KFUO radio , the voice of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, for many years has broadcast a popular interview program, Issues, Etc., hosted by Todd Wilken. It offered sound apologetics and a panoply of interesting guests offering orthodox Christian commentary on the issues of the day.
I should say “used to broadcast,” as the show seems to have been peremptorily yanked from the air. Last night, the KFUOam.org website was down. This morning: There is not a trace of the show’s ever having existed . Archives: gone .
There is, however, a centrally placed photo of LCMS president Gerald B. Kieschnick.
Would love to know what happened to Rev. Wilken and Jeff Schwarz, who produced that fine, serious, and confessionally Lutheran program. I will resist the temptation to link to some of the angrier blog posts around the Web. Right now what we need is an explanation for what by all appearances is a precipitate and callous act.
UPDATE: I see that a short message has been added to the KFUOAM.org homepage regarding how for “programmatic and business reasons,” Issues, Etc. had been discontinued. The archives have also been restored. Weird.
YouTube: Yes, there is now a video calling attention to this debacle. (Although, it was made before the archives were restored to the website. I guess the lingering idea of a “purge” and the making of Wilken and Schwarz “nonpersons” was seen as a PR misstep by some.)
UPDATED AGAIN (3/20—10:30am): There is an online petition available for anyone interested in persuading the LCMS communications board to reconsider this decision.
SUPPORT TODD WILKEN AND JEFF SCHWARZ : There’s an opportunity to donate to a fund for these two gentleman on the right-hand side of this Wittenberg Trail page (scroll down).
We launched the First Things 2023 Year-End Campaign to keep articles like the one you just read free of charge to everyone.
Measured in dollars and cents, this doesn't make sense. But consider who is able to read First Things: pastors and priests, college students and professors, young professionals and families. Last year, we had more than three million unique readers on firstthings.com.
Informing and inspiring these people is why First Things doesn't only think in terms of dollars and cents. And it's why we urgently need your year-end support.
Will you give today?
