I bet the LCMS changed the color of their cross because they wanted to match MY blog. I'm touched, guys!
Showing posts with label LCMS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LCMS. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Just a Thought
I bet the LCMS changed the color of their cross because they wanted to match MY blog. I'm touched, guys!
Monday, August 04, 2008
Issues, Etc. and LCMS Finances
Issues, Etc. released a podcast only webcast EXTRA on August 1st that covered in depth the history of the last few years as to how they came to be cancelled, from what they knew. I highly recommend listening to it.
Some things covered:
1. The biggest myth: That KFUO FM's purpose is to fund KFUO AM, and without it, KFUO AM probably would not exist.
truth: KFUO as a whole annually requires a half a million dollar subsidy from Synod to stay on the air. KFUO FM's expenses are far higher than KFUO AM. KFUO FM is not self-supporting, and therefore not able to support KFUO AM
2. Both stations use the same call letters so that funds can be directed from the AM station TO the commercial FM station. No wonder they got an "F" grade from a major charity watchdog association.
3. Budget, staffing, and promotion priority is "Classic 99," the FM station, NOT the station that proclaims the Gospel, despite the fact that KFUO FM is still, as pointed out earlier...is NOT serving the function to support KFUO AM.
4. KFUO administration is very concerned (Todd and Jeff used the word 'paranoid') about the idea of KFUO FM being sold off by the Synod for revenue or consolidation. This led to increasing conflict between the cause of KFUO -- which was to maintain a clean image, and Issues, Etc. which was to proclaim the Gospel and to instruct its listenership on how to view current events from a confessional Lutheran perspective.
5. Issues, Etc. was not given credit in its ledger for the income it generated independently through its' syndication, advertising, and its own fundraising efforts. In fact, as stated before, donors to the Reformation Club who lived within one hundred miles of St. Louis, did not their monthly donations applied specifically to Issues, Etc. at all. Instead, they went into the General Fund. From the information that was provided in this podcast, one has to assume that also means that it went to benefit KFUO FM, which plays contemporary classical music.
6. Even though Issues, Etc. offered to cover all of its expenses and give KFUO its broadcast for free, so as to break the programming association between KFUO and Issues, Etc., Todd and Jeff were told that after the last convention, that no connection could occur between the two, and that their show probably would not last into September (it lasted another six months).
Having the show independent is a great thing. However, I do think that the powers that be at LCMS, Inc. have benefited from its being off of KFUO. When I have the radio on, there are times that I listen to shows that I don't necessarily agree with but that make me aware of things. Now, in order to listen to Issues, Etc., I have to WANT to listen to it. Listeners in the various markets that they were aired in had people that stumbled across them and learn from them and be made aware of places that confessional Lutheranism differed from other trends in Christianity. Now, that is not the case, at least not until they come to the point where they can again seek national syndication.
We have seen in many different venues now, the liberties that LCMS, Inc. is taking with the financial resources of the Synod. LCMS Foundation, which is its fundraising arm -- charges exhorbitant rates for its fundraising work. Pastor Wilken and Mr. Schwarz both state the amount they were told frequently was 40%, as opposed to the industry standard of 10%. The Synod is taking funds that are supposed to go to World Relief and placing them in LCMS investment accounts "temporarily" so they can earn interest. Missionaries are required to raise $120,000 per year, usually more than twice their costs of support in the mission field, in order to remain in the field each year.
All of this is highly irregular.
All of this makes me wonder what is happening with the money that our congregations are sending in for synod support (and increasingly NOT sending in). It makes me wonder if the whole reason why benefits costs increase so dramatically every year is solely because of the increasing cost of benefits. Our insurance program costs have made every insurance agent I have ever talked to exclaim in horror.
Next year, our Synod is going to be asking the congregations to consider a new constitution. Some theorize that the financial relationships of congregations with the Synod might also be restructured. I really think that it is absolutely necessary that we call for an opening of the books for an independent review to make sure that all is in order before anything is changed. The more I hear about synodical financial practice, the more I am deeply concerned.
Some things covered:
1. The biggest myth: That KFUO FM's purpose is to fund KFUO AM, and without it, KFUO AM probably would not exist.
truth: KFUO as a whole annually requires a half a million dollar subsidy from Synod to stay on the air. KFUO FM's expenses are far higher than KFUO AM. KFUO FM is not self-supporting, and therefore not able to support KFUO AM
2. Both stations use the same call letters so that funds can be directed from the AM station TO the commercial FM station. No wonder they got an "F" grade from a major charity watchdog association.
3. Budget, staffing, and promotion priority is "Classic 99," the FM station, NOT the station that proclaims the Gospel, despite the fact that KFUO FM is still, as pointed out earlier...is NOT serving the function to support KFUO AM.
4. KFUO administration is very concerned (Todd and Jeff used the word 'paranoid') about the idea of KFUO FM being sold off by the Synod for revenue or consolidation. This led to increasing conflict between the cause of KFUO -- which was to maintain a clean image, and Issues, Etc. which was to proclaim the Gospel and to instruct its listenership on how to view current events from a confessional Lutheran perspective.
5. Issues, Etc. was not given credit in its ledger for the income it generated independently through its' syndication, advertising, and its own fundraising efforts. In fact, as stated before, donors to the Reformation Club who lived within one hundred miles of St. Louis, did not their monthly donations applied specifically to Issues, Etc. at all. Instead, they went into the General Fund. From the information that was provided in this podcast, one has to assume that also means that it went to benefit KFUO FM, which plays contemporary classical music.
6. Even though Issues, Etc. offered to cover all of its expenses and give KFUO its broadcast for free, so as to break the programming association between KFUO and Issues, Etc., Todd and Jeff were told that after the last convention, that no connection could occur between the two, and that their show probably would not last into September (it lasted another six months).
Having the show independent is a great thing. However, I do think that the powers that be at LCMS, Inc. have benefited from its being off of KFUO. When I have the radio on, there are times that I listen to shows that I don't necessarily agree with but that make me aware of things. Now, in order to listen to Issues, Etc., I have to WANT to listen to it. Listeners in the various markets that they were aired in had people that stumbled across them and learn from them and be made aware of places that confessional Lutheranism differed from other trends in Christianity. Now, that is not the case, at least not until they come to the point where they can again seek national syndication.
We have seen in many different venues now, the liberties that LCMS, Inc. is taking with the financial resources of the Synod. LCMS Foundation, which is its fundraising arm -- charges exhorbitant rates for its fundraising work. Pastor Wilken and Mr. Schwarz both state the amount they were told frequently was 40%, as opposed to the industry standard of 10%. The Synod is taking funds that are supposed to go to World Relief and placing them in LCMS investment accounts "temporarily" so they can earn interest. Missionaries are required to raise $120,000 per year, usually more than twice their costs of support in the mission field, in order to remain in the field each year.
All of this is highly irregular.
All of this makes me wonder what is happening with the money that our congregations are sending in for synod support (and increasingly NOT sending in). It makes me wonder if the whole reason why benefits costs increase so dramatically every year is solely because of the increasing cost of benefits. Our insurance program costs have made every insurance agent I have ever talked to exclaim in horror.
Next year, our Synod is going to be asking the congregations to consider a new constitution. Some theorize that the financial relationships of congregations with the Synod might also be restructured. I really think that it is absolutely necessary that we call for an opening of the books for an independent review to make sure that all is in order before anything is changed. The more I hear about synodical financial practice, the more I am deeply concerned.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Some Thoughts on Ablaze
(in a discussion on Augsburg 1530, a person clarified that Ablaze wasn't a program, it was a movement designed to inspire Lutheran congregations to be on fire for sharing God's word, and invited us to embrace it. I took long enough typing this that I rationalized that it should be posted here, too (because it took as long as a blogpost does. After all, time is precious! I am simply trying to be efficient, not in the least trying to be lazy. I know you all will appreciate that, right? )
I am already part of a movement. I really trust this movement and think that it has done a very good job and it has one of the best and strongest traditions in existence.
It began when Jesus ascended into Heaven saying “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.”
It matured on Pentecost, when tongues of fire descended onto the heads of the disciples and they preached God’s Word to the masses, and the people who believed came together into congregations to learn God’s Word, to baptize, and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
I thank God that my parents were part of that movement, bringing me to the font when I was just a couple of weeks old, and I thank God for pastors and teachers who have been true to the Great Commission along the way, not seeing it as just as a command to the unchurched that stops when we have cast the seed. They also took the “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” seriously as well, seeing it as a lifelong nurturing process, and I am also part of that -- in teaching my children, strengthening my brethren, and being ready to account for the hope that I have when I am called upon to do so.
It is a movement that has lasted for over 2000 years now and it is still going strong. It is not based on statistics or gatherings, or techniques, or evangelical revival (which is what it sounds like you are hoping for). It is based on Scripture, vocation, and the life of the Church. It is based on how those who are a part of the body of Christ interact with the world.
It is also based on “where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” In Acts, Luke didn’t bother marking a “1″ by Phillip’s name when he proclaimed the gospel to the Ethiopian eunoch. Luke told the story of this man’s faith and his desire to be baptized. Paul didn’t mark down “30″ after a good night in Galatia. Instead, we are told what he said and the work that he did. Later, his letter to them tells us of the challenges that the church faced as it was under attack. It was real. It was not accounting.
It is not about how many times we share the gospel, it is that we do it when we are put in a place to do so. It is that we know what a precious gift Christ gave us in His Word and Sacraments. It is that we teach our children so that they walk in the faith and teach their children. Those who are already in the Church are very undervalued in Ablaze. Their continued strengthening in the faith is not talked about.
I will take Jesus’s movement, the Holy Spirit’s movement of saving each individual soul…of going after each little lost lamb one at a time, over Ablaze’s way of taking that and making it fit into the mold of today’s consumer culture and gauging success by quantity.
While I am not undervaluing the joy and the “combustion” of the excitement that happens when one discovers the gospel (I remember that, too). “Ablaze” is not what comes to mind when I witness how the Gospel is working in the lives of the strongest Christians that I know and admire. Loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, good, kind, faithful, gentle (humble), and self-controlled…really are what comes to mind. The fruits of the Spirit are clearly within them, and sometimes I am astounded to find that those fruits are stronger in me than I ever expected them to be. Strong Christians are not often “on fire” in the colloquial sense, but they share the love of Christ through their daily vocation, and it seems to smolder there within them…and the work that they do does not need “fanned into flames” it touches other’s lives and gives them warmth.
I don’t want to just see people come to Christ and experience that joy…I want to see them grow and partake of the meat of the faith, to have strength for when the fire doesn’t seem to burn (but is) and to have the strength to endure the suffering that Christ has promised. The count is not taken when the gospel is proclaimed or the seed is cast onto the field, it is taken when the names are read from the Lamb’s Book of Life and the harvest is brought in.
I am already part of a movement. I really trust this movement and think that it has done a very good job and it has one of the best and strongest traditions in existence.
It began when Jesus ascended into Heaven saying “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.”
It matured on Pentecost, when tongues of fire descended onto the heads of the disciples and they preached God’s Word to the masses, and the people who believed came together into congregations to learn God’s Word, to baptize, and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
I thank God that my parents were part of that movement, bringing me to the font when I was just a couple of weeks old, and I thank God for pastors and teachers who have been true to the Great Commission along the way, not seeing it as just as a command to the unchurched that stops when we have cast the seed. They also took the “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” seriously as well, seeing it as a lifelong nurturing process, and I am also part of that -- in teaching my children, strengthening my brethren, and being ready to account for the hope that I have when I am called upon to do so.
It is a movement that has lasted for over 2000 years now and it is still going strong. It is not based on statistics or gatherings, or techniques, or evangelical revival (which is what it sounds like you are hoping for). It is based on Scripture, vocation, and the life of the Church. It is based on how those who are a part of the body of Christ interact with the world.
It is also based on “where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” In Acts, Luke didn’t bother marking a “1″ by Phillip’s name when he proclaimed the gospel to the Ethiopian eunoch. Luke told the story of this man’s faith and his desire to be baptized. Paul didn’t mark down “30″ after a good night in Galatia. Instead, we are told what he said and the work that he did. Later, his letter to them tells us of the challenges that the church faced as it was under attack. It was real. It was not accounting.
It is not about how many times we share the gospel, it is that we do it when we are put in a place to do so. It is that we know what a precious gift Christ gave us in His Word and Sacraments. It is that we teach our children so that they walk in the faith and teach their children. Those who are already in the Church are very undervalued in Ablaze. Their continued strengthening in the faith is not talked about.
I will take Jesus’s movement, the Holy Spirit’s movement of saving each individual soul…of going after each little lost lamb one at a time, over Ablaze’s way of taking that and making it fit into the mold of today’s consumer culture and gauging success by quantity.
While I am not undervaluing the joy and the “combustion” of the excitement that happens when one discovers the gospel (I remember that, too). “Ablaze” is not what comes to mind when I witness how the Gospel is working in the lives of the strongest Christians that I know and admire. Loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, good, kind, faithful, gentle (humble), and self-controlled…really are what comes to mind. The fruits of the Spirit are clearly within them, and sometimes I am astounded to find that those fruits are stronger in me than I ever expected them to be. Strong Christians are not often “on fire” in the colloquial sense, but they share the love of Christ through their daily vocation, and it seems to smolder there within them…and the work that they do does not need “fanned into flames” it touches other’s lives and gives them warmth.
I don’t want to just see people come to Christ and experience that joy…I want to see them grow and partake of the meat of the faith, to have strength for when the fire doesn’t seem to burn (but is) and to have the strength to endure the suffering that Christ has promised. The count is not taken when the gospel is proclaimed or the seed is cast onto the field, it is taken when the names are read from the Lamb’s Book of Life and the harvest is brought in.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Synodical President Cornelius Fudge
President Kieschnick, the president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, issued a response yesterday to the article that M.Z. Hemingway wrote in the Wall Street Journal. In the article, he wrote:
The fact of the matter was it was the most "peaceful" because nothing that could cause contention was allowed to be discussed. The year before the National Convention , the district conventions were loaded with resolutions from pastors, circuits, and congregations issuing formal protest against the resolution put out by Synod that basically said that individuals (including individual pastors) did not have the authority to interpret Scripture--that it was Synod's responsibility to interpret Scripture. This flies in the face of the purposes of the very founding of our Synod, and indeed in the very face of the Reformation itself.
But in many districts, these resolutions were left to the end, when many delegates were no longer in attendance, were combined together into a form that did not exactly say what the previous resolutions had said, and some district conventions attempted to pass over these many resolutions as already being resolved.
The few that did make it out of the district conventions again were combined by the commitees to say something that none of the original protests actually said, and then were passed over as already being decided on.
The reason that the Convention was "peaceful" was that those who had grievances to voice before the body of the church were bound and gagged.
While I may maintain that the Harry Potter books are not Christian, there is a good deal of worldly wisdom in them. I believe it was Sirius Black who said "The world is not divided into good people and Death Eaters." There are also those who will change laws and ignore the need for true justice in the name of peace.
After Harry had witnessed Voldemort's return, and Dumbledore proclaimed it as truth, the Ministry of Magic, in fear of loss of order, ignored these claims and proclaimed Potter and Dumbledore to be nutcases. They also controlled the media and directed what and when things should be covered. They put a representative in Hogwarts to control Harry and keep an eye on Dumbledore. As the attempts to bring forth the truth continued, official "educational resolutions" came forward to prohibit gatherings, to silence protest, and to bolster authority of the bureaucracy and their representatives. Those who continued to protest were punished. Systems of justice that had always been in place were cast aside as well and replaced with new laws that dealt with the perceived crisis at hand.
In the last several years, the Synod has done just that. When they chose to not do their duty in administering church discipline to pastors who were not exhibiting unity in doctrine and practice, those who were voiced protests were silenced. Resolutions have been passed that took the authority away from the the believer, the shepherd, and the congregation to read Scripture and determine what it means -- in order to silence a beloved leader of the church who had the audacity to back up his claims that the Synod was wrong with Scriptural proof. Those who were not in agreement have been fired and/or kicked out of the Synod. Resolutions have also been passed that can be used to restrict independent gatherings and publications. The loves of our Synod since its beginnings -- mission and outreach have been drastically cut in order to support the burgeoning bureaucracy that is in St. Louis.
Martin Luther taught us that it is our individual responsibility to hold clergy accountable to follow the Word of God. He put Scripture in the language of the people so that they may learn the gospel, and also not be bound by laws that were not Scriptural. The LCMS was founded on the rights of individuals to do so. What authority Synod has comes to it because it was handed to it by the individual congregations. The synodical bureaucracy does not have the right to take it away from the very place it came from. I don't think that the answer is to leave and walk away, but it is our responsibility to not be silenced. It is our responsibility to know our Scripture, to know our catechisms, our history, and our bylaws so that we can cry out against this usurping...defending ourselves with the Word of God and to be sure that in our (just) anger, we do not sin. And to trust in the Spirit to change hearts and minds. We are to pray.
At the national convention, a call was made to create a new constitution. I believe that good COULD come out of this. But I am concerned. Soon, congregations will be handed synodically written Bible studies to start exploring the issues that will be addressed. Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves as you evaluate these. Peace and silence are not necessarily the same thing. We do not have peace.
In truth, last summer the LCMS had its most positive and unified convention in years. Our church remains faithful to the Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions, an integral part of our identity as a church body. As stated in a resolution adopted last summer by the national Synod convention: “From the founding of our Synod 160 years ago, we have been blessed by unity in our common confession and the articles of our shared faith, such as the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, original sin, baptismal regeneration, the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament, the inerrancy of Scripture and many
others.
The fact of the matter was it was the most "peaceful" because nothing that could cause contention was allowed to be discussed. The year before the National Convention , the district conventions were loaded with resolutions from pastors, circuits, and congregations issuing formal protest against the resolution put out by Synod that basically said that individuals (including individual pastors) did not have the authority to interpret Scripture--that it was Synod's responsibility to interpret Scripture. This flies in the face of the purposes of the very founding of our Synod, and indeed in the very face of the Reformation itself.
But in many districts, these resolutions were left to the end, when many delegates were no longer in attendance, were combined together into a form that did not exactly say what the previous resolutions had said, and some district conventions attempted to pass over these many resolutions as already being resolved.
The few that did make it out of the district conventions again were combined by the commitees to say something that none of the original protests actually said, and then were passed over as already being decided on.
The reason that the Convention was "peaceful" was that those who had grievances to voice before the body of the church were bound and gagged.
While I may maintain that the Harry Potter books are not Christian, there is a good deal of worldly wisdom in them. I believe it was Sirius Black who said "The world is not divided into good people and Death Eaters." There are also those who will change laws and ignore the need for true justice in the name of peace.
After Harry had witnessed Voldemort's return, and Dumbledore proclaimed it as truth, the Ministry of Magic, in fear of loss of order, ignored these claims and proclaimed Potter and Dumbledore to be nutcases. They also controlled the media and directed what and when things should be covered. They put a representative in Hogwarts to control Harry and keep an eye on Dumbledore. As the attempts to bring forth the truth continued, official "educational resolutions" came forward to prohibit gatherings, to silence protest, and to bolster authority of the bureaucracy and their representatives. Those who continued to protest were punished. Systems of justice that had always been in place were cast aside as well and replaced with new laws that dealt with the perceived crisis at hand.
In the last several years, the Synod has done just that. When they chose to not do their duty in administering church discipline to pastors who were not exhibiting unity in doctrine and practice, those who were voiced protests were silenced. Resolutions have been passed that took the authority away from the the believer, the shepherd, and the congregation to read Scripture and determine what it means -- in order to silence a beloved leader of the church who had the audacity to back up his claims that the Synod was wrong with Scriptural proof. Those who were not in agreement have been fired and/or kicked out of the Synod. Resolutions have also been passed that can be used to restrict independent gatherings and publications. The loves of our Synod since its beginnings -- mission and outreach have been drastically cut in order to support the burgeoning bureaucracy that is in St. Louis.
Martin Luther taught us that it is our individual responsibility to hold clergy accountable to follow the Word of God. He put Scripture in the language of the people so that they may learn the gospel, and also not be bound by laws that were not Scriptural. The LCMS was founded on the rights of individuals to do so. What authority Synod has comes to it because it was handed to it by the individual congregations. The synodical bureaucracy does not have the right to take it away from the very place it came from. I don't think that the answer is to leave and walk away, but it is our responsibility to not be silenced. It is our responsibility to know our Scripture, to know our catechisms, our history, and our bylaws so that we can cry out against this usurping...defending ourselves with the Word of God and to be sure that in our (just) anger, we do not sin. And to trust in the Spirit to change hearts and minds. We are to pray.
At the national convention, a call was made to create a new constitution. I believe that good COULD come out of this. But I am concerned. Soon, congregations will be handed synodically written Bible studies to start exploring the issues that will be addressed. Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves as you evaluate these. Peace and silence are not necessarily the same thing. We do not have peace.
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