Called to Common Mission (CCM), the ecumenical agreement between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church in the USA, is arguably the greatest act of deception ever cultivated by an ecclesial denomination in the history of North America.

In 2001, CCM Verax began a campaign to remove Professor Michael Root from the faculty of Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. As one of the ELCA’s chief CCM drafters, Professor Root failed to uphold basic standards of academic scholarship by knowingly permitting the insertion of false information into the text of CCM (see CCM Grand Deception). ELCA leaders then used this information effectively to mislead ELCA members into believing that the Lutheran Reformers “deeply desired” an Episcopalian- or Anglican-style church structure, thus sanctioning the adoption of CCM.

In July 2001, CCM Verax raised the matter of such tragic scholarship with Mark Ramseth, President of Trinity Lutheran Seminary. President Ramseth’s response was less than encouraging. Click here to review the Trinity Tragedy campaign.

In the course of 2003, however, it became official that Professor Root would be leaving Trinity Lutheran Seminary to become Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) Columbia, South Carolina. Given Professor Root’s newly elevated status, it can safely be stated that LTSS actively promotes bad scholarship.

Whereas it is unclear what role CCM Verax might have had in the removal of Professor Root from the faculty of Trinity Lutheran Seminary, CCM Verax nevertheless welcomes Professor Root’s vacation from Trinity’s faculty. Unfortunately, the southern migration of the Trinity Tragedy from Columbus to Columbia does not resolve the matter of Professor Root’s unsatisfactory academic standards. Until this matter is resolved, it would be rather silly for prospective students to consider a course of study at LTSS.

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