tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post2800303522797278072..comments2024-03-29T04:31:15.219-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Where are the bishops?Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-22175419266420272562017-05-22T11:15:38.049-05:002017-05-22T11:15:38.049-05:00Pastor Kornacki, I did not mean to imply that DPs ...Pastor Kornacki, I did not mean to imply that DPs should exercise supervision unfairly, unjustly, or according to any other standard than our Confessions. I am certainly aware of those who have felt the pain of unconfessional criteria used in such ecclesiastical supervision and that is a fair issue but somewhat different from what I was trying to get at. What I was saying is that if we demand that DPs act in their episcopal role as ecclesiastical supervisors, we must be willing to accept that supervision. In a perfect world that would mean both the standards are faithful and faithful pastors are being held to those standards. We do not live in such a perfect world. That said, it does not relieve the supervisors or the supervised from striving for faithfulness under the Scriptures and the Confessions. That is my main point. I am happy that circumstances now find you in a good congregation and your role in supervision as a CV undoubtedly is informed by your experience as it should. God bless you. Pastor Peters Pastor Petershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-11128957724020036732017-05-21T23:19:42.598-05:002017-05-21T23:19:42.598-05:00Lutheran Lurker, see my response to your replicate...Lutheran Lurker, see my response to your replicate comment <a href="http://pastoralmeanderings.blogspot.com/2017/05/orthodoxy-attracts-many-converts.html?showComment=1495404570420#c4802749480102882566" rel="nofollow">here</a>.Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-40031020479694042922017-05-21T16:23:39.677-05:002017-05-21T16:23:39.677-05:00Strickert/Vehse is filled with impatience and disd...Strickert/Vehse is filled with impatience and disdain for anyone and everyone who disagrees with him. He is the poster child for those in the LCMS who think it should be a purity cult more than a church. He does his cause more harm than good. He is rude and delights in judgment and condemnation.Lutheran Lurkernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-65475562031335926052017-05-21T08:32:06.742-05:002017-05-21T08:32:06.742-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Rev. Alan Kornacki, Jr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07322307218829558622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-88303121055634737182017-05-19T15:37:47.324-05:002017-05-19T15:37:47.324-05:00My, my, the inside scoop! Who knew that such thing...My, my, the inside scoop! Who knew that such things happened in the LCMS! I am shocked, shocked I tell you. Why, this could affect the odor of sanctimony usually associated with the LCMS, the "holier than thou"-ism.<br /><br />Fr.D+Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-57534024304423362322017-05-19T10:32:34.411-05:002017-05-19T10:32:34.411-05:00Removing from synod membership those persistantly ...Removing from synod membership those persistantly and stubbornly heterodox congregations, especially large ones with persistantly and stubbornly heterodox pastors, is not considered an option given concerns about declining income, and such actions by DPs, which would affect the buttering of their side of bread.Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-18387483628852051162017-05-19T08:47:07.088-05:002017-05-19T08:47:07.088-05:00I have been reminded that behind every DP is a BOD...I have been reminded that behind every DP is a BOD with ultimate power pulling the strings. While the DP may be the face of the District, he, too, is subject to marching orders and carefully navigating between the Scylla of heterodoxy and the Charybdis of papal-like authoritarianism. I see pastors pressured to take the path of least resistance for fear of what Rev. Kornacki has been through and the prospect of going into the abyss of CRM status. I see interests and agendas that are foisted upon pastors and congregations that, in the case of pastors, they go along to get along and, in the case of congregations, they are definitely part of the problem because all they ever needed to know about being Lutheran they learned from Garrison Keillor. Lord have mercy!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-49916819009613052632017-05-19T07:44:27.365-05:002017-05-19T07:44:27.365-05:00I've seen this from both sides. As a pastor wh...I've seen this from both sides. As a pastor who has been forced out by a congregation with the collusion of a district president, who subsequently kept me on the "Restricted" list for nearly a year despite finding quickly that I was not guilty of something worthy of my removal from the LCMS clergy roster, and having a number of DPs refuse to give my PIF and SET to congregations requesting my information--one who did so repeatedly--I've seen the side of ecclesiastical supervision that makes me mindful of our Lord's comments about the rulers of the Gentiles who "lord it over" their subjects as well as the Psalmist's caution to "trust not in princes." I've tried to look into how they exercise their oversight, but much of what they do is in executive session, and one of the documents by which they operate--the DP manual--is as closely guarded a secret as the identities of the Illuminati.<br /><br />On the other hand, as a circuit visitor, I've served with a DP who has gone through the whole process of removing a pastor from the clergy roster and suspending a congregation. I watched him go through every step according to the Constitution and by-laws of Synod, and, indeed, with a pastor heart he has gone above and beyond what our documents require of him in the attempt to avoid doing what became necessary until he had no other option.<br /><br />My ten months on Restricted Status and subsequent four years as an Inactive Candidate have led me to a rather cynical view of ecclesiastical supervision in our circles. Irony being what it is, I am now, as a CV, a cog in the very machine that chewed me up and attempted to spit me out, and I'm supposed to perform visitation with the pastors in my circuit. (Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!) In our Synod, we have a hard time agreeing to what it means to be faithful to our ordination vows, and God help me and my circuit brethren should we disagree on such matters. (I happen to be in a circuit where I'm not overly worried, but still...)<br /><br />As for our Synodical and District overlords...Some DPs I would trust if they led me to the very gates of hell and gave me marching orders; some DPs I wouldn't trust to tell me the time of day if I couldn't verify it with my own clock or at least a view of the sun. Insofar as our polity demands it, I see the need for such supervision, but I have a terribly time allowing myself to trust it. I don't know how to build that trust as we work within our polity. Our Synod is too divided over important Scriptural and Confessional matters for such trust to come easily. Lord, have mercy. Rev. Alan Kornacki, Jr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07322307218829558622noreply@blogger.com