Exclusive to Ichabod - Benjamin Wink Asks Some Questions

I must raise a question with the worship conferences that are being held by the WELS.  The last conference was held at Gustavus Adolphus, an ELCA affiliated college, in St. Peter, MN which is literally spitting distance from Martin Luther College in New Ulm.  Despite millions being spent on the new Chapel of the Christ, it turns out that the chapel is just too small for major events, according to the official byline.  That’s right, too small.  Also I was told that as there is no air conditioning in the MLC dorms, the conference couldn’t be based there out of concern for the attendees.  However, last time I checked, New Ulm and Mankato have plenty of hotels that I’m sure would’ve loved the off season business, but never mind that. 

I also heard the excuse that food service wouldn’t be available at MLC during the conference time.  This is understandable if you don’t plan ahead to inform the food service that they will be paid and will be needed during those dates.  You could even set it up in their contract, which is novel, I know.  (As a former student, I could bring up that there wasn’t food service even when school was in session, but I digress.)

So the 2014 Worship Conference was upon us and where did the WELS decide to hold the event?  Why at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI, which is yet another ELCA affiliated college!  Oh but even better per this website http://www.wels.net/worship/2014-national-worship-conference which states that this is the 4^th time the conference has been held there.  The fourth time?

I just have to ask this: why is a conference on worship held on a campus affiliated with ELCA, a synod that the WELS says they are not in fellowship with?  Are not worship services held during the conference?  After all this is a worship conference.  Given the boast that this is “the largest Lutheran worship conference in North America”, how in blazes does one get around the fellowship conflict?  And this is the 4^th time?  So if I include Gustavus that is at least 5 of these conferences that have been held on an ELCA campus.  Well, that’s just great and lovely.    

Now let’s say that I condoned the excuse that the synod didn’t have a worship facility large enough for conferences of this sort in the past.  Fine, I can grudgingly grant that.  But now, there’s this multimillion dollar extravaganza in New Ulm that sat vacant this summer.  Why is the synod not using this location as their premier worship conference location?  After all, they own it, do they not?  Why not use it?  Why continually brag about this amazing edifice if you’re just going to let it get dusty during the summer months?  Why avoid using this centerpiece attraction when given this opportunity? 

The bottom line is that the synod doesn’t have to pay another church body in order to rent out facilities.  Yet the synod would rather support the ministry of ELCA by paying to use their facilities?  How can one rectify this nonsense?  “Oh but the Chapel of the Christ is far too small!”  I would suggest scheduling your “sessions” accordingly.  And given the attendance last time, you would have fit all of the attendees in that building for worship services in New Ulm without issue.  Obviously MLC also has plenty of classrooms and the like in order to conduct overflow sessions as well.  This is why they give the directors of these events years to plan ahead.

Imagine if “the largest Lutheran worship conference in North America” made New Ulm its home every single time?  MLC would get a terrific showcase and have a fraction of justification as to why they built that chapel in the first place.  Also, imagine how grateful the city and surrounding communities would be because of the influx of summer revenue.  What great bragging rights the synod could have indeed.  Instead, the synod is just nomadic and willing to shell out money to a church group that they say they want nothing to do with because of fellowship issues.  Well, except for when they choose to overlook that during worship conference time.  I can see why there would be a food service problem.  It is hard enough trying to feed one face, let alone those with two of them.