It's Getting Quiet

If one looks at mission work outside the primary venue of altar and pulpit, the LCMS should be very concerned that two of its most effective, far-reaching missionary voices have been silenced over the past six years.

For years, Rev. Wallace Schulz served as a preacher for Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM), frequently featured on The Lutheran Hour radio broadcast and heard in personal appearances all over the country. In his spare time, he produced Good News magazine, an excellent publication that still teaches the Christian faith in depth to people around the world.

Schulz is no longer on the radio. Elected 2^nd Vice President of the LCMS, he had the unwelcome duty of presiding over the dispute resolution case involving Dr. David Benke’s participation in the “Yankee Stadium” syncretistic service. After meticulous investigation, Schulz found Benke guilty of syncretism. President Kieschnick, however, called for a review of Schulz’s decision. This review led to Benke’s exoneration, though the review panel was critical neither of Schulz’s procedures nor his Scriptural argument.

Schulz came under heavy fire; and shortly after Kieschnick’s call for review, Lutheran Hour Ministries removed Schulz with the explanation that his role in the case had harmed LHM. One of the best-known voices of the LCMS was gone from the radio. One might say that it would have been helpful for Dr. Kieschnick to intervene again at this point, voicing support for a synodical official who lost his employment for fulfilling his constitutional obligations.

Recently, Rev. Todd Wilken was removed from the airwaves as the show, Issues, Etc., was cancelled. Issues, the synod’s only nationally-syndicated show, reached across denominational barriers. It was respected for being strongly pro-life, tackling tough issues and being a show for the “thinking Christian,” regardless of denomination. It made the complex understandable. It was “Exhibit A” that doctrine and missions go hand in hand, that theology need not be dumbed down to appeal. No enterprise within the LCMS did more to refute the notion that Lutherans must compromise their doctrine to interact effectively with others.

Without warning or discussion, the show was cancelled for “financial and programmatic reasons,” and without the knowledge of the Board for Communication Services (BCS). Wilken was removed from his divine call. His producer, Jeff Schwarz, also went home unemployed. Financially, it seems, the show cost too much money. Programmatically, it’s been replaced with a show that doesn’t dwell “largely on Lutheran apologetics at a sophisticated level.” How unfortunate. How does one give an intelligent-yet-unsophisticated response to, say, stem-cell research? And is there a reason that Lutherans should not address these with a Lutheran apologetic [defense]? Lutherans have the advantage of a rigorous theology that allows us to speak to difficult issues, and sophisticated problems require sophisticated answers. That’s what Issues, Etc. did, to receptive ears across the nation.

Fans of the show have voiced their displeasure through blogs, a public demonstration, and an online petition that includes pleas from many non-Lutherans to restore it.

Given the concern and confusion of so many, wouldn’t this be a good time for Dr. Kieschnick to call this decision up for review?

But one doesn’t see that happening.

And our mission outreach to the world is that much quieter than it was before.

John Greenberg
Layman