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IT’S TIME
LCMS UNITY AND MISSION
e Real ProblemWe Faceand How to Solve It
MATTHEW C. HARRISONOctober 2008
Dear Reader,The LCMS President’s
Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance
has now proposed for discussion extensive and sweep-ing changes in the way our life together as a Synod is ordered. The
Task Force
has also asked for input. District President Herb Mueller has re-quested my written opinion on this matter to be presented to and dis-cussed by the Board of Spiritual Care and Supervision (CircuitCounselors, District Vice Presidents, and President) of the SouthernIllinois District. I humbly offer what follows as one response to thesesuggestions for change. The views expressed in this paper are my ownand are not meant to represent those of any Synodical board or entity.
I am convinced that what is proposed does not finally get at theheart of what is the greatest challenge to us and our sacred mission“to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10) in this time.
I offer thesethoughts from the perspective of one who has served the church in nu-merous capacities over the better part of two decades. While in theparish—like so many pastors—I scratched my head trying to compre-hend how and why the Synod functions as it does. My vocation withinthe Synod’s corporate structure at LCMS World Relief and Human Carehas brought a whole other perspective, though I have not served in thiscapacity so long that I’ve forgotten what it was like to be in the parish.The following is submitted by one who was raised in a large sub-urban parish and has served pastorates in rural and inner-city congre-gations. I have the deepest love and respect for, and some modestknowledge of, just how much this church body has meant to so many,for so long.I thank the Task Force for raising the issues as it has. There are many thoughtful and more or less valuable suggestions. But, as I argue in thispaper, It’s Time for us to confront the more fundamental issues whichprevent us from fulfilling the divine vocation which is before us.Matthew C. HarrisonReformation, A.D. 2008
This document may be reproduced and distributed freely.
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The Good Ship Missouri
C
ANYOUIMAGINEASHIP
out on the high seas in which20% of the crew are determined to take the vesselin one direction, about 20% want the boat to go inthe very opposite direction, and a majority are simply ig-noring the boat altogether? The captain is on the bridge,but he’s being shot at by mutineers from several directionsat once. Occasionally he turns and fires back, and as hedoes so, he can’t help but pull the wheel and alter thecourse of the vessel. [NOTE 1]Some jump ship, tired of the confusion and dissention,and set out on their own—sometimes accomplishing greatthings, and sometimes not. The navigators are arguing overthe charts. Some don’t see the need to look at the charts atall. The officers can’t agree on the longitude and latitude of the boat, and worse yet, there is no consensus on which di-rection to sail, though everyone is well aware that the swellsare already imposing and rising, the sky is blackening, andthe wind increasing. Younger and well-trained officers andseamen chafe as the “old salts,” who have brought the shipthrough a hundred squalls, the very men who trained them,stand at their posts unable or unwilling to loosen their gripand trust the “youth” (now aging themselves) they’vetrained for the very challenge they face. She’s a good oleship, tried and true. She’s sailed through hurricanes aplenty,but supplies are low and morale is lower. Worst of all, thereare thousands upon thousands counting on her to getthrough the storm and come to their aid.What shall be done? If we were speaking of a real ves-sel, the answer would involve consolidating control, driv-ing out the opposition and dissenters, and jettisoning any and all crew and cargo which would preventsailing a cho-sen course. But here is where the metaphor breaks down.All of that has been tried for decades. The good ship Mis-souri is not, and will not finally be coerced, despite all theefforts of the last fifty years to do so. She can only func-tion—she
does
only function for her sacred mission—tothe extent that there exists a consensus wrought by theWord of God. Unfortunately, the parties in the struggle forthis boat and her mission have each been convinced that if only they could garner 50.1% of the crew’s support, theboat could be sailed smoothly toward her vital mission. Butthat vision has failed, repeatedly. Our problem is not thestructure of the ship. Her beams and basic structure aresolid and resilient. It is not time to re-arrange the deck fur-niture. Much less is the solution the repainting of the ship,nor stenciling a new name on her bow. We must finally make the time and effort to come to a broad consensus onwho she is, and what is her mission—that is, who
we
areand how we shall live and work together sailing confidently under the clear Word of God into the sea which is this post-modern world. By God’s grace, it
can
be done, and
now
isthe time to do it.
I. The First Thing Necessary:Honesty About What We Face
Let’s be honest. There are enduring divisions in the Synod,and these divisions not only make our life together bitter,they consume our energy, and they cripple our ability toshare the Gospel in its fullness with a world that has neverbeen so open to what we have in Christ as Lutherans.
Ourdisunity is killing us and our mission effectiveness—and at just the wrong moment
!I see it everywhere I travel around the world. The in-vitations and open doors are everywhere. And yet, as muchas the LCMS has accomplished (and it
is
a wondrousthing!), we are accomplishing only a mere fraction of whatis possible for the sake of Christ and his Gospel. Our divi-sions rob of us courage and capacity, and they hamper ourability to dare to step into new opportunities. Our divi-sions often find us bawled up, wrestling with each other inthe dust while the gate stands wide open before us.These divisions are publicly minimized or maximizeddepending upon one’s particular theo-political persuasion.They are artfully capitalized upon by various factions forpolitical ends. These divisions rob us of joy in our churchly work, place barriers between brother pastors and others,breed distrust, and even throw many into camps bent onexterminating the power and influence of the other. Many simply try to do their work, quietly ducking the bullets fly-ing overhead. Many have simply “checked out” of partici-pating in synodical life. A veritable industry of an“unofficial press” and Web activity thrives, rife with infor-mation often inaccurate, and scandalously so. Elected or ap-
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