The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod - The Lutheran Witness

Don't ask about the money for the Schwan Cathedral at Martin Luther College.

The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod - The Lutheran Witness:

"When I stepped into this office in September 2010, LCMS Inc. had borrowed over $15 million from moneys designated for other purposes. This internal borrowing is legal (so long as the donor designations are ultimately honored, and they are) and had been standing operating procedure as far back as anyone remembers."

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ALPB Forum:


Undiscovered internal borrowing. The amount of the internal borrowing has been set by auditors at $6.9M. There was no mismanagement or misappropriation of funds. All the money was spend on ministry. Technically the internal borrowing was not an error in accounting. It was due to the outdated financial reporting protocol that was used by our fiscal department. The internal borrowing (spending money for operations from our special or restricted funds) went undetected by our Synodical Council's (SC) finance committee for a year and a half, even though some of those committeemen are CPAs and business managers. The problem was uncovered by our then Executive Director of Support Services. The money is being repaid over ten years and to date has not had a significant effect on our operational budget.
WELS - 2003

WELS President Mark Schroeder led his first full Synodical Council meeting in November
... One of the bigger decisions the council made was to approve a proposal to consolidate the synod’s four debts, totaling $22.4 million, into one single debt.
This consolidation helps reduce confusion over the variety of interest rates and a feeling among some that the Board for Ministerial Education was carrying a disproportionate share, $15.1 million, of the debt. Now the entire debt will be one line item in the synod’s general operating budget and will be repaid over 10 years at four percent interest.  ...
The four debts included $7.3 million for costs associated with the amalgamation of Dr. Martin Luther College and Northwestern College, and Martin Luther Prep School and Northwestern Prep in 1995; $7.3 million for operational borrowing for 2001-03; $6.9 million for the boiler house at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minn., and the science wing at Michigan Lutheran Seminary in Saginaw, Mich.; and $900,000 for a dormitory at Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, Wis. ...
WELS -- 2007


Pastor Birkholz, I find your thread interesting.  History has a tendency of repeating itself and time will tell whether the extent of the LCMS financial situation proves to match the history of WELS.  The Lutheran Witness article states the $15 million is just the "Corporate entity" which raises the question whether any District or LCMS ministerial  institution faces a similar circumstance.  Watch for any other reports of operational borrowing -- spending more than available funding -- which is unsustainable.  Interest rates paid on various external borrowings may lead the LCMS to look at consolidating some debt.

The ELCA with its current membership turmoil may be in a similar situation to the LCMS.

LCMS President Harrison may find spending more time discussing things, such as finances, with WELS President Schroeder beneficial.

Detroit's historic churches still thriving, helping city | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Detroit's historic churches still thriving, helping city | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:


At Historic Trinity Lutheran in Detroit, you'll find architectural gems inside the sanctuary, a rare edition of a German-language Bible from the 1700s and a striking bell tower that soars 104 feet above Gratiot Avenue.

But the pastor of this neo-Gothic cathedral near Eastern Market wants you to see his church as a dynamic house of worship, not some old artifact. "We're not a museum stuck in history," said the Rev. David Eberhard, a mural of Martin Luther above him.

Founded 162 years ago, the church on the city's east side has seen its membership jump by 1,000 in the past decade to 2,100 congregants today. And it has a range of programs that make up a busy schedule every day of the week. Its success shows how some of Detroit's historic churches -- those more than 100 years old -- are staying relevant and helping to stabilize the city.

Some face challenges, from leaking roofs to declining membership. But many are growing, or at least holding steady.


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Andreae Began the Effort To Create The Book of Concord, A Work Involving Many Years, Many Theologians, All Agreeing on Justification by Faith

Robert Preus on Justification by Faith

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GJ - I have put these together again to show how powerfully Robert Preus presented justification by faith while rejecting the errors of University Objective Justification.

Notice that justification by faith is defended and clarified through Luther, the Concordists, and the post-Concord theologians (Quensted, Calov, Gerhard).

UOJ is defended by citing Rambach (a Pietist), Walther (another Pietist), and the Pietistic followers of the Synodical Conference.

UOJ Enthusiasts ignore Robert Preus' last book, the Formula of Concord, Knapp's lectures at Halle University, and the Synodical Conference being founded by an abusive Pietistic cell group leader, Bishop Martin Stephan, STD. They also ignore catechisms that have not a word about UOJ: the Gausewitz catechism used by the Synodical Conference and the KJV catechism still being sold by Concordia Publishing House.

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LPC has left a new comment on your post "Robert Preus on Justification by Faith":

Preus said All Lutherans were in agreement that through faith the sinner acquires a righteousness which already exists objectively

That righteousness he speaks in that quote, I just wish to say, is not the righteousness that has been declared to the world already. That righteousness that exists IS THE Righteousness of Christ and not the righteousness that has been declared to anyone before they were born.

This is where the UOJers twist the meaning Preus' use of the "righteousness that exists".

This righteousness clearly in the BoC SD is the righteousness of Christ and not the righteousness that has been declared to the world already as UOJers imagined.

LPC

Happy Mother's Day

Nancy Hanks Lincoln died when her son was only nine.