Message from Herb Mueller About Issues Etc.
The Ascension of Our Lord 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus!
I pray this letter finds you strong in the Lord and in the grace of His Holy Spirit. Remember, the One who is both God and Man is now in charge, Lord of all things. May this message, that our Lord Jesus, our Conqueror, now rules the universe for His Church, be our comfort, our peace and our courage.
As you know, on March 18, David Strand, acting on behalf of the BCS, cancelled Issues Etc. and terminated the positions of Todd Wilken and Jeff Schwarz. Subsequently in April, the BCS did not reverse this decision, nor did they hear from Todd Wilken on the matter. On Monday, April 21, in executive session, the COP heard from Synod’s Treasurer, Tom Kuchta, and from David Strand, Executive Director of the Board for Communication Services. In open session on Tuesday morning, President Kieschnick presented to the COP a statement in which he says: “I regret that I did not counsel Mr. Strand to postpone implementation of the decision until some time other than Holy Week…” This statement is posted to Synod’s web site.
Out of a desire to have something to which District Presidents could refer going back home, the Council of Presidents also adopted a statement with counsel to the members of the Synod. Both statements were quickly posted to the Synod’s web site. The COP’s statement was adopted in the closing minutes of the meeting on Tuesday, April 22, after the COP had rejected a formal resolution that would not have been helpful at all. The web site says the COP statement was adopted by voice vote with no dissenting voices. Personally, I did not raise an objection to the final version of the statement because I believed at the time it was better than the first resolution presented. To those who are disappointed in the COP Statement, I understand and I do share your sense of disappointment. I am sorry I failed to do better. At the very least, I failed to slow what became a hurried process to adopt something. As a result, the COP Statement itself does not fully represent, I believe, the level of frustration on the part of many members of the COP that Issues Etc was cancelled, or that the matter was handled in the manner it was. Having said that, I do not believe it would be helpful or wise for me to have any further public comment on the COP Statement.
In all of this, each of us must examine our actions according to the commandments of God. Even as we ask legitimate questions of those in authority, each of us needs to examine ourselves, live in repentance, and see ourselves covered in Christ’s cleansing blood. The Holy Spirit in the Word gives the precious gift of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Yet that does not mean we receive blindly what we are told. Questions need to continue to be addressed to those in authority – that’s what the 4th commandment would also enjoin us. As indicated in President Kieschnick’s statement, David Strand (and the BCS) felt constrained by Synod’s financial realities to cancel Issues Etc. I will continue to address my questions to David Strand, the BCS and the Synod’s Board of Directors, asking if there is any way this action could be reversed, revisited or ameliorated in some way. Why was cancelling Issues Etc the only option that could effectively reduce costs? Why was this action taken without warning? Why was Issues Etc not “spun off” in some way to another group that might have been formed to support it? I have other questions that I also intend to address to those in authority, respectfully and with charity. I encourage you to do the same.
The 8th commandment enjoins us to “put the best construction on everything.” We have no way of judging the motives of the people involved. However, I will also remind everyone to accord the same brotherly privilege to Todd Wilken and Jeff Schwarz when the time comes for them to explain their side of the story. Todd and Jeff must be heard and we must encourage those in authority to hear them with the same charity and trust we are encouraged to grant David Strand and the BCS. Pastor Wilken and Jeff Schwarz also need our prayers and our pastoral concern. We are commanded to “defend them and speak well of them” as well. I have heard nothing which would cause me to question their integrity. On the contrary, I believe Pastor Wilken and Jeff Schwarz have done nothing that ought to have caused the termination of their positions or Issues Etc. They have served faithfully and well.
Please, if you have any questions of me, let me know and I will seek to answer them as expeditiously as possible. Pastor Timothy Scharr and I will be traveling to South Africa May 5-17 as part of our mission partnership with the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, so I will be mostly unavailable during that time, but any other time will be fine.
I encourage you to present your questions to the BCS and to the Board of Directors of the Synod, but make your case lovingly, carefully, persistently, and then trust God to do His will. Christ Jesus is Lord of His Church. His word assures us, “Out of my distress I called on the Lord; ‘His steadfast love endures forever.’ The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? … It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. … The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation” (Psalm 118:5-6, 8-9, 14).
Yours in Christ,
+ Herb Mueller
Rev. Herbert C. Mueller, Jr.
President, Southern Illinois District
The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
2408 Lebanon Avenue
Belleville, IL 62221
618-234-4767
+ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me + (Galatians 2:20)
17 comments:
Axios! Dokimos!
He is worthy! He is tested!
The Rev. Herbert C. Mueller, Jr., is the embodiment of Christ-centered Churchmanship.
I am proud to say he was my DP for over 4.5 years. I miss him, but I am glad he is taking the forefront on behalf of his pastors.
Now there's a man! THIS is what leadership is supposed to be like.
I'm really glad that Herb is behaving as he is. I've loved and respected him ever since Herbert III and I became friends.
I grew to love him more because of the concern he showed for you and me during my vicarage.
This is the Herb I love.
Man, would I love to be in his district. But I can't wait for Accident.
Yup, me too. What you mean is that you are an Accident waiting to happen? ;) Wish I could be there for the installation!!!
Well, I forgot to tell you. The installation isn't on Holy Trinity.
Does June 8th work for you? ;-)
I'm going to be the vacancy pastor for about a month. That's the earliest the circuit counselor can plug me in.
I am very thankful to hear from him.
Thank you for posting this Pr. Weedon.
May he be blessed beyond all we can hope for or imagine in the days ahead.
Parts of what Rev. Mueller stated in his letter do not agree with the SP statement, the BCS minutes, and the COP statement. Other parts are vague or dance around the question of how confessional members of the COP (e.g., Mueller and Wohlrabe) voted on the COP Statement.
Discussions of these problems are here and here. Questions still await answers.
Dr. Strickert,
I'd refer you to the old Lutheran Quote of the Day for yesterday. Worth pondering.
"Harmony in the Church cannot last unless pastors and churches mutually overlook and pardon many things."
On the one hand, this is certainly a good and wise path to follow. On the other hands, when authoritative figures contradict each other, or themselves, what are people supposed to believe?
If pastors are going to be held to a higher standard by their creator, surely a church should also expect much from it's leadership.
Rev. Weedon,
If you believe that the excerpted Old Lutheran Quote of the Day really applies to the public posting of Rev. Mueller's letter about the COP statement, then you should not have publicly posted it.
Carl Vehse,
As with your namesake your logic is as inscrutable as ever.
The logic is hardly inscrutable.
Let A = "quote applies to overlook letter" and let B = "post letter"
"If A, then not B" is logically equivalent to its contrapositive, "If B, then not A."
As for Dr. Vehse, I simply don't know why he didn't leave Missouri, go down to Texas, and take the opportunity to meet Captain Jack Hays and the Texas Rangers.
Dr. Strickert,
My allusion was not clear, I fear. My point was not that I had any problem with President Mueller's latest letter; I'm most grateful for it. My point was that the latest letter explains the previous action quite a bit, and in a way that we can for the sake of harmony and love overlook any actions we find defective in the COP letter on behalf of President Mueller, and perhaps others who did not oppose it vocally, but who were troubled by it nonetheless.
A bishop who doesn't equivocate or do the most politically advantageous thing in this day and age! If only there were more like him! Ecce sacerdos magnus!
I do hope IE is returned to the airwaves. It was always my little waystation of theological sanity at my desk.
-j (Non-Loony Anglican)
*Yeah, I know that you guys don't call DP's bishops, but I like to hope that (at least) there are a few more sane "higher ups" in the ecclesiastical neighbourhood.
"My point was that the latest letter explains the previous action quite a bit, and in a way that we can for the sake of harmony and love overlook any actions we find defective in the COP letter on behalf of President Mueller"
Rev. Weedon,
That's a novel understanding of "I'd refer you to the old Lutheran Quote of the Day for yesterday. Worth pondering."
While Rev. Mueller's letter explains (and apologies for) his own lack of actions, it does not address all the concerns raised about the actions of COP members and the COP statement, which contains not just some minor discrepancy or blemish, but instead serious failings, as has been pointed out on your blog site, the blog sites of other pastors, and by lay writers, such as Mollie Hemingway.
For the sake of restoring true harmony and love in the synod, the actions related to the elimination of Issues, Etc., the firing of its staff, as well as the financial and bureaucratic manipulations and the tolerance of false doctrine within the synod, need to be exposed. I do not believe the excerpted Old Lutheran Quote of the Day applies to criticism of the COP statement, any more than it applies to Martin Luther's closing statement at the Diet of Worms.
But if you do, Rev. Weedon, then are you prepared now to recant your own description of the COP statement as "bulltwinkie"?
And do you also renounce, “for the sake of harmony and love... on behalf of President Mueller”, your criticisms of COP members in your previous blog, My Great Sadness:
For good reason Scripture urges us to "trust not in princes (including the princes of the church)."
The Beast devours those who serve her.
Yeah, well, count me among those who don't give a rat's posterior about the "corporate image" of the Synod - but one who does care rather about what is believed, confessed, and taught in her parishes.
and also From COP, as well as your links to critical articles and comments by other pastors, such as 4th Use of the Law Discovered, The 8th Commandment - A Brief Catechesis, and The 8th Commandment?
In the meantime, I still stand by my previous posts, here, here, here, here, and here.
Dr. Strickert,
Nope, I stand by what I wrote. I was suggesting, though, that President Mueller's statement should be read in a better light than you were reading it - it is a statement of disappointment with the COP's statement.
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