GO TO SOURCE


NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, JULY 5, 2002: Lutheran pastor, Rev. David Benke, has been suspended from his duties and ordered to apologize to all Christians for participating with New York’s Cardinal Edward M. Egan, other Christian ministers, Sikh and Hindu holy men, imams, rabbis and civic leaders in an interfaith prayer service hosted by Oprah Winfrey in New York’s Yankee Stadium after September 11. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which has 2.6 million members and is the 10th-largest church in the United States, has ordered Rev. Benke to apologize or appeal by July 10 or he will automatically be removed from the Missouri Synod’s clergy. The ruling against Benke illustrates the growing tension between two major trends in American religion: ecumenical or interfaith efforts, which have been bolstered by President Bush’s calls for tolerance since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and back-to-tradition or “renewal” movements, which have taken hold among Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Methodists as well as Lutherans. While the interfaith efforts emphasize common values, the renewal movements emphasize theological differences. The two trends can coexist, but sometimes they conflict, particularly over claims that only adherents of a particular creed will gain salvation and all others face eternal damnation. “By President Benke’s joining with other pagan clerics in an interfaith service [no matter what the intent might have been], a crystal clear signal was given…while there may be differences as to how people worship or pray, in the end, all religions pray to the same God,” the Rev. Wallace Schulz, the Missouri Synod’s national second vice president, wrote in the suspension letter. “To participate with pagans in an interfaith service and, additionally, to give the impression that there might be more than one God, is an extremely serious offense against the God of the Bible,” Schulz added. “The principle is, you don’t want to do anything that would compromise the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said the Rev. David H. Mahsman, editor of the Missouri Synod’s newspaper, the Lutheran Witness. “The question is, does participating in an interfaith service after September 11 do that? Benke would say no. In fact, it honors Christ and shows that Lutherans are concerned about the well-being of the entire community. Others would say it placed Christ on an equal footing with Allah and Vishnu and whatever Gods are involved. Supporters of the Rev. David Benke say he will appeal his suspension as a district president — the equivalent of a bishop.

Post Views: 725