Update on our Concordias. . .

While those charged with the ecclesiastical supervision of Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor are telling to be patient and let the system work (which did not quite work for Prof. Schulz), another development has unfolded.  I agree that it will undoubtedly take time for this dispute at CUWAA to get resolved (everyone will need to save face in this), the underlying concern was not simply Prof. Schulz or CUWAA but the viability of the whole Concordia system.  Every incident like this, added to the closure of three Concordias in quick succession, only points out how difficult it is to maintain a private university within the current system of higher education in America and how much more difficult it is to do so as a conservative institution tied to a confessional church body.  But, as some have said, the difficult is easy; it is the impossible that takes a little time.  

In that vein, another trumpet has sounded against the Concordias.  Concordia Texas has decided it would like to divorce the Synod but would like to retain enough of a relationship so as not to impede student recruitment or raising funds.  You can read for yourself:

The Concordia University Texas Board of Regents has notified the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod Board of Directors that it wishes to enter into a conversation by which the CTX Board will be the sole-governing body of the institution and remain in alignment with the LCMS, working together to serve the mission of the church and the university.  We expect to hear from them within a short time, after which a process will be determined, arriving at a final agreement between the LCMS and CTX no later than August 31, 2022.   

The CTX Board is seeking this type of governance and alignment for several reasons:

1 Both higher education and the church are facing changes in the culture and complexity in how they do their work.  Having greater freedom to lead locally and responsively serves both institutions well.

2 The autonomy of the Board is critical as it determines the future for CTX.  The proposed bylaws coming to the 2023 LCMS convention limit that autonomy.

3 In reviewing various models of governance among church-related schools, the Board sees this as an opportunity to govern more locally and lean into its alignment with the LCMS.  

We ask for your prayers that this conversation can lead to an outcome that is beneficial for the church at large.

Again, my point is not to comment on the wisdom or foolishness of the CTX proposal.  On this I have merely opinions and few facts.  What I do wish to point out is that the handwriting has been on the wall for some time.  It is not easy and is, in fact, quite difficult, for any and all of our Concordias to do all of the things we expect of them:

• Maintain their financial viability without much formal money from the LCMS;
• Maintain and make viable programs for church worker education for the LCMS;
• Maintain a faculty of people committed to teach within the LCMS confession;
• Maintain faithfulness to the doctrine and practice of the LCMS.

All those voices out there who decry what the Concordias have become must admit that what we have today is largely the result of our own neglect as a Synod.  We set high standards for them, give them access to the LCEF, pretty much require their enrollment in the Concordia Plans, and insist that they recruit and train church workers for the LCMS as their core mission.  At the same time, we do not give them cash except to give them a mailing list and we expect them to continue to flourish at a time when every small college is struggling.  In the midst of all of this, we demand that they maintain faithfully  LCMS doctrine and practice.  None of what we expect or demand is wrong or bad and the high standards we assume for them are not the problem.  The problem is that we no longer know why we have the Concordias.  Only in Seward and on the Ann Arbor campus of CUW are church worker programs more than a token presence.  The college are not and should not be the primary recruiters for these programs but we have saddled them with the majority of that responsibility.  We have our back against the wall financially and cannot cough up much to support the Sems much less the colleges.  So what are our options?

Although I laud the efforts of the CUS and the new CUI initiative, I fear that this is too little too late.  All of the Concordias will eventually have to sink or swim on their own with only the prayers and well wishes of Missouri to support them.  Perhaps we could be left with one of them, Seward being the best alternative, to maintain a Hillsdale style college in which church worker preparation is central and their integration into Missouri is much stronger than a legacy or access to a credit line.  Even then, there is no promise of success for such a school.  Unless..... we pastors and the parishes of the LCMS send our sons and daughters there to train for the appropriate church work programs our Synod needs and wants AND foots more of the bill.  In any case, what CTX wants is what Mequon/Ann Arbor and Irvine and River Forest and St. Paul will probably end up with anyhow.  If you want to argue with me, feel free but unless you are willing to come up with a train load of students and a truck load of cash, it is all simply words.  But do not simply blame the Concordias and their Presidents.  We must admit as a church body that we have not served them well either.  We put them in a terrible position and now we all should admit this and begin with repentance.