Scoops and Meeting the Brothers in Ft. Wayne, by Pr. Rossow

I heard a couple of interesting things while in Fort Wayne today and got to meet some great BJS folks. First the details on meeting the Brothers.

About half the people  that walked by the booth have spent time on the  BJS website. That squares with our statistics. We have now had more than 20,000 unique visitors to our website and we have only been online since June 25! I got to meet BJS members Dennis Peskey from St. John, Michigan; Judge Neal and his wife from Virginia; Jim Neiswonger’s pastor from Pensacola, Florida; Rev. Martin Noland, and others.

Among my many discussions included conversation with a couple of profs from Ft. Wayne. Sadly they said that seminary profs would most likely be unwilling to write for BJS. The Board of Regents has a liberal majority and the professors do not want to irritate the board by associating with a website that sometimes delves into controversial issues in the synod. I guess there is political freedom of speech at Concordia River Forest to sign a petition in favor of terrorist-fire bomber William Ayers but the Board of Regents of Concordia Theological Seminary squelches similar  academic freedom to support confessionalism. Don’t get me wrong. I am not upset with the profs. They taught me much of what I know and gave me the confidence to provide the theological critique that I do on this website. It is just sad that in our synod such an  authoritarian mood is set by the leaders of LCMS Inc.

Also heard on the street was the news that the upcoming Concordia Seminary St. Louis theological quarterly is going to take a strong stand against the Ablaze program. That would certainly be refreshing.

The Vespers service was beautiful. It included a small orchestra and the Seminary Schola Cantorum singing parts of Bach’s Cantata on Psalm 46 (“A Mighty Fortress”) and a Brahms piece (LSB 759). I would encourage you to attend the Symposia next year if for nothing else than to worship in Kramer Chapel. Thank you Dr. Art Just, Dean Paul Grime, Kantor Richard Resch and Associate Kantor Kevin Hildebrand for the beautiful worship of our worthy God. Worship in Kramer Chapel  was a highlight for me throughout my years of doctoral studies at Ft. Wayne. The worship at the BJS national conference will be equally inspiring. We hope you will join us in Naperville next month.

click on the images for more detail

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.