After a telephone conversation between Attorney James Runzheimer and
Texas District President Kieschnick on Tuesday, April 6, the meeting proposed in writing
by the Texas District President was canceled. Kieschnick insisted that the meeting be
private and that Runzheimer could not bring the LCMS pastor of his choice with him to the
meeting. These are not the conditions that each of the three Vice Presidents who appeared
at three different meetings on February 11, 12, and 14 led the hundreds of people in
attendance to believe were necessary for the meeting. In fact, each of the Vice Presidents
spoke about the meeting in plural pronouns.
However, a closer examination of the original letter sent by Kieschnick does, indeed,
speak about a one on one meeting as we read in the following quote from his February 8,
1999, response. "Nevertheless, we are always open to a genuine dialogue on those
issues that relate to the Texas District’s mission of strengthening congregations to
reach the lost, disciple the saved, and care for people, locally and globally. If you are
ever inclined to do so, any one of us would be more than happy to visit with you in
person, face to face, in truly dialogical fashion, about every one of your
questions."
When Kieschnick wrote "any one of us" what he meant was "only one of
us." When Runzheimer proposed that there be a meeting of as many interested lay
people who wanted to attend at one time with the Texas District President and Vice
Presidents (all those who signed the letter) Kieschnick refused to meet with such a group.
When Runzheimer proposed that the meeting include just one LCMS pastor of his choice, the
Texas District President again refused.
The rules of Dispute Resolution according to LCMS Handbook 8.01 do not permit one
layman by himself to file charges against a District President. Only another LCMS
congregation or pastor, or in special cases a group of lay people, can file such charges.
By deciding which people meet with him, Kieschnick protects himself from the possibility
of any doctrinal charges being filed against him.
In his original letter of January 28, 1999, Runzheimer wrote that in the Lutheran
Witness of June 1998 Kieschnick is quoted in reference to his candidacy for LCMS President
as follows:
(7) Relationships Do we need and desire relationships between pastor and people,
congregations and national Synod, districts and national Synod that are characterized as
distant, divergent, and distrustful, or as collegial, cooperative, and close?
(8) Church and Ministry Will we have a church that is characterized by unhealthy,
autocratic clericalism, or by healthy congregational self- governance with healthy people,
both male and female, and healthy pastors sharing the privileges and responsibilities of
mission and ministry within the Biblically defined roles of each member of the Body of
Christ?
When asked for an answer to Runzheimer’s 10 questions, Kieschnick was anything but
"cooperative." He simply retreated to the "unhealthy, autocratic
clericalism" he condemned in his own campaign statement.
Mr. LCMS layman, when it comes to a responsible direct answer to your concerns from
LCMS District Presidents, you haven’t got a chance. These men are only responsible to
the District Convention that meets every three years. The majority of the clergy are
careful to elect the man who will best represent their own interests and not the interests
of the laity they serve. Clergy interests included having the right names placed on the
right call lists and District support for the right pastors at the right time. The more
than $8 million, even if it was $80 million, given to the Texas District from member
congregations in 1997 will not open any doors for a layman who has "questions"
for the District President.
This is hardly the church structure envisioned or written about by the Synod’s
founder, C.F.W. Walther, in his "Church and Ministry." Less than one in a
thousand lay people have ever read the book or Walther’s "Pastoral
Theology." You can be sure that the Texas District President is not encouraging the
lay people to read them.
The Texas District President and four Vice Presidents wrote that they refused to answer
any of Runzheimer’s ten questions. The following are six of the ten questions:
Please Check One
1. (yes) (no) I support Walther’s Church and Ministry as the only correct teaching
and practice for all Texas District Congregations.
2. (yes) (no) I oppose the confession of any manufactured creeds and statements of faith
in place of the three Ecumenical Creeds in all Texas District Congregation worship
services.
3. (yes) (no) I believe that the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds are correct statements
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and agreement with them, without addition or deletion, is
necessary for membership in the LCMS.
4. (yes) (no) The only way to heaven is by faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
5. (yes) (no) I insist on the name "Lutheran" on all Texas District
Congregations and mission congregations.
6. (yes) (no) In accordance with Handbook Article VI.4, I advise all Texas District
Congregations that they must practice exclusive use of Lutheran hymn books, Luther’s
Small Catechism, and Lutheran Agenda in Church and School.
Conditions in Texas are quite similar to those found in most of the Synod’s 35
Districts. If the lay people don’t put an end to these abuses the clergy will keep
electing men who will favor the interests of the clergy over the lay people and the
congregations. Support for resolutions at District Conventions and the Synodical
Convention limiting the authority of District Presidents, reclaiming Walther’s
"Church and Ministry" for the Synod, and returning all District Officers to full
time parish ministry will be the only way to reverse these abuses and focus the clergy on
the laity instead of the District Office.