Council of Precedents
Nebraska District President Richard Snow makes several false statements attempting to defend Southeastern DP Bill Harmon regarding problem congregations in his district.
At the annual conference for the Association of Confessing Evangelical Lutheran Congregations (ACELC) last week, a concluding panel discussion opened with the LCMS Nebraska District President attempting to rebut a high-level overview this author had provided regarding the problems at Our Savior in Arlington, VA, and at Immanuel Lutheran in Easton, MD. The previous day, he had launched a rambling defense of his handling of a Holy Communion débâcle at King of Kings Church, Omaha, NE, completely missing the point that was made.
Snow made multiple false and misleading statements about the Southeastern District congregations based on hearsay from its District President, Rev. Dr. Bill Harmon. At least Snow admitted,
“I have limited knowledge, um, but in both of those cases essentially.”
The general rule is that one should possess the actual facts before opining on a matter. Nevertheless, we will not litigate every falsehood in this space, since the facts have already been heavily reported and even a cursory reading makes it clear that Harmon (and Synod President Harrison) were derelict in the execution of their pastoral and constitutional duties. Here is an offer, since the Council of Presidents’ wagon-circling continues unabated: we will travel to St. Louis with the whistleblowers from both congregations to address the Council of Presidents and present the facts. Name a date window, and we will finalize travel arrangements for the whistleblowers and appear before the COP. We ask only one thing: every District President must be present to hear the evidence from the sheep that were devoured.
It is clearer than ever that the Synod needs a radical overhaul of its governance.
Step 1: create an untenable situation (a trap) for the layman who is "making trouble"
Step 2: break the 8th commandment by implying the layman must have it "his way"
Step 3: claim the layman refuses to "meet with us"
Step 4: there's nothing we can do now, it's a sad situation and there is a lot of hurt; had the press not reported on this, we could have fixed it but now we can't because internet;
We've seen this movie too many times before. It's a tired trope and we all know how it ends.