Suspended Lutheran Minister Reinstated

By Jim Suhr
The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — A Lutheran minister suspended for publicly praying with "pagans" at a New York City interfaith service after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has been reinstated by a church panel.

In an order released yesterday, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's dispute-resolution panel cleared the Rev. David Benke, the top New York leader for the conservative branch of the Protestant denomination.

The case dates to Benke's appearance at an interfaith service at Yankee Stadium 12 days after the World Trade Center was destroyed. Benke, 57, attended the service with the blessings of the Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, national president of the 2.6 million-member Missouri Synod.

But after the televised event, 18 pastors and three congregations in his denomination filed complaints against Benke for praying with Muslim, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh representatives.

Benke was suspended last June. Issuing that decision, the Rev. Wallace Schulz — the Missouri Synod second vice president — ruled that "to participate with pagans in an interfaith service and, additionally, to give the impression that there might be more than one God, is an extremely serious offense."

In its ruling, the dispute-resolution panel restored Benke's church membership to "good standing" and overturned the suspension.

The "Rev. Benke's prayer, even though criticized by many, was Christian," the panel wrote in its ruling.

Benke said the ruling was vindication for participating in an event he has called more patriotic than religious. The flap, he said, "reveals what I would say is the hard side of Christianity in that there is an authoritarian strain that wants to prevent people from getting the messages out."

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