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| Everyone in favor, say Aye! Anyone else? Go away. |
I met a retired colonel in the local post office. We talked a few minutes and he invited me to the next school board meeting. Later I learned from Google that he was a Green Beret in Viet Nam, a football star, a college professor, and college board member.
All we wanted to do at the board meeting was introduce an idea for Bella Vista to have its own schools.
This is an unusual town, set up to be an active retirement village for geezers like me - only I do not boat, fish, golf, hunt, or play cards. In time, many younger families moved into BV, but their children had to be bussed to Bentonville or Gravette. At this point BV has 3,000 children in school and no schools. The bus-rides are rather long in rush hour traffic, so LTC. Jim Parsons and I spoke about a future district for this town.
Reaction varied at two district board meetings. Some were quite attentive and receptive. Others were combative and loud. The local papers published editorials against the idea, before and after the meeting in Bentonville, where most of the school tax money goes. Jim and I laughed about the free publicity. "Now they will discuss it around town."
Parsons gave me his book to read - Hillary and Other Bullies. He dealt with the Clintons when they were limiting their damage to Arkansas, and he fought to take down signs honoring the disgraced president. Parsons has argued for spending tax money wisely and being fair to the teachers who do their jobs.
We had several conversations about bullies we have known.
The SynConference has a well deserved reputation for bullying, which began with its founder, Bishop Martin Stephan, STD. He made sure that all the pastors obeyed him without question. They simply overlooked his flagrant adultery with young women, including his stay at the spa (in one room) with his main mistress, while he was being treated for syphilis. Walther "suddenly" discovered that Stephan was an adulterer, but he did not treat the leader with anything resembling Biblical principles.
KJV Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Instead, Walther stole the bishop's land in two different maneuvers, organized a mob, threatened the man's life, stole a small fortune, robbed the bishop of his extensive library and personal effects, and kidnapped him at gunpoint, forcing him across the river to Illinois. Walther stole the bishop's own chalice, given to him as a personal gift, and used it for Holy Communion at Trinity Lutheran Church. Thieves love to glory in their stolen goods, so they can gloat over their ill-gotten gains. The LCMS has never given the stolen chalice back to the Stephan family. They keep it locked up now. Ironic?
Walther got rid of a bishop so he could make himself the Missouri pope, an infallible ruler. Walther would not let the districts appoint his successor (which was the custom then, according to Fuerbringer).
Congregational polity is one of the ongoing myths of the Missouri Synod. The theft and sale of the campus ministry property in Minnesota is one more example of synodical tyranny. Silencing discussion about their latest child rapist (Darwin Schauer) is another example. Missouri and WELS have done just as much lying about abusive pastors and teachers as the Roman Catholic Church has.
Bullies come in many styles and positions. District Presidents and bishops are usually bullies. I have heard of good Missouri DPs and non-bullying ELCA bishops. But they are exceptions.
What does the bully DP look for in a congregation? He searches out a like-minded bully or two. He wants to work with dysfunctional members who hate God's Word and take that out on the pastor.
Synodical bullies have no respect for the call, but they are filled with their own self-importance.
Handling Bullies
In swimming class one bully liked to jump me and hold me down underwater. That was not wise on his part. On his third try, I took a deep breath and went under with him, held on, and waited until I could no longer stand it. Then I waited a few seconds more. He accused me of almost drowning him, even though he drove me down with his body-weight. He never dunked me again.
Church bullies cannot stand honesty and order, so they should be faced with both. If a District President or Circuit Pastor wants to pull a stunt, the congregation has to say, "This is not correct procedure. We are shocked and disgusted that you would try a sneak attack on the pastor."
Congregations and districts have constitutions. More importantly, they have the Word of God to guide them. When someone swaggers in, full of wrath, ready to bounce a pastor, or slithers in like his fore-father, Satan, working with guile and deception, the action has to be stopped at once. Faith Lutheran in Moline told their bullying bishop that he and his minions would be arrested by the Moline police if they ever appeared on their church property.
Defying the Word Hardens and Blinds
Believe it or not, congregations get their jollies from undermining pastors. They do not realize that the defenestration of a pastor is the beginning of the end for their own parish. As Lyle Schaller observed, the dirty tricks used once often become the glue that holds the congregation together. Hateful actions pile up. People sense the reprobate nature of the congregation and stay away.
If there are grounds for removing a pastor, the steps taken should be considered carefully and done with great concern for his own spiritual health and future.
The only legitimate reasons for removing a pastor are:
1. Immorality.
2. Failure to do the work of a pastor.
3. Persistent false doctrine.
One wizened WELS pastor said that the first two issues alone would remove half the ministers from of the parish. One DP told me that hardly any pastor visits anymore. Great training! Great supervision! Maybe the leaders need to do their jobs once in a while.
In the third case an examination of the issues should be done with great care. The issue is not What Does Holy Mother Synod Teach? but What Does the Word of God Teach in Harmony with the Confessions?
A careful study of doctrinal issues is always worthwhile.
Walther set a bad example with being so keen to accuse all rival groups of false doctrine. He had to have his way within his own sect too. Walther was a bully. He considered himself God's Counselor and demanded the same obedience toward him that he once offered his adulterous bishop.
The bullies do not like my exploration of the true character of their sects. They want the arrests and prison terms kept a secret. They want to move against anyone with impunity, under the cloak of confidentiality. But that time has passed. I am more than ready to take another dunking, hold my breath, and then some, and see who comes up sputtering and begging for mercy.
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| Where are the Hounds of the Lord - Dominicans - ready to burn all heretics at the stake? They are busy kneeling before Sweet, Stanley, Groeschel, Stetzer, Driscoll, Hybels, and Kelm. |
