Local pastor heads Lutheran clergy charging pastor with misconduct

A local pastor is among 16 Lutheran clergy who challenged their bishop Tuesday by filing church charges against a Mechanicsburg minister accused last year of soliciting sex from a woman he was counseling.

The group, led by the Rev. Elizabeth Polanzke of Luther Memorial Church in Spring Garden Township, charges the Rev. Alan C. Wenrich with "conduct incompatible with the character of the ministerial office" and requests a disciplinary hearing in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Wenrich was suspended by regional Bishop B. Penrose Hoover last year but has since been allowed to resume some pastoral duties.

The group contests the way Hoover made that decision, saying matters of clergy sexual misconduct should not be handled in the "back rooms of the synod office," Polanzke wrote in a letter submitted Tuesday to Hoover.

A spokesman for Hoover said Wednesday he was drafting a response to the petitioners and was unavailable for comment.

It is only the second time in the 22-year history of the denomination that written charges have been brought by a group of pastors against one of their own, according to the secretary of the 4.6-million-member ELCA. Usually, charges are filed by a regional bishop.

"I, along with some other colleagues, had assumed (Wenrich) would be removed from the (clergy) roster," said Polanzke, who declined to name other pastors in the group.

"This was our way of saying we really had different expectations in how this would be handled."

In January 2009, Hummelstown police charged Wenrich, now 63, with misdemeanor solicitation and prostitution charges after he solicited sex from a woman he was counseling, according to court documents.

The Dauphin County prosecutor agreed to let Wenrich enter a county rehabilitation program for first-time, nonviolent offenders, which Wenrich completed, according to the county clerk of courts. Wenrich did not return calls for comment.

In the ELCA, several entities have authority to file charges against a pastor, including a group of 10 or more ministers from the local synod, or regional body.

As bishop, Hoover can refer the charges to a consultation panel for it to recommend dismissal of the charges or a disciplinary hearing. A hearing involves a panel of 12 people who decide the facts of the case, the guilt of the accused and, if appropriate, penalties.

An ELCA bishop can bring charges against a pastor or choose to resolve the matter without a disciplinary hearing.

"The bishop has broad latitude in these matters, how he or she deems it most appropriate to respond," said the Rev. Michael Cooper-White, who teaches the ELCA constitution at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, where he is president.

Hoover did not file written charges against Wenrich, the Rev. Clifton Eshbach, assistant to the bishop, said last week.

In the ELCA, options for discipline of an ordained minister include private censure or admonition by the bishop, suspension, or removal from ministry.

Hoover "chose the middle (option) because that gives him responsibility and control over the person," Eshbach said. "Had (Wenrich) been off the rolls, he would have had none."

After police filed charges last year, Hoover suspended Wenrich's pastoral responsibilities. Wenrich resigned from the pulpit at Zion Lutheran Church in Hummelstown but remained on the ELCA clergy roster.

When Hoover saw "sufficient repentance and amendment of life" in Wenrich, he offered the pastor the chance to take on duties at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church on Rolleston Street in Harrisburg in consultation with former Bishop Guy Edmiston, Eshbach said.

"Going in there, he was required to tell the congregational council as much as he legally could regarding his case," Eshbach said. "Anywhere he might possibly go in the future, he's required to make statements so they know what his past has been and what he has worked toward to restore himself."

Polanzke emphasized that Hoover wasn't under any obligation to handle the case differently -- "it was just a matter of expectations," she said.

She expected charges to be filed and reviewed by a disciplinary hearing committee, especially because the criminal charges against Wenrich were widely reported, she said.

"I don't see how we as a church and the public should ignore that," Polanzke said.

"More importantly, there's an issue of integrity here. There's an expectation of how we behave (as clergy). . . . It's important for people to understand that, day in and day out, hundreds of pastors are working and carrying out the love of Christ. Today, 15 pastors went on record to say we want the integrity of this office to be upheld."

The Rev. Alan C. Wenrich's license to practice professional counseling was suspended in February 2009 by the state Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors.

Prosecuting attorneys for the state Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs required that Wenrich undergo a mental/physical examination before his license could be restored.

The evaluator found that Wenrich's proposition for sex "appears to be a single, isolated incident" and recommended an 18-month suspension, said Charlie Young, a Pennsylvania Department of State spokesman.

The evaluator also recommended Wenrich take a medical ethics course that included instruction on sexual-boundary violations -- which Wenrich completed, Young said.

At a board meeting June 8, board members discussed Wenrich's case and issued an order, but their decision is not yet available, Young said Wednesday.

The charges are being filed against a former Assistant to the former Bishop; but the real issue for Pr. Polanzke is the current Bishop's failure to impose what she considers adequate discipline.

Ironically, Pr. Polanzke was one of the prime movers in getting Bp. Hoover elected.

Lutheran (EL C S*A) Ping!

* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.

Be rooted in Christ!

The Committee on Discipline will need to convene; the real question is whether this will constitute double jeopardy.

Some more background: Pr. Wenrich served as an Assistant to Bishop Guy S. Edmiston. During his tenure the Synod paid his tuition to become a certified paralegal since much of his Synod portfolio was negotiating severance agreements between clergy and congregations. So he is sharp as a tack when it comes to both ecclesial and civil law.

There has been an ironclad rule in the Lower Susquehanna Synod that an Interim Pastor was absolutely ineligible to be Called by the vacant congregation s/he was serving. That rule has frustrated many congregations, which have been very satisfied with their Interims. Strangely, as Pr. Wenrich was leaving the Synod staff, he served as Interim in Hummelstown and then was allowed to be Called as the regular Senior Pastor. All clergy are equal but some are more equal than other.

At any rate, I believe that that irregularity in the Call process over a decade ago may well have fueled a delusion that Pr. Wenrich was somehow “exceptional” and did not need to abide by the same rules as everyone else. A mistaken sense of “entitlement”, perhaps.

There has been an ironclad rule in the Lower Susquehanna Synod that an Interim Pastor was absolutely ineligible to be Called by the vacant congregation s/he was serving.

Our latest call here in my LCMS congregation posed no such problem. Our interim pastor was included in a group of pastors recommended by the LCMS, at the request of our congregation. He was not ultimately selected (for reasons that came to light during the call process...nothing improper), however there was no such restriction.

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