Strangers to Sisters - Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library: Essays

deny that such a promise had been given, even though every other WELS, ELS, and
LCMS official at the 1949 meeting confirmed that such a promise was indeed made. 305
To add insult to injury, President Gamber, in a letter to Gullerud, went so far as to
defend the actions of Our Savior’s in starting a Boy Scout troop, citing that this matter
has not yet been settled in the Missouri Synod. Gamber completely ignores that it was
specifically promised by the members of Our Savior’s not to have a Boy Scout troop.
Throughout the rest of the year, correspondence shows a backpedaling by Gamber, in an
attempt to justify Fehner’s actions. ELS President Gullerud hammers Gamber again and
again at his total lack of understanding of the Mankato situation. At the same time, the
correspondence between Gullerud and Naumann shows just how close the two synods
had become as a result of this battle.
The protests (by both ELS and WELS officials) against Our Savior’s would
continue into 1953. One attempt to mediate the situation took place on July 22, 1953, at
Concordia College, St. Paul. In attendance were the Presidia of both Wisconsin and
Missouri Minnesota Districts, the pastors and representatives of Immanuel as well as
Pastor Fehner and members of Our Savior’s. It is of note that during the meeting Pastor
Fehner admitted that all the charges that were leveled against him and Our Savior’s were
true. They further admitted that their action was contrary to numerous Bible passages.
Yet, instead of repenting, they justified their actions “according to a higher law, namely
the law of love; therefore they would not admit that they had sinned in such disorderly
manner of receiving members from a sister congregation, nor would they promise to
305 B.W. Teigen to Otto Brauer, letter, January 6, 1954, ELS Presidential Files: 1950s. Evangelical
Lutheran Synod Archives, Mankato, MN.
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