Kieschnick's Response to the Wall Street Journal

March 31, 2008

Wall Street Journal
wsj.ltrs@wsj.com

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 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

Comments

[Moggie Cat]

Quote: "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'.”

What better way to share the good news than hearing broadcasts that contained leactures from Concordia seminary professors! That is exactly what Issues Etc. did.

[Jim]

Wow, that was quick. Too bad that after 2 weeks they still can't tell us why the firings, show cancellation, eliminating the website, etc, etc, etc, were handled the way that that they were. (not to mention all the other unanswered questions asked here and on all the other blogs).

[Stryker]

Typical B*!!&#)t, The fact is we are deeply divided, and he knows it. This will be spun so that we are the ones being divisive and malcontent, while they will be"upholding the "true values" of the Synod.

[Susan]

Interesting... he's basically calling the writer of the WSJ article a liar and trying to convince us that Ablaze is not a Lutheranized version of the purpose-driven movement? Hmmm.... is Pinnochio's nose growing?

[PHW]

The most positive and unified convention in history? Is that why he won by a bare margin? Is that why they specifically named people party to a lawsuit when they sponsored stuff?

Was he even at the same convention I was watching online?!!

[FreeSpeechLutheran]

Deeply disappointed.

[Matt]

Is there a way to get the financial records for KFUO? What is not taken into consideration are the donations TO the station because of programming like Issues. Kieschnick is still lying by not telling the whole truth. It is sad to see the unrepentant way in which this statement was made. I hope for the salvation of his soul that he repents of this sin.

[Matthew Pancake]

What a horrendous error in Judgement. When I first saw this I thought to myself, "This has to be a fake. Gerold Keischnick can't be this dumb as to put out a letter like this one..." After coming to my senses and realizing that it actually did come from him, I'm puzzled as to why he thought it was a good idea to address the WSJ article himself. It was a dumb move and now all he's managed to do is "fan the flame", so to speak, and in the process he's insulted the listeners of issues as well.

Bad move sir.

[Tall Paul]

What I find especially troubling is how quick Rev. Kieschnick was to complain to the WSJ editor about Mollie's story. He expressed "extreme disappointment over the column" while portraying Mollie as painting a "false and misleading picture" of the LCMS as a "deeply divided church" pushing "church marketing" and thinking she was using the term "marketing" to describe Ablaze!. Truth is that Mollie has NOT painted a "false and misleading picture." It's time for the Reverend President to step up to the plate and level with everyone about the truth that pursuant to Resolution 4-01A of the 2007 convention of Synod, Synod officials (COP and BOD) met during November 2007 to "identify those issues in the Synod thought to be causing the greatest discord." One of the TWENTY issues identified was "Failure to recognize the severity of the division in our Synod." The Synod wants to move "from discord to concord" by developing a "strategy towards harmony that demonstrates how this great church body can provide a God-pleasing witness of our confession and practice." For more information, see LCMS Board Briefs - January 2008 at http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10184.

[Tall Paul]

What I find especially troubling is how quick Rev. Kieschnick was to complain to the WSJ editor about Mollie's story. He expressed "extreme disappointment over the column" while portraying Mollie as painting a "false and misleading picture" of the LCMS as a "deeply divided church" pushing "church marketing" and thinking she was using the term "marketing" to describe Ablaze!. Truth is that Mollie has NOT painted a "false and misleading picture." It's time for the Reverend President to step up to the plate and level with everyone about the truth that pursuant to Resolution 4-01A of the 2007 convention of Synod, Synod officials (COP and BOD) met during November 2007 to "identify those issues in the Synod thought to be causing the greatest discord." One of the TWENTY issues identified was "Failure to recognize the severity of the division in our Synod." The Synod wants to move "from discord to concord" by developing a "strategy towards harmony that demonstrates how this great church body can provide a God-pleasing witness of our confession and practice." For more information, see LCMS Board Briefs - January 2008 at http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10184.

[Rev. Kelly Smith Sr]

President K. offers a rational and reasonable explanation of why the show was cancelled. He responded personally since the article questioning its cancellation was directed at the LCMS of which he is the President and "public face."

I find it interesting that the "keyboard warriors" in this remarks column say "stand up" for the Gospel but are apparently too fearful to put their real names on their posts.

Personally I think KFUO is a regional radio station that has limited reach (although they have progressed with internet access) and should be self-supporting. If you want Issues... to continue, put it on as a podcast. No one is stopping you!

[revgeorge]

Pastor Smith,

Actually, quite a few people have put their real names on here or at least their first names. I'm sure most people here aren't trying to hide their identity but are simply using a username or nickname, as is quite common on the Internet. That would certainly be the best construction of the matter.

Rev. George Naylor
Bridgeport, NE