Interfaith prayers divisive to Lutherans
By Jim Suhr
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — The rift in the Lutheran church continues to widen over the minister who took part in a post-Sept. 11 interfaith prayer service.
When the Rev. David Benke joined with clergy from other faiths in a New York City prayer service for the victims, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's president, the Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, had given the church's top New York leader his blessings to take part in what he considered an innocent public event.
Kieschnick never envisioned the fallout from that day within one of the most theologically conservative Protestant denominations.
As reported earlier, Benke was suspended in June, months after 21 of the synod's pastors and three of its congregations complained about his role in the gathering at Yankee Stadium.
In a new development only recently reported, the Missouri Synod second vice president who disciplined Benke for praying with "pagans" was pulled last month from his role as the main speaker on "The Lutheran Hour" radio program — the synod's prominent pulpit, carried by 1,000 radio stations — for deciding the matter.
Now Kieschnick is struggling to bridge a gulf in the 2.6-million-member Missouri Synod. It's just the kind of situation he had hoped to avoid when he was elected a year ago. His goal has been to make the denomination more unified and tolerant.
"While some may see it as a rift, I see it as a pivotal moment in defining who we are and why we're here," said Kieschnick, who is standing by Benke.
"We're faced with opportunities and challenges galore to take the gospel to the marketplace. That's where our struggle is — whether it should be in a congregational setting or public one."
Benke is appealing his suspension by the Rev. Wallace Schulz.
While Lutheran Hour Ministries took no stand on Benke's conduct, Schulz's decision unwillingly dragged the independent auxiliary of the Missouri Synod into the debate, spokesman Jim Telle said.
"It really has rocked our church," Telle said. "It's been an absolute landslide of acrimony."
The synod's 1847 constitution rejects syncretism, the mingling of Christian and non-Christian beliefs. Traditionally, Missouri Synod leaders did not lead prayer services with leaders of other religions, or even other Lutheran denominations.
But at the church's convention a year ago, Kieschnick said, a resolution let synod leaders lead services with those of other faiths at civic events. With that in mind, Kieschnick signed off on letting Benke say a 10-sentence prayer during the Prayer for America event, where Benke shared the stage with other Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Sikhs.
To Benke, the event was more patriotic than religious, and that "not to make the primary human connections at a time of civic, national and global tragedy would be a great pastoral error."
But not everyone saw it that way.
On June 25, Schulz announced Benke's suspension, ruling that "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."
Instantly, Telle said, "our worst fears were maximized."
"I use the word 'paralyzed' because we were hit by e-mails and phone calls," most voicing outrage over Schulz's decision, Telle said. "People generally were in a tirade."
Donors pledged to cut off their support, Telle said. Pastors said they would no longer encourage the faithful to support Lutheran Hour Ministries.
