By Norm Teigen

Studying to be a Synod Pope and/or Hatchet Man

Getting 'with the program'

There was a very interesting piece in MinnPost today about former Attorney General Mike Hatch and his successor Lori Swanson. The fine details of the story would be interesting only to Minnesota people, I think, but there is another issue that might be of interest to readers of Norman's Demesne.

The idea is that within the AG's office, Mike Hatch had a 'program', his own program, his own career. If you are one of Mike's people you got advances and promotions. If you were an ordinary attorney who was interested in doing the business of the State of Minnesota you wouldn't get far because you didn't 'get with the program.' Those who weren't with Mike Hatch's program were pushed off the boat.

I've recently been reading the two volume set of Ian Kershaw's biography of Adolf Hitler. In the early days of his political career Hitler's program was to promote rugged Aryanism and anti-Semitism. Advancement within the movement was directly related to how fiercely one was getting along 'with the program.' The program was Hitlerism, Naziism.

In recent ELS church history, [and this is quite a jump], a pastor or professor had to 'get with the program.' This meant that one had to follow the leader no matter what. The leader determined what was good for the Synod because of his own experience. His followers associated the good of the Synod with the good of the program. Patronage was denied to those who were not with 'the program' and a number of good men were forced out of the ELS.

My late father, B.W. Teigen, wrote a book which the synodical leadership felt was not 'with the program' and some persons who read his book were branded as 'Teigen-ites'. One didn't have to be a member of the family to become a Teigenite. Some persons were thrown overboard and some of these arbitrary decisions were justified by presidential investigating committees.

The anti-Teigenites in the ELS are slowly slipping away and their influence is waning. One restored Teigen-ite, a relative, is actually going to be giving the main address at the upcoming ELS Synod Convention.

There is a 'get with the program' situation in the Missouri Synod, too, according to many sources. The 'program' is the brain-child of the incumbent President who has fired a number of qualified people. These people were qualified to serve the church but were not with the President's program and had to go. They were, to use another common expression, 'thrown under the bus.'

What can be done about this? Misuse of power can happen in churches, too, and it is up to the laypeople to stay on top of things.

Incensed and Incensing Clergy from The Fort

Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne, surrended to Church Growth and to Eastern Orthodoxy. Graduates call it THE FORT to display their sense of irony.

Ben Kjendal wrote:

"As I have struggled to be faithful to God over these past two years here, I have come to realize what that means in the greater fellowship of churches that are part of the Missouri Synod. I can no longer in good conscience remain in that fellowship, no matter how wonderful this little piece of it is. There are other pastors who also strive to be faithful and who remain in the Missouri Synod. But, as I have preached here, part of our faithfulness to God is in submitting to the authority which he has placed over us. In the Missouri Synod this means that pastors are to be in agreement with each other in terms of teaching and worship. That is not a reality in our synod, and is no longer the case for me. At times Jesus asks us to drop all that we have to follow him. For every Christian, that may be something different, but for me and my family that means leaving the Missouri Synod and seeking fellowship in the Orthodox Church."

The following quote was mistakenly attributed to the Niles ELDONA site. Instead, the Luther quotation is from a collection by Sanders - Devotional Readings from Luther's Works for Every Day of the Year, by The Rev. John Sander, L.H.D., published by the Augustana Book Concern in 1915. I misread the email from Grey Goose. He wants me to cry, "Fowl!" but it was my error.

Where else would God dwell? Those self-constituted saints, in their own estimation excellent, high and great, are much too proud, much too high, wise and holy. They have passed up through and far above heaven, so that they could not be his habitation on earth, although they boast of being the only Church and people of God. Though they appear in all the pomp and glory and ornament of their self-made holiness, yet God does not do them the honor to look at them. He is found in the humble huts of the poor and despised, who fear and believe the Word of Christ and would gladly become Christians, but who feel that they are very unholy and unworthy sinners. "They are the temple of the Living God."

Score reports?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Another Triumphalist WELS Post":

Off topic just a bit, but relevant to the topic of the seminary/Sausage Factory/etc.

I was reading on an older post about "Score Reports" at the seminary.

What exactly is/was that?

I know what GA was (is?)--but am clueless on the Score Report issue...

Thank you.
A woman in the WELS who will be able to use her name once she leaves the WELS.

***

GJ - In a WELS gathering, someone brought up score reports. I think it was a pastor's wife. She objected to the custom. I wondered about the term. Her husband, a circuit pastor at one time, laughed and explained. The guys got together and described exactly what they had done with their dates. She continued complaining and he continued laughing. That may explain the Wisconsin sect's attitude toward women.

After Sig Becker left the LCMS for the Wisconsin sect, he complained to Herman Otten about the drunkenness and adultery of the WELS pastors. That suggests the amount of both was surprisingly higher than in the Missouri Synod.

A national traveler told East Coast (a WELS pastor) that the Wisconsin ministers were the crudest, most loutish, and and carnal of all the denominations he had seen.

The series of secretive hazing rituals have a lot to do with this. The doctrinal foundation is UOJ. Everyone is forgiven already, so whatever they do is fine. WELS also has a strong streak of antinomianism. The Law is obsolete, some of them will say. UOJ and no-Law go together quite well. Both have been thriving in ELCA for decades.