Bruce Church has left a new comment on your post "Lutheran Seminary Fraud: Students Are Bankrupting ...":
When former President Kieschnick said that the ten Concordia U's were the "crown jewels" of the Missouri Synod's higher educational system, he put the synod's money where his mouth was. While Missouri HQ only gives $150,000 to each seminary each year, it turns out that the synod has assumed debt for the Concordia U system, and subsidizes them to the tune of $20 million each year! That means of undesignated funds coming from offerings to the synod, $2 million goes toward each CU campus yearly on average! So Kieschnick wasn't kidding about the Concordia U's being the crown jewels, while the seminaries must be the footstools.
Then after President Kieschnick has a hand in signing over all that synod money to the Concordia U's, he gets a job raising money for CTX (Concordia U-Texas). That reminds me the revolving employment door between corporate lobbyists, industry regulators, and the industry they regulate, whether that be coil, oil, natural gas, etc. It also reminds me of how Germany Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had Germany do big business with the Russian state business Gazprom, and as soon as he was out of office, he got a job with Gazprom.
I think the synods need a full disclosure statement when their leaders recommend their schools, similar to statements news programs have, for example, if PBS Newshour does a story on Shell Oil, they come out and say BTW Shell is an underwriter for the Newshour. I mean, how much stock would one put in the praise of a synodical official for an education institution if after he said it he disclosed that there's a revolving door of employment between synod leaders and the Concordia U's? Or that the synod took on so much CU debt that it takes nearly $20 million per year just to service it? Or that if students didn't attend CU's in sufficient numbers, the synod would have to subsidize the CU's even more and lay off synodical staff to do it?--just as President Harrison had to do lately when funds ran short. He paid the CU bill first while laying off 50 synodical workers.
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A Pastoral Letter to Pastors of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
From President Jerry Kieschnick, Apr 2010:
http://www.trinitymenasha.com/Portals/trinitymenasha/docs/Newsletters/April%202010.pdf
Our system of higher education is a crown jewel of our Synod,
and I thank God for all 12 of these institutions and the service they render to God and our Synod.
--
President Harrison May 2011 Lutheran Witness:
http://classic.lcms.org/pages/wPagex.asp?ContentID=1012&IssueID=55
Some 26 percent of the unrestricted dollars received go to service the $20 million in historic debt of the Concordia University System, including interest and to subsidize educational operations.
Kieschnick's new job:
http://steadfastlutherans.org/?p=14012
In his new role, Kieschnick will nurture and expand existing relationships with congregations, organizations, foundations and individuals to support Concordia in its mission of developing Christian leaders...
Gerhard Schröder's Gazprom scandal:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schröder#Gazprom
