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	Layman Tries To Understand Schulz Decision as "Letter of the Law, not Spirit"
Home For Members For Pastors/Leaders Helpful Secular Sites Contact Us Suggest New Links Our Purpose Advertise on L/C Frequently Asked	Sirs: I am a member of St. Luke Lutheran Church in Dix Hills, NY, an Atlantic Distric congregation. I strongly disagree with Dr. Benke's suspension. The events of Sept. 11 were a horrible collective trauma for everyone in the New York metropolitan area. You would be hard-pressed to find a person here who wasn't either directly affected or knew someone who was directly affected by the destruction of the World Trade Center. In our own St. Luke congregation one of our members was killed; another was a NYFD firefighter who lost several housemates. Yet another lost about 300 co-workers. Our congregation is a microcosm of the entire region. One cannot overestimate the desperate need for healing in New York during the days and weeks immediately following Sept. 11, 2001. In the face of such a disaster, the thing we all desperately needed to do was turn to the Lord. Churches and houses of worship here overflowed in a way they had not in years. Knowing this, Mayor Guiliani wisely called for an interfaith service to be held at Yankee Stadium. Let me emphasize that this was a CIVIC event. When Dr. Benke was asked to pray at the event he correctly asked for permission from Dr. Kieschnick, the President of the Synod. This permission was granted as was prescribed by Resolution 3-07A of the 2001 LCMS Convention, which permits such participation in CIVIC events. Dr. Benke proclaimed the name of Jesus and asked His healing, as was right and proper. This was not the time for debate between Christian and Jew and Muslim or even between Christian denominations. It was a time for everyone to stand together in the face of the tremendous shock we had all suffered together. Believe me, no one in New York would have found fault with what Dr. Benke did. Unfortunately, from their vantage point far away in the Midwest, there was a faction in the LCMS that could and did find fault. Now, interfaith functions had been a touchy topic between the Atlantic District and the LCMS leadership before. Knowing that, it was dismaying but hardly surprising when Dr. Benke was brought up on charges for his participation in the Yankee Stadium ceremony. When it was finally rendered, Rev. Schulz' statement of charges against Dr. Benke seemed to me completely over the top. He accused Dr. Benke of "praying with pagans" (are other Christian denominations "pagans?") and by his presence advocating "syncretism" (union of all religions) and "unionism" (union of Christian congregations). Furthermore, he went on to condemn Dr. Benke for violating the First and Second Commandments! Unbelievable. The text of Dr. Benke's prayer is available on the Internet for all to read. Does it advocate the merging of any religions? Of course not. Rev. Schulz' accusations were at best misguided and at worst politically motivated. Jesus needed to be at Yankee Stadium. The LCMS needed to be at Yankee Stadium. Dr. Benke needed to be there at Yankee Stadium. Would the Synodical leadership have preferred to just ignored the gathering altogether and not be represented in this show of civic unity? I certainly hope not! While it might be easy to throw stones at Rev. Schulz for having a political agenda let's give him the benefit of the doubt for a moment and assume that he is sincere. What if he honestly felt he did what was proper in his interpretation of the letter of the Synodical By-Laws? If you read the applicable section of the LCMS by-laws using a broad, ultraconservative interpretation, perhaps you could reach his conclusion. But it would be an interpretation of the letter of that law rather than the spirit. Nevertheless, the aforementioned resolution from the 2001 Convention also gives Dr. Benke a Synodical legal leg to stand on. But in a broader sense, Dr. Benke did the more Christ-like thing. WWJD? Jesus would never have made such distinctions between denominations. I challenge anyone to produce an instance in the New Testament where Jesus said to pray only with Christians or LCMS members. Dr. Benke did the right thing and I fully support him. Respectfully, George Gelish Melville, NY