Announcement

A REMINDER

The Council of Presidents has made the decision that as of January 1, 2002, only those pastors who have the latest version of the Self Evaluation Tool (36 questions in length - not broken into two parts) will be given Call consideration. If you do not have the Self Evaluation Tool or if the SET you currently have on file is not the version with the 36 questions and responses, call or email Claudetta for the new version.

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(AL. One pastor wrote: "The SET thing sure sounds like one more attempt to manipulate calls. Also sounds rather unconstitutional to me.")

Whether this is unconstitutional or not, it is an obvious attempt to regulate and control whom the congregations of synod may call. This attempt at control has been going on for a long time. The Council of Presidents want to control who is coming in to their districts - they only want liberals, church growth types or "conservatives" (meaning those "yes men" to the DP who won't shake the boat or criticize their power, practice or doctrine). The DPs want to control who gets the larger congregations, so that the lay people in them can be lulled to sleep with a sentimental, nice Law/Gospel paradigm that is merely a shadow of the real Lutheran thing.

Permit me a personal reference. Dr. Kieschnick was aware of conflict in my previous congregation for a couple years. The Congregational Care Provider, now the Texas District President, was well aware of the problems and the truth (I was following the Synod's "closed communion" practices, but he admitted to the congregation that he did not) and the lies (I, not the trouble-maker transfers in from a CG congregation, was responsible for all the financial and practical problems of the congregation and some horrible accusations that he believed, contrary to the instructions of the Scripture that more than one witness is required against a pastor) for quite some time.

The ordinary way this is handled is that the pastor is placed on a call list. (Not that this is the proper way to handle conflict, but, early on, it could have avoided escalating the problems.) After being told by Dr. Kieschnick, the DP that I was too old (54) and too conservative (tradition bound) and that no congregations in Texas wanted old preachers anymore, I was hung out to dry. When a confessional brother pastor called on me to help out, I accepted the vacancy of a congregation 160 miles from my home, serving them on weekends from April to October, 1996. When my name appeared on the call list for this congregation, Dr. Kieschnick told them they could not call their vacancy pastor. "This is just not done." True, since the vacancy pastor is usually from a neighboring congregation. However, I was from far away and had no congregation. Fortunately, there are congregations who can see thorough these political ruses, know their rights, the constitution of the LCMS, have good pastoral advise and have the courage to act in the best interests of Christ's people and know the limits of the power of the DP.

It has been well known that Kieschnick did not want many Ft. Wayne graduates coming to Texas. It has been rumored that he interviewed each one before accepting them. The stats show that he was pretty successful at keeping them out of Texas during his tenure in office here. Still the administration's "yes men" were diminishing in power. The elections of the last convention showed a strong confessional element electing one VP and nearly another. Many elections were close, with even outspoken confessional men coming in second on the balloting. Not that it mattered, since Dr. Kieschnick despised the tradition and skipped over them in appointing a replacement VP and Circuit Counselor. It is all about power, not right, fairness and justice.

Had it not been for the small network of Texas confessional Lutherans, many pastors and congregations would be on the absolute fringes of Lutheran life. Now Dr. Kieschnick is bringing his "political style" to the synod. This is now the time for Confessional and conservative pastors, laypeople and congregations across Texas and the synod to join and actively support the nascent networks that are in place across our land. This is the time to form "shadow districts" with leaders who are trained in Scripture and the confessions, not Drucker, Clinical Pastoral Education, Fuller and Willow Creek. Now is the time share info about pastor's theological positions and commitments rather than their Church Growth, PLI, Leadership Training and connections with the district administrations.

EMail your comments!

October 2, 2001