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| Rev. Richard Anton Bolland |
Farewell Missouri
Rev. Richard Anton Bolland
The first thing I'd like to address to the Missouri Synod before I leave her is my sincere
gratitude. What I mean by that
is my deep gratitude for the
last 60 years of my life having
been grounded in the theology
of The Book of Concord of 1580
as the correct exposition of the Word of God, the
Holy Scriptures.
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| The Ft. Wayne graduates are not only completely muddled by Objective Justification and professorial grandstanding; they are also inflated by adopting the gigantic but unearned egos of the professors. |
While many in the Missouri Synod have minimized this treasure of the Church, and others have
abandoned our theological heritage almost totally,
there remain many more who have continued to
embrace the true Lutheran/Christian faith without
apology and will keep their ordination vows to the
death if it should be required of them. For exposing
me to this treasure, for teaching me, and providing
me a seminary education at our Fort Wayne seminary that was a world class preparation for the Office of the Holy Ministry, I will remain eternally
grateful. I am also profoundly grateful for the thousands of faithful laymen and women who have
shown me how the Christian faith lives in the lives
of God's saints. In many ways I learned more from
you than I did at the seminary.
As I part ways with the LCMS, I would offer a
few words of advice to this, my beloved Synod. First,
(and this is addressed primarily to the leaders of
our Synod, but it applies to all who are servants of
the Church,) remember that an earthly institution
of the Church must have, as its primary objective,
the maintenance of pure doctrine. Without the singular focus on this most significant aspect of our
faith and our lives together, the Synod simply cannot remain a Synod in any meaningful sense of the
term. Without a catholic agreement among us regarding what we believe, teach, and confess, there
can be no true fellowship, no true agreement, and
no true ability to be a manifestation of the true, visible Church on earth.
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod cannot be
merely an association of congregations, pastors and
other church workers that is held together by the
benefits of the Concordia Plans. For that, any insurance company would do. Our Synodical “Walking
Together” is fundamentally grounded on our common, catholic doctrines of the Christian faith. If it
is the Synod's primary focus to simply maintain the
stability of the institution (as it often seems to be),
then we have lost our way.
What I have observed over the more than 60
years as a member of the LCMS is a slow deterioration of our commitment to the maintenance of our
catholic faith. It seems that when false teachers
arise among us, we are reticent to actually deal with
them unless the unblinking light of publicity forces
those in authority to finally take action against the
false teacher. We have rostered workers who openly
advocate for the ordination of woman into the Office
of the Holy Ministry. We have rostered workers who
publicly give testimony that they have and intend
to continue to participate in unionist and sometimes
in syncretistic worship services with those with
whom are not in doctrinal agreement. We have
rostered workers who openly and publicly espouse
the current “New Measures” of the Church Growth
Movement who have abandoned our historic liturgies and who no longer rightly administer the
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. These examples
are merely illustrative, not exhaustive.
And why has the LCMS continued to permit such
blatant false teachers to continue to poison their
congregations and the Synod with their aberrant
teachings? The only reasonable explanation is that
those ecclesiastical supervisors whose sacred duty
is to safe guard the unity of our pure doctrine either
agree with the error themselves or they value the
maintaining of institutional stability more highly
than they do the maintenance of pure doctrine. If
the maintenance of a false “peace” in Missouri is
built upon the foundation of the toleration of false
teaching, then the Synod simply cannot survive as
anything other than a loose confederation of congregations without a common faith. Indeed, such a
church body has become what Walther describes as
a heterodoxy church body.
The second piece of advice I would offer is specifically to the Council of Presidents. I know some of
you personally and some of you are good, faithful
servants of the Word. Others I have come to know
as men of political ambition who have actively
sought the office you hold. Some DP's consider
themselves to be officers of the institution first and
conduct themselves accordingly while others understand they are servants of the Word of God first and
institutional officers in a secondary sense. I would
hope that those who have sought out the high offices [!] of the Synod and its Districts would repent of
their prideful sin and resign their post. I would hope
that those of you who see yourselves as a sort of
“Prince” of the Church would do the same. Missouri
needs leaders who hold the Scriptures and The
Lutheran Confessions above the Constitution and
Bylaws of the Synod. Wherever the Constitution
and Bylaws of the Synod prohibit taking biblical actions they need to be changed. We are a Synod in
which we believe in Faith Alone, Grace Alone, and
Scripture Alone; and the Constitution and Bylaws
of the Synod cannot be permitted to inform the doctrines and practices of the Church. It must be the
other way around.
My third piece of advice is for the recent crops
of Confessional Lutheran men graduating from
our two seminaries. I love your zeal for all things Lutheran and traditional, but you need to check
your egos at the church door. What I have observed
is a dismissive arrogance from some of you, not all,
that is an embarrassment to the office you hold.
Some have conducted themselves as though there
have never been “real” Lutherans in our Synod
prior to your arrival. Those who came before you are
often treated like men who have nothing to offer you
when we could have served as a valuable resource
for you. I have seen some of you disrespect the voters of your congregations changing fundamental
practices of the congregation without ever doing the
hard work of patiently teaching your people why
such changes are good, right, and salutary and
without even giving a thought about seeking the
permission of your congregation's voters for your
proposals thereby making these changes as a congregation rather than as just the pastor desiring it.
I have observed a disregard for a congregation's
Constitution and Bylaws that are the agreement
the congregation has made about how it will conduct the ministry God has called them to do. If you
believe that the congregation's Constitution and Bylaws require revising, then there is a process to go
through to achieve that end. Don't just ignore them
and do whatever you want. At times, other people's
opinion have just as much value as yours.
So, I must bid my time with The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod farewell. I am not leaving
for another Synod. I'll admit I have considered that
option a number of times as I saw things happening
in the LCMS that seemed to be ignored when it
should have garnered action by our appointed ecclesiastical supervisors. I am leaving for the Church
Triumphant. My doctors have told me that my cancer is not curable and that, after a time of travail, I
will draw my last earthly breath. My 75 years of
this earthly life will come to an end. Soon I shall
rest in the arms of my Lord and stand before His
throne of grace.
Thank you Missouri for all you have given me in
my decades of service to God's people as a Lutheran
teacher, a school principal, a Director of Christian
Education, and as a pastor. A more wonderful life I
could never have wished for. Be faithful Missouri.
It's not about the institution, but the maintenance
of the treasure of the Church, her pure doctrine. As
former Synodical President Al Berry [GJ - Ha!] rightly said,
“Keep the message straight, Missouri.”
Rev. Bolland is a member of Our Savior Lutheran
Church (LCMS), Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
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"Mommy, why does Holy Mother Missouri teach the same as Holy Mother ELCA?"
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| Mother Missouri began to go downhill sharply when the Objective Justification forces canonized Walther, Pieper, and the 1932 Brief Statement. |
