June 2001 Lutheran Witness:
Clergy or Doctrine in Crisis?
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

Is It a Clergy or Doctrinal Crisis?

The June 2001 issue of the "Lutheran Witness" has printed on the cover, "Why Some Pastors Quit."

The lead article "Clergy in Crisis" is by Dr. Alan Klass, President of "Mission Growth Ministries," Smithville, Mo. After reading the article we arrive at the following question: "Is the crisis in the LCMS with the clergy or the doctrine of Church and Ministry and Pastoral Theology?"

In the article, we see a man who represents an LCMS pastor with his head in his hands. What happened here? The apostles didn't quit. The martyrs didn 't quit. Christ tells us if they don't want to hear the Gospel pack up and leave and shake the dust off your feet as you go. "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet." Matthew 10:14

Doctor Allan C. Klass, a layman, is now presented by "The Lutheran Witness" as an advisor to LCMS Congregations. Wasn't it about 5 years ago that Klass divorced his wife and married a woman who worked in an ELCA Synodical Office? Didn't he also leave the LCMS and has now returned to the LCMS? Now, he is going to tell us about clergy burn out?

Why Doesn't the COP Defend Clergy?

Klass writes about congregational "harshness toward pastors." What happened to the Ten Commandments, church discipline, excommunication, the LCMS Constitution, and the duty of the District President to discipline and ask for the expulsion of congregations that sin against their pastors, members of Synod?

In the article, Klass gives accounts of LCMS pastors who are ridiculed, hounded, threatened, abused, slandered, liabled and driven from their congregations by their members. Yet, in the entire article he doesn't point a finger at the bumbling, incompetent, derelict, antinomian, capricious, liberal District Presidents whose job it is to take the pastor's side in these cases. No, these District Presidents may be the ones who will hire Klass for his services.

I don't want this to be a blanket indictment. There may be as many as half a dozen of the 35 members of the COP who actually apply Walther's "Church and Ministry" and "Pastoral Theology" to their practice instead of making up their own rules when expedient. One of them, though not a nominee, would be an excellent Synodical President.

The COP are the Major Cause of the Clergy Shortage

The Lutheran Witness also gives a shocking account of the LCMS clergy shortage. The overall effect of the June issue will be to convince men not to go into the LCMS ministry because the COP, the Council of Politicians, is spending tens of millions of dollars and driving pastors out of the LCMS. Naturally, the article scapegoats those evil beasts; the LCMS lay people for all the problems faced by LCMS pastors.

Klass doesn't ask why the congregations aren't being taught Walther's doctrine of "Church and Ministry" and "Pastoral Theology." Not once does Klass mention a doctrinal solution, which is the only possible solution, nor does he mention the importance of following the congregational and district constitutions.

Being nice is not enough. I didn't go into the ministry to be nice and members didn't join and support this congregation to be nice to me. I went into the ministry to teach Lutheran doctrine and the members joined the congregation and support the congregation because of Lutheran doctrine. It is little wonder that the percentage of pastors' sons attending the seminaries has fallen from 70% to 5% of the student body.

While Klass wants to point the finger of blame at maniacal LCMS lay people for running off pastors, no one has driven off more faithful pastors than the COP. In 1992, John Heins, President of the Counsel of District Presidents, was successful in keeping 32 Fort Wayne Graduates from receiving calls at the annual Call Service. Since that time, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of men applying to LCMS Seminaries. This was the primary factor in Dr. A. L. Barry defeating Dr. Ralph Bohlmann as LCMS president in 1992.

LCMS Pastors are Portrayed as a Discriminated Class

Klass writes as if LCMS pastors are another class of victims who are singled out for discrimination by their congregations similar to that experienced by Blacks, Jews, Asians, Hispanics, women, the homeless, the handicapped, gays, etc. Do the LCMS clergy need to invoke the equal rights amendment?

He writes: "Pastors under pressure frequently describe a small group of members who insist on 'things done their way.'" It is usually a small group because many are not involved in the activities of the congregation. When did the ministry become a choice between his way versus their way?

What happened to the doctrine of Church and Ministry, Pastoral Theology, the Bible, the Lutheran Confessions, the church constitution, and the voters' assembly? If members are not taught properly, how can they be expected to behave and respond properly or even acknowledge that anything in print has authority in the congregation?

The pastor who calls in the District President over one of these issues Klass is speaking about, will more than likely be told that it is time to take a call. I can only recall one occasion where the District President didn't cause more harm than good. In that case his solution was also "Take a call."

LCMS Pastors Face a Ministry Without Doctrinal Standards

Klass should sit in a meeting with congregational members, the Michigan District President, two vice presidents, two board members of the District Board of Directors and watch their pastor being accused by the District with the words, "You want it your way," because their pastor insists on the confession of the three and only three Creeds in a worship service. That is right. I want it my way! I wrote the Creeds and the Lutheran Confessions, I invented the LCMS, I control all worship in the world, and I will bend the Michigan District to my legalistic, dictatorial will and force them to confess the three and only three Creeds in all LCMS Worship services whether they like the Gospel or not.

How do these District Presidents get elected? Most of the clergy vote them in because they are more interested in protecting themselves than in protecting the correct teaching of doctrine. This approach is guaranteed to result in the loss of both. The proper technique for District Presidents is to promise 55% of their constituency all the goodies, thus leaving a 5% margin of error.

We will never forget the 1995 LCMS Convention where the majority of the District Presidents and "Forward" campaigned to support Dr. Norm Sell as Treasurer of the LCMS. This is the same Norm Sell who can't explain what happened to the $49,000,000.00. This is the same Norm Sell the Synodical lawyers are protecting from those troublesome and divisive LCMS members who want to examine the books in a lawsuit filed by Attorney Bob Doggett.

If the issues that Klass raises can't be addressed by traditional LCMS theology and practice the Synod must continue to come apart. With little understanding or agreement with Walther's "Church and Ministry" and "Pastoral Theology" more and more laity and pastors obviously don't know what they are doing. Most Seminary graduates have never read Walther's "Church and Ministry."

LCMS is More Vulnerable to Doctrinal Vacuum than Other Church Bodies

The LCMS, more than any other nationwide church body, is vulnerable to this doctrinal vacuum Klass inadvertently describes, because the laity own the deeds to the church property.

The more the District Offices convince the congregations and pastors there are no standards of doctrine and practice (for the sake of freedom, flexibility and change) the more difficult it will be for a pastor of an LCMS congregation. The reason is simple. There are more laity than there are clergy and the laity own the deeds, they pay the bills, and they run the congregations. When the laity aren't taught, we don't know what they will do.

Lay people are just as capable of sin as the clergy, but why isn't Klass focusing on the people who aren't teaching the laity? Once again, the solution must be doctrine and practice equally confessed and applied to all.

Thank God Committee Three did not bring Resolution 3-69 in the 2001 Convention Work Book to the floor. The resolution asks for a "clergy code of ethics." This "code" is to be exercised by District Presidents against the pastors who don't show them the desired respect. What else did we expect? Klass explains why LCMS pastors are leaving the ministry, yet 3-69 is an attempt to protect the COP from disgruntled clergy. The COP already has Dispute Resolution, the District Boards' of Directors, and control of call lists, in its arsenal and still wants more power to protect itself.

Pastor Al Loeschman of Texas Concord calls 3-69 the "Crybaby Memorial, Special Protection for Church Growthers and False Teachers." He writes: "It had slipped by me. The title sounded good, if redundant. 'To Establish a Clergy Code of Ethics.' I always thought we had the same code of ethics that everyone else had and God had established it."

"Well, I guess that the Church Growthers (the ones who offered the memorial) now want to supersede the ways of God even more than they already do. First, they don't trust that God can build His church by the means of grace, but they have to do it by their proper practice of worldly principles and manipulation of people's emotions. Now they want to put the District Presidents, those paragons of theological truth and wisdom, in charge of stifling the opinions of pastors and laypeople in the synod." Read the rest of the article by logging on to: http://www.concordtx.org/msnews/res3_69.htm

"Jesus First" House Organ for COP

In the June issue of "Jesus First" a virtual house organ for the COP, there is a request for open communion, more protection for District Presidents, freedom from doctrinal resolutions and promotion of PLI, just to name a few COP favorites. However, we notice there is no support for R7-17, "To Affirm Walther's Church and Ministry as the Official Position of the LCMS." No, "Jesus First" avoids all potentially restrictive, non-creative, Official Doctrinal Positions." All liberalism is fanaticism.

So let's see more pictures of LCMS pastors with their heads in their hands and no solutions because there is no responsible leadership in the District Offices of the LCMS. Yet, these are the very Presidents the clergy vote for.

Agreement in Doctrine and Practice is the Preferred Solution

Ted Kober's "Peacemaker Ministries" sounds like a noble attempt at reconciliation. Yet again, I didn't go into the ministry to be reconciled to any congregation. I went into the ministry to teach and preach Lutheran Doctrine. If the congregations are so "dysfunctional" no one is really qualified to be their pastor. Why can't we focus on Walther's "Church and Ministry," "Law and Gospel," and "Pastoral Theology" and we won't have to spend so much time being nice and reconciling? Then, we will all know why we are there and what we are doing.

The Synod's only future, is in its past.

New Book Explains How to Keep Congregation, Members, and Pastors

The June 2001 "Lutheran Witness" article, "Why Some Pastors Quit" is one of the strong justifications for reading "How to Start or Keep Your Own Missouri Synod Lutheran Church" we could give.

The article clearly shows that many clergy, laity, and the district presidents are operating without any authoritative written doctrinal standard for Church and Ministry. This information is not available to LCMS lay people today in any other book in print.

The less informed the lay people are in running their own churches the greater will be the losses on the clergy and membership rosters.

We hope the laity will take a look at this book and put the standard Lutheran doctrinal principles it explains into practice in their own congregations.

When everyone is on the same page then everyone is going in the same direction.

The book is titled, "How To Start Or Keep Your Own Missouri Synod Lutheran Church: A handbook for lay people who like Missouri Synod congregations the way they began and want to be certain about the presence of God in their worship services."

It sells for $5:00, plus $2.00 handling and shipping and can be ordered by calling 573-237-3110 or emailing cnmail@fidnet.com or reclaimnews@earthlink.net.

The book is 112 pages long and has 30 chapters. There are 197 detailed footnotes to document its position. It can be read and absorbed in less than two hours.


Rev. Jack Cascione is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS - MI) in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He has written numerous articles for Christian News and is the author of Reclaiming the Gospel in the LCMS: How to Keep Your Congregation Lutheran. He has also written a study on the Book of Revelation called In Search of the Biblical Order.
He can be reached by email at pastorcascione@juno.com.

June 21, 2001