office by male deacons by consecrating Holy Communion, and preaching only occasionally under supervision or reading the sermons of others by male deacons in several circumstances that are both tiny and far from another parish. There are no unsupervised free-range deacons. There is an established, ten course preparation for the diaconate plus 200 hours of pre-interview service required, plus a theological interview, plus ongoing continuing education necessity for every-three-year district re-certification.

There is nothing being done by Atlantic District deacons that is outside the covenants of love of the LC-MS or the boundaries of the Lutheran Confessions and Holy Scriptures. And the parishes and pastors and workers of the Atlantic District are happy and blessed with these trained non-ordained auxiliary servants. Our diaconate provides a helpful model for theologically trained volunteer parish servants that indeed I wish more districts would tackle. The teachers are LC--MS pastors, trusted catechists (my formational view is that the diaconate is confessionally subscribed at the level of the Large Catechism and the Augsburg Confession), so that they might train catechists for parishes - my own parish is catechized through the diaconate except for adult catechesis, which is my responsibility. That's it and that's all.

Dave Benke

My answer to President Benke is that no, my blog post was not off base. It pointed out the very broad latitude that is granted to the male and female deacons of the District according to the District document - latitude that is not permitted in Scripture. It does not reflect what we believe, teach, and confess as a synod. It is outside the covenant of love that exists within our synod and out of synch with the spirit of Koinonia. I take President Benke at his word when he later further clarifies the position of the District on the ALPB Forum, stating that they don't do what they say they can do (pasted below). We should not, however, as Lutherans, write documents of this importance with such sloppiness. The practice in the district may be entirely ship-shape in some people’s minds; the confession, as put down in the document, is not. Men and women are given the exact same leeway in the document – the reported practice and the guidelines do not agree with one another. This is the historical equivalent of drawing up a set church orders, and then not following them. People write things down for a reason.

Here is President Benke's further comment, answering several questions from another commenter:

Click HERE to continue reading >>

The Atlantic District of the LCMS – Dividing the House

The Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has its own version of Licensed Deacons, whom they call “Commissioned District Deacon.” It is unique to the Atlantic District of course – you must remain in their fiefdom. In this case, the lord of the fiefdom is District President David Benke.

A few highlights of the program from the Atlantic District’s “Diaconate Guidelines” document:

4.1 At the heart of the ministry of deacons are works of mercy, witness, and worship, in solidarity with the poor and needy. The actual tasks undertaken by members of the diaconate will vary according to the gifts and skills of the deacon and the needs of the church and its surrounding community. Deacons so gifted will engage in various ministries of teaching within the congregation/agency, including baptismal and communion preparation, catechesis of youth and adults, and small group Bible study leadership or supervision. All aspects of diaconal ministry are under the supervision of the supervising pastor.

4.2 Members of the diaconate assume a leadership role in worship, but this is never to be their primary task. Rather, the serving function of deacons in the Church’s liturgy is to be a reflection of their tangible, actual servant hood in the world.

4.3 Members of the district diaconate shall neither preside at the Holy Eucharist nor exercise the Office of the Keys. In the absence of an ordained pastor and with approval of the pastor and congregation, the deacon may serve at the divine service including the communion liturgy using reserved sacrament. This practice should be used sparingly so as to not confuse the “Office of Deacon” and the “Office of Pastor.” The deacon may officiate at funerals under the direction of a supervising pastor. The deacon may proclaim the Gospel in formal and informal settings after he/she has received training in homiletics and while remaining under the supervision of an ordained pastor.

5.5 It is expected that most members of the district diaconate will continue to hold regular employment and therefore would be involved in diaconal service on a part-time, non-stipendiary basis. There may be instances however, when a deacon serves a ministry for a stipend….

So the Deacon shall not preside at the Holy Eucharist, except where they may, and they may proclaim the Gospel in the worship service. This violates our own confession, as Augsburg Confession Article XIV reads “Our churches teach that no one should publicly teach or preach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a properly ordered call” – that means a pastor. And since the Deacons of the Atlantic District may be male or female, it certainly creates even more confusion, since women would then be preaching and administering the Sacrament, a move which violates the trust of our walk together as a synod. I’ve heard rumblings from people who think that this is a back door approach to women’s ordination. I don’t know whether that’s true or not, but now would be a great time to reread Pastor Todd Wilken’s excellent article “From Exception to Rule: How Error Replaces Truth in the Church.”

Ironically, the Atlantic District’s program continues at a time when other districts resolved in convention to abolish these types of programs. A house divided against itself cannot stand.


photo credit: Martin Cathrae

What Not to Do

The (dirty) window

The wall

The sun

The mirror

The result

The moral of the story: Don't buy your wife a fancy concave mirror.  It's a good thing I know how to patch wallpaper.

The Beginning of the Distinctively Christian Life

Quoting from Dr. Henry Hamann’s book On Being a Christian: A Personal Confession:

…Baptism is the beginning of the distinctively Christian life. It is possible—and, indeed, it happens often enough—that a person comes to faith before the actual act of baptism, and that such faith produces the desire to be baptized. But Baptism is still the beginning of the Christian life. For it is an objective, out-there act that can be observed, and as such it has a concreteness about it that faith cannot have. Baptism can be observed by everybody; faith, by nobody. What is more, faith is never an unbroken, continuous line, like physical life. Faith may be lost; a person may come to faith again and again. Because of this movement involving faith and because of such repeated acts of faith, no one act of faith can be the beginning of the Christian life.

...Lutherans speak of daily contrition and repentance, a daily coming to faith. Faith may be subject to doubt, but Baptism never fails. It links believers with the great act of Jesus Christ for their salvation: his death and resurrection. As that event is always valid for the Christian, so Baptism which links the Christian to that event is always valid for the one baptized.

Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian: A Personal Confession, (Milwaukee: Northwestern, 1998) 93, 94.

What Is the Significance of Movement in the Divine Service?

Here's a snippet of Pastor Will Weedon discussing this significance of movement in the Divine Service. This is a portion of Part 4 of the Issues, Etc. weekly series on the liturgy, which deals with the Introit and the Gloria Patri. You can listen to the whole thing here.

A Review of Wayne Talbot’s Book The Dawkins Deficiency

Wayne Talbot’s recently published book The Dawkins Deficiency: Why Evolution Is Not the Greatest Show on Earth (Deep River Books, 2011) is definitely worth reading if you’re a layman -- and who isn’t when you’re talking about evolution and related fields? Mr. Talbot’s modest goal is to critically examine new atheist Richard Dawkins’ book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (Free Press, 2009) and “comment on the validity of his assertions as evidence and what, if anything, such evidence proves” (xvi).

Judging from the title, you might expect this book to be a Bible thumping zealot’s response to a misguided attempt to question the authority of the Bible, and you’d be completely off base. Talbot does an excellent job of presenting well reasoned, impersonal arguments that will appeal to a general audience. As he states on page 37,

My goal is not to disprove evolution theory, my goal is to evaluate the truth of the claim that the evidence for it is incontrovertible, that evolution theory has been scientifically proven, and that the book under review provides that evidence.

And again on page xix:

In this book, I do not advance an alternate explanation of origins. Dawkins opens the door to discussion on both Creationism and Intelligent Design, and I do seek to correct his assertions and arguments where I believe he has it wrong, but I am not herein advocating any particular theory of origins despite my personal views. The issue is the validity of the theory of evolution; the alternatives can be argued elsewhere.

He lets you know right up front where he’s headed:

While I am not attempting to disprove evolution theory, I am claiming that there are numerous problems with the general theory—that much of the science is predicated upon unproven assumptions which have led to numerous errors; that there is a substantial body of scientific evidence that throws doubt on the theory; and that there is more unexplained than explained. The major proof points for the theory, namely, abiogenesis (chemical evolution), and that genetic mutation and natural selection have the development power claimed for them, have not been scientifically demonstrated, and there is inadequate substantive evidence for their assumed capability (xix).

Talbot has a background in Information Technology, which allows him to look at things from a slightly different perspective than other authors in areas such as irreducible complexity. He demonstrates a thorough understanding of evolution’s complexities, yet does a good job of explaining things without losing the average reader in the process. By comparison, this book is an easier read than Michael Behe’s book Darwin’s Black Box, but no less helpful. The author systematically goes through Dawkins’ book, covering the majority of the chapters. While there are a few spots where having Dawkins’ book in hand would be helpful, there’s no need to have a previous familiarity.

If you’re familiar with logic, you will appreciate Talbot’s analysis of things, and if not, this is a good learning opportunity to hone your reasoning skills. He demonstrates over and over Dawkins’ logical fallacies, including category errors, appealing to the law of the excluded middle, unwarranted generalization, circular arguments, affirming the consequent, and appeal to consequence. Don’t worry, all of these errors in logic are laid out in an easily understandable fashion.

Click HERE to continue reading >>

A Piece of LCMS History Comes Alive: The "Blue Book" Is Now Available on the Internet

Back in the ‘70s the door was opened wide to liberal theology in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The Historical-Critical method of Biblical interpretation, in part imported from Europe, was taking its toll on many of the Concordia Seminary professors in St. Louis. That, combined with the spirit of the times, influenced the teaching at the seminary, which in turn influenced the beliefs of many of the students. Sola Scriptura was gradually being replaced by whatever we wanted. It was a serious threat. Had it not been overcome by the diligence of those watching on the walls, the LCMS would have gone the way of the ELCA. God’s Word would have been thrown out the door like a monarch in the French revolution. It serves to illustrate the importance of diligence in maintaining the purity of our doctrine.

One way to remain vigilant is to study the errors of the past, so that they will not be repeated. With that in mind, a very significant event just occurred in cyberspace – the digitizing and placing on the internet of the “Blue Book.” The Blue Book, so named for its blue cover, was the 1971 report of then Synod President J. A. O. Preus on the doctrinal situation that existed at Concordia Seminary at the time. It included portions of the transcripts from the interviews of the seminary faculty, as well as previously printed documents. The release of President Preus’s report, plus the preceding hard work by a handful of individuals, revealed to the world the serious nature of the doctrinal problems that then existed. A few quotations from the report:

President Preus stated in his summary:

…The majority hold a view of the Scriptures which in practice erodes the authority of Holy Writ. Verbal inspiration, as it is commonly understood in the Synod, is not taught by all. The inerrancy of the Scriptures is severely limited. The Gospel (the primary teaching of the Scripture) is regarded as virtually exclusively normative in such a way as to detract from the normative authority of the whole Scripture. This is sometimes called “Gospel Reductionism.” (22)

A statement from the Exegetical Department of Concordia Seminary in 1970:

We recognize, however, that the devout application of scientific historical methodology, even under the presuppositions of faith which we bring to it, have at times led us to exegetical conclusions which surprise and disturb some observers. To this we must say that the precise results of Biblical study cannot be guaranteed in advance. Any attempt to prescribe an official exegesis must be resisted as the imposition of an authority above that of the Scriptures themselves. As men work prayerfully and critically, they may indeed uncover data or reach conclusions that are surprising, even disturbing, to themselves and others. Yet the Biblical word must be permitted an audience, even when it is disturbing. (64)

From the transcript of Prof. “Q”:

It isn’t important whether I think it happened, but the thing is it’s important that I understood what the Lord was doing when He was walking on the water and what the text is saying that He was trying to tell me through that event. (75)

From the transcript of Prof. “B”:

PROF. B: …God intervenes in the process which He himself started and by a special manipulation puts His image into these two people.
COMMITTEE: So you are saying that out of the mass of ape-like creatures running around God picked two and called them Adam and Eve and then it takes off from there?
PROF. B: This is right; He chose a segment of that earlier creation and made it into the human race, right. (94)

These quotes sound like what is being preached today in mainline Protestant denominations, as well as by those elsewhere who claim to be searching for a more “authentic” Christianity. The “battle for the Bible,” as it was called then in the LCMS, has never really ended. It will continue on until Christ returns. If you haven’t had an opportunity to read the Blue Book in the past, now is a good time to brush up on your history. Otherwise, it just might repeat itself.


The Blue Book was digitized by Dr. Robert Smith, the Electronic Resources Librarian at Concordia Theological Seminary. You can download it here in pdf form, though it may not show up in the CTS Media Server home page catalogue for a few weeks.

For more information on the LCMS “battle for the Bible,” you can read these books as well:

A Seminary in Crisis: The Inside Story of the Preus Fact Finding Committee, by Dr. Paul Zimmerman; CPH, 2007.

Anatomy of an Explosion: A Theological Analysis of the Missouri Synod Conflict, by Dr. Kurt Marquart; Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 1988.

Archie Bunker's View of Confession

It seems as though Archie hasn't been properly catechized:

Which Confession has the Most Ecumenical Potential?

Quoting from Dr. David P. Scaer's paper "Lutheranism as Catholic and Evangelical":

...Among all the documents to appear since the Reformation, the Augsburg Confession is the most catholic and hence possesses the most ecumenical potential.

Eat Mor Chikin

Boston’s mayor, Thomas Menino, is blocking fast food chain Chick-fil-A from opening a store in Boston because they support traditional marriage. Here’s the response of one of Chick-fil-A's customers, which I agree with:

Click for an expanded view