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Pin the tail on the ......: LCMS Confessionals?
August 1, 2003

Duped!! One missive by one man. That's all it took. And now we have LCMS conservatives calling themselves confessionals.

Do these folks not know that ALL those who claim the name Lutheran must also be considered confessional? How one views the Lutheran Confessions - because, in so far as, not sure, don't know, who cares, so what, never heard of `em, whatever - doesn't matter: if you claim to be Lutheran, you are by definition a confessional. So what's with this new thing of LCMS conservatives attempting to set themselves apart by dropping their "conservative" label and referring to themselves instead as confessional or Confessionals?

It was Rev. David Buegler, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Westlake, Ohio, who less than a year ago started the ball rolling in a letter meant, purportedly, for his congregation but distributed widely by his Jesus First soulmates.

He started it all off with, "At Ft. Wayne a movement began under the leadership of (Robt. Preus)......That movement I will call `confessional.' It was a step beyond `conservative' because after the Seminex split all parties in power were theologically conservative." A revision is therefore necessary and he is of the opinion that it would be better in the future if the two parties were known by the names "'conservatives'" and `Confessionals.' (These are my labels for the two sides of this power game.)"

He then shows that he has no intention of wasting time fooling around being nice to these "Confessionals." He begins demonizing them forthwith: "This confessional movement took upon itself other features such as `high' liturgical practices, an elevated teaching regarding the role of clergy `over' laity, more emphasis on `sacramentalism' than on evangelism and mission, a battle against `church growth' principals, a desire to repeal the 1969 synodical decision to allow women's suffrage. It became a movement to legalize our Synod's long established understanding of `close communion' so as not to allow any pastoral discretion, and a tightening up of our Synod's long-running understanding of the various levels of how we can fellowship with other Christians."

Not only that, "People in our Synod (like me) who believed in all the miracles of the Bible, the inerrancy of Scripture, that God created the world in six 24-hour days, the historicity of Adam and Eve, that Moses parted the Red Sea etc., etc., etc. were now labeled as `moderates or liberals' if they didn't hold to the `Ft Wayne Confessional' movement."

Even worse, "liturgical terrorists and apostolic succession-minded clergy have hooked on to the `confessionals.`" They even considered Dr. Benke's "bold witness to Jesus Christ (at) the Yankee Stadium event a worship service, and therefore .......unionism." But worst of all, "what really escalated this battle was Dan Preus," the "confessional's" choice for First Vice-President of Synod, "who had quickly denounced the actions of Dr. Benke." For shame!

Rev. Buegler ends this inauguration of the demonization of his creation, "confessionals," with, "I am a proud `conservative.' I have participated in the attempts to influence my church to maintain our historic stand. I consider the `confessional' stance to be a harmful movement in our midst."

Everyone, I'm sure, has played the parlor game where the participants sit in a circle, one person whispers a word or phrase in his neighbor's ear, it is passed in a whisper from ear to ear with the last person in the circle stating what was whispered to him, which is then compared with the original. The result is always hilarious, the last whispered word or phrase entirely unrelated to the first.

It has been less than a year since Rev. Buegler's letter was distributed far and wide by the Jesus First folks. The letter has done it's job better than even they could have hoped. Recently a pastor, in response to being notified of the availability of Rev. Richard A. Bolland's excellent brochure, "Shall We Be Lutheran?" wrote, in part:

"There is no doubt that confusion and even divisiveness exists in our Synod. All pastors and lay people subscribe to the Lutheran Confessions and the Holy Bible. But in recent years a group of pastors have labeled themselves `Confessionals' as though other pastors are not confessional.........

"What the `Confessional Pastors' did, including Dr. Preus and Dr. Schultz, clearly went against the teachings of the Holy Bible and our Lutheran Confessions. How despicable of them to want to kick a fellow pastor out of our MO Synod instead of talking with them, with our Synodical President, and then forgiving......

"I am a Confession Lutheran, but I find nothing in the Holy Scriptures or our Lutheran Confessions which advocates using that label in a political and divisive way. They seem to be filled with the spirit of Satan, trying to destroy the Lutheran Church--MO Synod."

Sounds to me like someone's been playing Whisper. It started off with Rev. Buegler labeling conservatives "confessionals." It's ended with conservatives audaciously tagging themselves with that label. It started off with Rev. Buegler accusing "confessionals" of tolerating liturgical terrorists in their midst and being a harmful movement. It's ended with them being anti-Sciptural, anti-Confessional, unloving, unforgiving, despicable, devisive, filled with the spirit of Satan, destroyers of Synod. Good job!

The members of the Benke-Kieschnick-Jesus First -St. Louis faculty coalition and their supporters are Liberals. Big-L Liberals. Period. Their referring to themselves as "conservatives" is hilarious, a reality disconnect. So how does one know? How does one go about defining "Liberal"? Don't even try. Liberalism, in both the political and ecclesiastical realm, is like a chameleon, always in transition. To keep up, definitions must be continually revised generation after generation. Perhaps the best answer, always operable, is that given by one political wag: "I can't define `Liberal' exactly but when I meet one I know it."

There is another way, too. Two things always mark Liberals. They always claim that their Liberal position is the way things were really meant to be from the start and they're only attempting to return to the good old ways; they always accuse those who confront them and their "progressive" onslaughts of being the cause of all the problems.

As pointed out at the beginning there are some conservatives, unfortunately, who have latched on to Rev. Buegler's Liberal revisionist position. This means there are now three sides, not two, vying for ascendancy in the current controversy: Conservatives, Liberals and.......well, you pin the tail. Too bad. It only serves to further complicate matters.

Clyde Nehrenz (layman, Bethany Lutheran Church, Wellington, Ohio)

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