Synod Bullies - The Problem and Solution - From Pastor Nathan Bickel

Out of petty spite, WELS got rid of their own mother church.

Ichabod –

Regarding the WELS bureaucracy intimidation and bullying:

The WELS meddling synodical bureaucracy will make war upon its own synod's clergy by acts of intimidation. These buggers know the nature of denominational clergy dependence. [After all, WELS clergy have their pension benefits vested in the WELS system] Hence, these meddlers will foist their non Scriptural dead weight upon clergy to attempt to drown out WELS pastors who correctly teach Scripture's justification by faith alone.

I propose a simple solution to this synodical bureaucratic bullying:

1) Parish pastors need to make it clear to those meddling into the local congregation, that there is no forum for them, unless it is granted to them [by vote] by the congregational assembly.

2) If such audience is given to any WELS bureaucrats whether it be circuit counselors; district presidents or the synodical president; strict guidelines will have to be observed. Should any synodical non parish pastor official be granted a forum either with the local parish pastor and / or with the pastor and his congregation, the following prime guidelines will have to be observed:

   a) No pastor or his congregation shall be bullied into answering synodical litmus questions; especially those questions which demand, a "Yes" or "No."

   b) An acceptable answer given by a pastor to synodical bureaucracy will be an answer in response to a trick and confining question, as Jesus Himself posed to the religious hypocrites of His day. Here, following, is an example:

Matthew 21:23-27:

"And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?

But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.

 

And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things." -  Matthew 21:23-27

Furthermore if such a forum is granted to any synodical official - especially on the issue of universal objective justification; that synodical official will be first expected to explain Scripture's teaching of justification by faith as set forth in the New Testament books of Romans, Galatians and Hebrews 11. They will be required to cough up their understanding of what Scripture intends in Romans chapter 4.

The general Number 1 rule of thumb for a Christian congregation and its pastor:  Treat synodical bureaucracy as you would a Jehovah Witness who wraps on your home's door. Do not by any means give them a foot in the door. Treat them as you would; wolves to the flock.

Finally, I offer the aforementioned advice in light of my own experience. I (regretfully and mistakenly) allowed a forum to the then Michigan District Vice President Erwin Kostizen to be District President, John Hein’s forerunner, into my parish’s church council meeting. He was the proverbial “Jehovah Witness” who gained a destructive cancerous foothold.

Even before the District had completed their congregational upheaval and scattering the sheep (as it did not stand by one of its own parish pastors) DP Erwin Kostizen was hot to trot out his District papers urging me to sign, thus forever legally shutting me up to share this LCMS district debacle. I stood by my desire to allow the congregation to set forth the terms of my severance package, as I resigned under the hounding stress for the sake of my family.

I encourage any WELS or any other Lutheran pastors:  Don’t by any means, sign synodical legal papers. Don’t put yourself into a future gag position. Rather, walk away and keep your integrity. And, resist the devilish charge that you as parish pastor are the one who is scattering the sheep. If you have been faithful in the charge of your under-Shepherd duties, it is church hierarchy which does the nasty in scattering the sheep.  [Jeremiah 23:1-2]

The whole situation was a bitter pill for me to swallow; and, it had its subsequent fall-out. My continued regret is that I was too nice and tolerant. I remember telling my congregation the last voter’s assembly:  [Paraphrase]: “If you allow yourselves to be led about by District and Synod, you won’t be a congregation in 50 years!” [I said this in 1996] While I was pastor of this small rural congregation; the Sunday attendance averaged about between 90 and 120. Now, the attendance is down to about 40-45 and the average age is about 60 years old. The Michigan District has not granted this congregation a pastor of its own in years. They are forced to share a pastor with St. John’s, 5 miles down the road. The church parsonage is rented out.

I mention the above, as church hierarchy most often plays the holier-than-thou. It comes in as the savior of a congregation, gains a foothold and then meddles in cloaked sheep fashion when it is actually playing the devil’s wolf.

Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org