18 July 2010

The Issues Etc. Convention

Mollie has opined on this; and I suspect she is (as usual) totally on target.  This was in many respects, the Issues Etc. Convention.  I honestly do not think the present administration had the first clue about the fire-storm they set off when Pastor Wilken and Jeff Schwarz were fired without cause that Holy Tuesday morning.

The irony is not to be missed:  Pastor Wilken is associate to Pastor Michael Kumm.  And Michael Kumm, a nomination from the floor, was elected to the Board of Directors of Synod.  But the crowning irony was when Jeff Schwarz, Producer of Issues, was elected as layman to the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, while the man who sat in the presidency under which Todd and Jeff were fired, was himself voted out of office, while President-elect Harrison (a frequent guest on the show) was voted in.

The older political groupings in Missouri had been unable in the past decade to deliver a solid win; they came close time and time again, but kept failing.  What put them over the top this time?  The Issues crowd!  The number of folks who came up to me and said:  "Oh, I wanted to introduce myself.  I hear you on Issues!" simply blew me away.  There were TONS of them at this Convention, and they, I suspect, voted as a block for Pastor Harrison.

Yes, it truly was The Issues Etc. Convention.

10 comments:

Rev. Charles Lehmann said...

I had a similar experience. And, when the one gentleman introduced himself to both of us and expressed his love for us, that was not atypical. Everyone who said, "I just wanted to introduce myself because I hear you on Issues, Etc" spoke to me with immense love. I was really blown away by all the kindness.

William Weedon said...

Definitely. Who'd a thunk it?

Rev. Thomas C. Messer, SSP said...

Wait, what is "Issues, Etc."? :)

Anonymous said...

What is the expression, "Keep your enemies close to your chest." If Issues Etc was part of KFUO, they were partly controlled and were limited in their ability to speak politically on the show. When they were unjustly fired and resurrected as an independent entity, all synodical reigns were removed. That was the worst thing to happen for Pr Kieschnick . . . if only he knew.

Rich Futrell

Rev. Paul T. McCain said...

In my opinion, the Issues, Etc. event sparked a new level of interest and involvement on the part of those who had previously been saying things like, "We do not need to worry about convention and get involved in elections, resolutions and bylaws. What matters is my parish ministry."

I think that when Issues, Etc. was "axed" it woke folks up and they began to realize that what happens at conventions does matter.

Mike Baker said...

And when everyone woke up and started paying attention to what was going on outside of their walls, what did they see?

There has been a constant parade of national news filled with very public examples of various church bodies imploding. For a while there, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting some tyrannical church bureaucracy that was choking the spiritual life out of their laity, or admitting that they were starving their sheep to death, or misusing public funds, or just publically embarrassing everyone with all kinds of liberal foolishness. I’d couple that with the star starting to fade on many of the agenda setters of the church growth movement as they begin to get old and crusty. It’s just really hard to chase after relevance when you are coming due for a hip replacement.

I wonder how much of this change is due to internal issues within the LCMS and how much of this is blowback from all the things that have happened within American Christianity as a whole since the last convention. I’d imagine it is probably some kind of combination of the two…

Anonymous said...

On Issues, Etc they run the blub, "you cancelled the wrong program"... I guess by now the former LCMS administration knows that to be true...

Anonymous said...

Selling off KFUO in that underhanded way, and then SELF financing a heterodox ministry at cross purposes with what Lutheranism ought to be, may have waked a few folks to wondering what the Kieschnick administration thought 'lutheranism' was.

I thank Mollie and her husband for getting us favorable press now & then.
[Huffington Post: "not so much" !]

--helen

Becky said...

More evidence that God's will is done and He builds His church with us or without us. What strange vessels we are sometimes! I imagine Him doing a lot of eye-rolling.

Anonymous said...

Had it not been for Issues, Etc., I probably wouldn't have followed the LCMS convention and synodical elections.

Given the results of the election, I can say "This is not Gerald Kieschnick's church...It's the Lord's church!"

May God use his humble servant, Pastor Matt Harrison, and the rest of us, to recall what Lutheran Christianity is all about, and to keep the focus on Christ's work, not our own "merits, works and satisfactions." Without Him, we can do nothing! Our greatest works are like filthy rags. May God re-align our ecclesiastical compass.