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GOOD SHEPHERDLUTHERAN CHURCHThe round church on the corner ofE. Military & Lincoln Avenues |
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As I write this, I am sitting at John
and Kathi Cain’s kitchen table in Houston, Texas.
Some of you will remember John and Kathi from the time they spent
at Good Shepherd when John vicared among us in 1994 and 1995.
It has been our privilege to spend a few days with them and their
son, seven-year-old Joshua, following the convention of the Lutheran
Church – Missouri Synod here in Houston last week.
Barb and I thoroughly enjoyed
worshiping this past Sunday at Gethsemane Lutheran, the congregation that
John shepherds here. It was a real joy to hear Pastor John preach again!
They have been the most gracious hosts imaginable, and tomorrow we
will begin a leisurely journey back to Fremont, feeling very refreshed
from our time with them. The highlights of the convention of our
Synod were the astounding and uplifting opening worship service, attended
by 3,000+ people (there were more than 30 Communion stations and more than
70 pastors involved);
representatives from the Lutheran Church in Haiti, who came to thank the
convention for the rescue and renewal work that the LCMS did there
following the earthquake, and still continues to do; the announcement that
the LCMS has been given permission to open the only
Christian elementary school in Hanoi, North Viet Nam; the recognition of a
number of life-long overseas missionaries, and recognition of some of our
military chaplains and the incredibly important work that they do for our
soldiers overseas. It was a
delight and joy to see and hear of these activities. Being the pastoral voting delegate for
the Fremont Circuit was anything but refreshing or a joy and
delight, however. Ron
Hilgenkamp, from St. Paul’s in Arlington, was the lay voting delegate.
He and I represented the ten congregations of our circuit. This
convention, held every three years, with more than 1200 delegates, was
three days longer than the usual convention, because its primary
assignment was to deal with a host of resolutions from the Blue Ribbon
Commission on Synod Structure and Governance, a major revamping of our
constitution and by-laws. This
Blue Ribbon Commission has been working on this restructuring for five
years, and was finally ready to bring its work to the convention for
action. Sessions were held
from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. every day, with activities in some of the
evenings. Most lunches were business luncheons for the delegates.
In the end many of the recommendations
on restructuring were adopted, and members of the congregations of the
Synod will never notice any difference from any of them.
The biggest change is that the former multitude and
myriad of boards and commissions has been reduced to two. Other than that, the biggest change in
our Missouri Synod was the election of a new President.
Rev. Matthew Harrison
was elected by a 54% majority on the first ballot over current President,
Dr. Gerald Kieschnick, who has served and led us with a steady,
Gospel-oriented, mission focused, forward-looking, grace-filled outlook
for the past nine years, including the terrible days after 9/11.
I have made it no secret
that I have been a strong supporter of President Kieschnick, and was very
disappointed in the results
of this election. This election, and the elections of the Board of
Directors of Synod, the two new governing commissions, the Boards of
Regents of our two seminaries, and the Boards of Regents of all our
Concordia Universities, with the exception of Concordia University
Nebraska in Seward, have brought markedly more conservative persons to
those positions. It marks a
major shift in the direction of our Synod, and President-elect Harrison
announced to the convention that one of his first items of business would
be to seek the severing of ministry ties with the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, action that would have a major effect on our work with
Lutheran Family Services on our campus. I spoke with many other pastors at the
convention who shared their unhappy feelings with these results. While we
will certainly remember our leadership in our prayers, and seek to support
them, it will also be important to remember that according to the
synodical constitution, “In its relation to its members the Synod is not an
ecclesiastical government exercising legislative or coercive powers, and
with respect to the individual congregation’s right of self-government
it is but an advisory body. Accordingly, no
resolution of the Synod imposing anything upon the individual
congregation is of binding force if it is not in accordance with the Word
of God or if it appears to be inexpedient as far as the condition of a
congregation is concerned.”
I believe that we have some very difficult days ahead for our national
church body, and we need to pray that the Lord will guide us here at Good
Shepherd in continuing to be his
instruments to connect people with Jesus.
That continues to be who we are, and what we are called to do.
As Dr. Oswald Hoffmann used to say, “Hooray for God!” Serving Him With You, Pastor Gierke 1 Peter 1:3-9
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