I was trying to calculate how much money WELS, Missouri, and the Little Sect on the Prairie have blown - to no effect.
For example, Missouri is skimming $50-60 million a year from Thrivent, according to SP Harrison. They do not support their world missionaries or their two seminaries. They do have impressive office buildings everywhere. The LCMS Home Office is so impressive that it was nicknamed the Purple Palace from the beginning. Their district offices are marvels in waste management. They manage to waste millions on magnificent architecture.
Let us pause for some theory. Sam Walton (Walmart) did not believe in fancy buildings or any kind of luxury. First-time visitors to Bentonville-Rogers are shocked by the size and plain appearance of the main buildings. Many corporations, like the NY Times, have been dragged down by the cost of their buildings.
The University of Phoenix, which made billionaires out of Sperling and his son, does not buy real estate for the most part. Each campus is leased, so it is easy to open or close a campus. I have taught at two locations they decided not to close.
That is another area of lavish spending for the Syn Conference, the pump primed by Marvin Schwan, who had a thing for women and Cadillacs, his pal in missions said. Luther said, a few centuries ago, we do not need another church. But Marvin built a cathedral at Our Lady of Sorrows Seminary, a chapel at the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie, and a white elephant at Mary Lou College. The humble chapel at the Sausage Factory was given enough splendor to sober anyone up. "If Thou givest me the chapel of my dreams, I will give up demon rum. I vow to stop crossing the center line."
The only campus project left is indoor plumbing at the CLC college, seminary, and live bait shop in Eau Claire.
The Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie and Willowcreek's Liberal College were turned into displays of Marvin Schwan generosity, the power of the indulgence. (Just think how plain the schools would be without the Sixth Commandment!)
When I see a splendid new building, financed by one person, I imagine all the overhead and the future repair bills. Thrivent and foundation money is also easily spent and gone forever. One Love Shack employee said that WELS threw money at projects when they had special offering funds to spend.
Alternatives, But Too Late
The synods could have spent their money on lowering tuition. That would have driven up the student populations they have repelled by charging too much while challenging the faculty too little.
Nobody works less for more money than tenured faculty - except synod bureaucrats.
Mueller-Gurgle jacked up WELS tuition rates about 30%, using the cash flow to keep the synod from the insolvency their free-spending encouraged. As a result, someone claimed, an entire generation of students was lost.
Church government, like secular government, could cut jobs 60% and make everyone but the elite very happy. In the long run, that would benefit the church organizations.
The Syn Conference can only hope for a KMart-Sears merger now, perhaps a quasi-crypto-merger--like the one they instituted with ELCA.
At the moment, they are putting their trust in Stetzer, Groeschel, and Sweet to "Revive Us Again."
Revive us again;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above.
