1959 E. Schaller resignation

On October 23, 1959, Pastor E. Schaller wrote to Minnesota District President Lenz and resigned his membership from the WELS.

E. Schaller resignation, October 23, 1959

Quotes of note:

"Confronted with these facts, I see no course by which I can escape the judgment of being 'partaker of other men's sins', other than to suspend fellowship relations with the Synod that has been my life-time association. It would be unwarranted on my part to repeat, as a member of Synod, the admonition and exhortation which the Synod has so roundly condemned."

1957 Winfred Schaller Jr. Resignation

Since 1953, Professor Winfred Schaller, Jr. had been in a protesting fellowship with the WELS. On the resulting decision of the 1957 Convention, he withdrew from fellowship on the basis of Romans 16:17,18.

1957 Winfred Schaller, Jr. Resignation

Quote of note:
"Since Romans 16:17,18 is a clear passage of Scripture and a sedis doctrinae, the confession of the Wisconsin Synod is wrong, and I cannot confess before men that I in any way approve or tolerate the false views held by the Synod."

1957 Paul Albrecht Statement at the end of Convention

Here is another pastor who served on the WELS Union Committee disagreeing with the Synod's rejection of Committee No. 2's report.

1957 Paul Albrecht Statement at the end of Convention.

Quotes of note:

"I shall never be through with the Wisconsin Synod as little as I can ever be through with any member of my own family. BUT I cannot follow the course which the Synod has chosen..."

"While I do not refuse the hand of fellowship to all members of the Synod, I cannot fellowship with those who have advocated the position which the Synod made its own last night. II Thess. 3:6, 11, 14, 15."

1957 M. J. Witt Resignation

Another pastor at the 1957 WELS convention resigned over the Synod's rejection of Committee No. 2 (Church Union) report. Pastor M. J. Witt and his church, Trinity Lutheran Church of Spokane, Washington, had been protesting members of the Wisconsin Synod since either 1953 or 1955. The reason for the unknown date is because his letter says, "Since the 1953 convention at Saginaw...". The 1953 convention was in Watertown, Wisconsin, and the 1955 convention was in Saginaw, Michigan. Either way, here is his resignation letter.

1957 Edmund Reim Resignation

After the Synod's rejection of the 1957 Floor Committee No. 2 (Church Union), Professor and President of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Edmund Reim was compelled to discontinue his fellowship with the WELS. He said, "I take this step, not in anger, but in deepest sorrow, and because I am constrained by the Word of God." Here is his letter of resignation.

1955 Edmund Reim Resignation

Edmund Reim was not only a professor (1940-1957) at the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Thiensville, WI, he was also its president (1953-1957). He is one that signed a protest of the WELS delaying the action of 'avoiding' the LC-MS at their 1955 Convention. Because of this delaying, he resigned as secretary of the Standing Committee in Matters of Church Union and also as a professor and president of the seminary. The convention reiterated their confidence in him in all three of these positions but he resigned as the secretary of the Standing Committee in Matters of Church Union in 1955, and would later resign as both professor and president of the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Here is his 1955 letter to the convention, and the convention's response:

Saginaw, Michigan, August 17, 1955.

The Ev. Lutheran Joint Synod of Wisconsin and Other States

Dear Brethren:

The decision of the Synod to continue its fellowship with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pending a vote to follow the convention of that body in 1956 (even while recognizing that there is full reason for a separation now) compels me to declare that I can continue in fellowship with my Synod only under clear and public protest. I hope and pray that the eventual decision concerning our relations with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod will be such as to remove the occasion for this protest.

I realize that under these conditions I can no longer serve as Secretary of our Synod's Standing Committee in Matters of Church Union. I therefore hereby resign this office with all its functions.

I also realize that this declarations raises the question concerning the value of my further services at the Seminary, since I cannot change my stand and teaching in order to conform to the synodical policy that has been laid down for the coming year. Because this is a question which is not for me to answer, I herewith put my resignation as president of our Seminary and as professor at the same, at the disposal of the Synod and its Board, to act on as it sees fit.

Assuring you that this action is taken in the fear of God, and only after much thought and prayer, even prior to our convention, I remain

Respectfully yours,

E. REIM

By unanimous vote the Convention reiterated the confidence of the Synod in Professor E. Reim as Secretary of the Standing Committee in Church Union and asked him to continue to serve in that position. In the same vote the Convention asked the Board of Control of the Theological Seminary not to accept the resignation of Professor E. Reim as professor and as president of the Theological Seminary.

(WELS 1955 Proceedings, p. 87-88)