By 2012, The Lutheran Hour was heard on 800 stations in the U.S. and on the American Forces Network, consisting of organ and choral music preceding the speaker's sermonette and a recitation of the Lord's Prayer.
[6] Although music is no longer a part of the program, the traditional conclusion of each broadcast with the speaker's offering of the Lord's Prayer continues.
The show's board of governors, shortly following Schulz's elevation to main speaker, had requested that he recuse himself from the Benke adjudication to avoid "a conflict of interest" in his duties to the Lutheran Laymen's League, which operates Lutheran Hour Ministries and had not taken an official position on the Benke case in order to avoid alienating members holding differing views on the issue.
[14] Eric Stefanski, in a column published by the conservative LCMS group Concord, accused the LLL of waging "a massive, twisted PR battle" against Schulz, and of presenting him with "ultimatums that no pastor could agree to without denying his Ordination vows.
"[15] Supporters of Schulz also argued that a drop in financial receipts at the ILLL, which led to layoffs and program cancellations in 2003, were attributable primarily to donor and listener dissatisfaction over the speaker's removal.