Posted on 07/08/2002 6:38:33 PM PDT by Shermy
NEW YORK - A minister with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has been suspended for participating in an interfaith service for the families of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Rev. David Benke, president of the New York-based Atlantic District, was also ordered to apologize for mixing Christian and non-Christian views in violation of the denomination's constitution.
Benke has appealed the ruling, according to Alan Pollack, a lawyer for the board of directors of the district, which claims 42,000 members and about 100 congregations in the metropolitan area.
Twenty-one pastors and three congregations had filed a complaint against Benke soon after the Yankee Stadium event on Sept. 23.
"To participate with pagans in an interfaith service and, additionally, to give the impression that there might be more than one God, is an extremely serious offense," wrote the Rev. Wallace Schulz, the Missouri Synod official who suspended Benke.
Benke, through Pollack, declined to comment Monday. But in a January statement responding to the complaint Benke said he clearly prayed in the name of Christ at the service, which included Muslim, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh representatives.
He also argued that the event felt more like a patriotic gathering than a religious one.
"Not to make the primary human connections at a time of civic, national and global tragedy would be a great pastoral error," he wrote.
The complaint exposed divisions within the 2.6-million member denomination based just outside St. Louis.
Benke attended the service with the permission of the Missouri Synod national president, the Rev. Gerald Kieschnick. Kieschnick was asked to recuse himself from ruling on the complaint, so the decision fell to Schulz, a second vice president, said David Strand, a spokesman for the denomination.
If Benke loses his appeal, he will be ousted from ministry, Strand said.
Benke, through Pollack, declined to comment Monday. But in a January statement responding to the complaint Benke said he clearly prayed in the name of Christ at the service, which included Muslim, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh representatives.
"Not to make the primary human connections at a time of civic, national and global tragedy would be a great pastoral error," he wrote.
Benke attended the service with the permission of the Missouri Synod national president, the Rev. Gerald Kieschnick. Kieschnick was asked to recuse himself from ruling on the complaint, so the decision fell to Schulz, a second vice president, said David Strand, a spokesman for the denomination.
First off, I don't understand why Rev. Benke may be "ousted" from the Missouri Synod when it looks like he attended the service with their permission, unless I am reading this article wrong.
Secondly, I don't get why it is such a bad thing to come together as a community of wounded to proclaim the Word of God. Should we not include non-Christians? Maybe hearing Rev. Benke converted a few people, who knows? Apparently the president of the Missouri synod is concerned with appearances and not proclaiming Christian belief, which Rev. Benke did.
For those who would like to find out the facts and issues involved in this case, I am providing some links to resources:
Here is a file of documentation related to Benke's participation in the interfaith prayer service, "A Prayer for America." I compiled this file over several months (September-January):
Here are a couple of pieces I wrote recently on Benke's participation in the interfaith prayer service:
The Underlying Premise of Interfaith Services
Report on Lutherans was one-sided
Here are some more links:
"To participate with pagans in an interfaith service and, additionally, to give the impression that there might be more than one God, is an extremely serious offense," wrote the Rev. Wallace Schulz, the Missouri Synod official who suspended Benke.
Benke, through Pollack, declined to comment Monday. But in a January statement responding to the complaint Benke said he clearly prayed in the name of Christ at the service, which included Muslim, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh representatives.
And as far as Benke's "clearly" claim, it is bogus. There was nothing clear about what he did or said. That's the whole problem with his participation at this interfaith service. Indeed, that's the problem with interfaith services in general.
The "their" to which you refer is one Gerald Kieschnick and he is the synod president.
However, he has shown himself to be unsatisfactory and too liberal for many LCMS members who want to keep our doctrine and tradition intact.
Those of you who read this from secular sources and are not LCMS quite possibly cannot grasp the entire thrust of this situation.
Benke's suspension was correct. We are not to pray with unbelievers and give credibility to their many gods. It's Christian/Biblical....not just Lutheran.
Oh, we’re stronger now than we were an hour ago. And you know, my sisters and brothers, we’re not nearly as strong as we’re going to be. And the strength we have is the power of love. And the power of love you have received is from God, for God is love. So take the hand of one next to you now and join me in prayer on this “field of dreams” turned into God’s house of prayer:O Lord our God, we’re leaning on You today. You are our Tower of Strength, and we’re leaning on You. You are our Mighty Fortress, our God who is a Rock; in You do we stand. Those of us who bear the name of Christ know that You stood so tall when You stooped down to send a Son through death and life to bring us back together, and we lean on You today.
O Tower of Strength, be with those who mourn the loss of loved ones; bring them closer to us day by day.
O Heavenly Father, we pray at this time that You might extend Jacob’s ladder for those who ascended the stairways to save us, as others escaped the fire and flames.
O Tower of Strength, open innocent and victimized hearts to the sacrifice of the Innocent One; pour Your consolation upon the traumatized, especially our children.
O Heavenly Father, un-bind, un-fear, un-scorch, un-sear our souls; renew us in Your free Spirit. We’re leaning on You, our Tower of Strength. We find our refuge in the shadow of Your shelter.
Lead us from this place--strong--to bring forth the power of Your love, wherever we are.
In the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Admittedly, I am still turning over "ecumenism" in my own mind. Part of me doesn't like it and part of my feels unChristian about feeling that way. After the events of 9/11, my parish (Catholic) was part of an ecumenical service at the town's local Baptist Church. I felt guilty, but I did not attend although I did attend a Mass for the same reason (9/11) at my parish.
My in-laws are Lutheran and of course, they know I am a Catholic as are their grandchildren. Interfaith marriage is not easy and there was, and sometimes still is, mixed feelings on both sides of the family. I don't throw Catholicism in my in-laws face, but they do attend religious ceremonies for the grandkids, and I myself have been at several Lutheran services (Reformation Sunday, for one!) - I just hope to be a "shining light" for Catholicism, and I wonder if Rev. Benke hoped he'd be a shining light for Lutheranism at the September Interfaith Prayer Service in Yankee Stadium. God is the father of all of us, and maybe one or two "pagans" liked Rev. Benke's message about the love of God, and pursued it further.
You know what would happen at an Interfaith Prayer Service where each religion was allowed to speak of their faith in specific terms (which can be offensive to others not of that religion) - the stadium would slowly empty and there would be possible violence.
Benke received permission from the current president of the Missouri Synod, Gerald Kieschnick. However, he most assuredly would not have received permission from the previous president or from the current first or second or third vice-president. That's because participation in syncretistic services is prohibited by the LCMS Constitution, not to mention by the teachings of Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.
. . . I don't get why it is such a bad thing to come together as a community of wounded to proclaim the Word of God. Should we not include non-Christians? Maybe hearing Rev. Benke converted a few people, who knows? . . . proclaiming Christian belief, which Rev. Benke did. . . if we, as Christians, are so concerned about appearances, and we shouldn't be consorting with pagans, why do we bother to evangelize in pagan countries?
Christians do not "come together" with Muslims and Hindus to proclaim the Word of God. We do not agree with them on what the Word of God is. To "come together" in that case means to eviscerate the Word of God.
The Rev. Benke did not "proclaim Christian belief." He muddied it and hid it under a bushel. He did not "evangelize the pagans"--indeed, he affirmed them in their error.
"To participate with pagans in an interfaith service and, additionally, to give the impression that there might be more than one God, is an extremely serious offense," wrote the Rev. Wallace Schulz, the Missouri Synod official who suspended Benke.
I read Rev. Benke's speech, and it clearly did not promote "more than one God" at all.
And as far as Benke's "clearly" claim, it is bogus. There was nothing clear about what he did or said. That's the whole problem with his participation at this interfaith service. Indeed, that's the problem with interfaith services in general.
His speech was clear to me. He talks about God as our Tower of Strength and mentions Jesus. It was clearly a Christian speech. I'm not sure what you find offensive about what he said. Do you think he should have delved into the specifics of Lutheranism? How does what he said, or his appearance at the service. water down your faith and how is it an "extremely serious offense?"
That is another issue, altogether. If he is too liberal for the LCMS, then maybe he needs to join another synod.
Those of you who read this from secular sources and are not LCMS quite possibly cannot grasp the entire thrust of this situation.
No, I read Rev. Henrickson's information on this issue as well. I'm sure I cannot grasp the entire LCMS situation, not being a member, and I hope I don't offend you by posting my thoughts on this issue.
Benke's suspension was correct. We are not to pray with unbelievers and give credibility to their many gods. It's Christian/Biblical....not just Lutheran.
Do you only try to evangelize fellow Christians?
The Rev. Benke did not "proclaim Christian belief." He it muddied and hid it under a bushel. He did not "evangelize the pagans"--indeed, he affirmed them in their error.
Well, if you don't come together with non-Christians, how are they ever going to hear the Word of God? Mighten't there be one non-Christian in the audience who was inspired by Rev. Benke's speech? Should we treat non-Christians like lepers and scorn them?
What, in Rev. Benke's speech "muddied and hid it [Christianity] under a bushel" and how did he "affirm them in their error?"
He used vague and allusive/elusive language in the body of his prayer: e.g., "a s/Son," without defining who that s/Son is. He prayed for the dead, that they would be saved apart from faith in Christ and on the basis of their heroic bravery. I could go on. And then at the end, he tacked on a perfunctory formula that finally got around to mention the name, "Jesus"--but again, he did not make clear who this Jesus is or what he has done. He did not connect the dots.
Benke avoided any "Christ-alone" language. He left people with the impression that they are OK in their false religions.
All in all, it was a disaster as far as giving a distinctively Christian witness.
And this was not the first time Benke has done this sort of thing. More on that later, perhaps.
Looks like Rev. Benke went with what he had.
Look, I wish everyone was Catholic because I believe Catholicism has the fullest understanding of God. But I'd be happy if everyone was a Christian, so I am glad that there were Christian believers speaking of God and Jesus at the Interfaith Service to an audience of unbelievers. Maybe it was the first time some of them heard of Jesus.
If Lutherans can read minds, then I wanna join! ;-)
Oh, we’re stronger now than we were an hour ago. And you know, my sisters and brothers, we’re not nearly as strong as we’re going to be. And the strength we have is the power of love. And the power of love you have received is from God, for God is love. So take the hand of one next to you now and join me in prayer on this “field of dreams” turned into God’s house of prayer:O Lord our God, we’re leaning on You today. You are our Tower of Strength, and we’re leaning on You. You are our Mighty Fortress, our God who is a Rock; in You do we stand. Those of us who bear the name of Christ know that You stood so tall when You stooped down to send a Son through death and life to bring us back together, and we lean on You today.
O Tower of Strength, be with those who mourn the loss of loved ones; bring them closer to us day by day.
O Heavenly Father, we pray at this time that You might extend Jacob’s ladder for those who ascended the stairways to save us, as others escaped the fire and flames.
O Tower of Strength, open innocent and victimized hearts to the sacrifice of the Innocent One; pour Your consolation upon the traumatized, especially our children.
O Heavenly Father, un-bind, un-fear, un-scorch, un-sear our souls; renew us in Your free Spirit. We’re leaning on You, our Tower of Strength. We find our refuge in the shadow of Your shelter.
Lead us from this place--strong--to bring forth the power of Your love, wherever we are.
In the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
I don't see how you can back up "Benke avoided any "Christ-alone" language" with his speech (kind of a smarmy speech, IMO, but it certainly is a Christian speech).
What does this say to you?
You asked, "Do you only try to evangelize fellow Christians?" You are confusing evangelizing with prayer and worship.
Of course we seek to witness to unbelievers. That is not at all the same as praying WITH those who do not worship the one and only Triune God and pretend that there is no difference.
This is not about evangelism or spreading the Gospel. This is about silently letting it appear that other religions are equally valid. If you are Christian, you know they are not.
If that exclusivity bothers people, so be it. Jesus said there is only one way.
A flag for other opinions
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