Sabre of Boldness Ceremony Tonight

The Annual Sabre of Boldness ceremony takes place tonight in the Student Commons at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort  Wayne, after the Symposia banquet.  Here is the slate of nominees, from which the editors of Gottesdienst, meeting this afternoon, will choose the recipient.  As ever, we consider eachof these nominees most worthy to stand for nomination:

Sabre nominees for 2014

1) Mrs. Mollie Hemingway of Alexandria, Virginia

A senior editor at The Federalist, Mollie has been tirelessly writing and speaking out in defense of life, and unflinching in exposing the lies and atrocities committed by the enemies of the Church and the unborn, often covering stories that mainstream media tries to bury, ignore, or distort.  She is credited with introducing the nation to the atrocities of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell.

2) Rev. J. Bart Day, Executive Director of the LCMS Corporate

Pastor Day works mostly behind the scenes at the national office of the Missouri Synod, having hired faithful and confessional employees to positions of authority in the Office of National Mission, slowly and methodically refocusing the work of the 17 national mission ministries.  He has also spoken out frankly and forthrightly in behalf of the Church when others have remained silent, issuing public statements on the Boy Scouts of America decision regarding homosexual Scouts, and the Supreme Court’s decision regarding same-sex unions.  For his service he has received hate mail, vitriolic emails, public scorn, slander, and libel. 

3) Rev. Wade Seaver, Pastor of Hope Lutheran Church, Bellaire, Michigan

Pastor Seaver has throughout his career upheld the Scriptures and the Lutheran confessions.  His unwillingness to bend to current trends has caused him to be singled out as difficult and intolerant. In humility he calls people to repentance for living a sinful lifestyle, in spite of the ill effects this faithfulness has had upon his reputation. He is simply a servant of God, who seeks to guide His flock faithfully.

4) Rev. Vance Tech, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Crestview, Florida

Pastor Tech, in spite of his being a beloved confessional pastor among the laity and clergy, with a reputation a true gentleman, has been the victim of unscrupulous attacks on his reputation by a bureaucracy that appears to have found his faithfulness inconvenient. For a time restricted, and forced to undergo a psychological evaluation, he was at length cleared, and continues to serve the same parish, never having wavered throughout the onslaught.

 

5) Mrs. Amy Tackitt of Wheatland Wyoming

Miss Tackitt made a courageous confession of faith at the 2013 Synodical Convention, when she spoke out on a resolution seeking to commend the Concordia University System Schools for faithfulness. She had the audacity to state that she had been taught theistic evolution at one of our Concordias when she was a student in the 1980s, and suggested that before commending faithfulness, we should make certain that institutions are faithful.  The reaction was swift and severe. Pressured her to recant and admit publicly to breaking the eighth commandment, and taken to four separate meetings with officials, she stood by her claim and at length gained support from the Synodical President, and later, a unanimous vote of the Wyoming District Pastoral intending on the basis of her evidence to investigate the institution in question. 

6) Rev. Michael Brockman of Wichita, Kansas

Biography to follow soon.