Download Audio The Gathering Storm The glowing report of the 1932 Synodical Conference convention offers one of many indicators of the harmonious relationship that existed between the Missouri and Wisconsin synods during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Yet Adolf Hoenecke’s remark that there was “something sectarian” about the Missouri Synod betrayed a difference […]
Download Audio “Amalgamation would mean disbanding the Wisconsin Synod” With such similarities in culture and background, and with mutual admiration for one another’s doctrinal purity, why did the two synods never become one? Had Walther had his way, they would have. Following Missouri’s recognition of Wisconsin’s orthodoxy, Walther sought to persuade congregations belonging to the […]
Download Audio When they were young On the eve of the formation of the United Lutheran Church in America in 1918, the Northwestern Lutheran boasted that “the Synodical Conference still easily holds first place” as the “biggest Lutheran body in America.” Wisconsin and Missouri comprised the largest share of Synodical Conference members until the demise […]
Download Audio Barely cousins Small wonder, then, as David Schmiel has remarked, that the casual observer in the 1850s “would hardly have imagined two more disparate groups of Lutherans than the Wisconsin and Missouri synods.” Their differing theological positions shaped their development, as did circumstances that brought the two together. The Missouri Synod “stemmed from […]
Download Audio Chapter 1 Sister Synods Milwaukee historian John Gurda has described the 1930s as “a decade of deepening darkness, a nightmarish descent into a totally unforeseen state of worry and want.” Neck bones and spareribs replaced more expensive cuts of meat at evening meals, and “one-meatball casseroles” became a popular staple. Many people deferred […]
Download Audio The WELS Mission for the Visually Impaired presents A Tale of Two Synods, by Mark E. Braun, published by Northwestern Publishing House, Copyright 2003. Please note: citations to sources for information in this book were not included in this audio version. A Tale of Two Synods Introduction On each generation a date is […]
Download Audio The WELS Mission for the Visually Impaired presents Your Life Has Meaning: Discovering Your Role in an Epic Story, by Luke George Thompson, published by Northwestern Publishing House, Copyright 2019. I started writing this book some ten years ago while teaching philosophy and logic at a college in the United States. It was […]
Download Audio Chapter One EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS “That’s my life. Nothing stays together; things are just, well, falling apart.” A hush fell over the room as it started to sink in. Then another student said, “I think the point is that all of our lives are somehow falling apart. That’s how life is.” My […]
Download Audio Chapter Two WISDOM IS MEANINGLESS “I believe we can construct meaning. Suppose science does tell us there’s no mind behind the big bang. We just need to deal with it. And I think we can.” My friend works for the Canadian federal government as a scientist. He’s brilliant. There’s no denying it. […]
Download Audio Chapter Three PLEASURES ARE MEANINGLESS THE NEW RICH I had stretched myself too thin. I had said yes to too many projects, boards, committees, and task forces. Between my family, the church family I served as a pastor, and the invitations to help the Christian church on a larger scale, I just […]