A Step Toward Accountability?

Concerning the incident at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Dix Hills, NY in which a lady Methodist “pastor” took part in the installation of the new pastor back in June, the two district presidents and one of the pastors present each wrote letters of apology to President Harrison and sought his forgiveness. President Harrison said that these letters may be shared. I am including them below.

President Harrison has accepted these explanations and apologies, and has forgiven these men. He has ecclesiastical oversight over them. And out of respect for that, I removed the post that I wrote about this matter. Nobody asked me to. I do believe in the office of the keys, and Christ has died for all of us, and He gives us pastors and overseers to absolve us.

And I do appreciate President Harrison’s emphasis on forgiveness of sins, and he is right to absolve all of us poor, miserable sinners under his episkope who come to him seeking forgiveness.

Of course, there may still be consequences, even with absolution, or there may not be. That is President Harrison’s and the COP’s job, and it is not mine. But I do hope that we, as a synod, come to grips with the reality of just how scandalized people are by things that are permitted to go on in some of our churches year after year. Our presidents have oversight, and we pastors and laity are depending on them to exercise discipline and to uphold our synod’s commitment to biblical and confessional doctrine and practice. It takes courage to be a faithful pastor and/or president in these dark days. It is indeed a “lonely way.”

Things are not going to get easier moving forward. We need our pastors to be men, We need our presidents to be men. It means being man enough to do the right thing, even when everyone is looking, and even when no-one is looking. It means taking responsibility.

The Atlantic District routinely places women into an office that they call “deacon” and they are vested in albs and stoles. This goes on year after year, and it is a scandal. It would be a true sign of contrition and reconciliation if the Atlantic District were to finally abolish this gender-bending sectarian practice, and stop defending it. It is a strange coincidence that several vested LCMS women were present for the group picture, back in 2014, at the very same congregation at a previous pastor’s installation. I wrote about it then. People were scandalized then. Myself included. And yes, the response was indeed crickets.

Do we count? Who speaks for us?

I ask President Harrison, the Praesidium, and the Council of Presidents to not only have compassion for these men who have apologized for not doing what should have been done, but to also have compassion for those who have been scandalized year after year by things that should not be done in our churches. What do I tell a parishioner who goes on vacation, visits the local parish, and comes back with horror stories? What do I tell people who are interested in the LCMS, coming out of heterodox church bodies, and then they see this kind of thing? I lost some outstanding classmates and brothers in arms under the cross who left the LCMS because of abominable practices that were allowed to continue year after year without discipline or rebuke from anyone in position of oversight. Some of these abominations include the treatment of the blood of Christ itself. One brother in particular was spiritually scarred when he was bullied into “consecrating” the elements while on vicarage - while the pastor was present and watched. Nobody stood up for him. Instead, they defended the vicarage supervisor who pressured this bright and pious seminarian to violate his conscience and suffer moral injury. He was left to twist in the wind. That brother was traumatized. After a short stint as a pastor, he is no longer a Lutheran. As an LCMS pastor, he was depressed. It started during his vicarage. The first time that I heard life in his voice was after he joined another communion. And there were, and are, others.

I routinely hear from faithful lay folks who have to drive past several LCMS congregations on a Sunday morning to escape open communion, bizarre worship practices, female elders, and other abominations that just continue year after year, without apology, and without being addressed by our overseers.

So maybe these apologies are a healthy first step toward a genuine renewal of koinonia and a restoration of biblical and confessional doctrine and practice in our midst. I hope and pray that is the case.