Strangers to Sisters - Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library: Essays

2.) By virtue of the work they do, divinely ordained work,
we regard them as having a divine call.
3.) Their fellow Christians have delegated to them divinely
given obligations, which also make their call divine.
Misunderstanding
This subject is a much-discussed one in pastoral
conferences now. And where there is disagreement, it is
caused by lack of distinction…
Now we must distinguish between the different kinds of
calls issued because of the different work our workers
do…As long as they are working in harmony with God’s
command to build the Kingdom of God, their work is
divine work, and the calling into it divine also as noted
above. 254
In addition to Schweikert’s instruction, he also informed his congregation about a
free conference to discuss this very issue at St. John’s Lutheran Church (WELS), in
Sleepy Eye, MN. Here is the interesting part. The presenter for the conference, who also
argued for the Wisconsin position, was Rev. Stuart Dorr, the ELS pastor in Tracy, MN
and member of the Bethany Board of Regents. That an ELS pastor of Dorr’s standing
would be the presenter of the “Wisconsin” position demonstrates that a number of men in
the ELS, already by the late 40s, favored the Wisconsin Synod understanding of church
and ministry.
But there is more direct evidence that many held to the “Wisconsin” position
within the ELS. In personal correspondence with Rev. John Buenger of the LCMS,
Professor George Lillegard stated a position on church and ministry that was in complete
agreement with the Wisconsin position. The close of the letter is perhaps the most
interesting. After dealing with Buenger’s objections to the Wisconsin Synod position,
Lillegard writes,
254 Okabena Lutheran, Church Newsletter, April 1 1948. Brenner files #174. Wisconsin Lutheran Synod
Archives, Mequon, WI.
135