Lutherans Divided

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

Lutherans Divided

 

Rift in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod widens over post-Sept. 11 prayer service

 

By Jim Suhr

Associated Press

 

August 2, 2002

 

ST. LOUIS (AP)--Twelve days after terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, the Rev. David Benke, a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pastor, joined with clergy from other faiths in a New York City prayer service for the victims.

 

The LCMS president, the Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, gave the church's top New York leader his blessings to take part in what he considered an innocent public event.

Kieschnick never envisioned the fallout from that day within one of the most theologically conservative Protestant denominations. (The 2.6 million-member LCMS is a more conservative cousin to the 5.2 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.)

 

Benke was suspended in June, months after 21 of the synod's pastors and three of its congregations complained about his role in the gathering at Yankee Stadium.

 

And just last month, the LCMS second vice president, who disciplined Benke for praying with ``pagans,'' was pulled from his role as the main speaker on ``The Lutheran Hour'' radio program - the synod's prominent pulpit - for deciding the matter.

 

Now Kieschnick is struggling to bridge a gulf in the church. It's just the kind of situation he had hoped to avoid when he was elected a year ago. His goal has been to make the denomination more unified and tolerant.

 

``While some may see it as a rift, I see it as a pivotal moment in defining who we are and why we're here,'' said Kieschnick, who is standing by Benke.

 

``We're faced with opportunities and challenges galore to take the Gospel to the marketplace. That's where our struggle is - whether it should be in a congregational setting or public one.''

 

Benke is appealing his suspension by the Rev. Wallace Schulz. Meanwhile, Schulz isn't discussing that decision or his own suspension as chief preacher on the gospel program carried by more than 1,000 radio stations.

 

While Lutheran Hour Ministries took no stand on Benke's conduct, Schulz's decision unwillingly dragged the independent auxiliary of the Missouri Synod into the debate, spokesman Jim Telle said.