Survey on Blue Ribbon Task Force Proposals

The following letter was sent to all pastors and some church workers in the LCMS. Please distribute it to your friends and email lists to get as widespread notice of this to LCMS church members as possible.

Dear Fellow Members of churches in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod,

In order to improve the workings of our church body, our synodical President, Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, has established a Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance (BRTFSSG) that has made recommendations for changing the structure and governance of our synod. These proposals are wide-ranging and could significantly change the character of our synod. The approval process therefore calls for serious deliberation on the part of all of us.

The BRTFSSG has been circulating a survey at the district conventions to get feedback on their proposals. We thought it would be a good idea for every member of churches in our synod to have a chance to take the BRTFSSG survey and provide input to this process. We believe such input will be of great help in this important work. If you click this link (http://BlueRibbonSurvey.com) it will take you to the text of the survey and give you a chance to have your voice heard.

If you are a pastor, please make the link to the survey available to your congregation so more people can have input. If you are a layman, ask your pastor if he would be willing to make this link available to your entire congregation.

Sincerely, your fellow LCMS Lutherans,

Eric Ramer - Trinity Lutheran Church, Kearney, MO
Stephen R. Johnson - Lutheran Church of Christ the King; Pawling, NY
Ken Meier - Trinity Lutheran Church, Kearney, MO
Robert Rodefeld - Holy Cross, Highlands Ranch, CO

This survey is being conducted by the BRTFSSG at each district convention. We believe that not enough time is being given for evaluation of the proposals before the survey is taken. It has been reported that at each of the first two conventions the presentation and discussion on the BRTFSSG proposals was limited to two hours. The slideshow was presented in the first hour, then the survey was taken and collected. A discussion period of the BRTFSSG proposals was limited to the second hour without enough time allowed to even get through all the points.

We have brought it to the internet so that every member of the LCMS can carefully review the proposals then take the survey and register their opinion on these important issues. Except for the blue text on each page, all of the material is from the synod's proposals. The "Other Thoughts to Consider" have been intentionally written in a fair and objective manner.