The minutes show that there were motions made and seconded by members of the Board for Communication Services, but denied by a majority of the board. Here are two of the motions:
“that the program Issues, Etc., be restored to KFUO-AM; that the Rev. Todd Wilken and
Mr. Jeff Schwarz be asked to return to host and produce the program; and that, since the program was canceled and the two men were dismissed to reduce costs to the Synod, time be allowed until August 31 to develop increased funding and/or reduce the costs of the program.”
Voting in favor:
Berger, Garbe, Vogts
Voting against:
Bush, Clauss, Kluth, Mueller
INTERESTING.
“to encourage Rev. Wilken and Mr. Schwarz to work quickly toward establishing a Recognized Service Organization under which to operate Issues, Etc., assuring them continuing use of the program name and restoring them to full time employment at KFUO until August 31.”
Voting in favor:
Berger, Garbe, Vogts
Voting against:
Bush, Clauss, Kluth, Mueller
WOW. Just . . . WOW.
Filed under: Updates
Kudos to Berger, Garbe, and Vogts — men with chests.
Bush
Klauss
Kluth
Mueller
Men without chests.
“We make men without chests and we expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and we are shocked to find traitors in our midst.”
C.S. Lewis
We Issues, Etc. lovers are happy to be rid of the idiotic Synodical shenanigans. We don’t need you.
Time to move on.
It really is hardly believable to me that a compromise like that second motion would fail, and (at least to me) makes it seem less and less like it was really ultimately about financial concerns.
Does anyone know how well KFUO is doing financially since their attempts to save money by cancelling their premier show and upsetting so many of their listeners?
Who owns the brand “Issues, Etc.”? Will whoever owns that allow a new program run by Todd and Jeff to keep the name?
My suggestion:
Send all the White Hats a thank-you email. You know it’s got to be tough on those guys, knowing they’re outgunned, but still fighting the good fight.
And send all the Black Hats a “thanks for nothing” email. Let them know you disagreed with their positions on Issues, and that they are not being faithful servants of us, the people of the Synod.
Is it a safe assumption that those who voted against are pro-church growth movement and those who voted for are confessional? Or something like that?
Indeed. Kudos to Berger, Garbe, and Vogts. One now wonders how long they will keep their positions….
Rev John Bush of Trenton, NJ is an endorser of Jesus First. Chair Mr. Dennis Clauss was co-exec producer of the Luther movie that came out a few years ago, and much involved with Thrivent. Rev Dr David Kluth is of Concordia Austin TX. Ms Candace Mueller has been a WheatRidge Ministries Board Member. Bush and Kluth are new to the board.
If they lose their positions, we will know beyond doubt that it was for political reasons, and we’ll storm the Purple Isengard with the boulders of the facts until the Ablaze! fires are quenched and the church growth orcs are crushed beneath our roots.
If Clauss voted, then that means he was breaking a tie, right?
Clauss graduated from the St. Louis seminary and was listed as a pastor in the Lutheran Annual for one year in the mid 70’s. After that, nothing. What happened?
With that timing, and this further episode, one has to wonder if he is part of the lurking learned to keep its mouth shut because they wanted a job seminex supporter crowd.
These minutes seem to confirm my belief that immediate cancellation was not the only option, and that reinstatement was a possible option. It never made sense to me that IE had to be cancelled suddenly without notice to TW, JS and the audience. Do I understand correctly from Strand’s Q&A to say that immediate termination was necessary to save $5000 and to keep non-terminated employee morale up? Was there something else that I missed?