The Rev. Norbert Oesch requested a confidential meeting with this writer at his hotel on Saturday, March 4, 2000 at the Holiday Inn near the Detroit Airport. However, in order to follow his wishes, some contents of the meeting must become public.

His primary reason for the meeting was in reference to an article published by this writer titled, "75 Year Old Woman Stops PLI Leader, Dr. Oesch." The article was published in Christian News as well as this website.

The article described an account of a taped interview with Helen Eggers, now 85, who with the help of others placed St. John's Lutheran Church in Orange, California, on the National Historic Register. Their goal was to prevent Doctor Oesch from carrying out his plans to knock it down and build a contemporary church structure.

During our meeting, Oesch asked that we present his position about St. John' s Lutheran Church's building. First, he claims that he never had any plans to knock down St. John's Lutheran Church. His Vision Statement of 1986 that spoke about the future of St. John's made reference to a new worship and music facility by 2000 but had no provision to remove the current building.

I did not ask Dr. Oesch where the new church was to be built nor did he volunteer the information.

Second, he claims that he was totally unaware that there was any effort to place St. John's on the National Historic Register until it was already an accomplished fact. He never saw any of the letters stating this was to take place.

Third, he claims that he loves St. John's building and he did everything he could to renovate and preserve it. He understands that the people involved in this effort were well intentioned, but mistaken. Comments about knocking down the building, may have come from other people, but were mistakenly attributed to him.

Fourth, he also said I had no right to judge his heart in this matter or any other matter, for which he is absolutely correct. This is a public apology for any judgment of his heart.

He also agreed that this writer is entitled to his opinions about PLI. We agreed to disagree on the need and importance for Pastoral Leadership Training.

Rev. Jack Cascione is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS - MI) in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He has written numerous articles for Christian News and is the author of Reclaiming the Gospel in the LCMS: How to Keep Your Congregation Lutheran. He has also written a study on the Book of Revelation called In Search of the Biblical Order.
He can be reached by email at pastorcascione@juno.com.

March 7, 2000

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