Gerald Bryan Kieschnick (born January 29, 1943 in Houston, Texas) is the current president of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. He was first elected in July [[2001], re-elected in July 2004, and re-elected for a third term as synodical president on July 15, 2007 at the LCMS' convention in Houston, Texas. Kieschnick and his wife, Terry, have two grown children and two grandchildren, all of whom live in Texas. January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: , Country United States State Texas Counties Harris County Fort Bend County Montgomery County Incorporated June 5, 1837 Government  - Mayor Bill White Area  - City  601. ... LCMS redirects here. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Official language(s) No official language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Largest metro area Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ...

Early career

Kieschnick attended Texas A&M University, graduating with a bachelor of science in 1964. He is a 1970 graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Illinois (since relocated to Fort Wayne, Indiana), obtained his Master of Divinity in 1977 at Concordia in Fort Wayne, and received an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1996 from Concordia University in Austin, Texas. Texas A&M University, often called A&M or TAMU, is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Concordia Theological Seminary is an institution of theological higher education of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, dedicated primarily to the preparation of pastors for the congregations and missions of the LCMS (and, when appropriate, of its partner churches). ... : Home of President Abraham Lincoln United States Illinois Sangamon 60. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Indiana, USA Coordinates: , Country United States State Indiana County Allen Founded October 22, 1794 Incorporated February 22, 1840 Government  - Mayor Graham Richard (D)  - City Clerk Sandra Kennedy (D)  - City Council John N. Crawford (R) Samuel J. Talarico, Jr (R) John Shoaff (D) Tom Smith... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Concordia University at Austin is an institution of higher education located in Austin, Texas affiliated with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: , Country United States State Texas Counties Travis County Government  - Mayor Will Wynn Area  - City  296. ...

After his ordination in 1970, Kieschnick served as pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Biloxi, Mississippi until 1973; at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Beaumont, Texas from 1973-1981; and at Faith Lutheran Church in Georgetown, Texas from 1981-1986. Biloxi Lighthouse (of 1848) Biloxi () is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the U.S.. The 2000 census recorded the population as 50,644. ... Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: Counties Jefferson County Government  - Mayor Guy Goodson Area  - City 222. ... Georgetown is a city in Williamson County, Texas, United States. ...

He served the Missouri Synod's Texas District as a circuit counselor from 1978-1981 and as director of public relations from 1977-1986. Kieschnick was director of development at Lutheran Foundation of Texas from 1986-1988 and then served as its executive director from 1988-1991. In 1991, Kieschnick was elected president of the Synod's Texas District and served in that position until 2001. Under Kieschnick's lead, membership in the Texas District grew by approximately 12 percent, even as LCMS membership numbers slipped nationally. The Texas District is one of the 35 districts of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), and comprises the state of Texas with the exception of El Paso County, which is in the Rocky Mountain District. ... A circuit, in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), is a local grouping of congregations within one of the Synods 35 districts. ... The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) is organized into 35 districts, 33 of which are defined along geographic lines. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

LCMS presidential election and first term

At the LCMS' 2001 convention in St. Louis, Kieschnick was elected to his first three-year term as president of the church, which has 2.6 million members. He won by 18 votes out of 1,182 total votes in the fourth round of balloting, defeating three conservative candidates and one fellow moderate. One of his leading conservative opponents, Daniel Preus, went on to win the position of first vice president. Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Nickname: Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: , Country United States State Missouri County Independent City Government  - Mayor Francis G. Slay (D) Area  - City  66. ...

Kieschnick's first presidential term was stormy. On many matters, he faced the opposition of more conservative opponents within the church hierarchy, including four out of the five vice-presidents and a majority on the Board of Directors. Polarization in the LCMS dates back at least to the Seminex controversy of the early 1970s, but over the course of the 1990s, members of the LCMS' more conservative wing (who often dub themselves confessional Lutherans) and its more moderate or liberal wing (who sometimes dub themselves "evangelicals") had both established a plethora of internal caucuses, organizations, and news services to promote their viewpoints and to campaign for Synod leadership candidates. Issues of disagreement range across the whole life of the church, including worship style, ecumenical fellowship with other church bodies, the role of women in the church, methods for training leaders and expanding congregations, approaches to scriptural interpretation, the proper relationship of the sacred and secular spheres, and the appropriate division of powers between the Synod and its constituent congregations. Seminex is the widely used abbreviation for Concordia Seminary in Exile (later Christ Seminary-Seminex). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Confessional Lutheran is a name used by certain Lutheran Christians to designate themselves as those who accept the doctrines taught in the Book of Concord of 1580 (the Lutheran confessional documents) in their entirety, because they believe them to be completely faithful to the teachings of the Bible. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Liberal Christianity, sometimes called... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Ecumenism (also oecumenism, Å“cumenism...

Kieschnick spent much of his time in office under fire for his support of Atlantic District president David Benke. The controversy quickly became an emblem for broader, longstanding disagreements within the church. In September 2001, Benke had taken part in an interfaith prayer event at Yankee Stadium to commemorate the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York. Daniel Preus and others in the Synod's more conservative camp argued that Benke, by participating in a prayer event alongside non-Lutheran clergy and leaders of non-Christian faiths, had engaged in practices that the Synod condemns as "syncretism" and "unionism." Meanwhile, Kieschnick and his supporters in the Synod's moderate or liberal wing replied that Benke had given Christian witness in a permissible manner, and that the event was not a religious service. Along the way, several LCMS ministers moved to have Kieschnick removed as LCMS president, although the matter ended with Kieschnick surviving the ouster attempt and Benke being cleared of the charges against him. For several years, the Benke controversy left many LCMS members speaking of a "crisis in the Synod" and warning openly of the possibilities for a schism. The Atlantic District is one of the 35 districts of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), comprising approximately 100 congregations and a number of mission stations in eastern New York state: New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and the Capitol District. ... David Benke is a Lutheran pastor and the current president of the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This is about the stadium the New York Yankees currently play in. ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... NY redirects here. ... Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. ... The word schism (IPA: or ), from the Greek σχίσμα, skhísma (from σχίζω, skhízō, to tear, to split), means a division or a split, usually in an organization or a movement. ...

Displeased that Kieschnick had used the LCMS' Committee on Constitutional Matters (CCM) to overrule them on several occasions, the LCMS Board of Directors hired a law firm in early 2004 to determine its authority within the church under the laws governing not-for-profit entities in the state of Missouri. The Synod's moderate wing responded by engaging its own legal counsel. Several on the Board of Directors considered filing action against the Synod in civil court as a way to re-assert their authority within the church. Official language(s) English Capital Jefferson City Largest city Kansas City Largest metro area St Louis[1] Area  Ranked 21st  - Total 69,709 sq mi (180,693 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 300 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ...

Reelection and second term

During Kieschnick's first term in office, conservative opponents organized diligently, hoping to defeat his reelection bid at the 2004 convention in St. Louis. Conservatives charged that Kieschnick's emphasis on mission work and church growth was merely a smokescreen for the loosening of church doctrine, including perhaps the eventual ordination of women or ecumenical fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

In the end, however, Kieschnick triumphed in a re-match with first vice-president Daniel Preus, winning 53 percent of the vote to Preus' 32 percent, with two other conservative candidates placing third and fourth. A Kieschnick ally, Oklahoma District President William R. Diekelman, then defeated Preus for the first vice-presidential slot in a somewhat narrower vote. Although Kieschnick's allies won control of four out of the five vice-presidential slots, the Board of Directors remained narrowly in the control of Synod conservatives. Some LCMS conservatives have charged that Kieschnick's margin of victory was provided only through votes cast by LCMS circuits that were granted exceptions to standard delegate accreditation rules, suggesting that the vote was "rigged" by the incumbent president. While Kieschnick's allies deny that charge, the interpretation of the 2004 convention results remains controversial within the LCMS. The Oklahoma District is one of the 35 districts of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), and comprises the state of Oklahoma. ... A circuit, in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), is a local grouping of congregations within one of the Synods 35 districts. ...

Kieschnick and his supporters supported an effort to amend the LCMS constitution to address ambiguous language on the authority of the Board of Directors vis-a-vis the Committee on Constitutional Matters (CCM). Proponents of the effort, dubbed Amendment A, claimed it merely "clarified" existing constitutional language; opponents claimed it was part of an attempt to strip the Board of Directors of some of its powers. Amendment A was approved by the 2004 convention but failed to receive ratification by the two-thirds of LCMS congregations necessary for it to take effect.

Sources

Newspaper articles

• Patricia Rice, "Missouri Synod Elects Moderate as President," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 16 July 2001.
• "Houston native takes synod helm," Houston Chronicle, 21 July 2001.
• Tom Heinen, "Lutherans' doctrinal clash builds," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 21 July 2001.
• Tim Townsend, "Church leader faces reelection fight," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11 July 2004.
• Adam Jadhav, "Embattled Lutheran president wins vote," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 21 July 2004.
• "Amendment A falls short of affirmation," LCMS Reporter, March 2005.
• LCMS Q-&-A document on Amendment A (PDF), 2004.

The St. ... The Houston Chronicle is a daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. ... The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ... The St. ... The St. ...

External websites

• Official Kieschnick biography from the LCMS website (written by Kieschnick himself!)
• LCMS homepage
• Concordia Historical Institute
• Commentary from conservative or "confessional" LCMS opponents of the Kieschnick administration at Reclaiming Walther, Christian News, Consensus Lutheran, and the Alliance of Evangelical Lutheran Lay People
• Commentary from moderate, liberal, or "evangelical" groups that tend to support the Kieschnick administration at Jesus First, Day Star, and Voices/Vision.