LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 172

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172

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

that the situation exposed a breakdown of communication between
faculty and administration and is indicative of the perils of what
many faculty described as a “growth at any cost” mentality. Members of the faculty, especially those faithful to the Scriptures and
LCMS doctrine, are deeply worried about the Lutheran identity of
CUWAA. Many of them are worn out and frustrated. Commenting
on CUWAA’s Strategic Plan, one faculty member wished that the
university focused as much on faculty development and retention
as it does on student recruitment and retention. A minority faculty
member forthrightly described the identity problem as a “fear of
letting prospective students know who we are” and what the LCMS
teaches on the issues of sex, marriage, and biblical views of diversity.

Trust from the Synod
As a result of these significant concerns, some of which have
been made public across the Synod and in news reports beyond the
church, there is a risk of pious laypeople and congregations of the
Synod losing trust in the university’s faithfulness to genuine Lutheranism, her mission to raise up both church workers and faithful
citizens in other vocations, and her efforts to reach the lost with the
true and full Gospel of Christ.
However, there are wonderful things happening at CUWAA.
In addition to the core LCMS faculty, there are many biblically
minded, non-Lutheran Christians, who truly love the university and
its mission and who desire to grow in their knowledge and practice
of the Lutheran confession. I have great hope that CUWAA can
perform the necessary course correction, play to its strengths, and
embrace a Lutheran identity and ethos that pervades every program
and saturates every syllabus. This is a critical moment. What the
BOR and university administration do with this report will determine both the health of the university and the trust that congregations, pastors, laypeople, faculty, students, and alumni place in the
institution.
Steps can be taken to strengthen trust. Here’s how.

Call for Action
1. Acknowledge both the anemic Lutheran identity and the
current mission drift. The joy and confidence of being Lutheran is more than knowing that one’s life is to be lived in
service to others. The Gospel, the full and free forgiveness
from Jesus, delivered to undeserving sinners in the Lord’s
Means of Grace, is the heart of our Lutheran identity. Utilize
the theology faculty, not just the chair of the department or
campus pastors, to catechize non-Lutheran faculty.

giving careful and deliberate attention to the university’s
Lutheran identity is more dangerous than any demographic
cliff. Seek growth at a pace that does not overwork faculty or
jeopardize fidelity to the mission of the university. Empower
the new president to bring theological clarity and vision for
the university.
We are pleased to report that other action items previously communicated to the BOR have been largely accomplished with the
resumption of the presidential search process and the call and installation of Dr. Ankerberg.

An Uncommon Vision for Concordia
CUWAA will weather looming demographic challenges by clarifying, strengthening, and embracing her Lutheran identity, not by
increasing curricular diversity, multiplying programs and schools,
and expanding at the expense of that Lutheran identity. Fidelity
to what makes Concordia truly uncommon will attract students,
faculty, staff, and donors. Incorporating the same diversity, equity,
and inclusion language as other midwestern, four-year universities
does not make CUWAA uncommon but, rather, common. Increasing online options for graduate degrees is common. Seeking business partnerships to fund endowments is common. Reducing core
liberal arts requirements at the request of new degree programs is
common. Catering program offerings to market demand and profit
opportunities is common.
“Common” is not how CUWAA identifies itself. But chasing
“growth at all costs,” a regular refrain we heard from the people we
interviewed, is common among institutions of higher education, especially those concerned with survival. Hand-wringing is common.
Fear of the demographic cliff is common.
What is uncommon? The Gospel—not merely “lives of service,” but drawing students into the life of the Savior. Forgiveness
is uncommon. Jesus as the only Savior is uncommon. Distinguishing between the Law and the Gospel is uncommon. Fidelity to the
confession of a university’s founding church body is uncommon.
We know that these are deep desires of many at CUWAA.
CUWAA does not just need more programs or a larger endowment. What it needs is clarity of purpose. “Seek first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to
you” (Matt. 6:33).

2. Engage diversity from a biblical perspective. Clearly and
carefully define the words being used. Ground these definitions in Scripture. All our Concordias are dealing with similar pressures from secular DEI agendas. Collaborate with
them or take the lead in speaking of the sin of racism, the
brokenness of humanity because of the fall, the great equalizing force of the death of Christ, and the wonderful unity
people have in Him. Work together with the Office of the
President of the Synod and utilize the theological resources
of the church and her seminaries and universities to define
a truly winsome biblical, Lutheran, and unique view of the
diversity issues and related questions.

Talk about racism as sin—as a violation of the Commandments,
as an affront to God, who made all people in His image. Talk less
about diversity and more about the unity we have in the accounts
of creation and the fall, in the common price—the blood of Jesus—
paid for each person regardless of race. Talk about the plurality of
languages at Pentecost and the diversity of tribes but also the unity
of the confession of the church in Revelation 7. Diagnose sin, not
with unbiblical bias reporting, but with God’s Law. And cure sin,
not with secular buzzwords and market-driven initiatives, but with
the balm of God’s life-giving Word, the Absolution and the medicine of immortality, the Lord’s Supper. Shift the identity conversation away from identity politics to baptismal identity. Talk more
about the Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, not less. Strive for
an uncommon Christian and Lutheran worldview in the social and
health sciences. Be truly uncommon in the peculiarity of a robust
Lutheran identity, not just a link to the LCMS website.

3. Scrap the strategic plan until there’s a new president and the
church is assured of the university’s clear Lutheran identity
and mission. Rapid and aggressive pursuit of the plan before

Be truly uncommon by elevating what students cannot get at
almost any other university in Wisconsin or Michigan: the certain
hope and comfort of Lutheran theology, which is simply Christian

2023 Convention Workbook