When Leonard Klein Went to Rome

This came from LCMS Pastor Al Loeschman, who dared to quote Paul McCain:

Last Sunday, Pastor Leonard Klein announced to his congregation that he was resigning in order to become a Roman Catholic priest. Pastor Klein has been an outspoken critic of the revisionist agenda in the ELCA, and a prominent leader within the ELCA. He has met with the ELCA Church Council and others within the ELCA leadership to express his dismay with the ELCA's revisionist direction. He has published articles in Lutheran Forum and The Lutheran stating his position. He has been a faithful witness to the gospel. And for his faithful leadership we must honor him.

Klein is not alone in giving up on the ELCA. My dear friend Jay Rochelle, a former professor at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, joined the Orthodox Church two years ago. Richard John Neuhaus, a writer, editor and outspoken leader within the Lutheran church, became Roman Catholic some years ago. Jaroslav Pelikan, a noted author, professor and editor of Luther's Works, also converted to the Orthodox Church. We can likely come up with numer ous other cases as well.

In addition, it is also likely that many of struggle with whether we can long remain within the apostate and bleak ELCA, or whether we must also give up and move on to greener pastures.

Unfortunately, the exodus is not over. It has just begun. While many of us continue to stay and fight within the ELCA, many of the wisest and most courageous among us have seen the writing on the wall. They see the coming tempest and are departing for fairer waters within the Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. We may miss them. We may wish we had their fellowship and support as we continue to resist the assaults of Satan within the ELCA. But we must also honestly conclude that we cannot either blame or judge them for making such a decision within the horrid conditions in which we all serve these days. Someday each of us may also find ourselves stepping out of the ELCA circle as well. In the meantime, it is good to know that the fellowship of the gospel is not limited to our faithful witness within the ELCA, which increasingly appears to seem like enemy territory. There is good news in realizing that the church continues in other places as well. We pray for courage to remain and resist the forces of evil which assail us daily.

We also may pray for courage, that when the time comes for us to depart for another shore, that we may also venture forth with the call of God. But for the moment we still remain. We work diligently to organize our resistance. We pray to God. We comfort one other. We still the anger, the pain and the fear in our hearts, as we await God's abundant and tender mercy. Since Sunday, the word has spread quickly regarding Pastor Klein's decision. I have received many inquiries regarding whether the rumors are true. Since this letter was presented publicly, I therefore pass it on for your own information.

May we pray for Pastor Klein and his family as they face the challenges of the coming months. We pray for their journey, yet know that they are not really departing from the one true church in which we all serve together under the Fatherhood of God.

And may we also pray to strengthen each other as we continue to resist the insidious forces of the foe who continues to assail God's holy church with chaos and false teachings.

The Rev. Dr. Christopher Hershman



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From Pastor Leonard Klein:

Dear Friends in Christ:

After twenty-two years of service in this wonderful congregation and after a lengthy period of prayer, discernment, and study I have reached the decision to end this phase of my ministry. With humility and thanks to God and to you I am submitting my resignation from my call as senior pastor effective July 15, 2003.

I know that this will come as a shock to many of you, but I must add a second piece of information that will, I fear, aggravate that feeling and require considerable explanation. It is this: I will on the same day resign the office of pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. A few days later Christa, Renate, and I will be received into the Catholic Church by Bishop Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington, and I will begin a process of study and formation for the Catholic priesthood. This may cause yet further astonishment among those of you who are not aware that the Catholic Church makes provision for the occasional ordination of married converts who were ministers in other church bodies (usually Lutheran or Episcopalian). If you have noted my growing dismay over the ELCA, my leaving will not be a complete surprise. It might help if you think of my situation as comparable to that of a military officer who thinks the nation’s policies insupportable. In such a situation an officer must resign his commission.

As a congregation Christ Church has the independence to continue on its faithful path, and I wish you every blessing as you continue to do so. But as a pastor I am tied to the officer corps of an army for which I can no longer fight.

I am not fleeing conflict. I have played a leadership role in the fight for orthodoxy in the ELCA for the fifteen years of its existence and in extensive criticism of the plans for the merger for several years before 1988. If anything, the desire to stay and continue the battle is a temptation that has great appeal to my personality. I have never been good at walking away from a fight. So if I were convinced that I could stay Lutheran, even as a lonely minority, I would do so.

I have, however, become convinced that I am no longer a Lutheran. Over the past several years I have had to come to grips with the fact that I am a Roman Catholic, and that is the positive reason for this radical move. Let me try to explain as briefly as I can.

It is not that I think Luther was misguided or wicked. No sensible Catholic thinks that. But I have come to believe that in the Reformers’ proper intention to fix genuine problems in the late medieval church, they made a number of serious mistakes that cannot now be corrected. We lost the ancient apostolic form of governance by bishops, a vibrant sense of a communion in prayer with the saints living and dead, and a full understanding of how God changes people through the Gospel and leads them to holiness. We lost continuity and we lost a clear understanding of the role of holy Tradition. Because Luther expected the world to come to an end soon, he thought that the inertia of the past would sustain the basic doctrines of the Church and that biblical authority by itself would suffice to reform the Church until Christ’s return. It has not turned out that way.

Now, after nearly 500 years it has become clear that you cannot simply appeal to the Bible or count on inertia to sustain the life of the Church. What Luther intended as a necessary reform on biblical grounds has turned into a free for all of private interpretation, and our own denomination is a sad case in point.

There is to me an evident alternative to this moral, doctrinal and ecclesiastical chaos, the Catholic Church. Slowly I came to realize that I have actually believed for a long time that the Second Vatican Council was correct when it said that the Church “subsists in the Catholic Church.” That means that it exists there in its fullest and proper form. I find that claim to be consistent with my study of theology, scripture and church history. That language was drafted with sincere ecumenical intent and meant that valid church life could surely be found outside the Catholic Church. So I have felt no impropriety in continuing to serve as a Lutheran pastor. This congregation is a true and Christian Church. However, I realized that my view of Lutheranism as a reform movement for the Catholic Church meant that if I was really going to practice the best insights of the Reformation, I belonged inside the Catholic Church -- not outside it trying to make the Lutheran Church Lutheran.

So it was a positive realization that I held the Catholic doctrine of the Church and not just the negatives of the ELCA that led me to this point. Many fine pastors agree about the negatives, but because they do not share my understanding of the Catholic Church, they can and will continue as Lutherans. I am confident that you will find an excellent next pastor from among them, but my continuance as an ELCA pastor has become morally and intellectually impossible.

The easiest course would have been to continue another seven or eight years until retirement and then to walk quietly into the Catholic Church, but there are many good reasons why I should not do that.

First, this congregation is an important institution with a rich tradition and history. It would have become increasingly difficult for me to lead it effectively, and I do not wish to harm Christ Church.

Second, I have been here a long time, and I believe that it could be good for someone to look at things with a fresh set of eyes.

Third, there is a great danger that the ELCA will endure a schism over the question of blessing homosexual unions and ordaining people who are in them. I have lived through one church division in the Missouri Synod. It turned out badly. I will not take part in another.

Fourth, I feel good about the life and vitality of this congregation. I believe that my reservations about the denomination have not seriously harmed my ministry here and may have strengthened it. At this point I can leave you in good shape to discuss the next phase of your life. There is faithful and competent staff in place to continue parish life, and you are blessed with many fine pastors in the membership. I hope they will be willing to provide some service in the interim.

Fifth, I could not be your pastor forever, and as I approach the age of 58 that is increasingly apparent. If I were to stay until retirement, I would soon be entering upon the last quarter of my ministry among you. I had reached the point where a decision to leave or remain until retirement was becoming necessary.

Sixth, I need to face the question of what I will do with the rest of my life. If God grants me the years he is granting to my father and granted to my grandfathers, I have a third of my life to go. I have never intended to go out to pasture at age 66 but to continue to serve, to preach and to celebrate the sacraments in some context. I could not see doing that in the ELCA.

Seventh, I do not wish to be a guru. In mainline Protestantism that is the danger every pastor faces. I earnestly believe that I have faithfully presented a sound Lutheran position, but in the end the system leaves you having to take my word for it. We are perpetually asking you to trust us because you trust us. I hope that I have been trustworthy, but I prefer not to stand on my own authority. Also, it is because I do not wish either to be a guru or to harm the congregation that I have kept my deliberations private. I want to leave the legitimate heritage of this congregation intact. This is your spiritual home. Pastors on the other hand must come and go.

Eighth, this was a relatively good time for the family. My wife Christa has worked with and studied Catholic institutions for a long time and has been reaching the decision to become Catholic in parallel fashion. Our daughter, Renate feels the affinity between Lutheranism and Catholicism. Both are deeply grateful for this parish, and even as they look ahead, it pains them to leave. Our family history is entwined with Christ Church.

It is not that I am personally unhappy here. There are challenges, some of them difficult, but that is true everywhere.

I have continued to be happy to show up for work each morning and many nights. I have no regrets about the hours or energy I have expended. It would be hard to imagine a finer, more motivated, and more responsive congregation. You have been generous with your support, your encouragement, your personal warmth, and your prayers. Many of you are an example to me. I have been grateful for the role I could play in your lives and through Christ Church in the affairs of this community. No pastor could ask for a better opportunity than the one I have enjoyed for these many years.

I have been blessed, and I am not bitter, even about the ELCA leadership. Already at my ordination I knew that the road for Lutheranism would be bumpy. Like many other orthodox clergy in mainline denominations I have long wondered whether or when I might have to leave. You should know that the conversation “Could you go to Rome?” or “Would you go to Orthodoxy?” is painfully common among mainline clergy of traditional beliefs. In the last few years at least a half dozen pastors have had lengthy conversations with me on this matter. Three of them are now Catholics. That so many have seen me as an obvious person to talk to required me to be honest about where I really stood and finally to act.

As I close, I ask of you only that you make your best effort to understand the decision I have made. I ask no special considerations or favors as I leave. You have been most kind and generous in every way up to this point. I do ask your prayers and your continued friendship. We will for some time continue to live in York. I look forward to greeting you and talking with you, even after formal pastoral relations come to an end. Also, I want you not to be afraid to ask me questions and press me about my decision, if you feel the need to do so.

I want also to make one pledge to the council and staff: not only will I make every effort to help with a smooth transition but I will also be more than willing to answer questions about details of parish operations at any time in the future.

I continue to affirm many of the insights of the Lutheran Reformation, wishing only that the necessary reforms might have moved ahead without a schism. I wish I had never had to make the decision to stay or to leave. I wish that I had done a thousand things better. I wish that many of you had done a lot of things better! Which is to say I wish for the Kingdom of God. But until it comes, our lives will be shaken by the consequences of sin and by circumstances we never bargained for. By the grace of God even in a broken world and broken Church we can live with hope and joy. I am stepping forward in hope and joy, and I pray that those virtues, inculcated by the Holy Spirit, will continue to carry each of you and this fine congregation forward into the future that God has in mind for you.

Yours in Christ,
The Rev. Leonard R. Klein
14 May 2003




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Ed. It is surprising to see our own Rev. McCain decrying the loss of a former Seminexer to Rome. There are some observers on the right and most certainly the Jesus Firsters who have noticed that there are an awful lot of so-called "confessionals" who seem more Roman than Lutheran. It is a favorite refrain of the Jesus First crowd, and it must be admitted that there is a grain of truth in what they say.

Although the Jesus Firsters are influenced greatly by Reformed church growth principles, try to make out that every graduate of one of our seminaries leans toward Rome or Constantinople. It simply is not true. There are a very, very small minority of pastors (some newly ordained and some, like Klein, older men) who fit the description that Jesus First libelously proclaims. Most new grads from both seminaries are conservative and confessional Lutherans to the core. That is why the District Presidents are afraid of them.

And to tell the truth, this editor is a little afraid of them, too. Not them personally, for they are generally gentle souls, but their theology leans toward Rome. Check out the discussions on some of the LCMS email discussion lists about the Office of the Public Ministry, the Real Presence and the Church. Some do defend doctrine that, at the very least, looks Roman Catholic. Some hide behind pseudonymns, but some are open. Some seem to elevate the early Church Fathers and even the confessions above the simple words of Christ. The confessions become the Lutheran equivalent of "sacred tradition" when they are used to interpret the Word of God, instead of begin faithful and subserviant witnesses to the Word.

So, Brother McCain, let us encourage each other to "examine" ourselves "to see if we are in the Faith." And let us let go of those who have properly gone out from among us because of conscience while powerfully prodding those who hypocritically say they are LCMS at heart but are not, to "do the right thing" as Klein has done - join the ELCA or Methodists or Rome.



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Dear Pastor Loeschman,

I'm really surprised by the remarks about me I just read on your web site where you say I am "decrying" the Seminex guy leaving for Rome. Decrying? Did you even read what I said?

Next time you want to take a pot shot at me, you might consider doing me the courtesy of sending your comments to me to at least offer me the chance to respond.

Somebody just pointed out your remarks to me.

I criticize both Rome and Seminex in my article and you make me out to be a Roman sympathizer?

You owe me an apology brother. I expect to see your comments about me withdrawn from your www site as soon as possible!

From a clarifying followup post:
The way you speak critically of my "decrying" the loss of Klein to Rome and then how you go on to speak about how JesusFirst has a point about Romanizing tendencies among some of our pastors clearly lumps me in with all that and I did not appreciate it.

Thanks,
PTM

Rev. Paul T. McCain
Interim President/Chief Executive Officer
Concordia Publishing House
St. Louis, Missouri




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"This is another sad legacy of the Seminex conflict." ....."A sad turn of events" ..... "Leonard was clearly a leading voice in the ELCA, courageously batting the ever increasing pro-homosexual agenda."

I certainly apologize for the misreading of Rev. McCain's tone. However, I was apparently misled by the above sentiments witten about one with whom McCain is on a first name basis.

I have lots of classmates and semmates who went to Seminex because that is where their hearts were. Good, but they were and still are in error that is a danger to their souls. But they were honorable. Many who stayed in Missouri should have left, but didn't. Their souls are in even greater danger, since they have a god, the synod, who cannot save them though they trust that it will if they just can bring it out of the 16th century and into the enlightened age.

I didn't call Brother McCain or anyone else by name in my criticism nor was I taking a "pot shot" about something we have not discussed; but I simply say: "If the shoe fits, wear it." And I repeat: "Let us encourage each other to "examine" ourselves "to see if we are in the Faith."

Pr. L.