David Benke is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

pastor and the former president of the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, or LCMS. After the 9/11 attacks, Benke participated in an interfaith event with people of other faiths, including Muslims. For doing so, he was found in 2002 to have violated LCMS teachings, and, unwilling to apologize, he was suspended. In 2003, the President of the LCMS reinstated him.

Education and career

Benke was born on May 5, 1946, in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, as the first child of Raymond and Dorothea Benke. He attended Lutheran schools in Milwaukee and earned an

Associate of Arts An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

degree from Concordia College, Milwaukee (now

Concordia University Wisconsin Concordia University Wisconsin (CUW) is a private Lutheran university in Mequon, Wisconsin. It is part of the eight-member Concordia University System operated by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). The university is a coeducational in ...

) in 1966. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree with honors from

Concordia Senior College Concordia Senior College was a liberal arts college located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). It was founded in 1957 and closed in 1977. The senior college was a new type of institution for th ...

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

. On August 17, 1968, he married Judith Platt, a teacher who graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. Benke earned his

Masters of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

degree from

Concordia Seminary Concordia Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Clayton, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Founded in 1839, t ...

and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

a pastor at his boyhood church in Milwaukee on June 15, 1972. His career as an ordained pastor included time as an assistant pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in St. Louis and a religion teacher at Martin Luther High School in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He became pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and he served as pastor there from 1975 to 1991 and from 1998–present. While at St. Peter's, Benke earned his

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (abbreviated DMin or D.Min.) is a professional doctorate, often including a research component, that may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in some form of ministry. It is categorized as an advanced ...

degree from the

New York Theological Seminary The New York Theological Seminary (NYTS) is a private non-denominational Christian seminary in New York City. It was founded in 1900 as the Bible Teacher's College. In 2019, Rev. LaKeesha Walrond was appointed as the first woman and the first Af ...

in May 1983. Benke was elected president of the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in 1991 and has been re-elected seven times, most recently in 2012.

Events following September 11 attacks

Following the attacks of

September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hu ...

, 2001, he participated in an interfaith worship service for the victims that took place at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...

and included high-profile speakers of many different religious denominations. His participation in this event was met with opposition by some Missouri Synod Lutherans, who claimed that his participation constituted

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in t ...

and unionism. One such individual was Dr. Wallace Schulz, who was at that time the host of

The Lutheran Hour ''The Lutheran Hour'' is a U.S.-based Christian radio program produced by Lutheran Hour Ministries. The weekly broadcast began on October 2, 1930, as an outreach ministry of the Lutheran Laymen's League, part of the Lutheran Church–Missouri S ...

and Second Vice President of the Synod. For several months following the Yankee Stadium event, Schulz tried to negotiate with Benke for a public apology. Schulz conducted an investigation into the allegations and found that Benke had violated synodical teachings in several areas. As Benke offered no apology publicly or privately, on July 6, 2002, Schulz suspended him. However, on April 10, 2003, the President of the Synod,

Gerald B. Kieschnick Gerald Bryan Kieschnick (born January 29, 1943, in Houston, Texas) is the Chief Executive Officer of Legacy Deo (formerly known as the Lutheran Foundation of Texas). Kieschnick served as the 12th president of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Syno ...

, reinstated Benke. The charges against Benke were eventually withdrawn because an investigation determined he had received permission to attend the Yankee Stadium event from Kieschnick, his ecclesiastical supervisor.

References

External links

Academic paper detailing the Yankee Stadium incident

ctlibrary.com

consensuslutheran.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benke, David 20th-century American Lutheran clergy Religious leaders from Milwaukee Living people 1946 births Concordia University Wisconsin alumni Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod people Concordia Seminary alumni 21st-century American Lutheran clergy