First Lutheran Church Plainville, Kansas
Peace Lutheran Church Natoma, Kansas
April, 2024
This is part 2 of a 2 part series; part 1 can be found in the March newsletter.
Throughout the history of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, there have been various controversies. In the very beginning, there was a debate over the question of the office of the ministry. In the 1920’s, there was a financial crisis. And as we discussed last month, in the 1970’s, there was a crisis over the authority of the Word of God.
Each time there was a crisis, the Synod came through stronger and better than before.
Now this is hardly the case for everyone; every church body has experienced some variation of their own struggle over the Word of God and its authority; and with the exception of the Southern Baptist Convention, they have all lost.
How did the Missouri Synod survive you might ask?
Well, in the early days of the Synod, there was CFW Walther, whose teaching on church and ministry is still the accepted practice today. In the 1920’s, there was Walter A Maier, not to mention various others who steered the Synod through the choppy waters. And in the 1970’s, there was JAO Preus, who was elected Synod President and who led the charge to clean up Concordia Seminary, and the rogue District Presidents who were ordaining uncertified candidates into the pastoral office.
But that is only half the story; maybe not even half.
For driving the desire to preserve the Synod, were dedicated and faithful laity.
In the early days of Synod, it was Franz Marbach who debated over the nature and the office of the ministry; who challenged Walther, not because he was stubborn and disrespectful, but because he knew the Scriptures and the Confessions just as well as any pastor did.
In the 1920’s it was a dedicated group of men, who formed the Lutheran Laymen’s League which paid the Synod’s debt, and remains a major supporter of the LCMS today, not only through The Lutheran Hour, but through a whole host of resources designed to spread the Gospel at home and abroad.
And in the 1960’s and 1970’s, it is faithful laymen who saved the Synod from itself; first calling out the false teaching happening at the Seminary, and then demanding that the false teaching be purged from the Synod.
Each time, when the clergy went astray, it was the faithful laity who called them to repent, and to clean up the mess. This is why it is so crucial today that our conventions are evenly split between pastors and laity, because the Synod needs the laity to keep it grounded, to keep it focused, and when necessary to call it back to the basic principles of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
We need an educated and well-formed clergy to preach and teach and administer the sacraments; but we also need a well catechized laity, who know their Bibles, and who are not afraid to pick up their Book of Concords and read and learn the teachings of the Church just as well as they memorize the stats for their favorite sports team.
Whether you were alive and remember the events of 1974, or if you have only read the books and heard some scattered stories; do not forget the lessons of that event: always remain faithful to the Word and to the Confessions. Trouble always follows when the Synod strays to far from these two pillars. So, clergy and lay alike must return to the Word and defend it tooth and nail against those who would try to overthrow it.
God Bless!
Pastor Schmidt
Such a time as this - Esther 4:14 