Essays and Articles by the writing staff of Congregations Matter
Prior to the 2010 LCMS Convention, when Matthew Harrison was elected Synod President, his supporters published statistical membership data for the incumbent president, Dr. Gerald Kieschnick’s years in office. How do those 2000-2010 statistics for Kieschnick’s compare to the 2010-2017 statistics for Harrison’s administration?
In response to a promise to the late Herman Otten, Editor of Christian News, Pastor Tim Klinkenberg, candidate for LCMS President, wrote about his experience as a pastor and his priorities for the LCMS. Pastor Tim’s letter is reprinted with permission.
From the beginning of our Synod, we struggled with big questions of relationships and governance polity. Should the laity have authority over the clergy? Should the clergy have authority over the laity? Should a “bishop” have authority over the congregations? Questions like those formed the chaotic beginning of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod! This essay will follow the decisions our Synod has made from its beginnings with quotes from C.F.W. Walther and our own LCMS Constitution. Top-down or bottom-up? What is right-side up?
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch broke a story on March 21 that points out the lack of light and truth from our Synod leadership: “Top diplomat of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is out, but nobody will say why.”
Read Pastor Timothy Klinkenberg’s letter to his congregation about the need for “Truth and Light” in our Synod. Maier and Klinkenberg’s nominations totaling 57.4% of all nominations show of support for a change in leadership far greater than Harrison’s support for re-election. Synod is saying: “It’s time for openness and truthfulness in our Synod leadership.”
Recently Lutheran Concerns Association sent out a letter by one of their Board Members entitled “Congregations Matter Exposed.” The facts don’t support Martin Noland’s point of view and only reveal his bias.
On Feb 20, nominations for Synod President will close. If Matthew C. Harrison finishes in the top three nominees, Harrison’s nomination total will be illegitimate. His total may include nominations he gained via misuse of his Presidential office and unconstitutional advice.
The March 24th deadline is here. Each congregation must register their pastor and a designated lay person with the Synod for them to be eligible to cast their congregation’s two votes in this June’s Synodical Presidential election! Are your congregation’s electors registered?
On late Friday afternoon, February 8, 2019, Matthew C. Harrison publicly admitted interfering in Synod’s Presidential nomination process. What did Harrison do wrong? He tainted Synod’s nomination process by giving wrong advice to pastors about who could nominate him, and he did so at Synod expense.
Many observe that the LCMS experiences polar swings in leadership each decade. We need a leader who will bring unity to our Synod by fully embracing both our confessional and our missional values.
