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| One of their Church Growth stars told me his brother never went to Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary - because of hazing. |
bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Good Description of WELS Hazing":
I've never heard even a rumor of any hazing at either Concordia seminary. I know that some students who wanted to escape hazing at Mequon graduated from Northwestern College and attended Bethany Lutheran Seminary in Mankato. Others skipped hazing altogether and attended Bethany college and seminary. Still others attended Bethany college to skip Northwestern hazing and then attended at Mequon for seminary. It's confusing, I know, but you can thank hazing for complicating the path to the ministry.
The details about Bethany students are a bit hazy for me. The "Bethany Bombers" referred to those who attended Bethany Lutheran College for ministerial courses, and then attended at Mequon for seminary, I think. Bethany Bomber does not refer to the reverse situation, i.e., to students who attended Northwestern College/MLC and then attended seminary at Mankato.
Also, I think it was rumored that Bethany Lutheran Seminary closed in the 1990s and sent all its ELS students to Mequon, but then word got around after a few years that Bethany seminary never closed. Also, another rumor was that Bethany seminary restarted after being dissatisfied with the seminary at Mequon. Maybe the truth was there was discussions about closing Mankato seminary, but nothing ever came of it. This page of Bethany alumni suggests that seminary never closed:
http://www.blts.edu/about/students/blts-alumni/
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GJ - The Bethany Program students were still at Mequon when I was there in 1987. They were the ones who understood the problems with Church Growth. WELS ended the program shortly after. I thought, "Too many Lutherans getting to the ministerium."
Robert Preus was the first person to graduate from Bethany Seminary. His brother Jack was slower in moving over to the ELS. Later, they joined the LCMS.
Oswald Hoffman and Al Barry were both at Bethany.
Pope John the Malefactor (Moldstad, the ELS president) became a New Testament professor at Bethany without having a college degree. That caused a dust-up, so he hurried up and finished the college degree. No wonder they are impressed with an MDiv.
In most denominations, a certificate minister--who never finished his education--can never hope to leave the boonies for a good call. A faculty position? Ha! In the ELS, it is a fast-track to the presidency, as long as UOJ is embraced with fervor.
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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Hazing in WELS Affects Enrollment":
Dr. Jackson set me straight on this on. The Bethany program in question that produced the Bethany Bombers was a two-year program for second career students to teach them Greek and Hebrew and other religion courses at Bethany Lutheran College before sending them on to the WELS seminary. They had the same program at Northwestern College running at the same time.
I don't know if they still have a shortened second-career program now at MLC, if they ever did after the college merger. These programs were started to fill pastor shortages, but there hasn't been a shortage for a long time, yet at least in the LCMS the SMP programs keeps going full speed ahead:
Steadfast Lutherans » SMP Program is “Mega-Death” for Lutheran Congregations, Jan 25, 2012:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/01/steadfast-lutherans-smp-program-is-mega.html
