|
Time To Layoff District
Presidents Instead of Missionaries
By: Rev. Jack Cascione |
|
|
(Addresses of LCMS Board Of Directors
listed below. Make your voice heard.)
Why did the LCMS recall 28 missionaries when they could have sent 28
District President back to be full-time parish pastors and save untold
numbers of damned souls?
Over and over again we hear about the shortage of parish pastors.
Send the Council of District Presidents back to the parish. Send the
missionaries back to saving souls.
Actually, it costs more than twice as much to pay the expenses and salary
of one District President than it does to keep one missionary in the
field.
How did the LCMS do without full-time District President's until 1961? The
answer is that the Synod grew to nearly 2,800,000 baptized members.
After 1961, most Districts established full-time District Presidencies.
Later, executive staff, facilitators, secretaries and more staff were
added. The number of full-time District workers now exceeds the Synodical
headquarters by nearly 400%. (The Synod's Pension Fund, Church
Extension Fund, and Worker Benefits Plan are funded separately through
these funds.)
What happened after 1961? The Synod has declined to nearly
2,500,000. District Presidents can now come home and announce,
"Honey, I shrunk the Synod."
According to page 462 of the 2002 Lutheran Annual, the District Offices
collected $127,554,235 and sent $25,312,219 (or less than $.20 on the
dollar) to the Synod. Maintaining the $102,000,000 a year LCMS District
bureaucracies, executive travel accounts, etc. means the Synod has to cut
missions and missionaries.
According to page 728 of the 2003 Lutheran Annual, the Districts collected
$124,703,387 and sent $24,293,120 to the Synod. They kept the
difference, $100,410,267 for work in the Districts.
According to the 2003 Lutheran Annual, the only two Districts without
additional full-time staff are Montana and South Dakota. We wonder
what kind of deprivation these LCMS congregations are suffering by not
having the opportunity to support full-time district staff.
What would happen to the LCMS if District Presidents went back to their
congregations?
Maybe the LCMS might start growing again. Maybe we would have lots
of money for missionaries in order to save peoples' souls instead of
District bureaucracies.
Some may argue that conditions have changed and congregations need more
help from the District President.
We reply: Why don't the District Presidents delegate responsibilities to
the vice-presidents and circuit counselors? Why don't the Districts
teach Voters' Assemblies how to run congregations the same way Walther
did?
The $100,000,000 per year LCMS Districts' budgets are squandering the
Synod's resources so that we must cut missionaries instead of District
Presidents.
At the latest 2003 Symposium, with more than 760 paid attendance, it was
announced that the Synod only gives 1% of Fort Wayne's annual $11,000,000
budget and the Seminary is desperately in need of financial support.
(send funds to: Concordia Theological Seminary, 6600 North Clinton Street,
Fort Wayne Indiana 46825-4996.)
The Synod was founded for the purpose of supplying pastors, teachers, and
missionaries. Now the District Offices collect $125,000,000 a year
and only $100,000 gets to Fort Wayne to teach more pastors.
After 156 years, the primary mission of the LCMS is the District Office.
The full-time District Presidents and staff are making the Synod
irrelevant.
If the laypeople have any love for saving souls, they will want to send
their money directly to the Seminaries and Missions and let the District
workers return to the congregations where they belong.
Save souls by writing to the LCMS Board of Directors immediately.
Say: I want to save souls not District Offices.
For your convenience, the E-mail addresses and
surface addresses of the Board of Directors and the Treasurer are listed
below.
Rev. Edward Balfour - 150 Mitchell Rd. - Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107
E-mail: mbalfou1@maine.rr.com
Rev. Dr. Karl L. Barth - 8220 Harwood #208 - Milwaukee, WI 53213
E-mail: karlbarth@webtv.net
Dr. Betty Duda - 2450 Mikler - Oviedo, FL 32765
E-mail: BJDUDA11@aol.com
Rev. James E. Fandrey - 2603 North 51st Ave - Omaha, NE 68104
E-mail: jefandrey1@juno.com
Miss Elizabeth Fluegel - 1734 Kingsgate Court #302 - Alexandria, VA
22302 E-mail: efluegel@excite.com
Ernest E. Garbe - 1661 N. 2200 St., - Dieterich, IL 62424
E-mail: epgarbe@mmtcnet.com
Dr. Jean Garton - 4808 Shoal Creek Drive - Benton, Arkansas 72015
E-mail: Not available
Oscar H. Hanson - P. O. Box 16852 - So. Lake Tahoe, CA 96151
E-mail: oahanson@netfeed.com
David Hawk - 2814 Baywood Trail - Ft. Wayne, IN 46845
E-mail: DKHawk@HawkHaynie.com
(work)
Theodore A. Kober - 1537 Ave. D, Suite 352 - Billings, MT 59102
E-mail: tkober@hispeace.org
(work)
Rev. Dr. Robert T. Kuhn - 1387 Haven Drive - Oviedo, FL 32765
E-mail: rtkuhn@cfl.rr.com
Christian A. Preus - 16205 5th Ave., North - Plymouth, MN 55447
E-mail: preus@attbi.com
Dr. Edwin A. Trapp - 7624 Glenn Albens Circle - Dallas, TX 75225
E-mail: eat2@airmail.net
Thomas W. Kuchta - 12841 Dubon Lane - St. Louis, MO 63131 (Treasurer)
E-mail: tomkuchta@aol.com
|
|
|
|
|
January 26, 2003 |