Division?

As you may recall from his letter to the WSJ, LCMS President Kieschnick wants to paint the picture that the Synod is unified.  Mollie, author of the article that prompted the letter, had this to say in response. 

Dear President Kieschnick,

In your letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, you wrote
that I paint a “false and misleading picture” of the LCMS “as a deeply
divided church.”

Respectfully, I take issue with what you wrote.

The first article in the January 2008 edition of Board Briefs talks
about the plan to restore harmony coming out of Resolution 4-01A of
the 2007 convention. The article describes how members of the BOD and
COP “met in small groups to identify those issues in the Synod thought
to be causing the greatest discord.”

While the entire list of 20 issues proves my point, I might direct
your attention to this item listed as one of the major problems in our
church body:

“Failure to recognize the severity of the division in our Synod.”

In Christ,

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway

P.S. The Board Brief is available here:
http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10184

It appears others agreed with the assessment Mollie made in her article.

The Church is not our grandfather’s, nor is it the church of pop psychology needs-based marketing, it is Christ’s Church and any matter of the Church needs to be reviewed in the light of Scripture. It is highly ironic that the church that claims direct lineage to Martin Luther, defines truth as the product of church bylaws and bureaucratic processes apart from Scripture, rather than the Scriptures themselves (Sola Scriptura). This is the very same church-politic mindset Martin Luther found himself battling against 500 years ago.

Ed Popyk
Dearborn, Mich.

As a former guest on “Issues, Etc.” and as a listener to the show I was very unhappy that it was cancelled. I can’t help but conclude that the cancellation was somehow related to the deep divisions that exist in our denomination and that are referred to in the article. While many publicly pretend that the divisions do not exist, as a pastor in the denomination and as a delegate to the 2007 LCMS Convention in Houston, I have observed these divisions firsthand and have been dismayed by them. Keep up the good work!

Rev. Wayne W. Schwiesow
Pastor
Zion Lutheran Church
Gordonville, Mo.
St. Paul Lutheran Church
Chaffee, Mo.

As an adult member of the LCMS for 40 years, I wish to thank the Journal for printing this piece which was in all respects consistent with the facts as I know them. Mollie Ziegler Hemmingway is a former member of the LCMS Board of Communication Services which oversees KFUO, among other media peculiar to our church. She is in a position to know what she is talking about.

In truth, the denomination had its most “unified” convention in years last summer because the opposition to the Rev. Gerald Kieschnick was simply kept from any meaningful participation. Mr. Kieschnick was re-elected by only 52% in spite of this control. “Missouri” is divided.

Helen Jensen
Austin, Texas

Thanks for printing this article. It is a clear and perceptive summary of the situation in our denomination. I agree with Ms. Hemingway in her analysis. It seems that this “Radio Silence” may be just a symptom of the synodical leadership’s plan to transition the LCMS into a “market-driven” church rather than a confessional one.

Greta Martin
Bristol, Wis.

I will say this, while I wasn’t really aware of “Issues, Etc” until I heard of the fundraising campaign the cancellation has raised my awareness of what is taking place in the LCMS.  There’s a saying that everything has a silver lining.  Perhaps the silver lining with the decision to cancel such a popular program that put forth the light of the Gospel is just that – the raising of awareness among the laity about what has been happening in the Synod and the division that apparently exists.

 

Support for Issues, Etc.

First, there’s the petition which has over 6900 signers.  Interesting when you consider the “stats” cited by Mr. Strand.

Second, there’s a prayer service and bratwurst supper in St. Louis this weekend as well as a vigil/demonstration the next day.  Register here.

Third, there’s these resoultions showing displeasure with the cancellation from the Central Illinois BOD, Southern Illinois District Pastoral Conference and South Wisconsin Disctrict Pastoral Conference.

You can also get a t-shirt to show your displeasure.

 

Troubling picture forming

Let’s go back to Mr. Strand’s letter –

In fiscal year 2007-08, KFUO-AM’s operating deficit was $620,698.  Since 2001, the accumulated deficits at the station have been in excess of $3.5 million. The LCMS budget, entrusted to our care by members of our Synod’s congregations, has absorbed these shortfalls for years.  After long and prayerful consideration, it became clear that measures had to be taken to stop the ongoing, staggering losses.

Although some are under the impression that “Issues, Etc.” was profitable and self-supporting, the fact is the program lost approximately $250,000 in the last fiscal year.  While airing for only 18 percent of KFUO-AM’s programming week, “Issues” accounted for more than 40 percent of the station’s total deficit.  These figures are based on the audited financial statements of the LCMS. 

Let’s also look at President Kieschnick’s letter to the editor from March 31 –

Here are the facts surrounding the termination of “Issues, Etc.” This program was cancelled by the Synod’s director of communications after years of attempts to keep the program financially solvent. In fiscal year 2007-08, KFUO-AM’s operating deficit was $620,000. Since 2001, the accumulated deficits of the station have been in excess of $3.5 million. While airing for only 18 percent of KFUO-AM’s programming week, “Issues, Etc.” in the last fiscal year accounted for more than 40 percent ($250,000) of the station’s total deficit. These figures are based on the audited financial statements of the LCMS. As of February 29, two thirds into the current fiscal year, KFUO-AM was on pace to suffer heavy loses again.

Listeners of “Issues, Etc.” have had nine years and countless invitations and opportunities to support the program financially, and some have, but not nearly enough to offset the show’s deep, ongoing losses.

Both documents specifically mention the financial picture as reason for abruptly cancelling the program, specifically “losses”.  A characterization not liked by the LCMS Treasurer.

“Everyone has been indicating that Issues has lost money, and that’s probably somewhat of an unclear description of what it really represents,” Kuchta said. “We have within synod unrestricted net assets that we get each year from districts and from bequests and from individual contributions, and those approximate about $22-million a year. And out of the $22-million a year, we allocate that to various ministries.

“When you allocate the $22-million to ministries and various departments. . . those moneys are gone, so none of those dollars come back. That’s what’s needed to provide the level of ministry or department support to carry on the operations of synod.”

Nothing wrong with a difference of opinion in terms of characterization but BringBackIssues makes an interesting point.

So here’s some focus: out of a budget of $22-million in unrestricted funds for the Missouri Synod, is it worth $250,000 in subsidies to produce Issues Etc., a program that reached thousands of people on radio in the St. Louis area, and produces an estimated 480,000 downloads internationally per quarter? (That’s 1.9-million downloads of 1-hour Christian discussion per year.)

Thirteen cents per download, based on the synod’s own numbers. That should be the focus of this discussion.

Ultimately any perceived or documented shortfall, if this is in fact all about finances, could have been solved by charging for downloads.

Let’s take a step back though and take a snapshot of the big picture.  Specifically where KFUO and “Issues, Etc.” fit in to the overall Synodical budget.

Interpreting financial figures is a lot like interpreting the Bible. In order to properly understand a figure it needs to be put into its proper context. The proper context for this figure is the overall budget for the entire LCMS. Those figures are available to the public. Click here to view the minutes for the May 2007 Board of Directors Meeting. On page 10 of this pdf you will see the departmental breakdown for the entire budget.

What you will discover is that the KFUO budget for both the AM and FM stations comprises ONLY 3% of the entire synodical budget. Then with just a little math you will also be able to calculate that the Issues Etc. budgetary shortfall of $250,000 comprises less than 1% of the entire synodical budget. (one quarter of 1% to be exact) .

It raises the obvious question of why be concerned about something that was less than 1% of the overall budget.  But since there was the concern and the door was opened others have taken a deeper look.  This deeper look is resulting in a troubling picture taking shape based on information uncovered by SavetheLCMS.  That information makes you start to wonder but adding this could be icing on the cake.

We have come to be in the possession of a copy of a document that details the spending activity of KFUO during 2006 – 2007! This is the same period that David Strand claimed that KFUO AM lost $620,698 and directly tied the cancellation of Issues Etc. to those losses.

The document that we’ve acquired gives the financial details behind Strand’s figure but it also reveals a plethora of accounting oddities and anomalies that completely call that figure into question and even worse it calls into question the entire management team of KFUO including Dennis Stortz, Chuck Rathert, and David Strand.

Furthermore, it completely calls into question the ‘business reasons’ cited by both David Strand and Dr. Kieschnick as the reasoning for canceling Issues Etc.

We want our readers to also know that we’ve taken great pains to abide by the 8th commandment and that we confirmed the authenticity of this document before we set out to publish it.

You can download the document by clicking here.

Here’s a graphical breakdown of the Personnel costs noted in the above document.

Numbers tell the story and at this point the numbers that account for a meager 3% of the overall budget don’t tell a good one.

Is it political?

In a letter to the editor of the WSJ, LCMS President Kieschnick responds to this article in the WSJ last week regarding the cancellation of “Issues, Etc.”  Here’s an excerpt from the article:

So what happened? Initially, the bureaucrats in St. Louis kept a strict silence, claiming that the show had been canceled for “business and programmatic” reasons. Yesterday the synod cited low local ratings in the St. Louis area and the low number of listeners to the live audio stream on the Web site. But the last time the synod tracked the size of the audience was three years ago, and it did not take into account the show’s syndicated or podcast following. The synod also claimed that the show lost $250,000 a year, an assertion that is at odds with those of others familiar with the operating budget of the station.

The Rev. Michael Kumm, who served on three management committees for the station, said that the explanation doesn’t add up. ” ‘Issues, Etc.’ is the most listened to, most popular and generates more income than any other program at the station and perhaps even the others combined. This decision is purely political,” he said.

He may well be right. The program was in all likelihood a pawn in a larger battle for the soul of the Missouri Synod. The church is divided between, on the one hand, traditional Lutherans known for their emphasis on sacraments, liturgical worship and the church’s historic confessions and, on the other, those who have embraced pop-culture Christianity and a market-driven approach to church growth. The divide is well known to all confessional Christian denominations struggling to retain their traditional identity.

Ms. Hemingway, the author, further discussed the issue on “WhiteHorse Inn“.

Now here is President Kieschnick’s response today –

Letter to the Editor:

As President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, I express my extreme disappointment over the column “Radio Silence” published March 28 under “Houses of Worship.” Its author presents a distorted account of the reason for the discontinuation of the “Issues, Etc.” program on the Synod’s KFUO-AM Radio station. What is even more disturbing is the false and misleading picture she presents of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) as a deeply divided church regarding its mission and ministry.

First, let me say our church is happy to own and operate KFUO-AM, the oldest continuously operating religious radio station in the country, if not the world. We are proud of the ministry it has provided listeners for some 84 years, and we endeavor to continue this ministry. I must also note that all ministries of the church, of which KFUO-AM is but one, require financial support from their constituencies.

Here are the facts surrounding the termination of “Issues, Etc.” This program was cancelled by the Synod’s director of communications after years of attempts to keep the program financially solvent. In fiscal year 2007-08, KFUO-AM’s operating deficit was $620,000. Since 2001, the accumulated deficits of the station have been in excess of $3.5 million. While airing for only 18 percent of KFUO-AM’s programming week, “Issues, Etc.” in the last fiscal year accounted for more than 40 percent ($250,000) of the station’s total deficit. These figures are based on the audited financial statements of the LCMS. As of February 29, two thirds into the current fiscal year, KFUO-AM was on pace to suffer heavy loses again.

Listeners of “Issues, Etc.” have had nine years and countless invitations and opportunities to support the program financially, and some have, but not nearly enough to offset the show’s deep, ongoing losses.

More importantly, I wish to address the unfortunate comments in the column that The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is deeply divided and that it is pushing “church marketing” over the historic confessions of the evangelical Lutheran Church.

In truth, last summer the LCMS had its most positive and unified convention in years. Our church remains faithful to the Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions, an integral part of our identity as a church body. As stated in a resolution adopted last summer by the national Synod convention: “From the founding of our Synod 160 years ago, we have been blessed by unity in our common confession and the articles of our shared faith, such as the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, original sin, baptismal regeneration, the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament, the inerrancy of Scripture and many others.”

In accordance with our unity in what we believe, teach, and confess, the Synod adopted the mission and vision of Ablaze!—a focused and concentrated effort to “share the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who do not yet know him.” One goal of Ablaze! calls for the Synod to start 2,000 new congregations by the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in the year 2017. This outreach emphasis is not “marketing” as suggested by last Friday’s column; rather, it is one of many ministry endeavors developed to foster the mission of our Synod “… vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities, and the world.” (LCMS Mission Statement)

In summary, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is more committed than ever to proclaiming the one message of Jesus Christ and his love for all (1 John 4:9-11).

On behalf of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, I invite readers to visit our website at http://www.lcms.org for more information on God’s grace and salvation in Christ.

The Rev. Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

C: Mr. David Strand, Director of Communications
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Kudos to President Kieschnick for responding.  However there is nothing new in this letter aside from the “Ablaze!” comments.  We see repeating of the same things Mr. Strand said for the most part last week.  What I find interesting is this –

I must also note that all ministries of the church, of which KFUO-AM is but one, require financial support from their constituencies.

My understanding from what I’ve read in the last week is that “Issues, Etc” was the ONLY program that asked listeners for support and was the ONLY one underwritten.  (If I am wrong feel free to correct me, I’m not up on the financials.)

I also found this interesting –

Listeners of “Issues, Etc.” have had nine years and countless invitations and opportunities to support the program financially, and some have, but not nearly enough to offset the show’s deep, ongoing losses.

Considering the download stats that have come available in the last few days I’d say that charging for downloads would have more than offset costs.  When it comes to support here is an interesting question that should be answered.

When it comes to money being well spent, ask this as well – Is $25,000 from “Ablaze!” better spent on a program such as “Issues, Etc.” or this when considering this response to it?  (I saw similar billboards last summer when driving through St. Louis and was appalled – and now to find out it is an LCMS church??)

Then ask yourself again after reading the mission statement of the LCMS –

In grateful response to God’s grace and empowered by the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacraments, the mission of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities, and the world.

Then ask yourself based on the information that has come out, both officially and unofficially, “Was the cancellation of “Issues Etc” political?”