Seminary Head to Stay in Post Pending Ruling

The Rev. Robert D. Preus will remain president of Concordia Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Ind., pending a court decision on whether he can be removed from office while appealing a board of regents decision that he be “honorably retired.”

In a ruling issued Aug. 14, the Allen County, Ind., circuit court granted a temporary restraining order that keeps Preus in office until arguments are concluded on an injunction that would allow him to remain president during the entire appeals process.

The hearing process began Wednesday but was continued until Sept. 11, according to a court official.

The regents voted July 27, by a 5-3 majority, to “honorably retire” Preus, who has the reputation of being a staunch conservative within the already conservative Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. In their resolution the regents praised Preus’ accomplishments at the seminary and in the church but said he could no longer serve effectively in the face of “turmoil within the faculty and staff.”

The seminary was recently censured for violations of academic freedom by the American Assn. of University Professors, which charged the school with requiring faculty doctrinal commitments that are “incompatible with academic freedom as generally understood and upheld at American institutions of higher learning.”

According to a report from the church, the circuit court issued the temporary restraining order Aug. 14, one day before Preus’ retirement was to take effect.

The church also reported that two of the three regents who voted against the forced retirement of Preus have issued a public protest of the regents’ action.

The Rev. Donald E. Kirchner of Chestnut, Ill., and the Rev. Raymond Mueller of Rocky River, Ohio, said they believe the action violates the regents’ handbook and deprives Preus of appeal rights spelled out in the church’s constitution. In addition, they objected to the “precipitousness” of the retirement, pointing out that there were only 19 days between the vote and the scheduled retirement.

At the center of the controversy at the seminary is the June, 1988, firing of tenured Prof. Alvin J. Schmidt, who is suing the seminary.

Schmidt was fired on grounds that he advocated the ordination of women in opposition to the synod’s official position.

In an effort at compromise, Schmidt signed a prepared statement recognizing that there are some biblical texts that forbid female ministers, but he added an amendment expressing a desire to continue pursing his “right to academic freedom.”

However, Preus rejected the statement and ordered that Schmidt be fired.