Gary's at it again

Bishop Gary Wollersheim has sent two letters in two days to our council president. He wants us to take his word on it that they do in fact have enough signatures to initiate the synod counsel but he has failed again to supply us with the list of names so we can check the validity of all of the signatures. A few Months back it was brought to our attention that a handful of supporters of ELCA had been collecting signatures from the elderly and ill informed members of our Church for at first trying to remove our Pastor, then it changed to requesting a synod counsel. They then contacted our synod leader who of course would rather sacrifice scripture for unity.Well not real unity but unity of those who only support the elca. If this in fact was for our own spiritual good they would respect our near 2/3 vote to split to occur as this is what the majority of our church body voted for. If they think we should respect their desire for a synod counsel which we know is a thinly disguised starting procedure for Pastoral removal without supplying us with a verifiable necessary amount of signatures then they should allow our nearly achieved 2/3 vote to split from the elca to be qualified. After all we can supply our signatures as proof..can they?
______________________________________________________________________________

December 7, 2009

Ms. -------------
Church Council President
Faith Lutheran Church
1611 41st Street
Moline , IL 61265-3499
Dear Ms. --------- and Congregational Council members of Faith Lutheran Church :
Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am writing to inform you that I concur with the request of over 100 petitioners to initiate the Synod Consultation Process at Faith Lutheran Church in Moline . Therefore, it will not be necessary to attest to the signatures on said petition.
The Constitution of Northern Illinois Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in *S14.13.b. states:
“b. When allegations of physical or mental incapacity of the pastor or ineffective conduct of the pastoral office have come to the attention of the bishop of this synod, the bishop in his or her sole discretion may, or when such allegations have been brought to this synod’s attention by an official recital of allegations by the Congregation Council or by a petition signed by at least one-third of the voting members of the congregation, the bishop shall investigate such conditions personally in company with a committee of two ordained ministers and one layperson.”
And in *S14.13.d. the Constitution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America states:
“d. In the case of alleged local difficulties that imperil the effective functioning of the congregation, all concerned persons shall be heard, after which the bishop of this Synod together with the committee described in *S14.13.b. shall decide on the course of action to be recommended to the pastor and the congregation. If they agree to carry out such recommendations, no further action shall be taken by this Synod. If either party fails to assent, the congregation may dismiss the pastor at a legally called meeting after consultation with the bishop, either (a) by a two-thirds majority vote of the voting members present and voting where the bishop and the committee did not recommend termination of the call, or (b) by a simple majority vote of the voting members present and voting where the bishop and the committee recommended termination of the call.”
I have asked Assistant to the Bishop, Pastor Michel Clark, to begin to look for possible dates for the Consultation.
In Christ,
Bishop Gary M. Wollersheim
/jl
cc: Pastor Mark Gehrke
Pastor Michel Clark

Rev. Dr. Gary M. Wollersheim
Bishop
Northern Illinois Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
103 West State Street
Rockford , IL 61101
(815) 964-9934
bishop@nisynod.org

_____________________________________________________________________________

December 8, 2009

Ms -----------, Council President
Faith Lutheran Church
1611 41st Street
Moline, IL 61265-3499

Dear Ms. ----------:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The citations from the Northern Illinois Synod Constitution, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America relevant to Faith Lutheran Church are: "ineffective conduct of the pastoral office" and "alleged local difficulties that imperil the effective functioning of the congregation."

In my judgment and in my sole discretion as synodical bishop, as well as responding to over 100 petitioners from Faith Lutheran Church , I hereby call for a Synodical Consultation process to convene as soon as possible.

As I stated in my previous correspondence, I have asked Assistant to the Bishop Pastor Michel Clark to begin this process with out delay.

In Christ,

Bishop Gary Wollersheim


Rev. Dr. Gary M. Wollersheim, bishop
Northern Illinois Synod
103 West State Street
Rockford, IL 61101
(815) 964-9934

___________________________________________________________
Our response:
December 7, 2009

Dear Bishop Wollersheim,

Since there are no physical or mental incapacity issues, and the Pastoral position has been operating effectively, the key issue is whether or not a sufficient number of voting members have signed the petition. One hundred members is less than one-third of our congregation's voting members. If you believe that you may have a sufficient number who want a consultation, we will need to see the petition in order to have ______________________ verify that the constitutional requirement has been met (this is the person in our congregation that has our roster of voting members which is, in part, based upon confidential giving information). We would then want to wait until after the advent season for the consultation to be scheduled.

Sincerely In Christ,

_____ __________
Church Council President
Faith Lutheran Church

_________________________________________________________________
There response. Once again completely ignoring our request for signature verification.



December 8, 2009

Ms ---- --------, Council President
Faith Lutheran Church
1611 41st Street
Moline, IL 61265-3499

Dear --. ---------:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The citations from the Northern Illinois Synod Constitution, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America relevant to Faith Lutheran Church are: "ineffective conduct of the pastoral office" and "alleged local difficulties that imperil the effective functioning of the congregation."

In my judgment and in my sole discretion as synodical bishop, as well as responding to over 100 petitioners from Faith Lutheran Church, I hereby call for a Synodical Consultation process to convene as soon as possible.

As I stated in my previous correspondence, I have asked Assistant to the Bishop Pastor Michel Clark to begin this process with out delay.

In Christ,

Bishop Gary Wollersheim


Rev. Dr. Gary M. Wollersheim, bishop
Northern Illinois Synod
103 West State Street
Rockford, IL 61101
(815) 964-9934