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April 30, 2024
Dear Southwestern Texas Synod Rostered Ministers and those serving as Synod Authorized Ministers:
Grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus Christ.
This seems to be a season of difficult news. Today we write to you to tell you that the synod council acted on April 29, 2024, to deny Karl Gronberg’s request for retired status and to remove Kent Bohls from retired status. The effect of these decisions is that they are no longer on the roster of ministers of Word and Sacrament of the ELCA, effective immediately. This means they cannot perform any duties or acts associated with the ministry of Word and Sacrament within the ELCA, nor use the title of Pastor.
Background
We invite you to continue reading with caution, as the following deals with sexual assault.
An investigation into now deceased Pastor Vance Daniel began on November 30, 2023, upon the receipt of a credible complaint of sexual assault to the office of the bishop.
In the course of this investigation, the initial survivor shared that she had told Mr. Bohls of this assault after Pastor Daniel had died. In addition, several of the survivors said that they had together told Mr. Gronberg about the abuse while Pastor Daniel was still serving at Gethsemane, Austin, but he failed to act. There were also significant concerns raised by members of Gethsemane about governance and financial issues in their congregation.
In consultation with the ELCA, and pursuant to S14.18 of the synod constitution, a bishop’s committee was formed on December 29, 2023, to investigate these matters. The committee consisted of Pastor Candice Combs, Pastor Carolyn Albert Donovan, and Mr. Carl Teinert. The results of the part of the investigation concerning Pastor Daniel were disclosed to our synod and beyond on February 20, 2024, along with an apology to Pastor Daniel’s victims.
In addition to the findings on Pastor Daniel, the committee found and reported on significant financial and governance irregularities at Gethsemane. The committee also discovered that a prominent lay member (now deceased) of the congregation had sexually molested several generations of children within his family, and that after he died, Mr. Gronberg invited one of his survivors, then a young adult, to talk with him. Mr. Bohls attended the meeting with her. In that meeting, Mr. Gronberg apologized to her, telling her that he knew of the abuse by this man, but did nothing to intervene. The survivor shared information about this meeting with three other people, all of whom confirmed her story. Mr. Bohls claimed to have no recollection of this meeting, nor of this same survivor’s request years later to not allow Mr. Gronberg to participate in her grandmother’s funeral. Mr. Bohls invited Mr. Gronberg to be part of the funeral despite the request. The full report of the bishop’s committee can be found here.
The bishop committee’s unanimous recommendation was to terminate Mr. Gronberg’s call effective immediately.
The congregation met on February 18 and voted to retain Mr. Gronberg; the next day he resigned effective March 4. The day before the meeting several of the survivors wrote public statements to the congregation verifying what was in the committee’s report. Mr. Gronberg continued to deny that he knew anything about these perpetrators and Mr. Bohls continued to claim he remembered nothing of his multiple encounters with these two survivors regarding their attacker.
Mr. Gronberg and Mr. Bohls were offered multiple opportunities to take responsibility for past actions but continue to deny any wrongdoing, which has the effect of continuing to traumatize the survivors and makes any potential restorative justice impossible. In addition, there have been many attempts by Mr. Gronberg and Mr. Bohls and some of those close to them to discredit the survivors, the process, and those of us who have been leading it. They continue to give false testimonies and misleading information. They have mischaracterized this as a legal process rather than an ecclesiastical one. We want to assure you that throughout this process, we have had the full support of ELCA leadership as the ecclesiastical processes governing misconduct have been carefully followed.
Based on Mr. Bohls and Mr. Gronberg’s actions throughout this process, the Committee of Deans unanimously recommended to deny Mr. Gronberg retired status and to revoke Mr. Bohls’ retired status. The synod council adopted those recommendations.
In most realms of the workforce, personnel issues are not something that we openly discuss. And yet, we know it to be true that pastors are granted a unique position of trust in the lives of others and in the wider church. Considering that position of trust and the devastating nature of broken trust between ministers, parishioners, and the wider church, we must disclose this information. Normally, we would not go into this level of detail regarding the removal of roster status. However, as many of you received communications with misleading information about these circumstances, we felt it was important to give you more of the story.
Additionally, some may wonder why it is worth pursuing these investigations and processes and what damage can be done by letting someone remain on the retired roster. Any pastor who retains the privilege to preside over sacraments and act authoritatively in the church also retains the potential of doing harm through the poor exercise of the means of grace and pastoral duties. As to why we investigate and seek accountability, even long after perpetrators and victims have died, it is clear in many congregations that have experienced misconduct – even that which has gone uncovered and unknown – that there are scars from the wrongs that have been committed, sometimes wounds that can continue to fester in the community and particularly in the victims and family of victims. And so, in the spirit of John 3:19-21, we draw these doings into the light, that all who have been touched by these wrongdoings might find healing even long after the fact.
We appreciate how painful and difficult it is for you to learn of this. We encourage you to keep the survivors of sexual violence, both known and unknown, in your prayers, for healing and transformation. We hope you will also keep Mr. Gronberg and Mr. Bohls and their families in prayer, as well as Pastor Susie Schnelle, who had to lead the congregation for several months through very difficult times and is now pondering the next chapter in her life. Finally, please keep the people of Gethsemane, and their transitional pastor, Pastor Sharolyn Browning, in your prayers as they work to heal from their own trauma and move forward as the church.
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