Can the PCA Learn from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod? 2010 LCMS Election of Rev. Matthew Harrison

I've been following from a distance the goings on in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. I saw this clip over at Gene Veith's blog, Cranach and decided to post it.

For those who don't know there's been a struggle in the LCMS between those who wish to move in the direction of broad evangelicalism and those who wish to remain confessional. The new president, Rev. Matthew Harrison, is a confessional minister and this is his acceptance speech. It is a very gracious and humble speech.

For us in the PCA who are divided over the Strategic Plan, this speech illustrates the only basis on which unity and reconciliation can take place.  It would be nice to hear a similar speech from those on the Cooperative Ministries Committee (CMC). 

Postscript: Go to this link for an explanation as to the momentous nature of Rev. Harrison's election: Revolution in the LCMS Cranach: The Blog of Veith

LC-MS: I guess we are divided, after all

Mollie Z. Hemingway has written a short piece detailing some of the internal strife within the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. She cites a recent pastoral letter from President Keischnick detailing areas of division:

* “The administration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion, mainly the question of who should be invited or allowed to commune at the altar of our Lord in LCMS congregations.
* “The service of women, mainly the question of in what roles and capacities Scripture allows or commends the participation and involvement of women in the church.
* “Questions about proper forms of worship, mainly how much uniformity is necessary in the worship life of LCMS congregations, how much and what kind of diversity in forms of worship is acceptable.
* “Inter-Christian relationships, mainly the question of how to remain a biblical, confessional, evangelical, Christian, Lutheran church body boldly confessing the truth in love, relating to other Christians and Christian churches while honoring our covenants of love to avoid unionism and syncretism.”

It's a short piece and you can read it here: Kieschnick: I guess we are divided, after all

Sounds a lot like the divisions we see in the PCA (see my previous post, Reflections on the 2009 General Assembly - Final)

125 Years of Ministry - St John's Lutheran Church & School - Midland, MI

Earlier today I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a chapel service commemorating the 125th anniversary of the founding of St. John's Lutheran Church in Midland, Michigan (LC-MS). About seventy children from their school along with twenty to thirty adults visited the building above (our current church home).

Pastor Doug Janetzke led the service and briefly recited the history of the church:

* In 1884 a few German immigrants gathered in a home to hold their first worship service. That first service was held in the kitchen. A golf course exists where the house once stood.

* A year or two later a parcel of land was purchased for the sum of $500 and a building was erected shortly thereafter. That building no longer exists. It was near the river and that part of town flooded often. Eventually the entire neighborhood was razed and turned into a park.

* In 1908 the congregation purchased the property pictured above and built this building for around $3,000.

* In 1915 three large stained glass windows were installed as was the organ. Around this time the first English services were held.

* In 1955 the congregation outgrew this facility and built a new one about six blocks away. Click here to see the current facility and to learn about the church.

Particularly striking to me was the pastor's comment that over the years "thousands of people have passed through this church." What a staggering thought! What began as a small work in someone's kitchen has grown into a church that has been making disciples for 125 years. It has sent people out to serve the Lord as homemakers, mechanics, doctors, lawyers, engineers, ministers, missionaries, teachers, etc.

Having planted my own church only four years ago, I was left longing for the same sort of legacy to grow from my labors, should the Lord tarry.

Issues, Etc. Back On the Air

I am a bit late on this announcement but Rev. Todd Wilken is back on the air again. He is being broadcast on Pirate Radio whose motto is this: Christian Talk Radio Without Pop-Psych and Self-Help. We Preach Christ and Him Crucified for Your Sins.

You can use the link on the right or this one, www.issuesetc.org to hear Christ-centered teaching and preaching from a confessional Lutheran perspective. He interacts with Lutherans and non-Lutherans on a whole host of contemporary issues. I would recommend listening to this program (or downloading it) instead of listening to regular Christian radio -- Wilken, et. al. provides much more content and food for the soul. Yeah!

Todd Wilken - You Can't Keep a Good Man Down

Welcome news today for all who are concerned with Reformation theology! LC-MS minister and radio host, Rev. Todd Wilken, and his producer, Jeff Schwarz, have announced that they are coming back to the airwaves and the internet. They will be broadcasting under the umbrella of "Lutheran Public Radio" on the Pirate Christian Radio network. Details here

Issues Etc. The Real Numbers About It's Audience

For those following the cancellation of the Lutheran broadcast Issues, Etc. the real numbers are in. The denomination's heirarchy cited low radio listeners as the chief reason for killing the program, sacking its host Rev. Todd Wilken and his producer Jeff Schwarz, and removing its archives from the internet.

Consider this quote:

How Large Was the Issues Etc. Internet Audience?

The Quantcast website keeps traffic information for over 2 million websites. One of the sites that they monitored traffic for was IssuesEtc.org
The Quantcast traffic stats are VERY revealing. They show that IssuesEtc.org was receiving over 12,000 unique visitors a month. That is FAR and AWAY a bigger figure than the 1,600 listeners that Strand claimed listened to the show.

As the saying goes, "There's something fishy in Denmark."

Read the rest here:

Save the LCMS!: How Large Was the Issues Etc. Internet Audience?

Contending for the Truth:

I found this compelling post about the on-going struggle for the soul of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Here is the introductory paragraph:

Why Save the LCMS?

"We believe that the LCMS is worth saving as a church body. We believe that the LCMS has been hijacked by a foreign theology that has taken over the synod much the way a virus takes over the body by invading the body’s cells. We believe that it is worth the effort to rescue the LCMS from its Babylonian captivity to an aggressive form of bureaucracy that is hell-bent on transforming Christ's Church into a seeker-sensitive, emergent “church” under the pretense of making it more competitive in the American religious marketplace."

Four reasons are given for choosing to stay and save the church rather than depart. Here is a summary:

1) The Gospel is at stake.
2) The structure of the existing synod is large and quite useful (seminaries, colleges, publishing house, radio station, etc). To depart would mean starting all its institutions from scratch.
3) The LC-MS name is recognized around the world for confessional Lutheran theology.
4) The LC-MS belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ and not to any group or generation. Its roots are in the Reformation. Present actions by the leadership dishonor its fathers and grandfathers, and by extension, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The article draws to a close with these words:

"We believe there is a faithful remnant in the LCMS that holds fast to our tradition of hymnal-based liturgical worship and biblical-confessional theology, that grieves over the disunity caused by those who would effect change and introduce novelties into our churches, that is resolved to resist the intrusion of false theology and misleading methodology into our fellowship of churches. We stand together with them to inform and inspire.
For these reasons, we choose to stay and mount a vigorous resistance so that the glorious light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ may once again shine forth clearly from congregations gathered under the banner of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod."

May their tribe increase. You can read the entire post here: Save the LCMS!: Why Save the LCMS?

Save the LCMS!

There's a saying back home that folks use to describe themselves: "Minnesota Nice." Much of that reputation has to do with the large Lutheran population of that state. It's been two weeks since Rev. Todd Wilken was fired and his program, "Issues, etc." was cancelled. Who knew that Lutherans could get so upset?

This website is at the forefront of those who are demanding answers. Save the LCMS! A short visit will reveal a US Congressman signing a petition to bring "Issues, etc." back, a leaked financial report from KFUO radio, and another report showing lots of money being spent on the "Fan into Flame" campaign. Finally, this website has posted a couple of audio clips from the program that replaced "Issues, etc."

I think that they are raising a lot of very valid questions. Time will tell if the leadership in St. Louis will shoot straight. So far their public relations work has been fairly clumsy. Those responses have been rebutted in the Wall Street Journal and the blogosphere.

Pray for the LC-MS.

Riddlebarger on Church Growth

Dr. Kim Riddlebarger, pastor of Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim, California and co-host of the program The White Horse goes on a rant about church growth. You can find it here: http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/the-latest-post/2008/3/31/25000-for-this.html

His comment were initiated by the pathetic billboard campaign funded by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as an attempt to attract visitors. This misuse of funds came to light after LC-MS minister and radio host Todd Wilken was fired two weeks ago allegedly because his program wasn't bringing enough money. He is known for being a confessional Lutheran and against church growth.

Riddlebarger is no stranger to this debate -- his former denomination, the Christian Reformed Church, wanted him to plant a CRC version of Rick Warren's church in Anaheim. He politely said "Thanks, but no thanks" and moved on. Here is a relevant quote:

"To make a long story short, for two years, Christ Reformed was the fastest growing church in the CRC. Meanwhile, after buying in to the Rick Warren "Purpose-Drivel," the CRC has steadily declined in membership, and has lost its way as a confessional Reformed church. In fact, membership has fallen well below 300,000.

The moral to the story is that Reformed and Lutheran churches are usually pretty good at being Reformed and Lutheran. But we don't do "hip" and "with it" very well. And when they go down that dead-end road, they don't reach the lost, but they lose the saved, and their churches shrink. And they can't understand why so many of their former members now attend the local mega-church."

This speaks volumes about the on-going debates in my own denomination to be relevant and reach the lost.

Update: WSJ on the Todd Wilken "Issues, etc." and LC-MS Saga

The Wall Street Journal has posted a fine article about the cancellation of the radio program "Issues, etc." produced by the Rev. Todd Wilken. The official line from the HQ in St. Louis is that that the program was losing money. However, others who are close to the scene and know the numbers dispute that conclusion.

The author, Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, is no stranger to LC-MS politics and trends. Her article does a good job painting the larger picture which involves more than the cancellation of a very helpful radio program. Pray for the LC-MS.

Radio Silence - WSJ.com

UPDATE:

Dr. Michael Scott Horton has interviewed Mollie Ziegler Hemingway about the cancellation of "Issues, etc." at the White Horse Inn. Click on this link to listen...

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/mp3/whiissuesetc.mp3

Update - LC-MS pulls plug on Todd Wilken and Issues, etc.

The Wittenberg Trail has additional information on the termination of this important program and website. Todd Wilken has done yeoman's work for years as a 'confessional voice' within the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The link below includes information about how to appeal this decision and offer financial assistance to Mr. Wilken.


The Wittenberg Trail

What's That Static I Hear? LC-MS Pulls the Plug on Todd Wilken & "Issues, Etc."

As reported below, conservative Lutheran Todd Wilken was axed yesterday without warning. His radio broadcasts have been pulled and his website taken down (I visited it earlier today and couldn't figure out why it couldn't be found). Dr. Kim Riddlebarger was the first to report on this:
Riddleblog - The Latest Post - LCMS Pulls the Plug on "Issues, Etc."

Ingrid Schlueter, producer and talk show host of the Crosstalk Radio Talk Show on the VCY America Radio Network, who is also a conservative Lutheran comments about this here:

http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/?p=501

Stay tuned for more developments...