Our Church Council letter to Trinity Lutheran Council

December 30, 2009

--- ----------, President

Faith Lutheran Church

1611 41st St.

Moline IL 61265

Trinity Lutheran Church Council

1330 13th St.

 Moline IL 61265

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am writing this letter on behalf of Faith Lutheran Church, Moline. I asked your President if I could speak to your Church Council about an important matter involving our congregations and was told to first put it in writing. 

The matter that I wish to raise is the fact that one or more leaders of your Church have apparently involved Trinity in an attempt by Bishop Gary Wollersheim, under sections 7.46 of the ELCA Constitution and S14.13 of the Northern Illinois Synod Constitution, to investigate "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."  He is conducting a consultation under these sections to intervene in our call process.

Despite repeated written requests for facts supporting this disruptive process, the ELCA has produced none.  If you would like copies of the letters between our Church's attorney, J----- P----------, and the ELCA, we would be happy to provide this documentation. 

Initially, the Synod said that the consultation was based upon a petition circulated by some of our members and claimed that it was authorized under our congregation's constitution.  Our Council asked for verification that the signatures represented 1/3 of our voting members, but the bishop ignored our request. He then shifted gears to the above referenced sections, even though the petition specifically stated that there was no allegation of any improper conduct of our Pastor or his office.  We have been told that the Bishop himself told some of his supporters from our congregation after a "Coffee with the Bishop" meeting at your Church, that he had no grounds to seek the removal of our Pastor.

Despite this, the Bishop, with assistance from your Church, is planning to hold a consultation at Trinity on January 7-10, 2010. Why are you getting involved in this internal matter dealing with the call to our Pastor? We would like to understand the reasons for this willingness to assist the Bishop in his attempts to intervene in our call process. For this reason we would appreciate the opportunity to appear before your Church Council to address these infractions and/or immediately cease the scheduled "consultations" at your facility.

---- ------------

President, Faith Lutheran Church, Moline, IL

Their response

From: --------- --------- <-------------------@gmail.com>
Subject: Your Explanatory Letter
To: ----------------------
Cc: "Rev Larry ----------" -------------@trinitylutheranmoline.org>, "Pastor L---------------------------" <---------------@trinitylutheranmoline.org>

Date: Thursday, December 31, 2009, 2:48 PM

Dear -- ----------,

I wanted to acknowledge receipt of your explanatory letter. I will bring your request to our next regular Executive Council meeting which is Tuesday 5 January. I will inform you of our decision Tuesday.

Respectfully,

----- ---------------

Church Council President, Trinity Lutheran Church