rhs (http://rhs.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "It's Time for a Change in Leadership: Kieschnick F...":
Is Jeske a solution or another problem for LCMS?
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LPC has left a new comment on your post "Harrison Won, First Ballot, By a Whisker":
I take it that the Rev. Harrison is a fan of CF Dubya.
So more UOJ on the way?
LPC
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GJ - I am mostly interested in the doctrinal issues, but political campaigns are like fresh popcorn cooked in coconut oil.
This one proved as ironic as I expected it to be. The Anti-Confessional Jeske was probably thought to be a real catch for Kieschnick's Missouri, but now Harrison is LCMS president.
Harrison's supporters ran a brilliant campaign, taking a relatively unknown parson to dominance on Facebook, including the mustache gimmick, which was clever indeed.One interesting aspect of this change is Harrison being a PhD candidate at Concordia St. Louis, the same school where Kelm got his DMin in Church Growth.
Harrison is the first theologian since Jack Preus to be president. Bohlmann had a PhD from Yale, but he was a one-book guy.
Harrison also knows and translates German, so the best theological literature is not hidden from him.
The question will be where he goes with this background. ELCA's all-out gay agenda makes it easy to part company with them, but will Missouri do that?
A synod-wide study of doctrine might go beyond the Waltherian talking points of modified Pietism and UOJ. Laymen are much more informed, thanks to the Internet.
The biggest change will come from applying the Word and studying the Confessions. The only leadership that matters is doctrinal leadership. Lutherans have been content with a Methodist form of the Lutheran Church - irenic, calm, gimmicky, liturgy optional, gay and feminist friendly. They have peered into the abyss and have seen where that leads.
