I just sent the following note to President Kieschnick. Since he sent his “letter to the editor” to every member of the LCMS Council of Presidents, the LCMS Board of Directors, LCMS Corporate Entity Presidents, LCMS Corporate Synod Executives, LCMS Concordia University System Presidents, LCMS Seminary Presidents, I went ahead and copied them in my response.
Dear President Kieschnick,
In your letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, you wrote
that I paint a “false and misleading picture” of the LCMS “as a deeply
divided church.”Respectfully, I take issue with what you wrote.
The first article in the January 2008 edition of Board Briefs talks
about the plan to restore harmony coming out of Resolution 4-01A of
the 2007 convention. The article describes how members of the BOD and
COP “met in small groups to identify those issues in the Synod thought
to be causing the greatest discord.”While the entire list of 20 issues proves my point, I might direct
your attention to this item listed as one of the major problems in our
church body:“Failure to recognize the severity of the division in our Synod.”
In Christ,
Mollie Ziegler Hemingway
P.S. The Board Brief is available here:
http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10184
Filed under: Updates
You go girl!
Makes you wonder who has the major problem. . .
You would be better off banging your head against a wall – at least you would get back a headache. You would be better off talking to yourself – at least you could answer yourself. You can’t communicate with the cronies and politicoes at LCMS. They are above the “common” people and have far more spiritual discernment and knowledge than anyone about. Tch, tch, tch, you just don’t understand my dear. They are men who only look out for themselves and their own pockets! They have to be removed from office ASAP before they wreak more havoc among God’s flock.
Dear Molly,
Thank you, thank you, thank you… thank you.
We note and officially recognize the elephant “in the room”.
One of synod’s strongest voices has been slammed into silence, yet we are determined not to swallow misinformation. Sending daily emails to Mr. Strand and President Kieschnick has become too easy, every day providing new insight into what this painful and unnecessary amputation to our synod’s message means.
I am not overstating the wonderful effects of Issues Etc., it was a clear voice of truth in a plummeting culture (in church and society). We used their information ALL THE TIME as we spoke to saved brothers and sister AND to our lost neighbors.
Pastor Wilken was a gifted and equipped interviewer … he made it look easy. I remember many instances where the individual being interviewed (even those with whom he disagreed) would comment, “Nobody has ever asked me that question before, thank you!”
I pray to God we hear them again.
This particular scandal has considerably increased my concern over the doctrinal soundness and the proper focus of the LC-MS Synod. Keep pressing and asking. Kieschnick and co don’t want to answer, which makes me really want to know why…
The more our Synod refuses to take action, the more painful this gets.
I have to second what someone else wrote-
you go girl!
[...] about the response of President Kieschnick to her Wall Street Journal piece. She also posts a letter she sent to President Kieschnick regarding his [...]
[...] 4, 2008 in Missouri Synod The official explanations for the cancellation of Issues, Etc. do not make sense. The financial rationale is full [...]
The title of the article beneath the one you mentioned? “Promoting Transparency”.
It is still not clear to me how replacing Issues, Etc with another live radio program will necessarily have a positive effect on the budget. How is one live radio program less costly than another? Surely Issues didn’t pay the guests they interview, and production costs should be the same? Clearly the only difference is the content of the program, and disagreement over content is the “elephant in the room” that the higher ups will not acknowledge. What a sad and embarassing season for the LCMS.
Well Said.
:)
My emotions have been going haywire over this issue.
First shock and dismay.
Then anger.
Then sadness.
Then bitterness.
And it goes back and forth between the last three constantly.
Right now I feel pretty good. Because regardless of all of the conflict and turmoil going on in our Synod over this (which is bringing to light other issues), it is SO comforting to know that there is a strong contingent of people who are not willing to back down.
It would be so easy for us to say “Well, time to find a new church” and walk away from this and pretend that finding a new place to go would make this problem go away.
Thank God we’re not ready to abandon this great Church body. Thank God we’re fighting for the Message of Christ.
Thank God for Pastor Wilken and thank God for the LCMS.
In regards to the cancellation of Issues Etc.: We often tell our young children that rain is what happens when God cries.
Anybody else notice how much rain we’ve been getting lately?
Oh, and thank God for Mollie Hemingway, too.
I’ve enjoyed everything you’ve written on many different levels.
Mollie,
About the new program, and how it fills the unique niche that was Issues Etc…
It’s as if the delicious and diverse meals we were being served daily have been replaced with…. a pillow.
I agree with Florence. I find the new “Afternoon Show” like milk toast. I personally am a meat and potatoes guy. The couple of shows I have been able to listen to with my work schedule have been lame. The hosts remind me of two deers with headlights in eyes when interviewing a real theologian. I miss Issues, Etc so much.
Well said!
Is there anything that can be done proactively to prevent the Purple Palace powers-that-be from destroying anymore fine operations? Splitting off to somewhere untouchable like the creation of PLI achieved? The Purple Palace seems to have a denial of deep divisions. Yet, their selection, of operations and true missions, to destroy have a very clear pattern.
Dear Mollie:
Not only do I concur with the prior comments, I salute
you for telling the truth.
My (late)father, Rev. M. H. Behling and (late)oldest
brother, Rev. David J. Behling, are likely cheering you
on from their graves. I know each fought for decades
on the stand you’re taking and I believe both left this
earth prematurely OB stresses caused by Synodical
errancy & disparity.
Please, never give up! You are on the right track.
God bless you & your fine work!
[...] Discord? What discord? [...]
To paraphrase Pres. Reagan’s famous remark to Mr. Gorbachev, maybe someone could make up a sign: “Mr Kieschnick, bring back ‘Issues Etc’”!!!
Dearest Molly,
De Herr Kieschnik is vastly outclassed! Your “Discord?” response was elegant and brief in showing the lie(s) in Rev. Dr. Kieschnik’s multi-page dissimulation. LCMS Synodicrats have become sad parodies of the politicians of our day who attempt to create alternate realities by means of carefully spun sound bites and ad hominem attacks.
The Truth is not in them. Was Orwell prescient, a prophet? Of did his insights come from dealing with the evil of his day?
In this skirmish, we are blessed to have your fine article (thanks, also, to your publisher!). But, as in skirmishes past, the Foe knows that there will be no real resistance and the storm or controversy will pass quickly and the “faithful” will return to their quiet, ignorant slumber.
It is disheartening to see how few in the LCMS know, understand or care about what has been going on for a very long time. The Issues debacle is but the most recent manifestation. More disheartening is the vast number called by Christ to protect His sheep who remain dumb, watch the deception and slaughter of the sheep and refuse to pick up their crosses for the sake of Christ. Praise God that He cared more for us!
Perhaps, Molly, with your God-given gifts you could in some way help to alert an inattentive laity to the dangers of today’s LCMS – beyond the occasional WSJ articles (wonderful as they are).
It’s strange and ironic how the Foe can hit you with (and cannot avoid revealing) the truth of the matter. “Not your grandfather’s church” really tells us all plainly that all has changed or will be changed albeit under a pious, false veneer of devotion to the Scripture and Confessions.
Petitions, letter writing campaigns, withholding of financial support – none of these is the answer though some are useful at times. We are enraged at the occasional manifestations of a root problem that has failed to enrage or even concern us. Our church body (importantly: it is not and never was “the” or His Church) has become unfaithful and heterodox. Slowly and surely, this is imperiling many souls yet the shepherds sound no or few alarms.
The faithful have only two choices:
They must stay and fight (and they must fight) or,
They must condemn and leave as a warning to others.
I’ve rambled a bit – forgive me – this all is deeply troubling. Yet, we know the gates of hell shall not prevail against the true Church of Christ and the kingdom ours remaineth! Fear not!
It is sad that numerous non-lutherans are able to see more clearly than Lutherans what is ailing our LCMS—namely, a willingness to forsake the clear Word of God and replace it with entertainment just to bring people through the door. Law & Gospel is missing. Many LCMS people are searching for Law and Gospel preaching since their pastors have forsaken that kind of preaching and have become market-driven churches—give the people what they want; not what they need. Os Guiness’ book “Dining With The Devil” is a must read for all of us.
[...] picture that the Synod is unified. Mollie, author of the article that prompted the letter, had this to say in response. Dear President [...]
[...] I pointed out in my response to him, the Resolution 4-01A-inspired plan to restore harmony to the Synod says that, according to [...]
[...] Augsburg1530 Dear President [...]