Seward resident Arlen Meyer, excommunicated from St. John Lutheran Church in March, has been reinstated to full membership by a vote of the congregation.

The Rev. Mark Cutler read from a prepared statement Thursday that said, in part, that "the congregation in meeting assembled has removed the excommunication placed on Arlen and has restored him to Christian fellowship in this congregation."

Meyer, retired from teaching after a long career at St. John Lutheran School, was the subject of a 2002 Nebraska State Patrol investigation into acts of alleged sexual misconduct against students.

He has never been criminally charged, but Congregational Chairman Ray Huebschman said in March that a count of written ballots at a special church meeting resulted in "a clear majority" favoring excommunication.

The statement quoted by Cutler Thursday, which also cited "evidence of repentance," will be handed out this weekend to the 1,100 people who usually attend four services at Seward's largest church.

Cutler, pastoral director of ministries at St. John, declined to answer questions about absolution actions of the previous Sunday that were taken at the regular quarterly congregational meeting.

Huebschman also declined comment on a series of voice votes that removed the sanction imposed by the church, which is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

And, as has been the case from the beginning, there was no comment Thursday from the Meyer household.

Various estimates put attendance at last Sunday's quarterly meeting at 250-300 people. That's about the same number that attended the March meeting.

It's not clear how many of the people voting in March were on hand to vote in late May.

About 1,800-2,000 people are eligible to vote from the total church membership of about 3,000.

Len Rotherham, one of those members and a man who has identified himself as a child victim of Meyer's alleged sexual advances at the school in the 1970s, was at both meetings.

Did the most recent voice voting sound conclusive to him?

"No, it did not," Rotherham said. "And at the same time, people didn't know what they were voting on. It was so rushed. It was moved through."

According to Rotherham, "the power people at St. John" wanted Meyer back.

"They want things to stay the same," he said. "They want to shut the victims up."

Six former St. John students who said they had been abused by St. John Principal David Mannigel during his three-plus decades at the school came forward in a church investigation that followed Mannigel's apparent suicide in 2001.

The principal's death ended the Nebraska State Patrol's criminal investigation into his past.

Matters hit another threshold in March 2002 when then-Seward County Attorney Jim Ruby sought out the Patrol again after allegations against Meyer started to take shape.

Rotherham cited "a lot more people who were supportive of Arlen at last Sunday's meeting." There were more people on hand in March, he said, "who just wanted to hear the truth."

He does not expect a change in the latest outcome "unless somebody challenges it. And quite honestly, I'm tired. Nobody will stand up to this if I don't — not one person in these 3,000."

At the national headquarters for the 6,200 churches that belong to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in St. Louis, Church Secretary Raymond Hartwig said Thursday the time span between excommunication and reinstatement is at a local church's discretion.

"Those depend on individual congregations," Hartwig said, "what is in their constitution and bylaws. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod does not, cannot, tell churches how to do these things.

"I can see where it could happen that quickly," Hartwig said. "Again, it depends on the rules of the individual congregation."

At least two cases arising from abuse allegations at the school filed by former students are pending in state and federal courts.

"Anonymous vs. St. John" is scheduled for argument before the Nebraska Court of Appeals June 30.

"T. Mark Kraft vs. St. John" was argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis earlier this year.

Denver attorney David Savitz, who represents Kraft, a Colorado resident, said Thursday he had no clue when an appeal ruling would be issued in the case, which named Meyer as an alleged sexual perpetrator.

Savitz did not attach much significance to Meyer's excommunication and reinstatement, calling it "more form than substance."

Reach Art Hovey at 523-4949 or at ahovey@alltel.net.