Complaint
Concerning the Unsatisfactory Scholarship
of
Professor Michael Root in Relation to Called to Common
Mission
(by Mark D. Menacher, PhD)
Nearly one year ago on the eve of the Episcopal
Church's vote on Called to Common Mission (CCM),
an unintended e-mail exchange transpired between Professor
Michael Root and myself via the Episcopal Church. That correspondence
and my subsequent research in light of it has led me to
the unpleasant necessity of having to make a complaint against
the scholarship of Professor Michael Root in relation to
CCM paragraph 11 and also his response to the Episcopal
Church.
As an alumnus of Trinity Lutheran Seminary
I have been well served by the education, training, and
support which I have received from my Alma Mater.
During my time at Trinity, excellence in academic endeavour
was exhibited by its faculty, and such was also expected
of its student body. The theological foundation laid at
Trinity has served me well not only in ministry but also
in postgraduate studies. Now, these studies have placed
me in a position to discern that something at the seminary
is amiss which threatens to imperil its reputation as a
sound academic institution.
In order to present my concerns as fully as
possible, I reproduce for convenience within the body of
this paper the e-mail correspondence which took place between
Professor Root and myself in June of 2000. Thereafter, I
provide an analysis of Professor Root's response to the
Episcopal Church. This analysis will demonstrate that basic
principles of intellectual and academic integrity are lacking
in Professor Root's scholarship in relation both to CCM
paragraph 11 and to his response to the Episcopal Church.
Professor Root's scholarship in relation to CCM as cited
above is certainly creative, but it is not correct. As a
result of his scholarship, many members of the ELCA - particularly
the voting members of the ELCA's 1999 Churchwide Assembly
- have been wrongly led to believe through CCM paragraph
11 that the Lutheran Confessions refer to and thus endorse
"historic episcopacy." As a further result of
his scholarship, the Episcopal Church on the eve of its
2000 General Convention was also wrongly led to believe
that the agreement upon which it was voting was not fundamentally
flawed. Such scholarship is neither historically nor intellectually
credible or acceptable, and the intentionality of its perpetration
raises potentially serious ethical concerns. During my time
at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, such scholarship would earned
a student failing marks. If such scholarship now exists
amongst its faculty, I enquire whether Trinity Lutheran
Seminary still maintains respectable academic standards,
and if so, who is overseeing (episkopé) them?
Pastor Mark D. Menacher, PhD
Au Gres, Michigan on 26th June 2001
Notes