When Sears Roebuck was collapsing, one clever fellow bought it for the real estate. Some stores were left open for laughs, but the only real product was real estate.
The denominations - and your own dear synod - have been following the same recipe since the 1930s. That is when the Social Gospel Movement insisted that the Great Depression was caused by lack of social(istic) activism in the denominations. The Methodists, Presbyterians, and liberal Northern Baptists were first at the trough. Lutherans followed, reluctantly, slowly. Fuller Seminary, the sewer of the synods, joined in the 9th inning.
A century ago, the denominations had large seminaries, gothic churches, and large groups of future ministers. The denominations and synods found ways to work together for the cause, even while pretending they shuddered at the thought of a more conservative group defiling them. When I told a WELS pastor that his district president, Robert Mueller, was on the board of the ELCA relief committee, he came close to crying. He said something like this - "I know nothing about any dealings with them, and I grew up in the WELS! How do you know?"
That cry of desolation was magnified when The Lutheran (ELCA) magazine featured WELS SP Mischke, LCMS SP Bohlmann, and ELCA's Lord High Bishop Herb Chilstrom meeting as a trio ("Chiefs Confer" in The Lutheran). Leaders of all three synods participated, too. The WELS denials were comical after I strongly encouraged Otten's Christian News to reprint the photo and article.
Some are wondering, "How does this fit into the topic of corporations?"
Answer - The denominations and synods began to mimic the corporations of big business, milking the assets of each church body for glorious business offices, travels everywhere, plush salaries, juicy benefits, and almost unlimited powers.
Many corporations are run by junior executives who come and go, a few being promoted, the rest being jettisoned like watermelon seeds. I remember one from a large university, one of many I knew because they changed every two years. The boss went to the wedding of one and canned her soon after. The rotten junior executive lasted two years. The nice one who got married - two years. The exceptional one - two years.
If we look at the vast expanse of denomination and synod officials, they are like the lower of Sears. They know their schools and seminaries and large churches are collapsing. Their statistics are as hollow and gurgling as child's stomach just before lunch. The projections look like the descent of a C-5 cargo jet.
What a great opportunity to liquidate and keep as much of the loot as possible, to cover up debt and reward the hard work of executives. If they have a large property with a lot of real estate value, they will place an incompetent in the call, wait for him or her to prepare it for closing, and harvest the bounty. The closer may even get a choice call as a reward. How sweet. I know of several situations where closing meant or means $1 million.
Sometimes they get rough, as they did with Historic St. John's in Milwaukee, which did not belong to any synod.
Church officials with long faces show up to coach and flatter the tiny congregation on how to share the funds with charity, justice, and blessings for all its previous work. "We will never forget what your parish did for our synod. Now get off our property!"
