The ultimate “wedge issue”

Of all the proposals from the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance, one of the most disliked is the one that would give larger congregations more votes. Well, I’m not really sure why the Blue Ribbon Task Force proposed it considering that their consultants told them it would go over like a lead balloon. It’s funny because the consultants clearly have no understanding of the theological basis for a congregational model of Synodical organization. But they’re smart enough to know that people really, really, really don’t like the idea. Here’s what they say under the section “Giving Larger Congregations a Greater Voice” on page 79:

Diminishing their vote in Synod deliberations is the clearest and potentially most troubling of such symbols. If ever there were what politicians call a “wedge issue” for the LCMS, this is it.

So why did the BRTFSSG include the recommendation? I don’t know. But it’s yet another example of how the task force disregarded the information they spent $500,000 to get.

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