Biblical Purge

RETURN THE EXILES! read a Holy Week placard carried by one of the 200 protesters in front of the St. Louis headquarters of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The demonstration was aimed at Dr. Jacob A.O. Preus, conservative head of the denomination, who this month fired four district presidents (roughly equivalent to bishops). Their sin: ordaining graduates of Seminex, the breakaway school from the synod's Concordia Seminary that was founded during the Lutherans' long-running doctrinal dispute over biblical interpretation (TIME, March 4, 1974). The dismissed leaders, who favor a flexible view of the Scriptures, head three districts which cover a large area of the Northeast and the English District, with congregations scattered across the U.S. The districts include 310,000 of the church's 2.8 million members.

Big Schism. Backed by their districts, the four presidents refuse to quit office. They plan to carry on as though nothing has happened, which will force Preus to set up new district offices loyal to church headquarters. At that point, some sort of new moderate church will begin to emerge. One synod spokesman estimates that fewer than 200 of the church's 5,846 congregations would join the exiles. But a moderate tactician claims that if Preus does not relent, 600 to 800 congregations will be in rebellion by the end of the summer, with more likely to leave later on. If this happens, it will be one of the biggest U.S. church schisms in decades.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.