Future of the LCMS
Speakers to Address this Issue at the 4th National Free Conference on C.F.W. Walther
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

The current divisions in the Synod over authority, hierarchy, Hyper-Euro-Lutherans, CEO/pastors, voters' assemblies, and the right of the laity to govern their church and judge doctrine are at the heart of the controversies in the LCMS today.

Will it be trickle-down-leadership or do the lay people have a God given right to govern their congregations and the Synod? Ultimately the Doctrine of Justification is at stake. Who is to say who will preach in LCMS pulpits and who is to say what they will preach?

Our keynote speaker will be Dr. George Wollenburg, Montana District President. Wollenburg was the Chairman of Floor Committee Seven at the 2001 LCMS Convention. It was Wollenburg who brought Resolution 7-17A to the Convention floor; the resolution to reaffirm Walther's "Church and Ministry" as the official position of the LCMS. Wollenburg will speak on: "The General Subject of Church and Ministry." No member of the LCMS clergy has so clearly articulated and identified himself with this subject since Walther wrote the book. We recommend that LCMS lay people hear what Wollenburg has to say on this subject.

Congressman William Dannemeyer, of Orange County, California, has studied the current structure of Floor Committees at LCMS Conventions. As an attorney, a six-term United States Congressman, congregational president, LCMS Convention delegate, and Convention observer, he concludes that the current structure is thoroughly to the advantage of the clergy. Congressman Dannemeyer will speak on, "The Need For Equal Representation for Lay People At LCMS District and National Conventions." Under the current structure, laypeople have virtually no voice in which resolutions are brought to the Convention floor.

Reverend Robert Hill of Texas will speak on "Walther's understanding of the Christian family." Walther wrote extensively on the subject of home and family. Not only is Rev. Hill well versed in Walther's writings on the family, Hill has also written and published extensively on the subject. The current lack of definition for the family highlights how important this subject is for our home, state, and church today.

Reverend Rolf Preus of the ELS will speak on Office of the Ministry in the Synodical Conference with the title, "Did Jesus Institute the Pastoral Office?" The ELS recently declined adoption of the WELS position on "Church and Ministry" in its June 2002 Convention. We will be interested to hear Preus's views on the pastoral office. Currently, a number of LCMS clergy reject Walther's position that a congregation may organize itself into existence as a church and issue a divine call for a man to serve as its pastor. Instead, they have adopted Loehe's teaching that the congregation is an extension of the pastoral office. For a third position, the WELS believes that many different church professionals share a form of the pastoral office and that the pastoral office is not a one-of-a-kind, unique office created by God.

Doctor Louis Brighton, a distinguished professor of exegesis at Concordia Seminary St. Louis and noted author, will speak on the subject of the alarming overall decline in Biblical knowledge among LCMS clergy. He is deeply concerned that too many pastors are dedicating too much time to administrative and other duties when they should be spending half their time studying the Bible and theology. They can spend the rest of their time preaching, teaching, and visiting. Pastors need to spend more time being prophets and not CEO's. Walther's understanding of the church was that knowledgeable pastors should teach the lay people correct doctrine and practice. The loss of this emphasis must inevitably lead to the loss of the LCMS as originally envisioned by Walther because the lay people would not be properly trained. Brighton's title, "The Decline in Pastoral Biblical Studies Threatens The Future of Walther's Structure For The LCMS."

Reverend Jack Cascione will speak on the subject of "Luther On Church and Ministry in His Genesis Commentary: Did Luther Change?" Many LCMS clergy are convinced that the "late Luther" changed his mind on church and ministry. Cascione will show that Luther did not change his earlier position on which Walther based his writings, but that Luther developed his position into a much wider view of home, state, and church. Lay people and clergy must recognize that Walther's position on "Church and Ministry" is identical with that of Luther's. Resolution 7-17A describes Luther's understanding of the church.

Reverend Herman Otten, editor of Christian News, will be the banquet speaker. Otten is the most extensively published living Lutheran in the world today. Otten will trace the Synod's current problem with Church and Ministry as a direct result of Seminex Theology that infected the LCMS in the 1960s. He will then identify the kind of candidates the 2004 LCMS Convention will need to elect if we are going to keep Walther's understanding of Synod as adopted in Resolution 7-17A.


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.

July 3, 2002