Michael Schuermann

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@becomelutheran Technically about 40 minutes but Immanuel Lutheran, Decatur, IN (out in the country) is wonderful.

Unrelentingly grim read from @lymanstoneky; worth your time (unlocked link): nytimes.com/2026/07/11/opi…

"Faith is that worship which receives the benefits that God offers." Apology of the Augsburg Confession IV:49

It was a joy to talk about Campus Ministry with @toddwilken on @IssuesEtc last week. Give it a listen! issuesetc.org/2026/07/02/cam…

July 4, 1776 -- The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

A word to the wise LCMS convention delegate. Avoid the 3rd-party 2026 Convention Guide sites. They are entirely AI-generated slop and are full of errors. Please just read the official Candidate Bios book (files.lcms.org/f/2026-convent…) and Today's Business (files.lcms.org/f/2026-todays-…).

Is a growing population of immigrants a change for the better or worse? Full sample: Better - 35% No Difference - 27% Worse - 38% The only religious group where a clear majority say worse is evangelicals.

If you're a pastor who preaches God's Word without compromise and speaks the truth even when it's hard, you'll eventually be the villain in someone's story. You have to be ok with that.

@vedabenerabilis Well I'm pretty certain I put "our beloved Synod" in my bio statement so you can check that one off already?

If you were putting together a bingo card for this year's LCMS convention...what would you include? I'll start: "I call the question" Floor nomination (with necessary paperwork) Floor nomination (without necessary paperwork) "My context" "Do you have that in writing?" Quotation from the Confessions in German/Latin Bible quotation in Hebrew/Greek "Our beloved Synod" Speaker at microphone starts singing "The gold standard" "Residential seminary education" Voting devices malfunction "Good Lutheran Theology" Resolution goes back to committee Resolution undergoes fifth revision Delegates sing Common Doxology after resolution passes Delegates sing something other than the Common Doxology after resolution passes Luther quotation Walther quotation Delegate at microphone in Hawaiian shirt

I'm thankful for the help and support of so many faithful people in doing this work. reporter.lcms.org/2026/lert-resp…

@lymanstoneky @vedabenerabilis Help me understand the misreading. Are you arguing that Biermann was put forward by frustrated trad or mid contingents? What about the T&L and ULC pushing of him for nominations? And the substantial difference there between Harrison and the rest of the field?

This is a substantial misreading. It's not that contemporary churches backed a trad-acceptable candidate. It's that a growing number of trads fundamentally have lost faith in the version of Lutheran traditionalism Harrison is offering. Some because it isn't extreme enough (Gottesdienst crowd and Ball holdouts), others because of various kinds of administrative concerns. The relevant thing is not that less trad churches backed a harrison challenger. It is that a serious trad-friendly candidate emerged and many Harrison-friendly churches chose to break with him.

it literally all came down to turnout

@vedabenerabilis @lymanstoneky I would argue that those who could be labeled "trad" or lean trad in middle Missouri is probably more like 60-70% of the Synod. The "contemporary" side of the LCMS this time backed a candidate who had middle and trad appeal. It was a clever move, and very much almost worked.

@vedabenerabilis @lymanstoneky The "trad" contingent, as @lymanstoneky says, is actually smaller - but there is significant overlap with the "middle Missouri" contingent that leans trad. And, as @vedabenerabilis points out, plenty of "trads" also voted Biermann this time, for listed reasons and more.

@lymanstoneky I agree there is plenty of pearl-clutching over just basic rhetoric aimed at convincing, etc. I'm with you: politicking for the sake of convincing is fine and good. But there has been some embarrassingly gross mud-slinging, too. And that's just unacceptable.

@RevSchuermann I’ve seen several people complain about bad behavior then the bad behavior they show me as an example is… people saying reasonable things about an election. I believe people have hurt feelings, but I think mostly they should grow up.

This seems overwrought and unjustified. I’ve followed the process closely, and it has overwhelmingly been civil— in fact if anything a bit repressed still!

This is an excellent talk by my brother in Christ, the Rev. Scott Adle, about walking together in the LCMS. youtu.be/whGHiu7PT1s?is…

@becomelutheran Hang in there; it's hard work, but one of the most beneficial, blessed tasks you will ever accomplish. Reading the NT in Greek is immensely satisfying. Summer Greek also gave me the coffee habit (or dependency, maybe). It's a thing.

I'll spare you all the pompous musings on what I have learned my first week at CTSFW and leave you with this one transformation: Due to time and circumstances I have become a black coffee person. Greek waits for no man, so this is the new me.