After I wrote my piece for the Wall Street Journal, President Kieschnick broke his relative silence on the matter to respond with a letter to the editor. As soon as he did that, people asked me if I was going to respond to him. In all honesty, I didn’t plan on it. I’ve received quite a few responses to articles I’ve written over the years. I didn’t really find his response to be terribly noteworthy. Nevertheless, I have received a ton of questions from readers about President Kieschnick’s response. And I will go ahead and respond to those questions here.
Here’s the first question:
Q: President K states that he was extremely disappointed in your column. But do you think that, in some way, he appreciated it, since it gave him the opportunity to address publicly the canceling of Issues, Etc., an opportunity he must not have had before?
A: While I’m glad that President Kieschnick finally responded, I wonder why he didn’t feel the need to speak on the matter when thousands of laypeople, seminary professors, pastors and members of the listening public were complaining. What are they, chopped liver? You shouldn’t have to publish something in the Wall Street Journal to have your complaints paid attention to by the leader of your church body.
Filed under: Updates
Mollie, thanks for answering questions. I thought you gave a great interview, and helped open doors for discussion on the Issues Etc. debate. I’m very interested in journalism, and admired your ability to speak about a controversial issue when it may have not been popular to do so.
Thank you, Julianne!
Thank you, Mollie.
[...] Posted on April 2, 2008 by Mollie See this post for an explanation of the Responsorama [...]
Jesus suspends healing and preaching ministry in Galilee, noting poor returns on various church investments and marketing campaigns in the region.
“We’ve been running in the red for years,” St. Peter said. “We simply can’t afford to use precious resources healing and preaching and multiplying loaves when so few have responded to the call and become (tithing) members of the church.”
“Perhaps if the widow’s mite had only been, well, a little more substantial,” added Judas, a high-ranking official with the church.
[...] Posted on April 3, 2008 by Mollie See this post for an explanation of the Responsorama [...]
Thank you for what you have done to help out your neighbors. I really appreciate it.
Mollie, thanks for your voice. I was so frustrated after reading GK’s letter to the WSJ, thinking that he had the final say in this “discussion.” He doesn’t, thanks to you!
As a regular WSJ reader, I can assure you that its letters page is always filled with indignant denials and explanations from CEOs, politicians and other grandees whos oxes have been gored in its pages.
They always have the same tone, like they’ve been written by the PR slave and vetted by a team of lawyers.
Believe me, MZ got the last word. K’s fatuous letter only dug his own hole deeper.
I actually think that he does think that we are merely chopped liver. The only response that I received from him and Strand are form letters. I really think that he wants us to go away, and this is also a page straight from Bill Hybels’ play book. We don’t have his ‘vision’, and this is a hinderance to growth. So instead of pastoral concern, he just wants us to go away so that the Synod can move on. This is not very pastoral, but it is a well-known way that church growthers deal with those who question the vision. I have personally seen elderly Christians almost pointed to the door an accused of not caring for the lost, merely because they question the practices of the church growth movement.
Being treated like chopped liver or being shown the door has Hybels and Warren written all over it. That may not be the most kindest way to explain the way we have been treated, but then again, we have been left to speculate by the complete lack of any pastoral care or concern. I know longer consider President Kieschnick to be a pastor. He is soley a politician who cares about power and image.
Tim the E.
Thank you Mollie. Indeed it seems they are chopped liver. He only responded because he was afraid of letting your post go unanswered, because of its visibilty. Us peons in the general public mean nothing. Move with the movers and shake with the shakers, as Rick Warren unapologetically says. Yeah, Jesus did that. /sarc