By Dr. John E. Bauer, Editor
Reggie McNeal, not a Lutheran, pictured above.
A Singular Lack of Repentance
By now, readers may be aware that the 3rd annual Church Door Symposium was cancelled after WELS district presidents actively discouraged pastors in their districts from attending. Not one, but three guest speakers were to have shared their insights and the results of their research and experience. One was a Baptist and two were from the LCMS. The 2005 Symposium hosted Dr. Reggie McNeal, a nationally known Baptist author. At the fall 2005 Church and Change Conference, Dr. Leonard Sweet, a Methodist, was the keynote speaker. In the spring of 2005 a Baptist author spoke at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary as part of the Home Mission Seminar.
In those events that were held, the parameters for the presentations were clearly outside the “framework of fellowship.” In all cases, the expertise of the outside speakers was of great value and they were warmly received. In no case was there a misunderstanding about the doctrinal differences between the hosts and the speakers. As the COP report indicated, these speakers were properly used.
To say that these speakers were “not well received” is not accurate. In fact, representative district presidents and seminary professors were at all of these events. They spoke well of the events and the insights that were gained from listening to the speakers.
But to say that they were well received would not support the conclusion of the COP argument, namely, that the “continuation and increase of such outside speakers is leading to making it unhealthy for the synod.” One has to wonder what is unhealthy about having speakers share their expertise in matters outside the framework of fellowship, especially when they were all received with high praise and appreciation. What appears to actually be the case is that certain parties who
have never attended such symposia or conferences have prejudged the presence of such speakers as being in and of itself a violation of the doctrinal principles of fellowship. Without taking the time to think through such things as audience, topic,context, purpose, setting, etc., reactions often seem to be based on personal and individual impressions. Rather than engage in brotherly discussion, emails and letters fly about that label individuals “and their ilk” as “heretics,” even when the purpose of the presentation is of a non-doctrinal nature. Is this the “sensitivity” that is spoken of in the report—a sensitivity that is based on an inadequate understanding of the doctrine of church fellowship and a narrow interpretation of how it should be applied?
Much of the confusion comes from the fact that it is a matter of judgment as to which speakers might be acceptable and which are not. However, it is never clear whose judgment should prevail. The correspondence from some pastors and district presidents urging that the Church Door Symposium be cancelled was more than outweighed by the outrage expressed by other pastors following the Symposium’s cancellation.
Can this report really be saying that the COP can’t find fault with the practice itself on doctrinal grounds, but finds it unhealthy because a number of individuals have their sensitivities offended? Readers are again urged to read the article in the Christmas 2005 issue of CHARIS entitled “What the Scriptures Say About Christian Liberty.”
But consider the nature of the symposia and conferences that have come under attack and which seem to be goading church leaders into becoming more and more prohibitive. These events are offered on the well-founded assumption that attendees are spiritually mature and biblically literate. The audiences are comprised largely of pastors and lay leaders in the WELS fellowship. These are not impressionable undergraduates or theologically naïve laypeople. These audiences are comprised of the very people who are in the best position to discern truth from error, to take what is wholesome and beneficial, and to recognize if something said doesn’t jibe with WELS doctrine and to challenge it.
The context for such symposia is clearly academic in nature. Analyzing and evaluating ideas about ministry is consistent with what think tanks, institutes, colleges, and seminaries are supposed to do. The topics are carefully chosen to avoid direct instruction in doctrine, but are rather selected to explore issues and challenges that face the church. The audience is comprised of theologically trained pastors and teachers, along with spiritually mature lay leaders. The expectation is that they are capable of discernment and good judgment. The purpose of such events is to help churches carry out their ministries, not to alter doctrine. To that end, church leaders participate with the expectation that they are getting from the event what they paid for. If they are disappointed, or offended, then they don’t attend. How sad that we have devolved to such a level of mistrust, that brothers in the ministry don’t have confidence in each other to exercise appropriate discernment. How sad that the WELS has been reduced to factional mistrust instead of collegial respect. How odd it is that some of the “strongest” voices in the Synod are making the greatest appeal to their “weakness.” And how sad it is that we can’t trust pastors and professors to properly engage with the authors of the very books that are sold to untrained laypeople at Northwestern Publishing House.
College Qua College
These distortions of the church fellowship principle raise a larger issue regarding the nature and qualities of a college that identifies itself as distinctively Lutheran. What are the attributes of a Lutheran institution of higher education? What are the means and methods by which it educates its students and extends its educational mission into programs and services for its larger constituencies? A college is a place in which students explore and examine ideas, develop reasoning skills, cultivate the ability to communicate ideas, reason scientifically, think critically, argue logically, and grow in appreciation for the arts and humanities. In a Christian college, this is done in the context of the Bible as the ultimate source of truth, but not the only source of all truth. In a Lutheran college, this is conducted within the parameters set by the Lutheran confessional writings. Wisconsin Lutheran College in particular expresses this commitment by saying that “education is inseparable from religion, that all knowledge in all areas of human thought and endeavor is worthy of inquiry when viewed in the light of human sin and divine grace.”
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The whining in 2005 worked well. Church and Change had their conference October 15th.
