2025
Dear esteemed pastors and delegates, members and friends of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, who once were all held captive by sin, death and hell, but have now been captured by God’s grace liberated to serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness in Jesus’ name:
It is now being reported that only 16% of self-proclaimed Christians in America affirm the Scriptural teaching of the Triune God—God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.1 To reiterate, this is not 16% of all Americans, this is 16% of only those who claim to be Christian in our country! What has happened? Thursday of this week marks the 1,700th Anniversary of the Nicene creed, still on paper “officially” adhered to by most mainline Christian denominations.
The Nicene creed was adopted as the right teaching of the Christian Church on June 19, 325 AD. It was to settle who the true God is and that especially both the Father and the Son were the one true God along with the Spirit. About 100 years later the Athanasian Creed would address the heresies regarding the identity of the one true God in even a more precise way pointedly using the terms “Trinity and Triune.” Our corrupt sinful reason cannot grasp this teaching, but we use our reason nonetheless to make confession of this blessed truth about God made known in Scripture.
There may even be members on the books of Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) congregations today who would have difficulty articulating who the Triune God is. In part, because we could easily think it a secondary matter when it comes to the Christian faith. But understand how this impacts the Gospel. When you correctly understand and confess the faith of the Trinity, you are coming to terms with a very basic component of the Gospel. The First Person of the Trinity, the Father, loves you so much that He willing sent His Son in order that He could pour down His entire eternal wrath toward all sinners upon His only begotten Son. The Father’s love for you and me and all sinners is found in His Son whom He willingly sacrificed for us all.
2025 also marks the 500th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther’s The Bondage of the Will which he himself thought was one of the most significant of his compositions. Sinful mankind’s original sin prevents human beings from working out their own salvation, because they are completely incapable of bringing themselves to God and making themselves right and holy before Him. Therefore, there is no free will for humanity in its fallen condition, as far as salvation is concerned.
Luther states it this way: “[T]he human will is placed between the two like a beast of burden. If God rides it, it wills and goes where God wills … If Satan rides it, it wills and goes where Satan wills; nor can it choose to run to either of the two riders or to seek him out, but the riders themselves contend for the possession and control of it.”2
America marks its inception with a celebration of independence and rejoices in the many freedoms we enjoy, so that the concept of “free will” seems to permeate much of our shared worldview. In addition, the predominant Christian religious flavor in our culture is grounded in American Evangelicalism which ordinarily teaches falsely that humans have a free will in spiritual matters.
Confessional Lutheranism however understands Scripture rightly by acknowledging with Luther that our natural state as sinners is that our wills are bound to sin, death and hell. Only the miraculous working of the Spirit creating faith in Christ rescues us from the bondage which only leads to eternal death. The Bondage of the Will is a seminal work of the Lutheran Reformation that clearly distinguished the Lutheran Church from Rome and the other Reformers. I, like many of our pastors, have heard even active members of our ELS repeat the falsehood that we human beings have a free will. So, it is good for us to review God’s truth in this matter reviving interest in the true teaching and thereby correct any misunderstanding in this regard that may exist among us which can most definitely undermine the Gospel.
In truth both doctrines of the Trinity and the Bondage of the Will provide for the believer the peace coming from God which surpasses all understanding. As paradoxes they challenge our sinfully corrupt reason. However, by God’s grace, He continues to strengthen us to make these bold confessions of faith along with all of the teachings Christ has revealed to us. Thereby we know the truth which alone sets sinners like you and me free from the condemning bondage to sin and death.
O little flock, we, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, may feel rather insignificant and impotent as we observe these and other basic teachings of the Christian faith being ignored, yes, even denied by much of outward Christianity. While our Lord calls us to be faithful in our confession of the faith once handed down to us by the saints who have gone before, our mission is not to instruct and change the confession of others, but boldly to proclaim the Gospel. God will use us, His servants, as He wills while we by His grace remain committed to declaring His saving truth to the world around us.
So, how are we doing in our work in our little corner of Christ’s kingdom, which He has graciously placed into our hands. In the past few years as the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) has worked on critical issues facing the synod, I am now convinced that Critical Issue #1 for the ELS at this time is the financial condition of our Bethany Lutheran College (BLC). You may have heard me say in the past that as BLC goes so goes the ELS. But I believe the reverse is also true—as the ELS goes so goes BLC. President Theodore Aaberg in his 50th anniversary book makes this same point:
The ELS and Bethany share a common weal and woe. The cause of both, since 1927, is inextricably bound up with the other. The ELS exists to testify to, and thus to promote, the doctrine of the old Norwegian Synod and that of the old Synodical Conference, namely, salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, and this by grace alone. Bethany stands for one purpose only, to help the synod in this holy cause. Every phase of Bethany’s program, whether it be the specific training of pastors and teachers or the providing of Christian higher education for the laity of the church, belongs to the mission of the ELS as “A City Set on a Hill.”3
To show the significant connection between the synod and her college, we can observe that Pres. Aaberg devoted at least 10% of his book chronicling the first 50 years of the ELS history up on BLC. At several stages of this history various challenges are mentioned which are not too dissimilar from the challenges that are still facing our institution of higher learning today. Our synod inherited a debt that posed a significant burden during the first decade and beyond of its existence on through the Great Depression. “The synod itself bore the brunt of the financial burden of Bethany. In spite of gifts, legacies, and other income, the school in 1942 still carried a debt…, which included operating deficits which had accumulated over the years.”4
The early history of BLC records adaptations to trends and developments imposed by academia and government requirements without compromising its confessional Lutheran liberal arts approach to education. It was noted that in the 1950s BLC needed to expand its offerings in mathematics and natural sciences. In 1968 and is still true today, BLC “offers the youth of the church the opportunity for a Christian education which provides for the changing needs of the present day and for the unchanging spiritual needs of every generation.”5
Since the late 1990s when the decision to move from a Junior College, offering an associate degree to a four-year baccalaureate degree-granting institution, the challenges have multiplied exponentially. However, the same Lord who has guided the synod in the past and supplied what is needed through His people is still with us granting one blessing after another. But our challenges remain as formidable as ever.
It is good for us to be reminded that the ELS owns and operates Bethany Lutheran College. If you look at the cover of the Book of Reports and Memorials you see that this is currently the 69th Annual Meeting of Bethany Lutheran College Incorporated. Yes, it is true we have our elected Board of Regents which oversees the governance of our college as performed by the college administration. But your elected synodical executive officers are also the executive officers of Bethany Lutheran College Inc. Its Board of Directors is your elected Board of Trustees.
We all have our designated lanes of operation and should not seek to jump out of them and enter another. However, we need to realize that what happens to our college happens to us as a synod. BLC’s operating deficit is in the end our operating deficit. BLC’s debt is in the end our debt. BLC closing its doors results in a campus filled with ELS buildings without any potential of significant income. In a climate where small colleges are rapidly closing, the market for a vacant campus like ours would not be vibrant to say the least. Do not misunderstand, the closing of BLC is not imminent, but if we do not start realizing the unsound financial trajectory we have been on, we may get to that point of no return sooner than we imagine.
Our Board of Regents for Bethany Lutheran College is closely working with the administration of our college. The challenges are still many in a world in which higher education institutions are struggling to survive. Private, and especially Christian colleges are increasingly competing for students and financial resources. There still is a firm commitment by the ELS to retain our Confessional Lutheran Liberal Arts college but cuts in operating costs must be implemented in order to keep the doors of our college open. The days of using internal reserves to cover operating deficits must come to an end. While it has been acknowledged that the ELS relies on BLC for its existence, it is also good for us to acknowledge that BLC relies on the ELS for its existence especially since its flavor as a unique institution in American Lutheranism reflects the flavor of the synod dating back to 1853.
This is all mentioned not to frighten you, but to urge the synod at large to take seriously the many challenges facing our college. Again, it was noted by Aaberg in regard to the many historical challenges for BLC that “…the willingness of the synod to grapple with Bethany’s problems, and to bring the necessary offerings to enable the school to flourish… has been characteristic of the synod over the years. The stout hearts, more often than not, have been found in the pew rather than in the pulpit and classroom.”6
In the past I have encouraged that we find ways to reach out to prospective students and parents who share our traditional Christian values. This has begun last year among American Confessional Lutheran pastors and parishes, but more needs to be done to capture an even larger audience of like-minded Christians. Reaching out to new donors should also be a priority, since BLC likely remains hidden from potential donors who would love the opportunity to support what we uniquely offer at our college. There is also a growing movement out there among higher education institutions like ours that should also be considered by us. Since 60% of American High School graduates do not go on to college, perhaps we also should consider offering at BLC vocational training for such trade workers like mechanics, plumbers, electricians, welders, etc. Obviously, this is thinking outside the box, but imagine serving a majority of our synod youth with such programs in the setting of “One Thing Needful!”
Furthermore, it is my opinion that as we make the changes recommended by the Planning and Coordinating Committee (P&CC), we will better manage the money the synod has available in its reserve funds designated for use by our various boards. As we strategically go forward identifying the critical issues we face together as a synod all our resources of income can be properly identified and effectively put to work. Our support for our college should also be enhanced as we responsibly manage all our resources. This will also better enable our Giving Counselor, for example, to direct donors into the areas of greatest need according to their areas of interest.
It can be observed that for many decades little synodical planning and coordinating has been taking place as we have set our annual budgets. We have increased our overall dollar amounts, but the percentages have relatively remained the same for our various areas of work. It is crucial for us to make the necessary changes so that we might become more responsible in the use of all the resources the Lord gives to us to address the burning critical issues that present themselves to us. We need to define clearly what our restricted and nonrestricted funds are, what monies have the donors indicated should be held in endowments using only the interest to support our joint work and what monies have the donors wanted us to spend now while it is day before the night comes when no one can work.
Our Lord gives us each personally many gifts, He wants us to find the joy of putting them to use to support not only our lives, but also His kingdom, not to hoard them. So, it is with the gifts given to the ELS. If we prioritize hoarding them unnecessarily into restricted funds so that we can declare to the Lord on the last day that we have held on to His “one talent” then we too deserve to be chastised and labeled as wicked and slothful servants (cf. Mt. 25:14–30). Pray that instead we may boldly trust our Lord and use all that He has given us responsibly so that we would hear instead: “Well done, good and faithful servants. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Our motivation however is never to be personally praised and promoted, but to advance our Lord’s kingdom to His glory and the welfare of our neighbors.
These things are called to your attention not in an attempt to castigate the motives of anyone in the past, but that we might more clearly recognize what resources God has given us and how we might most responsibly use them. Many of us throughout the year watch the congregational giving portion of the ELS operating budget which for 2025 has been set at $900,000.00, but that is less than one third of the total annual budget we have been adopting. With the new approach with a smaller, more nimble P&CC, we anticipate that we will all operate from a more transparent income stream. It should also help our boards manage all their resources for the work committed under their care. In addition, our mutual objectives and goals in accordance with the will of God will be more apparent and how they address the critical issues facing us as a synod.
These past two and half years, the Strategic Planning Committee has helped lead the P&CC to identify some critical issues and suggest how they might be addressed. We have seen the fruits of these efforts in regard to clergy harmony, helping congregations having reached critical mass or below, and the need to increase mission zeal in our congregations. These special projects have been funded in part by generous grants that have been received.
Through our Board for Home Outreach (BHO), we are providing the service of a Congregational Counselor for multiple congregations among us who have reached the point of critical mass or below where they are unable to support a full-time pastor. The Rev. Edward Bryant, as a part-time retired pastor, is now in position to help congregations evaluate and make decisions how their members might meet the challenge of providing regular means of grace ministry in their midst. We encourage congregations in such need to engage this service for their benefit even if closure does not appear imminent. We are even considering adding another part-time counselor, eventually to replace but also to pick up an anticipated use of these services by more of our congregations.
The BHO is also encouraging congregations to enhance their mission zeal by promoting the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) program: “Everyone Outreach.” This is not the old style of making Christians feel awkward by forced unnatural guilt-laden evangelism workshops, but to find the natural opportunities to spread the Gospel in our various vocational settings which we all occupy in this life. No matter how large or small, young or old, your congregation is, this is a well subsidized way to fulfill the role our Lord has given each of us individually in declaring the Gospel to those around us.
Through these refocused efforts produced through the work of the SPC, other boards are motivated to address their various interests in more effective ways as well. The Board for World Outreach has engaged “Grace In Action,” a WELS affiliated organization, to help with self-evaluation to become more efficient and effective in managing its eight mission fields and their substantial reserve funds.
We are living in a day when the world around us is taking special note of the many failures in regard to the education of our youth. More and more States are considering ways to give parents choice in education. Our Board for Lutheran Schools is finding ways to help our congregations to start or expand this important part of their mission, to teach Jesus’ baptized disciples all that He has commanded His Church to do with the result that He promises to be with them to the very end of the age. We commend our Board for Lutheran Schools for working with the missions of the BHO, but also in their readiness to help established congregations explore ways to reach out to the precious lambs in their communities.
In the midst of great challenges to our work together and its accompanying frustrations, we continue to seek to do the will of our Lord for the sake of His kingdom. The year the decision was made for the synod to purchase the college, President Christian Anderson in the birth place of the reorganized synod, Lime Creek Lutheran Church, spoke these words:
But who has promised that we shall avoid all burdens in our work for the upbuilding of the church? Should we then lose heart … simply because it will require a certain amount of exertion on our part? … Let us not be afraid to “draw large drafts on Our Father,” when they are needed to solve problems which He in His grace entrusted to us, and to whose solution He has promised to donate His rich blessing.7
While the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians was addressing the many physical struggles he and his companions faced in their ministry, so today we can find application to a certain degree in our present day struggles:
Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God… For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake… But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh… Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4:1–2, 5, 7–11, 16–18)
Rejoice that God has preserved the Gospel among us, my fellow redeemed in Christ, by keeping us faithful to His Word despite our inherited will bound by Satan and our rebellious sinful reason. While we may often feel quite lonely in making our confession in this world, we still have those outside our synod who look to us: pastors, congregations, and even church bodies wanting to share in what treasures God has bestowed upon the ELS. But all of this is never to our credit but to the credit of God’s gracious working among us alone. We pray –
Triune God, be Thou our Stay;
O let us perish never!
Cleanse us from our sins, we pray,
And grant us life forever.
Keep us from the evil one;
Uphold our faith most holy,
Grant us to trust Thee solely
With humble hearts and lowly.
Let us put God’s armor on,
With all true Christians running
Our heav’nly race and shunning
The devil’s wiles and cunning.
Amen, amen! This be done;
So sing we, Alleluia!
ELH #18, v. 4
In Jesus’ + name.
Glenn R. Obenberger, president
Endnotes
1 “Theology Abandoned: The Church’s Crisis of Biblical Ignorance” posted by PROPHECY NEWS WATCH APRIL 2, 2025
2 Luther’s Works: Career of the Reformer III vol. 33, Fortress Press: Philadelphia, “The Bondage of the Will” p. 65-66.
3 A City Set on a Hill, by Theodore A. Aaberg, Board of Publications Evangelical Lutheran Synod: Mankato, MN, p. 118.
4 Aaberg, p. 103.
5 Ibid, p. 109.
6 Aaberg, p. 115.
7 ELS Synod Report 1927, pp. 30-31.
8 The initial contact with the ECAV was made by Rev. S. Sparely in the fall of 2023 on behalf of the ELS president.