May 28, 300 Roared Off the Steamship
Walther organized the
mob that arrived in Perryville and surrounded the bishop’s cabin. Only those
against the bishop were allowed to take the trip. They threatened his life,
held him at gunpoint, forced him out of his home, stole all his money, took all
his books and personal possessions, and forced him across the river to
Illinois. They even disrobed him to make sure he was not hiding any money.[1]
This action has been
called “deposing the bishop,” but it was a series of crimes and completely unscriptural.
This mob activity led by Walther set the precedent in the LCMS-WELS-ELS for
ignoring due process and Matthew 18, assuming dictatorial powers, and abusing
people with the theme of might makes right.
First of all, only the
people already in agreement with Walther were allowed to travel from St. Louis
to Perryville. Those with a different opinion were left behind, not a voters’
assembly but a kangaroo court. They were fired up for execution, not for
pastoral admonition and discipline. To compound the deceit of the times, the
LCMS guides in Peryville today tell the innocent that the bishop was given
three options. But only one option is needed at the end of a gun barrel – obey!
Bishop Stephan had no advance notice of this angry horde and refused to
acknowledge their authority. The former clergy arranged to have the real estate
agent (!) read the charges to Stephan.
The bishop was charged
with misuse of the funds, fornication, and adultery, the same charges brought
against him in a court of law in Dresden, ending his career there. Since the
same lawyers, Vehse and Marbach, were there in the Dresden court, people should
only marvel that these were suddenly charges never before proven. Mrs. Stephan
and the primary mistress Louise Guenther both testified.
The mob outside Stephan’s
cabin whipped the walls to terrify him, and he felt afraid for his life. He
signed the document of accusation, though obtaining a guilty plea through death
threats is hardly legal or Biblical.
The next anti-Scriptural
step was searching him bodily for any money on him and the cabin for the rest
of the money. At the Walther site, the guide showed me the chest where Stephan’s
gold was kept. “That would be worth millions today.” The man showed no remorse
over stealing a vast amount of money, which was perhaps a mix of the society’s
money and the bishop’s. The implication of the tour was – he had it coming to
him. Never mentioned – the society was financially strapped from foolish
spending, not all of it the bishop’s fault. The former pastors also took money
from the fund and that was not consistently recorded or paid back. (Zion)
Stephan was forced to
sleep overnight on the ground, another strange concept not addressed in Walther’s
Pastoral Theology. He was forced across the river at gunpoint, with only
100 dollars, a few clothes, and a shovel. The mob took all his personal
possessions and library. Stealing a library was replayed when Seminex stole the
books from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, for their own school, claiming, as
one did, “They were our books.” Antinomianism reigns with legalism where
Objective Justification is taught.
The trip across the
river was probably on a ferry, not in a rowboat. The bishop was dumped in
Illinois, sick, with not enough to survive. Future pleas to provide some food
were refused. He sued for the return of his property and received almost
nothing. The beautiful chalice given to him was kept by Walther and used at
every communion service. Thieves often keep trophies to admire.
The lawyer Marbach, on
behalf of the Society, interrogated Louise Guenther - after the fact, so the
verdict and punishment were first and the facts second. The issue had already been
settled in Germany and verified by her cozy position on the ship near Stephan’s
cabin, living above him in the same building in St. Louis. Could Marbach and
Vehse have traveled for weeks on the same ship and not seen anything amiss,
with the bishop’s wife and his children (except one) left behind?
Louise joined the
bishop in Illinois about two weeks later. He became the first bishop in
Illinois and served as the pastor of a congregation that still exists in the
LCMS. He died in Illinois, seven years after Walther’s mob threatened, robbed,
and kidnapped him. A rumor lived on that Stephan had gold coins in his cane
when he was expelled. The author of Servant of His Word examined the cane and
found nothing there. The irony of thinking the bishop escaped with some money –
but without his land, cabin, books, and savings – is too rich to ignore.
Not satisfied with
this, Walther talked Stephan’s son into giving away the 80 acres in Perryville belonging
legally to his father.
The Ninth Commandment.
Thou shalt not covet
thy neighbor's house.
What does this
mean?--Answer.
We should fear and love
God that we may not craftily seek to get our neighbor's inheritance or house,
and obtain it by a show of [justice and] right, etc., but help and be of
service to him in keeping it.
