Training Lay People to be Voters is Only Way to Maintain LC-MS
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

The new trend in the LC-MS is to affirm, establish, and strengthen Congregational Boards of Directors and/or clergy authority as promoted by The Pastoral Leadership Institute, the Church Growth Movement, "Jesus First" and those wanting to return to pre-Walther European clerical hierarchy.

This approach runs directly counter to the history and structure of the LC-MS. One practical reason why the LC-MS has a history of a high level of congregational achievement, in comparison to other denominations, is because of the support, involvement, and activity of LC-MS lay people.

One only has to examine the LC-MS parochial schools, the LLL or the LWML as examples of the Synod's greater efficiency and strength beyond its size in comparison to other denominations, due to lay participation and involvement.

The Catholic Church has 60,000,000 members in the United States and operates about 9000 parochial schools. The LC-MS has 2,576,000 members and operates about 1800 parochial schools.

This means the Catholic Church has one grade school for every 6666 members and the LC-MS has one grade school for every 1430 members or, four and a half times the level of LC-MS member support for parochial education. In comparison with other denominations, the LC-MS combined giving levels and lay participation are the envy of American Christianity.

Organizations such as the Lutheran Layman's League and the Lutheran Women's Missionary League hardly have their equal in other church bodies. Why? First, by the grace of God and secondly, because practically speaking, Walther understood Law and Gospel and Church and Ministry, which means he also understood the laity's participation in the church. These organizations could only have come into being because of the Synod's correct teaching on the priesthood of all believers.

Walther understood that if the laity was involved and exercising their full authority of the priesthood of all believers, Missouri would be a powerhouse of efficiency. Who could pay for all those volunteers? They were trained in the congregations' to be voters, to be workers, and to be servants.

Now the thought is, that an aging church body like the LC-MS would be more effective with Boards of Directors and clerical authority. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Barely 10 percent of the clergy have been recruiting and training their laity to be voters. They say lay people aren't interested, so the clergy follows the culture. This is the path of self-annihilation and extinction. The church must be counter-culture. There must be an even greater effort to recruit and train voters to meet the challenges faced by the congregations. But all too often we see clergy capitulation and acquiescence encouraged by the District Office.

Go back Missouri, go back to the formula for success, go back to Walther! Elect a new president who supports Missouri's original polity, as did Dr. A. L. Barry.

The Synod and the congregations could never afford to pay for their current level of lay participation out of the collection plate. Congregations need to reaffirm, train, and encourage the laity to run and operate their congregations and do all of the kinds of work that must be done. Yes, today it is more difficult to recruit and train voters. This means we make a greater effort to recruit and train voters and not surrender our future to fatigue and indifference.

Boards and clergy authority are just ways to marginalize the Synod's greatest earthly resource, lay people: active, involved, lay people running their congregations.

If we continue to replicate the structure of the Catholic Church, ELCA, the Episcopal Church or General Motors we will also replicate their level of volunteerism.

Our motto: The staff or clergy led congregation goes broke.

Not only is corporate or clerical hierarchy anti-Biblical, it doesn't work in a country where the church is independent of the state.


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April 2, 2001