You may have heard that “Issues, Etc.” is “returning” to KFUO radio. This is true, in the sense that KFUO listeners will get to hear fresh episodes of “Issues, Etc.” on the station for the first time since the LCMS cancelled the program and fired its host and producer in 2008. But don’t worry, they’re not returning under KFUO’s jurisdictional control. They’re simply buying airtime from the station. Here’s the press release with more details: “Issues, Etc.”, a radio talk show produced by Lutheran Public Radio and hosted by Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Pastor Todd Wilken, will begin broadcasting live Monday,   More…

I wanted to post this important piece by David Berger, who has served the Lutheran Church in many capacities. He is perhaps best known for his work as the librarian at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. And as librarians tend to be, he is very particular about facts, and saw a need for clarification. Please see below: Remembrance of Things Past Since the issue has been raised again by Dr. David Benke (“The Gospel of Hope after September 11,” Lutheran Forum, Fall 2011, pp. 10-11) – as well as by former LCMS president, Dr. Gerald Kieschnick, in his “Perspectives” (Sept.   More…

I’m stealing this idea from someone else but remember President Reagan’s joke about the nine most terrifying words in the English language: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ Well, word has exploded over the internet today about an unbelievably bizarre effort from the Board for Pastoral Education and the Council of Presidents where confidential questionnaires about pastors are distributed to laypeople and the substance of the questionnaires is such that respondents are encouraged to think ill of their pastors. Those questionnaires are then given back to District or Synod officials who then compile the reports. You can   More…

Found on Pastoral Meanderings   Singing Praise — The proud past and bright future of Lutheran music. By Mollie Ziegler Hemingway (first printed in Thrivent magazine but worth repeating here…) “Next to the word of God,” Martin Luther wrote, “music deserves the highest praise.” It’s no surprise, then, that Lutherans always have been known as “the singing church.” Of course, many church bodies love to sing. So what sets Lutherans apart? The Lutheran church’s musical strength is in choral music. It began with the Lutheran Reformation, which emphasized the congregation as the place where faith is lived, and hymns are   More…

I’ve seen links to this all over facebook and google plus, and thought it might generate some interesting discussion here. One link to it was posted Aug 11th on Ricochet.com. I’ve posted it here under Mollie’s name — Norm   Instead of watching the debate tonight, I had dinner with friends in Littleton. The restaurant had approximately 34 televisions going and all were tuned into the Denver Broncos preseason game. I love Colorado. So I missed the little brouhaha over Byron York’s question to Michele Bachmann, embedded above. When I think of the top, say, 1,000 questions I’d like to   More…

but it’s not like we’re the Cool Lutheran Church pictured here.

Well, my local paper, at least. I was interviewed by a reporter for the Washington Examiner for their “Credo” section. Each Sunday, a different local is interviewed and asked about their faith and life. If you’re interested, here’s my interview. And here are the two first questions: Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith? Yes, I’m a confessional Lutheran and a member of a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregation. We’re known for emphasizing the sacraments, having Christendom’s best hymns and congregations that love to sing them, clear preaching of God’s Word, and not being as influenced by the   More…

I’m just seeing the announcement on the Concordia Theological Seminary web site. We’ll update with details. The entire slate of candidates was fantastic so we knew that whoever we got would be great. But it still must be said that Dr. Rast is a wonderful academic, administrator and all around great guy. This is fantastic news for the seminary as it prepares to lead into the future.

People who are trying to communicate with the Minnesota South District of the LCMS about the plan to sell off University Lutheran Chapel are being more or less shut down at every turn. One pastor wrote to the District President and got a reply that said something about how everything should be handled in “decent and good order.” So he ruminated on that and listed 8 things that constitute “decency and good order” in the district. Here are the first four: A task force was formed to discuss these matters in September 2010. The Board of Directors of MN-S apparently   More…

In one of the many documents the Minnesota South District has posted, it claims to act in “the interest of open communication and transparency.” But when I emailed Dr. Peter Meier, Minnesota South’s mission exec, I received (20 hours later) a form letter response telling me “Please be assured that I have read and will share your concerns.” Of course, I didn’t mention any concerns whatsoever in my email so that statement makes no sense. And then the form letter literally says: “Please do not reply to this message as individual inquiries will not be addressed.” So this would be   More…

I’ve put in interview requests with a few of the Minnesota South leaders who made the decision to sell University Lutheran Chapel. This includes the District President and the Mission Exec. I haven’t heard back from them yet but will let you know as soon as I do. In doing background research, there were a few things that struck me. The most obvious is the parallel with Issues, Etc. That program was canceled — and its hosts fired — on Tuesday of Holy Week. This previously top-secret plan to sell ULC was made public on the same day of Holy   More…

News from Ft. Wayne: Please be advised that the election for the new President of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana will be held pursuant to Bylaw 3.10.4.5.2(b) on Saturday, May 21, 2011, at the campus of the Seminary at 6600 North Clinton Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana. The following is the list of nominees who have permitted themselves to be candidates:   Rev. Dr. Carl Fickenscher Rev. Dr. Daniel Gard Rev. Dr. Charles Gieschen Rev. Dr. Nathan Jastram Rev. Dr. Walter Maier III Rev. Jeffrey Pulse Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast, Jr. Rev. Dr. Klaus Detlev Schulz   Pursuant to Bylaw   More…

The first of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses is “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Matthew 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Confession should be a regular part of our Christian life but I’m sure I’m not alone in letting this lag far too much. My pastor is offering an additional hour tonight for private confession and absolution and I hope other churches around the country are doing something similar this week. The Roman Catholic Church is emphasizing confession with various public relations campaigns and even a video contest. I thought   More…

Did anyone get a chance to attend the “Out of the Box” workshop held at Concordia Seminary a week ago in St. Louis? You can check out the flyer (click on the image to the right for a PDF) but it was led by two speakers who are ‘highly experienced in contextualizing God’s Word to a specific people and place.” One presenter is an LCMS pastor, I believe, of a church called “Lake Pointe Church.” Another presenter is the co-founder of something called ChurchPlanters.com. I’m pretty sure he’s not LCMS. Anyway, the seminary hosted the workshop to teach seminarians how   More…

The Supreme Court will decide whether a teacher at an LCMS school can sue under a federal law against workplace discrimination. The issue is whether the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to decisions involving “ministerial employees” such as teachers. While I think that religious institutions should be exempt from federal laws such as these (it just gets too tricky navigating the First Amendment free exercise clause), I also think the case is interesting for what it says about the terminology we use to describe commissioned teachers. The CNN story is here. Here’s a sample: Court records show Cheryl Perich went   More…