VansOpinion - LUTHERAN PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON GAY BISHOP

On 6 August, 2003, Rev. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, issued an official statement regarding the confirmation of Rev. V. Gene Robinson as Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire. Since I share the beliefs expressed by Kieschnik, his release is printed verbatim in this forum for those who might otherwise have missed it.

Kieschnick, President of the 2.5 million-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, released the following statement:

"Samuel Thompson wrote: I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin, but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution.

Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking Him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game. "But it's a Christian prayer," some will argue. Yes, and this is the United States of America, a country founded on Christian principles.

According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect -- somebody chanting Hare Krishna? If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer. If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer. If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha. And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit. When in Rome ...

"But what about the atheists?" is another argument. What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer.

Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations.

Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us just to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying. God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well ... just sue me.

The silent majority has been silent too long ... it's time we let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard, that the vast majority don't care what they want .... it is time the majority rules.

It's time we tell them, you don't have to pray ... you don't have to say the Pledge of Allegiance, you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right ... but by golly you are no longer going to take our rights away ... we are fighting back ... and we WILL WIN!

After all the God you have the right to denounce is on our side! God bless us one and all, especially those who denounce Him ... God bless America, despite all her faults ... still the greatest nation f all ... God bless our servicemen who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God ...

May 2003 be the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions. Keep looking up ... In God We Trust In response to the approval of the election of an openly homosexual bishop by the Episcopal Church U.S.A., Dr. Gerald B. ch-Missouri Synod, I am profoundly saddened and deeply disturbed by the decision of the Episcopal Church U.S.A. to give its approval to the election of an openly homosexual bishop.

While it is clear from God's Word that His forgiving love in Jesus Christ is constant for all people, this action nevertheless constitutes a momentous break from the Christian Church's 2000 year long understanding of what the Holy Scriptures teach about homosexual behavior as contrary to God's will and the biblical qualifications for holding the pastoral office.

As many have already observed, this historic decision will be deeply divisive not only in the Episcopal Church itself, but also in the wider Anglican Communion, and it will undoubtedly provoke controversy throughout all of Christendom.

It is my sincere hope that the Episcopal Church U.S.A. would reconsider their decision in the light of the biblical understanding of human sexuality and the qualifications for the pastoral office. It is my fervent prayer that God the Holy Spirit will guide and sustain our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Episcopal Church U.S.A. as they wrestle with the implications of this action in the months and years to come."