LCMS Praesidium Terminates Case Against Cascione

During their meeting beginning on 9/11/03 the LCMS Praesidium determined “not to proceed with the case of Werning v. Cascione, thereby terminating the Praesidium’s responsibility for this case, in accord with By-Law 2.27b.” The letter was signed by Dr. Paul Maier and was received on 10/1/03 . Doctor Waldo Werning filed the original charges with President Kieschnick on 10/4/02 .

On 1/11/03 President Kieschnick published to the LCMS Board of Directors and the Council of District Presidents that I was being charged with breaking the Eighth Commandment, “. . . a pastor [Cascione] whose membership on the clergy roster of the Synod is on the agenda of the LCMS Praesidium in a case alleging his repeated violation of the Eighth Commandment . . .” President Kieschnick wrote this after I had publicly criticized his travel expenditures. Kieschnick also wrote “In addition, you are certainly free to share this memo with anyone . . . .”

Doctor Waldo Werning filed charges that I had broken the Eighth Commandment because I published that his book, “Health and Healing For the LCMS,” teaches false doctrine about the Trinity. Werning published his own book and sent a copy to every delegate of the 2001 LCMS Convention.

During his acceptance speech, President Kieschnick was adamant that the Synod keep the Eighth Commandment, but what about the First Commandment?

I didn’t publish one word about Werning’s charges against me until Kieschnick published the charges to the Synod. Now the Praesidium writes that this dispute about the Trinity, “has continued to trouble the church – we again urge and admonish that you immediately cease and desist from any further public comment that will compromise your attempts to resolve your dispute.”

In another letter signed by Paul Maier on 9/29/03 he states that the Praesidium “does not feel obligated to respond to questions prompted by individual misinterpretations of the doctrine of the Trinity . . .”

It was only on 7/18/03 that Dr. Maier wrote: “As you know, this case is still before the Praesidium and is still being adjudicated.” The Praesidium will adjudicate the case, but they will not answer questions about the doctrinal basis for adjudicating the case.

Since I was being charged for confessing the truth about the Trinity and condemning Werning’s false doctrine, I repeatedly asked the Praesidium and the LCMS President what they themselves believed about Werning’s doctrine. However, they refuse to answer. President Kieschnick’s reply of 10/9/03 only states in a one-sentence letter that he received my letter.

When Jesus Christ walked the earth anyone could ask Him a question about God, but President Kieschnick is not so accommodating. The CCM has ruled that he cannot be charged with false doctrine while he is in office. Hence, he has no obligation to respond to any LCMS pastor’s questions about God.

It was Kieschnick who brought Werning’s charges against me to the Praesidium. It is the South Wisconsin District President who continues to support Werning’s false doctrine about God and publish that I am a liar.

Not only will Dr. Maier not tell me what he believes about God, he also writes that he never met me, doesn’t know who I am, did not shake my hand at the Michigan District Convention, and was not present, as I claim that he was, for me to shake his hand while wearing my name badge.

Just because I was the PR Director at Fort Wayne , and talked to and met Dr. Maier at Symposiums and LCMS and District Conventions, doesn’t mean he has to know who I am. But then, whose hand did I shake at the back of the Michigan District Convention immediately after the Convention voted not to include the Athanasian Creed in a resolution claiming to confess the Triune God? Maybe it was Dr. Paul Maier’s ghost.

After repeated letters and memos that the Praesidium was considering to throw me out of the Synod, Redeemer Lutheran Church prepared itself for their exit from the Synod. At the last Voters’ meeting, by the grace of God, the congregation paid off all its debts, now owns all of its 4 1/2 million dollars of property free and clear, checked its deed for any possible problems and prepared itself to leave the Synod.

Even a layman can figure out that Werning’s teaching, “one of the three ways in which God has revealed Himself” contradicts “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” There can’t be three ways in which God has revealed himself because God is not divided. According to the Athanasian Creed, agreement with Werning’s false doctrine must lead to eternal damnation.

Members of Redeemer are astonished that the LCMS President and Praesidium refuse to answer any questions about God. Maier asserts, “The Praesidium’s beliefs about the Trinity are totally in accord with the Scriptures, the three Ecumenical Creeds, and the Lutherans Confessions, It does not feel obligated to respond to questions . . .”

This is exactly what Werning claims he believes.

The Presidium will “adjudicate” my case about the Trinity, but will not answer any questions about God.