Lutherans decry Reynolds’ ‘failure to defend’ Lutheran Services of Iowa

Gov. Kim Reynolds was asked about an unevidenced, Elon Musk-backed conspiracy calling Lutheran Services of Iowa a “money laundering operation.” She declined to defend the organization. Lutheran bishops and pastors in Iowa are standing up. 

Lutheran leaders are asking Gov. Kim Reynolds to stand up for the church and against conspiracy theories. While praising billionaire Elon Musk and his “Department” of Government Efficiency, as well as her own Iowa DOGE, she was asked about Musk’s attack on a major provider of charitable services in the state.

Lutheran Services of Iowa is a ministry of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations in Iowa. According to its 2023 Impact Report, LSI’s $31.5 million budget made 11,000 visits to 711 Iowa families promoting health development and preventing child abuse; facilitated 15,201 virtual and in-person therapy sessions; helped refugee farmers grow 1.2 million pounds of food; and provided 4,270 community behavioral health sessions for 222 clients. 

But LSI and Lutheran Family Services more generally have been the subject of recent conspiracy theories. Retired US Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a convicted felon, tweeted a list detailing millions of taxpayer funds that went to Lutheran-affiliated organizations. These were for services like those provided by LSI. Flynn wrote, “this use of ‘religion’ as a money laundering operation must end.” 

This predictably led one billionaire to mouth off on his app:

“The @DOGE team is rapidly shutting down these illegal payments,” Musk tweeted.

On Wednesday, US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois, confronted Reynolds about her praise for Musk given his attack on the Lutheran ministry. After Krishnamoorthi repeated the question multiple times, Reynolds eventually said, “Every program should be looked at, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

This has caused tremendous backlash from state leaders and Lutherans across the state.

Iowa’s three Lutheran Bishops Kevin Jones, Amy Current and Lorna Halaas penned a letter asking the governor to “tell the true stories” of the church’s work. 

“We are right to be grateful and even proud of the work we do together with these agencies here in Iowa and across the country,” they wrote. “Please don’t let one false and misleading post cast doubt on what you know from personal experience.”

Beth Wartick, the pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Ankeny, told Iowa Starting Line about her disappointment in the hearing.

“It seems important for me to stand up for the work they do and the integrity with which they do it,” Wartick said. 

Pastor Minna Bothwell, a pastor at Capitol Hill Lutheran Church in Des Moines, said the governor’s “non-committal” response was inappropriate at a time when public trust is unstable. 

“Vague insinuations like that can do real damage to institutions,” Bothwell said. “When attacks on institutions like LSI come from the highest levels of leadership. It carries profound implications for us. But it ripples further out into the moral fabric of our entire state. This statement casts suspicion on trusted organizations without any evidence.”

Reynold’s deputy communications director Mason Mauro gave a statement to KCCI that is printed here in full: 

“The Trump Administration is doing a top to bottom review of where the federal government is sending your tax dollars, and Governor Reynolds supports that. We’ve already seen examples of clear abuse and waste,” Mauro said. “Governor Reynolds knows Iowa Lutheran Services provides good charitable services for those who need it, and she expects that will be borne out as the review process continues.”

Thursday morning, state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott of Waukee—herself a Lutheran minister —-addressed the Senate.

“Yesterday, it was shocking to see the Iowa Governor’s comments in DC. She would not give a direct answer to a simple question. She was unwilling to shut down the baseless and harmful accusations. She refused to stand up for Lutheran congregations and Lutheran faith based nonprofits,” Trone Garriott said. “There are hundreds of Lutheran congregations, thousands of Lutherans in this state that work together through local and international efforts to live out their faith Christian values: feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, caring for the sick, protecting the vulnerable. Gov. Reynolds, Iowa would like to have a word.”

Trone Garriott signed onto a letter with four other state senators decrying Reynolds’ unwillingness to refute the accusations to Congress. They pointed to the contracts the Reynolds administration approved with LSI to fund food pantries, homeless shelters and refugee family support. 

“Your failure to defend Lutheran service agencies against these baseless attacks demonstrates a troubling absence of such courage,” the letter said. “… The notion that Lutheran churches and their service agencies are engaged in money laundering is patently false and downright shameful. … If your administration truly believed these outlandish claims of financial impropriety, why would you continue to authorize these contracts?”