I expect nothing to happen among the Syn Conference partners. The leaders are committed to keeping the status quo, which means not offending the Daddy Warbucks while kissing up to the foundations and Thrivent.
Long-time readers will recall that the solution for Rock N Roll
The Daddy Warbucks are consistent Enthusiasts. They always back Shrinker programs, in spite of the obvious false doctrine, laziness, and stupidity involved. Businessmen are experts in their own business but nothing more. However, the woebegone milkman in Fiddler on the Roof had it figured out in "If I Were a Rich Man."
The most important men in town would come to fawn on me!
They would ask me to advise them,
Like a Solomon the Wise.
"If you please, Reb Tevye..."
"Pardon me, Reb Tevye..."
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi's eyes!
And it won't make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong.
When you're rich, they think you really know!
That is why the synods drift off into the pseudo-business lingo of the Shrinkers.
The synods do not trust that God will work through the Word. Therefore, anyone who rocks the boat is the enemy.
The ELS was furious, long ago, when I sent an article about Marvin Schwan to Christian News. In that article, Daddy IcecreamBucks bragged that he got rid of his first wife for $1 million and a Cadillac.
As I recall, Otten told me about how upset the ELS was about that article. I said, "It was not a secret. It was already in Forbes." He said something like this, "They say no one in the ELS reads Forbes."
The ELS did not want a harpoon in their whale, even if it came from Schwan in the first place. St. Marvin married the wife of one of his managers. Mrs. Schwan.2 became a Lutheran, but returned to Romanism when Marvin suddenly reached room temperature. That cluster of events probably sealed the ELS conviction that money is efficacious. Money converted Mrs. Schwan.2 to Lutheranism and unconverted her when the bulk of the fortune was left to his foundation.
Was the ELS furious that Floyd Stolzenburg was their new sugar-daddy, working with Thoughts of Faith to build a Ukraine parish building? Not at all. Someone got involved and won a matching grant from Schwan, to leverage the gift from Floyd's Masonic CG church. Sure, the female treasurer working for Floyd went to jail for embezzling, but that probably had nothing to do with the wonderful work they were doing with John Shep, Roger Kovaciny, and Jay Webber. To make an omelet, a few eggs must be broken.
The synods are so much in awe of their foundations, Daddy Warbucks, and Thrivent that they will throw everything away while the foundation of the Church--the Word--is abandoned.
