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The Rev. Dr. Wallace
Schulz Will Not Return to Lutheran Hour Ministries
By: Rev. Jack Cascione |
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The following News Release was sent out by the International
Lutheran Layman's League. The League believes that Second Vice
President Wally Schulz's duties in the LCMS placed him in conflict with
the goals of the LLL. The LLL no longer supports the LCMS
Constitution. This is why the LCMS Board of Directors questions the
LLL's right to Recognized Service Organization status in the LCMS.
The polarization that Luther caused in Europe would also make him
ineligible to be an LLL speaker.
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The Rev. Dr. Wallace Schulz Will Not Return to Lutheran Hour Ministries
St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 18, 2002--The Rev. Dr. Wallace Schulz will not
return to his duties as Lutheran Hour Radio Speaker, according to Rodger
Hebermehl, executive director of Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM).
"Dr. Schulz would not agree to stipulations deemed necessary for his
return to service," Hebermehl said. "Our desire was to reach an
agreement that would restore him to his duties. We regret that this
could not be achieved. We appreciate Dr. Schulz's long years of
service to "The Lutheran Hour" and to the International Lutheran
Laymen's League, and we pray for God's continued blessings on him and his
ministry."
Dr. Schulz was relieved temporarily of his duties with pay on July 12. On
July 21, the LHM board of governors declared unanimously that Dr. Schulz
violated the organization's code of ethics and its conflict of interest
policy. At the same time, the board indicated its desire to bring
Dr. Schulz back into the LHM team ministry. It also affirmed the
authority of the executive director to develop stipulations and to obtain
Dr. Schulz's agreement before he could be restored to service. Dr. Schulz
declined to agree to the stipulations.
LHM experienced turmoil and polarization after Dr. Schulz, in his role as
second vice president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, chose to rule
in a case involving the church body's Atlantic District president, who
participated in a post-Sept. 11, 2001, prayer service at New York's Yankee
Stadium. LHM leaders have consistently taken no position on the
matter or on Dr. Schulz's ruling. They anticipated, however, that
any involvement could bring potential controversy and harm the
organization's mission of "Bringing Christ to the Nations-and the
Nations to the Church." In February, LHM asked Dr. Schulz to
recuse himself from the matter, but he did not do so.
His action polarized Lutheran Hour Ministries and negatively affected the
organization's ministry, Hebermehl said. In seeking the
stipulations, LHM's intent was to be constructive and to ensure that Dr.
Schulz clearly understood what was required of him to be reinstated into
the team ministry, Hebermehl said.
Lutheran Hour Ministries, with headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., is a
service of the International Lutheran Laymen's League (Int'l LLL) a
volunteer organization of 130,000 members. The Int'l LLL is an auxiliary
of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Lutheran Church-Canada.
A Web site version of this news release is located at: www.lhm.org/enews.htm
For further information, please contact: Jim Telle at 1-800-944-3450, sta.
4171 jim.telle@lhm.org |
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September 18, 2002 |