Power, Politics, and the Missouri Synod
Subtitle: a conflict that changed American Christianity
By: James C. Burkee
Publisher: Fortress Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Minneapolis, Minn.
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9780800697921
Subjects: Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod; Conservatism; History
Description: "Power, Politics, and the Missouri Synod follows the rise of two Lutheran clergymen Herman Otten and J.A.O. Preus who led different wings of a conservative movement that seized control of a theologically conservative but socially and politically moderate church denomination and drove "moderates" from the church in the 1970s. The schism within what was then one of the largest Protestant denominations in the United States ultimately reshaped the landscape of American Lutheranism and fostered the polarization that characterizes today's Lutheran churches. Burkee's story, supported by personal interviews with key players and church archives sealed for over twenty years, is about more than Lutheranism. The remaking of this one Lutheran denomination reflects a broader movement toward theological and political conservatism in American churches a movement that began in the 1970s and culminated in the formation of the 'Religious Right'"--Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 238-250) and index.
Table of contents: title: Preface; title: Introduction; title: 1. Unchartered Waters; title: Missouri and the Religious Right; title: Clarifications; title: Change and Reaction in the LCMS: 1938-1965; title: Liberalism Ascendant; title: Missouri's Heyday; title: Mission and Money; title: The Ecumenical Sixties; title: A Young Conservative Takes Shape; title: Taking Aim at the Faculty; title: The Seminary Strikes Back; title: Big Government in Missouri; title: Otten Builds a Movement; title: Tabloid Theology; title: The Preus Way; title: Moderates in Control; title: Civil Rights and the LCMS; title: The Seminary Challenges Missouri Traditionalism; title: Countering Christian News; title: 2. Countermovement: 1965-1969; title: Commie Lies; title: Baal or God?; title: 1965: Detroit; title: Anti-intellectual Conservatism; title: Harms Struggles to Respond; title: A Gathering Storm; title: Mainstream Conservatives Organize; title: The Reactionary Movements Converge; title: Dalliance with Montgomery; title: Kookishness; title: The United Planning Conference; title: Tietjen Joins the Fray; title: Right Turn in Denver; title: 3. Power, Politics, and the Purge: 1969-1974; title: Pressure from the Right; title: Charges, Mistrust, and Secrecy; title: Balance, Inc.: Robert Preus Steps Forward; title: Preus's Plumber; title: Concordia Seminary: The Noose Tightens; title: Purging Missouri Missions; title: Preus's Statement and the Blue Book; title: Struggling for Conservative Unity; title: Keeping Otten on the Outside; title: Jack Moves to the Center; title: Seminex; title: 4. Genie on the Loose: 1974-1981; title: After the Battle; title: The Movement Fractures; title: Blackmail; title: Otten and Preus: Open War; title: Preus vs Preus; title: Retirement and Vengeance; title: Conclusion; title: No Apologies; title: From Growth to Decline