Mark G. Schroeder

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). 

David knew. He knew that his life began not when he was born, but when God gave him the gift of life at conception. It was then that God brought together everything needed to create a human life. David knew that, and that’s why he could refer to himself as “me” before he was born 

Human life begins at conception. This is something that we know from common sense, something that we understand instinctively from the knowledge that God has written in our hearts, and something that has been demonstrated by science. Because we know that truth, we find it incomprehensible that so many in our society deny it.  

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Roe v. Wade case in 1973, states have been unable to outlaw or ban abortions. In recent years, however, there have been successful efforts to pass laws that restrict when and how abortions can be legally carried out. Some states have passed laws stating that abortions cannot be performed after a fetal heartbeat has been detected or after a certain point in time of the pregnancy.  

Others have banned the practice of “partial birth” abortions. Still other states have forbidden the use of tax dollars to support the practice of abortions. In some cases, the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have the ability to impose “reasonable” restrictions on abortion without violating the Constitution or the Roe v. Wade decision. 

Reacting to these successful but limited attempts to restrict abortion, pro-abortion forces have responded with an all-out effort to legalize even the most radical abortion practices. Last year, Illinois passed a law expanding the use of state tax dollars to pay for abortions; in January its new governor boasted that Illinois was now the most “progressive” state when it comes to access to abortion. In January, New York passed a law that permits abortions until the time of birth. The gruesome law that will end the life of fully viable human being was celebrated by lighting the One World Trade Center in pink. At least six other states are considering similar laws. 

WELS takes a clear and consistent stance on the issue of abortion, publicly declaring our opposition both on biblical grounds and on the basis of natural law. 

We testify that only God creates life and only God has the right to end it. We encourage our members to exercise their rights as citizens in efforts to put an end to the barbarity of abortion. We assert that unborn children not wanted by their mothers will be welcomed and wanted by those who are seeking to adopt a child. We support women who choose life for their babies, even in the most difficult and challenging circumstances. 

But these recent efforts to promote later and even more horrible abortion procedures should lead us to do more. We need to hold on to God’s truth more firmly in our own hearts. We need to resist the temptation to become calloused toward a tragedy that continues unabated. We need to thank God that there are churches and individuals that stand with us in defending the unborn. We need to testify to God’s truth more diligently—whether people want to listen or not. We need to be the salt that brings needed change to a decaying world. We need to pray that God will rekindle a love and respect for human life that seems to be disappearing in our land. 

Mark Schroeder is president of WELS.

Author: Mark G. Schroeder
Volume 106, Number 4
Issue: April 2019

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

Mark G. Schroeder

Twenty-five years ago, in the spring of 1994, our synod was facing a time of uncertainty and divided opinions. Eight months earlier at the 1993 synod convention, the synod approved, by a narrow margin, a major change in its educational system for training pastors and teachers. By the next spring, plans were well underway to amalgamate Northwestern College and Dr. Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota, and to combine Northwestern Preparatory School and Martin Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, Wisconsin. In the fall of 1995, the newly combined college for training future pastors, teachers, and staff minister would begin operations in New Ulm as Martin Luther College; the combined prep school opened that fall as Luther Preparatory School, joining Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Saginaw, Mich., as the synod’s two preparatory schools. 

Opinions about the amalgamation proposal had been strongly held on both sides of the issue. Those in favor of the amalgamation believed that operating four ministerial campuses was too expensive at a time when resources for missions and the rest of the synod’s work were scarce. They were convinced that a ministerial college serving both men and women on the same campus would provide a better atmosphere for training future called workers. Many of them had the opinion that three prep schools were more than was necessary to serve as feeder schools for the pastor and teacher tracks.  

Those who were opposed to the change (and I was one of them) also presented strong arguments. They were concerned that there would be pressures to change the curriculum of the pastor track and that the smaller pastor track could lose its identity in a larger school. They were convinced that the cost savings would be far less than anticipated. They believed that separating Northwestern College from Northwestern Prep (its largest provider of candidates for the pastoral ministry) would result in fewer pastoral candidates. 

The decision was made with much prayer and with vigorous and sincere debate. But in the months after the decision was made, the entire synod grew to be united in the desire to make the new schools as good as they could possibly be—not for the sake of creating great educational institutions, but for the sake of creating new schools that would carry on the work done so well by the previous ones. 

Now the perspective of a quarter century enables us to recognize how richly God has blessed those efforts. Despite the concerns and even fears, today Martin Luther College continues to provide well-trained teachers and staff ministers. It continues to provide a solid preseminary education to young men preparing to continue their training as pastors at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Studying side by side, future pastors and teachers develop respect for each other’s ministry and build personal relationships that continue after they begin serving in their callings. Perhaps more than ever, the college enjoys the love and support of the entire membership of the synod as its single college of ministry. 

Luther Preparatory School, as a single purpose school, continues to provide more candidates for the pastoral and teaching ministry than any other school. Its entire focus, seen in its curriculum and in its cocurricular areas, is to encourage young people to consider prayerfully whether they might serve someday as pastors, teachers, or staff ministers. And God is blessing those efforts. 

When large decisions loom and the future seems unclear, Martin Luther College and Luther Preparatory School are reminders that our times are always in God’s hands. We thank him for blessing that difficult decision, confident that his blessings will continue and that a future in his hands may be unknown but is never uncertain. 

Mark Schroeder is president of WELS.

Author: Mark G. Schroeder
Volume 106, Number 3
Issue: March 2019

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us