A book titled, "Church and Ministry" was sent to every congregation in the
LCMS in July of 1998. In this book, Rev. Arleigh Lutz, District President from North
Wisconsin and President of the Council of Presidents, demonstrates his total ease in
publicly teaching two contradictory views on the doctrine of Church and Ministry for the
LCMS at the same time. True to form for a Chairman of the COP, Lutz begins by railing
against "problem pastors" (page 68), and then he closes his response by railing
against "problem pastors" (page 74). Lutz clearly shows that the greatest
problem in the LCMS is "problem District Presidents." He never explains what
problem pastors do wrong. Why should he? He will let the pastors know what a problem is
when he sees one.
Lutz presents himself in the verbiage of a theological regional union boss risen to the
level of boss of bosses. Of all the topics to which he attempts to show his opposition, he
chooses the problem of congregations restructuring like corporations and pastors acting
like CEOs. In a move right out of the William Clinton book on Leadership Training, the
very thing he objects to is what he is also now promoting throughout the Synod.
In a number of LCMS "Reporters", Lutz and the C.O.P. are featured as
endorsing PLI, Pastoral Leadership Institute. PLI is designed to teach 225 LCMS Pastors,
screened by the C.O.P., to run LCMS mega-churches like corporations and teach pastors how
to be CEOs. Naturally there will be accreditation from Dr. John Johnson and the St. Louis
Seminary.
Before I say more about PLI, the following are quotations from the book by writers,
including Lutz, who are against the very thing PLI is going to teach pastors, that is to
run congregations structured like corporations while they serve as CEOs.
A.L. Barry
"Or, interestingly, they may begin to conceive of the church according to the
model of a business in which they own stock but in which they have little or no active
involvement unless they want to."(Page 6)
"Thus, the Pastoral Office is not simply a pragmatic human response to a need for
leadership on the part of the group of Christians who gather themselves together and
then,merely for the sake of good order, appoint one from among them to "do their
Ministry." (Page 9)
Dr. Arleigh L. Lutz Chairman of the Council District Presidents (COP)
"Following Abdon's advice, new constitutions were adopted by a number of
congregations in which the church council was replaced by a board of directors, and the
office of chairman by the position of executive director, and the ancient office of elder
by something called the board of lay ministry. Whatever the original intent, this change
of structure introduced a cultural business model into the life of the church. This model
implies that we are not "set apart" from the surrounding culture but are, in
fact, a part of it. Among other things this has resulted in a significant change in
attitude and understanding of the Pastoral Office." (Page 73)
Dr. James Kalthoff, Missouri District President
"A corporation mentality has entered the church. Congregations are now into
such things as performance evaluations of pastors and other professional church workers.
And the Synod and District Presidents are asking questions of pastors concerning how they
view their ministry, where there ministries have moved, what goal they have set for
themselves in the year ahead--questions that flow from more of a corporation
mentality." (page 141)
Extremes to Be Avoided.
"...And(2) the "staff-driven" often in larger congregations approach seen
so where all key decisions are left basically to the pastors and other professional church
workers while laypeople pursue other interests." (Page 149)
"It is no secret that in many cases, multiple staff ministries in our churches are
not healthy." (page 151)
Rev. Ray Hartwig, President of the South Dakota District quotes Oz Guniness
"Dining with the Devil"
"Anyone who doubts this shift [pastor to CEO] has only to look at
church-growth literature and check for such chapters as ‘portrait of the effective
pastor.’....The bulk of the chapter is taken up with such themes as delegating,
confidence, interaction, decision-making, visibility, practicality, accountability, and
discernment-the profile of the thoroughly modem pastor as CEO....
[These] leadership qualities could apply in a hundred other organizations-- after all,
they once did, and were simply borrowed. Worse still, the disadvantage of the CEO-Pastor,
as increasing numbers of them are discovering, is that those who live like CEO's are fired
like CEOs--and spiritual considerations have as little to do with the ending as with the
beginning and the middle." (Page 196)
Doctor, Masao Shimodate, President of the Theological Training Program in Tokyo,
Japan
"President Hartwig points out the shift in the pastoral profile. It seems to
me to be rather extreme, but pastors are like CEO's and are better qualified as secular
rather than spiritual leaders." Page 222.
Dr. Edward G. Kettner, Professor Concordia Lutheran Seminary Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada
"On the other hand, the pastor may become one who sees himself merely as a CEO
or 'facilitator' who is little more than a motivational speaker, an "equipper"
whose job is to work himself out of the job by training others to do the "real
work" of ministry." (Page 225)
Dr. Arleigh L. Lutz Chairman of the Council District Presidents (COP) Does a Double
Reverse in the "Reporter"
The December 1997 issue of the REPORTER noted on page three that the Council of
District Presidents (C.O.P.), under the "leadership" of newly elected President
Arleigh Lutz, who carries on after the retirement of John Heins, plans to retrain 300
selected LCMS pastors over a period of six years. Without prior notice and without
consulting the LCMS Convention, the C.O.P. accepted funds from the Lutheran Church
Extension Fund to retrain LCMS pastors to lead and start "Church Growth" style
mega-congregations in the LCMS. The following quote demonstrates the boldness of the
conspirators to "change" LCMS congregations from their historic structure based
on C.F.W. Walther's "Church and Ministry" as they see fit without consulting the
1998 LCMS Convention.
"In other business, the C.O.P. heard a presentation on a plan to involve LCMS
pastors--300 of them initially-- in a four year process aimed at making them more
effective in their ministries by training them to be more effective leaders.
"Rev. Norbert Oesch of Orange, Calif., and Rev. Stephen D. Hower of Pacific, MO.,
told the C.O.P. that the Pastoral Leadership Institute they helped to organize has
obtained funding and intends to begin working with 100 pastors next year. They asked the
C.O.P. to help identify pastors who would benefit from the training and to help the
organizers refine their training model.
Norbert Oesch To Train LCMS Clergy in Church Growth and Leadership Training.
Dr. Oesch, who was chosen by the C.O.P. to be in charge of retraining 300 LCMS pastors,
spoke on the subject of leadership at the Congregational Services Conference of the LCMS,
in February, 1996, as follows:
"It was only nine years ago this past month that the first conference on
"Worship and Music as it relates to Evangelism and Discipleship" was held in my
home congregation in Orange. Before this, as far as could be discerned, only 15
congregations used alternative forms of worship not formally approved by the Synod and/or
the Board of Worship. Today it has been validated that over 3500 Lutheran congregations,
both in the LCMS and in the ELCA, are using alternative forms of worship." Page 14
"Even the Senior Pastor position has changed. This position is often no longer
called Senior Pastor, but the Senior ADMINISTRATIVE Pastor." Educated Americans in
large congregations "...expect him (the senior pastor) to serve as the CEO of the
congregation. I can testify to that personally since I was interviewed for a Senior Pastor
position last Fall in the grand state of Texas. The job description specifically stated
the Senior Pastor shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the congregation, that he
shall develop a staff driven organization, and the way to set up an organizational
structure that would allow for that." (Page 20)
"Our congregation will most likely move toward calling an Executive Pastor who
will serve as a C.O.O., Chief Operating Officer. My role will be to become more
specialized in the area of preaching and teaching and holding up the vision, and let a
specialist in administration run the staff and the congregational organization."
(Page 20)
Oesch Announces Resignation from Congregation in February 9, 1998, to Start PLI
In a three page letter to his congregation, dated February 9, 1998, Pastor Norbert
Oesch, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, Spiritual Growth Center, in Orange,
California, announced that he was resigning from his congregation to head up "The
Pastoral Leadership Institute" (PLI). He writes, "It is a challenge that I
believe with all my heart the Lord wants me to do. I will need your prayers and your
blessings upon me.
Oesch continues, "Our church body has wonderful Seminaries that do a fine job of
training men for teaching, preaching and pastoral care. Few do it better. But leadership
needs to be taught in context, and it needs to come after the problems have been
faced....Many of our men who have passion to grow the church by the Spirit's power
currently go to events and training schools outside our denomination, precisely because we
offer nothing to them inside... Other pastors do not go for outside training, and they
suffer for lack of knowledge and skills. There is an axiom that holds weight: "No
church can grow beyond it's leader." And around eighty percent of our congregations
in the LCMS are not growing. Thus this training program.
I thought the growth of churches depended on Christ and God's Word, not on the talents
of the leader. May God remove all such leaders so He can get the blame for the collapse of
His church.
PLI to Receive Accreditation
Oesch states that those who wish to pursue a Doctor of Ministry degree, Concordia
Seminary, St. Louis, is preparing to give 27 credit units of the 54 required for that
degree. It will have academic and practical excellence.
Who will pay for this?
Oesch writes, "Historically, three other pastors and I were asked by the Lutheran
Church Extension Fund what they could do to make a difference in our church body. We
stated unanimously, 'Help develop a training program in leadership for pastors.' They
encouraged us to expand from four to eight.... In November the idea.. .received very warm
support by the C.O.P."
This author published a complaint about the LCEF financing the Church Growth Movement
in the LCMS. This a quote from a response by Victor Bryant, Senior Vice President of
Marketing for the LCEF, 10/15/97, "It is simply ridiculous to associate LCEF as being
in any way responsible for the...ever increasing power of the Church Growth
Movement....Again I must ask you (Cascione) to please cease from making any further such
comments about LCEF." The LCEF simply uses the laity's money to change the
congregations from its historic constitution to corporations and put the laity out of
"Lutheran" churches. You can be sure the pastors at PLI will not be
"retrained" in the Lutheran Confessions and C.F.W Walther's "Church and
Ministry," nor do the lay people want this from their pastors.
There are a number of assumptions behind this program (PLI) that was unanimously
adopted by the C.O.P.:
1. The C.O.P. agrees that eight years of training in Word and Sacrament at the
seminaries do not properly prepare pastors for their congregations in 1998.
2. The C.O.P. is now relying on "leadership" to make LCMS congregations grow.
3. We can see how the C.O.P. and their District Office staff have been indoctrinated by
and have adopted the management theory of Peter Drucker over C.F.W. Walther. If preaching
Law and Gospel does not grow a church, any other leadership and growth is from hell. The
Church Growth Movement uses the Gospel as a pretext to market the church according to the
principles of the Harvard School of Business.
In the first century of our Synod, pastors studied theology to improve their preaching
and teaching skills Now, we see what a mistake all that was. What the pastors really need
is more expertise in business management theory, marketing, group dynamics, cultural
relevance and mind control techniques to build successful, effective, dynamic churches.
LCMS "Reporter" September, 1998, Announces PLI Headed by Norb Oesch
"In the fall of 1996, Vic Bryant and the late Art Haake, executives with the
Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF), asked a group of pastors what new ministry might
significantly help the Missouri Synod carry out the Great Commission, if start-up funds
could be provided."
"With initial funding from LCEF through the Pacific Southwest District the result
is the Pastoral Leadership Institute (PLI), a Sant Ana, Calif.-based program being
developed by Dr. Norbert Oesch, PLI's staff executive."
"There were things I sought as a younger pastor, but never found," Oesch
said. "One was adequate exposure to effective congregations in our Synod who were
doing things right. And the other was in-depth conversations with veteran pastors of these
congregations. Had those things happened, many mistakes could have been avoided."
Here we have a program based on total subjectivity being peddled to "effective
congregations" in our Synod who are "doing things right. The nebulous criteria
are based on whatever Oesch thinks is effective and right which, necessarily, means
statistics, results, and market tested standards of success. John the Baptist and twelve
apostles never pastored such congregations. The pastor at Ephesis in Revelation also need
not apply.
Again, Oesch states, "Now, through PLI, we hope to give significant time for
mentoring experiences and exposure to the ways some of our best pastors are doing ministry
in large congregations.
PLI will be applying for and receiving "Recognized Service Organization"
status. In other words, the District Office in California gives a call and organizes a
program to retrain 225 LCMS pastors that receives St. Louis Seminary credits and a degree
before it is recognized by the Synod. The C.O.P. intentionally did not bring PLI to the
LCMS Convention Floor for delegate approval. The LCMS Convention has only given the right
to teach pastors in the LCMS to two seminaries. The C.O.P. blatantly ignores that so it
will not have to explain to the Synod how they are going to teach pastors to reorganize
LCMS congregations like corporations. Naturally, pastors who want to be one of the special
225 must apply through and be recommended for the program by their District President.
The C.O.P., under the "leadership" of Dr. Arleigh L. Lutz, is now taking
direct control of what was once the responsibility of the Synod's seminaries. President
Johnson and the St. Louis Seminary Board of Regents have given up what was not theirs to
give away. There is little doubt why the program was not brought to the attention of the
LCMS Convention. After just ten minutes of floor debate exposing the shallow, secular
techniques of management theory and the new world order from Leadership Network
(www.Leadnet@.org), Peter Drucker, and the Harvard School of Business in place of C.F.W.
Walther's "Church and Ministry," the delegates would have thrown out the entire
program and the C.O.P. for their rank fraud and conspiracy against the Synod and the
church of Jesus Christ. The delegates of the LCMS Convention were cheated out of their
right to vote on the program by Dr. Arleigh L. Lutz and the C.O.P. Meanwhile, in the book
sent out by the Synodical President to all congregations, Lutz speaks as if he is against
the entire process of corporate congregations run by pastor/CEOs.
Yes, President Lutz, you are quite a problem. But what if I'm wrong? I challenge you
Doctor, Reverend, Chairman, Problem, District President to publish the signatures of all
the LCMS District Presidents agreeing to the following statement:
"We, the District Presidents of the LCMS only support Walther’s "Church
and Ministry" as the polity for all LCMS Congregations. We renounce the secular
management techniques promoted by the Church Growth Movement, The Leadership Network,
Peter Drucker, and the Harvard School of Business as replacements for Walther "Church
and Ministry" in LCMS congregations. The current training at our two seminaries is
sufficient for men to be pastors in all LCMS congregations. We want the name Lutheran on
all LCMS Congregations, Orthodox Lutheran hymnbooks and Catechisms used in all LCMS
Congregations, and we only endorse the three general Creeds for confession in LCMS Worship
services."
I won't hold my breath.