The Olde Syn Conference leaders today are the ones who did nothing about apostasy for the last 30 years. When they speak about Lutheran doctrine, suppress the urge to laugh out loud.
The doctrinal boards of the Holy Mother Synods are packed with nitwits, apostates, and synod-minders, yet people expect great things from them. One might as well hang around a landfill and expect a harvest of fresh fruit.
The larger the congregation, the more heretical the pastor. If this developed during the ministry of a faithful man, the synod will replace him with a heretic.
Synodical schools are heavily subsidized de-tox facilities, where faculty work half-weeks (if that) for six months a year. Anything more requires bonus pay. They need such light labor because of their scholarship. If they manage to produce a book, it is so packed with falsehood that it should be buried at a nuclear waste site and forgotten. If it is that bad, the synod will make every effort to promote it as required reading.
There are faithful pastors in every synod, so the organization does its best to punish them and drive them out.
The "conservative" synods look down on ELCA, but they love ELCA and associate with them whenever possible. They save their shunning for faithful pastors and laity.
When they say, "Write a letter" or "Meet with the person first," they are just laying the foundation for getting rid of dissenters.
When they have to keep everything a secret, it is to protect the guilty and manage the spin. False doctrine is public, so why the secrecy?
Everything is much worse than you suspect, because the biggest scandals motivate the leaders to be especially secretive.
