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(The bottom line is that the LLL
was angry because Schulz carried out his
duties as an LCMS Vice President, so they fired him.)
September 6, 2002
The Rev. Dr. Wallace Schulz
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, MO 63141
Dear Dr. Schulz:
As stated to you in my letter of August 8, 2002, the Board of
Governors
unanimously adopted a resolution on July 20 in which it declared
that you
violated the Code of Ethics and the Conflict of Interest Policy of
the Int'l
LLL. In the same resolution, the Board stated its desire to bring
you back
into the team ministry of the Int'l LLL. The mechanism it has
established
for doing so is to require your agreement to stipulations it
directed me to
develop.
I presented those stipulations to you in my letter of August 8.
You
indicated in your letter of August 27 that if you were to sign
these
stipulations, you would be "caught in a Catch 22" and
would be compromising
your ordination vows. You also maintained that you would be
undermining The
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod because the apology you are being
asked to
make would come to bear on the work you are now involved in as an
officer of
the Synod.
In your letter, you did not elaborate on how the stipulations
would
compromise your ordination vows, and you declined to do so in a
subsequent
discussion with the League's president Al Waldron. You have not
attempted to
have a discussion with me on these issues, even after 1 invited
such
discussion in my e-mail of September 3, 2002. Therefore, to be
responsive to
your concerns, we have sought the advice of the synodical
president, the
Missouri District president (your ecclesiastical supervisor) and
the
pastoral advisor of the League.
The result is a revised set of stipulations, which follow:
1. Lutheran Hour Ministries expects you to continue to uphold the
vision,
mission, values and goals of the Int'l LLL and Lutheran Hour
Ministries, and
enthusiastically support the League's effort of "Bringing
Christ to the
Nations - and the Nations to the Church."
2. Lutheran Hour Ministries will require you to issue a public
statement
through the Int'l LLL that your decision in the case regarding Dr.
Benke was
made independently from the Int'l LLL and in your role as Second
Vice
President of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. It also must
recognize
that your action was taken despite the wishes and concerns
expressed by the
Executive Committee to you and subsequently communicated to the
Praesidium
of the Synod. The statement must relay your continued affirmation
of support
for the League's mission of "Bringing Christ to the Nations
-and the Nations
to the Church." It must also express gratitude for the
support of all donors
and sponsors of the sponsors of the League as well as regret for
the
polarization that resulted in the aftermath of the decision. The
League will
have final approval of the wording of this statement.
3. As an employee, you are expected to follow all policies of the
Int'l LLL,
including the League's Code of Ethics and its Conflict of Interest
Policy.
These are of special interest because your continuing ministry may
often put
you in situations that call for you to be mindful of them. As you
know, the
Code of Ethics contains this requirement: 'There will be times
when the
choice of conduct is not clear. When faced by an unclear choice,
ask
yourself this question: 'If my actions were to be published, would
league
supporters agree that the best interests of all were served?' If
the choice
is still not clear, ask for guidance from your supervisor, other
league
officers or pastoral advisors." The Conflict of Interest
Policy states:
"Activities shall not be entered into which may knowingly be
detrimental to
the interests of the International Lutheran Layman's League and
its
subsidiaries."
4. If you disagree with positions or strategies the League uses to
implement
its ministry either domestically or internationally, you are to
follow the
spirit and the dictates of Matthew 18 in pursuing your
disagreement.
Reasonable people can differ on positions or strategies; however,
when you
have neither authority nor responsibility for a specific program
or League
initiative, it is expected that you will support or remain quiet
about the
matter. If you truly believe that some specific program or
initiative is
doctrinally unsound, you may conclude that your ordination vows
may
eventually compel you to comment publicly. In a matter of this
nature, you
are still to follow the spirit and dictates of Matthew 18 and use
public
comment only as a last resort. In line with Matthew 18, you will
speak first
with the person immediately responsible for the area in question.
If that
fails to resolve the problem, you will approach that person's
supervisor. If
that still fails to resolve the problem, you will speak with your
supervisor
and the supervisor of the individual.
5. As an employee of the Int'l LLL, you must affirm that your
supervisor is
the Executive Director of the organization as specified iii your
position
description. (We recognize that in ecclesiastical matters, your
supervisor
is the President of the Missouri District of The Lutheran
Church--Missouri
Synod.)
6. The Board has directed that the Int'l LLL will, implement a
team
ministry, and this requirement has been incorporated into your
position
description. You must agree to work enthusiastically and
diligently as a
team player, offering ideas and vision for the ministries and
lending
support and physical service to help ensure that ministry
objectives are met
This requires participation in planning and strategy meetings for
'The
Lutheran Hour radio program as arranged by the Assistant Director
of North
American Ministries. The speaker schedule for "The Lutheran
Hour" is to be
arranged by the Assistant Director of North American Ministries as
decided
by the Lutheran Hour team.
7. Permission was previously granted to you to be the editor of
the "Good
News" magazine, and that agreement will continue to be
honored. Let me
reiterate, however, that no other League resources or personnel
will be
devoted to the production or publication of this magazine.
8. Being a team player requires regular office hours and
attendance at
various staff events. Depending on your travel and meeting
schedule, I
expect that you will be in the office an average of at least four
hours a
day. Your schedule for travel, speaking engagements and other
business--related time demands is to be coordinated with the
Executive
Director. Your attendance is expected at monthly all-staff
meetings,
executive services departmental meetings (for master calendar
coordination)
and other scheduled events as requested.
The process of reinstatement will begin after you agree to these
stipulations and after stipulation 2 is completed. This
stipulation
agreement must be signed by the close of the business day on
Thursday,
September 12, 2002, or it will be understood that you have vacated
your
position with the Int'l LLL. I will be happy to meet with you on
either
Monday or Tuesday, September 9 or 10 or by telephone if you are
away from
the immediate area. My prayer remains that you will continue to be
a part of
our team and the ministries of this organization.
Joy in HIS service,
Rodger W. Hebermehl
Executive Director
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