Where many of the so-called conservative denominations have been overwrought with liberals in their institutions, fewer have been harder hit than that of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The LCMS has for decades been managed by Matthew Harrison, who oversaw the insertion of moral equivocation of pedophilia and homosexuality with fornication into the Lutherans Larger catechism. Under his watch, liberal creep has inserted itself into the LCMS, and the state of the Lutheran church evidently tolerates homosexual affirmation in its pulpit, at least until the issue becomes too publicized.
On November 30th, the first Sunday of Advent, Wayne Fredericksen of Our Savior Lutheran Church & School (OSLCS) in Arlington, VA resigned from the pastorate of the congregation. The DC suburb church hosts a school, with a younger congregation where roughly 30% of congregants skew under 30.
The resignation comes after much backlash. Breaking the story was Ad Crucem News, who did the heavy lifting on this scandal:
Ad Crucem News has learned that Wayne Fredericksen resigned from the roster of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) effective today (December 1, 2025). That also terminates his tenure as pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church & School (OSLCS) in Arlington, VA. The announcement was made during a congregational meeting with Southeastern District President Harmon in attendance. The original complainants in the case were recommended not to attend the meeting.
Fredericksen was given the option of either resigning or undergoing an investigation. His resignation was forced after he disqualified himself from the preaching office by attending his lesbian daughter’s “legal union” with another woman last December. His resignation letter also referenced a “five-year-old” issue in which he modeled a transgender stole in the sanctuary. No mention was made of his accountability for first graders attending a queer musical and Islamic supremacist books in the school library.
District President Rev. Dr. Bill Harmon presided over a meeting at OSLCS on Sunday to address the ongoing dispute. Harmon appears to have escaped any ecclesiastical discipline despite his attempt to foreclose a meaningful investigation into the problems at OSLCS back in June, as well as his continued complete ineptitude in the matter.
No remorse or contrition is offered in Fredericksen’s letter, and he even references a future event to “give thanks for the ministry we have shared.” Harmon did not deal with the theological dissolution of the congregation. OSLC Associate Pastor, Rev. Dr. Jeff Kloha, was present at the Nov 30 meeting, but did not participate, according to reports.
At the time of this reporting, we are unaware of any disciplinary action taken against other LCMS rostered staff or against the congregational leadership—despite the church’s nearly instantaneous self-absolution and insistence that OSLCS “is in full compliance with our Constitution, ByLaws (sic), and LCMS teaching,” in the face of compelling public evidence to the contrary.
There were three scandals mentioned, all of which deal with the issue of homosexuality. The first, and perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back, was his attendance at a gay wedding, in this case that of his daughter. For good reason, Scripture enumerates the orderly children as a qualification to the pastorate, which includes their adult children. Too many pastors compromise on this issue when it hits home. The second scandal, the “five-year-old” issue of Fredericksen wearing a transvestite stole.
The three crosses on the stole are also meant to symbolize transvestite pride.
The third scandal was that of taking first graders to a gay-affirming coming-of-age musical about queer sharks, which at the time was performed at the Kennedy Center. Per Ad Crucem News, Fredericksen minimized the issue and blamed parents for “casting aspersions” over their lack of confidence in the pastor and principal of the school. The school board denied wrongdoing over the incident. The Islamic books at the school library consisted of pro-Islamic materials and a queer-Islamic children’s book.
Going into the Sunday service, Pastor Jeffrey Kloha made the following statement regarding Fredericksen’s departure to the congregation:
Welcome to Our Savior Lutheran today for this day of worship, this first Sunday in Advent. Obviously, a very difficult day for the life of this congregation and the news about Pastor Frederickson. We do thank Pastor Bill Harmon, our district president, for being with us today to share the Word and to participate in a congregational meeting this afternoon. But it’s also a reminder, as this first Sunday in Advent, that God keeps his promises. The theme for today, the first Sunday in Advent, you see on the banner is hope, right? And we’re reminded of the people of old from the Old Testament who waited and waited and waited through some very dark times for God to keep his promises, which he finally did in the sending of his son, Jesus Christ. So you trust in those promises and celebrate that gift that God has given us today in His Son, Jesus Christ. We invite you to stand for the opening hymn.
Whether one finds the pastor to be consoling a grieving congregation or whether the congregation is relieved is a matter of speculation, though certainly he sounded more the former than the latter. It should be noted that the church defended the actions of Fredericksen throughout several of the scandals, including the Finn musical field trip. On June 2nd, after numerous emails had been exchanged, the elders of the church castigated their opposition for sending a letter to the Southeastern District President in a perceived violation of Matthew 18.
Bill Harmon, President of the LCMS Southeastern Division, considered the matter laid to rest back in June while Matthew Harrison, President of the LCMS, affirmed Harmon’s ruling on November 11th, blaming social media for bringing scrutiny to the issue. Fredericksen gave his victory lap letter on the following day, again blaming social media for instigating the “issue.”
Evidently, something changed between November 12th to where he finally resigned. It could be the parents of the school, which charges over $9,000/year per child to attend, who expressed dissatisfaction rather than the church members themselves.
Analysis
The LCMS is institutionally broken. Despite the egregious affirmation of homosexuality from Fredericksen, the denomination’s district and president had his back. Furthermore, Fredericksen was the Secretary for the district’s board of directors, which presents a conflict of interest in deliberations. It should not require a year of efforts to get a wicked pastor removed from office. The other pastors of this church are of the same cloth. The wedding scandal should have been sufficient for immediate removal while the picture with the gay stole was also sufficient grounds, as that is something one expects in the ECLA.
Whether it is the LCMS, PCA, OPC, or the SBC, these denominations will move the full weight of the bureaucracy to protect their own and attack their enemies, often straining for fictitious gnats while ignoring their gargantuan planks. They will happily violate their own polity, which Our Savior Lutheran Church & School (OSLCS) did in an October business meeting and the LCMS did against Ryan Turnipseed.
What the LCMS tolerates will only grow within the denomination, and the LCMS is tolerating openly homosexual affirming pastors, The LCMS is a broken denomination, and given its aging demographic, it is not only dying, but is being poisoned with heresy.
