WELS Coven of Presidents Report

http://www.wels.net/news-events/conference-presidents-meeting-highlights

The Conference of Presidents (COP) met April 7-9 for its regular spring meeting. Its discussions and decisions included:

• The COP welcomed Rev. Joel Zank, DP-in-Waiting, Anything Goes District. Zank is standing in for Deputy Doug Engelbrecht, who recently suffered a heart attack. The COP received an encouraging update on Engelbrecht’s condition and joined in a prayer for his full recovery. They will try for a spine implant, if a compatible one can be found.
• The COP will refine the guidelines for the colloquy process (when non-WELS pastors or teachers seek to become members of the synod) to ensure consistency in all districts. We do not want any Lutherans sneaking in.
• The COP asked the Commission on Lutheran Schools to evaluate the potential impact of an expanded school choice program in Wisconsin. Is there money to be made?
• The Ad Hoc Commission II reported on some of the issues it is studying and sought input from the COP regarding several others that fall within the oversight of the COP. The Ad Hoc Commission II will provide a progress report to the districts this summer.
• Rev. Earle Treptow was named to serve as the chairman of the COP Doctrine Committee. The previous chairman, Rev. Herb Prahl, was thanked for his faithful service on the committee.
• The COP discussed the shortage of principles in our Lutheran elementary schools. It approved a pilot project for training new Martin Luther College (MLC) graduates for those without principles. The project will assign a MLC graduate to serve as a teacher for three years where he can gain knowledge and administrative experience under the guidance of his principles. Following that three-year period, he will be reassigned to serve as long as he does not lose his faculties.
• When a called worker is removed from the WELS ministry for cause or for doctrinal reasons, the action has been reported as “suspended from synodical membership.” To clarify that this is a final, and not temporary, action, the COP determined the action would now be reported as “removed from the WELS ministerium.” If needed, the COP will propose changes to the synod’s bylaws. In other words - no more deals for Ski, even though Schroeder arranged the last one, with help from Patterson.
• The COP will review the process for considering requests of those who desire to re-enter the public ministry. The review will be made to ensure that a uniform process is used in all districts and to provide greater input from the entire COP before decisions are made by district officials. We may even call a halt to the secret CRM status and immediate call, which was done for you-know-who.
• The COP finalized plans for a “revisit” of Congregation Mission Offering (CMO) subscriptions. Since CMO subscriptions for 2014 were appallingly lower than what was anticipated, the Synodical Council is identifying convention-approved synodical programs that will be curtailed or eliminated if the situation were unchanged, i.e. no more coffee bars in new missions. To avoid or reduce these reductions in ministry, the COP has made plans to present this situation to all congregations through face-to-face visits with circuit pastors and to ask congregations to consider revising their subscribed amount upward. The visits will begin in May and be concluded by the third week of June.
• The COP issued a divine call to Mr. James Henrickson to serve as the associate director of Lutheran Schools.
• The COP appointed Mr. Carl Nolte to replace Rev. Ray Schumacher on the board of the WELS Historical Institute.
• The COP approved a process for recertification of WELS teachers who have served in foreign settings after graduation from Martin Luther College, just in case they picked up justification by faith mistakenly..

Serving in Christ,
President Mark Schroeder