"Luther Quest" Accused Of Unionism For "Calling" Rolf Preus "Chaplain"

Rev. Jack Cascione

Members of the ELS, WELS , LCMS, and more have been drawn into a debate over Pastor Rolf Preus (ELS) being given the honorary title "Luther Quest Chaplain."

The ELS (Evangelical Lutheran Synod) and the WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) broke fellowship with the LCMS (Missouri Synod), respectively, in 1955 and 1962.  Subsequently, 45 of the 50 professors at the St. Louis Seminary, who were teaching that Bible was not the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God, were driven out of the LCMS in 1974 by Rev. Rolf Preus' uncle, President Jacob Preus.  Both Doctors Jacob and Robert Preus, past Presidents of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne , were formerly Pastors in the ELS.

WWW.Lutherquest.org is a Lutheran Internet discussion group that anyone may read or participate in as long at they write about the Bible, Lutheran theology and the Lutheran Confessions.  Luther Quest has 87,500 messages on its 315 megabytes of archived discussions with approximately 3/4 million hits.  A "megabyte" is over a million characters or about 125,000 words. Luther Quest is estimated to be the largest website in Lutheranism, not operated by a Lutheran Church Body.

Luther Quest owner, Rev. Jack Cascione, intends that www.Lutherquest.org be a place where Lutheran laypeople and clergy can interact, question, learn, dialogue, debate, criticize, compare, satirize, poke fun at, and present their own views.  Lutherquest is one of the rare opportunities for this kind of free interaction.

In recent weeks, Cascione was disappointed with the less than pastoral behavior of some LCMS clergy who are attacking laypeople who don't believe that Mary was a perpetual virgin.  This would also mean that Joseph wasn't a husband to Mary.  With the goal to demonstrate proper pastoral etiquette, at the request of two lay people, Cascione asked Preus to be the Luther Quest "Chaplain."  Preus is asked to write a minimum of two paragraphs a week on the subject of his choice.

Preus is the only clergyman who has been asked to post devotional writing on Luther Quest.  Luther Quest is the sole property of Jack M. Cascione and is not sponsored by any church body or congregation.

Subsequently, charges have been filed against Preus from a pastor in Press' church body for violating the ELS doctrine of church fellowship.

While reading the following letter from Pastor David Russow to the ELS President and Vice President, we would remind the reader that the words "devotion" and "chaplain" have no definition in the context of the internet. There is nothing to join and there is no "Luther Quest" fellowship.

In 1976 this writer was invited to hear Dr. Bob Jones II, of Bob Jones University , speak in Evansville , Indiana .  I was introduced to Jones at the end of the "service" as a member of the Missouri Synod.  Doctor Jones hollered out, "Missouri Synod!" and began to complain loudly that Dr. Walther Maier of the LCMS and Lutheran Hour refused to pray with him when Jones visited Maier's office at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis .

Maier was correct in not praying with a Baptist simply for the sake of prayer, as if there are no theological differences between Baptists and Lutherans.  There must be agreement in doctrine before there can be fellowship.

However, in this case, Preus is only writing to an unknown public who may or may not agree with him.  In view of Pastor Russow's charges, we have to ask, how can a pastor in the ELS preach and pray on the radio if non-members are listening?  How could Christ preach and lead a prayer at the feeding of the 5000 (Mat. 14:19 ) when there were 1000's present who didn't agree with Him?

At this time many in the LCMS are rightfully outraged that Atlantic District President David Benke would pray and worship in public with Moslem Clerics, with the approval of LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick.

However, Preus is simply writing the Word of God in public and not compromising or sharing his "office" with anyone.

As the owner of Luther Quest, I strenuously object to any inference that Luther Quest is a "church" or that Rev. Preus is exercising a "form" or "function" of the pastoral office on Luther Quest.  Lengthy discussions on www.Lutherquest.org under the thread "Devotion?" keep raising these questions.  They've made for great humorous and critical reading.  It's Luther Quest at its best.

The real issue here is not prayer, fellowship, or the pastoral office.  The real issue is the Word of God.  The Holy Spirit can't be separated from the Word of God anymore than the two natures of Christ.  The Word of God is just as effective on the Internet as it was in the mouth of Martin Luther or in the mouth of a five-year-old child.  Pastor Russow is determined to prevent a fellow pastor from posting the Word of God on Luther Quest.

It may be that the ELS and WELS doctrine of prayer fellowship also includes an objection to publishing the Word of God and prayers to people it considers heterodox or unbelievers.

The LCMS continues to decrease in size because it is no longer focused on the importance of its own doctrine.  The question for the LCMS is: "Why should anyone join it?"  On the other hand, the ELS and the WELS are also failing to show significant growth.  Is it because their clergy are forbidden to write and speak in public about their doctrine?

The ELS and the WELS have always presented themselves as mission minded church bodies.

Steve Ames asks: If, as Mr. Gorman rightly asks, “Has Lutherquest become a church?” or by participating on LQ I’m joining in church fellowship with others on this discussion board, I will need to terminate my involvement. Please advise.
Steve

Dr. David Anderson asks: Has Luther Quest redefined fellowship so that all Questers may cross the synod lines and come together in prayer and devotion?

Michael Bryant: "A devotion, whether prayer or homily, is worship. You've all taught me that."

"I doubt anyone here would have been satisfied that syncretism did not occur if the participants of Yankee Stadium had instead been united by video feed instead of physical proximity."

Steve: As Lutherquest may be moving down the WordAlone road the issue of selective fellowship may come more into play. Trying to use Missouri Synod terms I’ll quote the Concordia Lutheran Conference: “Unless one's actions are to belie one's words, "Church Fellowship" (that is, altar-and-pulpit fellowship, prayer fellowship and joint church work) can be practiced only by those who are in "confessional fellowship" with one another (Amos 3:3; Rom. 16:17).

Anderson : St. Rolf, missionary to the Questerians -- who had never, ever heard the Gospel until January 23, 2004 .

But really. LutherQuest -- a church? LutherQuest posts -- an indulgent temptation towards unionism?

Mike Gehlhousen

"1. Talk about and receive answers on what is happening in the LCMS;
2. Learn how and why Walther invented the LCMS, what he kept and what he rejected;"

Pr. Preus is a member of the ELS. Just why would an ostensibly LCMS site "call" an ELS chaplain? We are not in church fellowship.

Also, I don't remember appointing a call committee nor voting on whether to extend this "call" to Pr. Preus. Isn't a bit ironic that a strong advocate of voters assembly supremacy would call a chaplain in such an Episcopal manner?  

Just things that make me go hmmm. I really am not distressed by any of this. It just raises a number of interesting questions in my mind just as it does in yours.

BTW, no apology needed for mistaking me for Mr. Paul. At least not from my end. Now, Mr. Paul may be insulted by my being thought of as him.

Questions, questions, I've got questions:

Can acceptable devotions (here or anywhere) be written only by called, ordained, in-good-standing clergy? Does it make any difference if the reader is a child?

If a woman writes a devotion for adults and it is edited and approved by said called, ordained, in-good-standing clergy, is it then acceptable? If a woman writes a Bible study that is edited and approved by called, ordained, in-good-standing clergy, is that acceptable? Does audience (children, adult female, mixed adult) make any difference?

I'll be waiting breathlessly for your answers. ;-)

Pax!
Edie

Mike Bryant "First, is reading a devotion worship?”

Public devotions are another thing altogether. First, because they are public, I DO believe that issues of fellowship are involved - absolutely. But if a layman reads aloud a devotion written by another from another synod, is that unionism?

Mr. Ames, I don't believe that my contributing devotions to LutherQuest in any way militates against the doctrine of fellowship taught by the WELS or the ELS. The word "chaplain" may connote a certain kind of pastoral relationship in most contexts, but surely not here on LutherQuest. I think the title chosen is a bit "tongue in cheek." LutherQuest is not church and biblical principles that would apply to church fellowship do not apply here. I am the pastor of River Heights Lutheran Church in East Grand Forks , Minnesota and the vacancy pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Crookston and First Evanger Lutheran Church in Fertile. I have no call from God to serve people on LutherQuest with the word of God. However, any pastor given an opportunity to bring the word of God to others without compromising God's truth in any way should willingly do so. That's how I look at it.

You might want to read my comments on the thread about Roe versus Wade to see why I had to bow out of an opportunity to speak against abortion. I would have been compromised by the worship setting within which my words would be spoken. There is no such problem here on LutherQuest.

You can never separate the word of God from the Holy Spirit, no more than you can separate the two natures of Christ.

The Critics in the ELS and WELS are going to have to be honest with their understanding of Fellowship.  When they forbid prayer with other Lutheran they also mean that members of the ELS may not speak the word of God or hear the word of God from anyone they are not in fellowship.  Therefore it is a sin for ELS and WELS members to talk about God with members of the LCMS.

Russow claims that Preus’ involvement in Luther Quest is public, therefore his objections are not a violation of the Matthew 18.  His position on Matthew 18 carries a lot of weight for me.  In the Large Catechism Luther says if the sin is public it is not a matter of Matthew 18 or the Eighth Commandment.  Therefore, according to Russow’s perception of public sin, Russow is not violating Matthew 18.

However, the onus on Russow is to prove that Preus is indeed guilty of sin on Luther Quest.  Russow is so sure he is right, he rushes into print before he knows what he is talking about.  He would have been better advised to contact Preus privately just to make sure he had his facts straight.

The Lutheran Confessions and the Bible say nothing of “Devotions,” “Chaplains,” “Internet,” or “cyberspace.”  “Merriam Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary” 1949, only uses the term “devotions” as in a book of devotions.  Nor can Russow identify for whom Preus is the “Chaplain.”  According to Russow’s understanding, an ELS Pastor could not lead a prayer on his own radio broadcast for fear of who might be praying with him.

I don’t think that Russow has a problem with Matthew 18.  Rather, he is calling Preus a sinner because Preus is writing religious words to an unidentified public.

This would make Christ a sinner for praying in public on the cross in front of people with whom He was not in fellowship.

Russow has exposed the possibility that the ELS is becoming a sect rather than a Lutheran Church Body.  Russow has told us a great deal about himself and the ELS, for which I thank him.

After the election of Gerald Kieschnick our congregation, which has no women suffrage, explored the possibility of joining the ELS.  We were quickly rejected by then ELS President George Orvic, and informed that Walther was wrong about Church and Ministry.  Orvic also told me that he had the right to consecrate the elements at a Synodical Convention because he was the pastor of the entire Synod.  Such consecration on his part didn’t take place only because he chose not to.

*Note: Since this article was written, Pastors Preus and Russow have come to an understanding.