WELS Statistics - Looking Bad

As Luther said, when people order God around, He denies them their infantile demands. WELS has focused on the Church Growth Movement for 30 years and lost ground the entire time. WELS is not only following ELCA in ideology but in membership losses as well.

Here are the stats:

2005 souls - 398,282
2006 souls - 395,947
net loss of 2,335

2005 communicants - 313,553
2006 communicants - 311,977
net loss of 1,576

[Subtract the teens and shut-ins from the communicant list and the real figure is doubtless much lower. Those would be the people left to support and attend regularly.]

2005 child baptisms - 7,006
2006 child baptisms - 6,836

2005 adult baptisms - 734
2006 adult baptisms - 668

2005 adult confirmations - 3,956
2006 adult confirmations - 3,852

2005 professions of faith - 2,342
2006 professions of faith - 2,294

2005 ave. Sun. att. - 44.3%
2006 ave. Sun. att. - 44.0%

2005 LES students - 23,049
2006 LES students - 21,911

2005 S.S. students - 34,614
2006 S.S. students - 31,789

2005 CMO received - $28,994,971
2006 CMO received - $20,230,919

2005 ave. giving per comm. (all purposes) - $959.47
2006 ave. giving per comm. (all purposes) - $1,011.86

Giving per communicant for all purposes went up in 2006, but synod giving tanked, nosedived, did the Katie-Couric-ratings thing. Another $8 million disappeared.

WELS: Where Is All the Money Going? The Final EpisodePart 1

"In keeping with policy established by the Synod in Convention, we are not opening new missions fully funded by the WELS Home Missions budget. Instead, we rely on the initiative of local congregations, individuals, or circuits to begin new evangelism efforts. By applying for it through the DMB, such initiatives may receive financial assistance from the WELS BHM. We call these “Level 2 ministries.” The WELS BHM is responsible for approving these and appropriating funds. The DMB encourages all our congregations to consider making plans to begin second sites or to use additional languages in reaching out. We will try to provide assistance and access to resources.

Cross-cultural and Multi-cultural mission work continues to advance, especially among Latino and Hmong language groups. These efforts are important to us. Many challenges face our called workers, lay evangelists, and congregations. The DMB is working to understand the special needs of cross-cultural missions. One of the greatest challenges is financial. New immigrant groups do not have the financial stability to enable them to grow support for their congregations that the BHM normally expects. While we will continue to teach stewardship and work toward self-support, we know that this work will require greater commitments of time and financial resources. The DMB supports the idea of making Phoenix a hub for Hispanic outreach, believing that there is strength in the numbers of brothers and sisters working together there. The DMB chairman has talked with the ELS Mission Counselor about cooperating with them on Korean outreach in Southern California. We are working with the Coordinator for WELS Hmong Ministry to strengthen Hmong missions in Northern California."

From the WELS California-Arizona-Nevada district.

New Lutheran Association - The Churches of the Defenestration

I like the word defenestration, finding it useful in dealing with the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Pope John the Malefactor.

The word is used in history when Roman Catholic officials were thrown out the window. A soft landing followed - on a manure pile. This started the Thirty Years War -

Old Fashioned Protestant Diplomacy

Defenestration means - thrown out the window.

The congregations and pastors tossed out of the ELS have formed an association, listed here:

First Evanger (First Confessional Lutheran Parish), Fertile, Minnesota

Grace (First Confessional Lutheran Parish), Crookston, Minnesota

Reformation, Hillsboro, Oregon

St. Mary Evangelical Lutheran Chapel, Des Moines, Iowa

St. Paul, Escondido, California

Wayfarer's Chapel, Fillmore, California

And others

My source is: Reformation Lutheran Church, Hillsboro, Oregon

WELS and Missouri Work with these Pastors!

Former Pastor's Misconduct Leads to Review of ELCA

From Sleep with Dogs, Wake Up with Puppies

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The criminal sexual misconduct of a former pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has led the church to take a closer look at the process it uses to screen candidates for its lay and ordained ministries. The candidacy process involves the ELCA Division for Ministry, the church's eight seminaries, its 65 synods and synod committees.

"The church has a zero tolerance policy toward sexual misconduct. We do think we have a very strong system. Our continuing goal is to make a good system better," said the Rev. Stanley N. Olson, executive director, ELCA Division for Ministry.

Olson said the candidacy process for pastors and rostered lay leaders is constantly being reviewed. Rostered lay ministers of the ELCA are associates in ministry, deaconesses and diaconal ministers.

"The tragic case of misconduct in Texas leads us to pay particular attention to things we are doing to try to avoid any misconduct," Olson said. "We will be examining that situation to see if there is anything specific that it suggests needs our attention. At present I don't see anything that requires a change in policy or procedure, but we'll be looking in detail. We'll also look at whether or not policies are being followed consistently," he said.

The ELCA has about 19,000 lay and ordained ministers, and "the number of misconduct cases that we've had over the years involves a very, very small portion," Olson said. "The vast majority of our rostered leaders conduct themselves appropriately."

"We have a couple thousand people in candidacy, too. The number of incidences of misconduct that occur during that candidacy process would also be very, very small," Olson said.

The former pastor, Gerald P. Thomas Jr., was found guilty of sexual assault against children in a criminal trial last year in Texas and was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in state prison.

"This case is witness to the brokenness of the human person and of the systems designed by humans to assist and build up. The system failed; it deserves attention," the Rev. Mark R. Ramseth, president, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, wrote in a May 7 memo to ELCA bishops and seminary presidents.

The seminary's "administration has committed itself to a review of seminary and churchwide policies and procedures regarding sexual misconduct," a seminary news release said.

"No system can absolutely guarantee against misconduct by some individuals. Nevertheless, the ELCA is committed to the safety of all people. We will continue and strengthen our efforts to prevent human failings from undermining the gracious mission of the church," Olson said in a memo dated May 10.

"Currently, a review is under way, primarily considering whether more can be done to discover sexual misconduct by candidates, and exploring ways to prevent acceptance of persons prone to harmful behaviors. The review process will look at policies in place and at the application of the policies. If weaknesses in the standards or practices are identified, they will be addressed," he wrote.

"The board of the Division for Ministry and the Church Council will receive a progress report in the fall of this year," Olson said. The board meets here Oct. 8-10. The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between biennial churchwide assemblies; the council meets here Nov. 11-15.

"I am confident that the ELCA already has a strong and dependable system for preparing people to serve as pastors and on other rosters. This candidacy system includes ongoing education and evaluation," Olson said.

"Preparation and approval of candidates for ordination is done through candidacy committees in each of the ELCA's 65 synods and in collaboration with the eight seminaries of the ELCA. The Division for Ministry helps develop and monitor policies for the candidacy system and offers consultation and training for the synods and seminaries," Olson wrote.

As of March 8, the ELCA candidacy process included 2,003 people preparing to become ordained pastors, 307 to become associates in ministry, 10 to become deaconesses and 159 to become diaconal ministers.

Fourteen plaintiffs affected by Thomas' criminal behavior sued the ELCA churchwide organization and several other church organizations and leaders. The churchwide organization settled with the plaintiffs and their attorneys on March 27 for $8 million. The district court in Marshall, Texas, formalized the settlement April 12.

Three other defendants settled separately with the plaintiffs. They were Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio; the Michigan Multi-Synodical Candidacy Committee; and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Marshall, Texas -- the congregation where Thomas was once a pastor. The settlements totaled $32 million.

Three remaining defendants -- the ELCA Northern Texas- Northern Louisiana Synod (NT-NL), Dallas; the Rev. Mark B. Herbener, former NT-NL bishop; and Earl H. Eliason, Herbener's former assistant -- went to trial Apri1 13 with nine plaintiffs.

The jury awarded $37 million to the plaintiffs on April 22 and held five parties liable: Eliason, Thomas, Herbener, Trinity Lutheran Seminary and the Michigan Multi-Synod Candidacy Committee. Because some of the parties found liable had settled before trial, the total amount to be paid to the plaintiffs will not be known until the trial court judge in Marshall formally enters a judgment, said John R. Brooks, ELCA spokesman, Department for Communication.

The Division for Ministry has its home page at http://www.elca.org/dm/ on the ELCA Web site.

News link here: Christian Century

From the Same Guys Who LOST $8 Million

"WELS Investment Funds, Inc., an affiliate of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, provides cost effective, professionally managed investment portfolios exclusively for WELS and WELS affiliated organizations. The WELS Funds are designed primarily for the investment needs of endowment funds, scholarship funds and charitable trust funds.

WELS INVESTMENT FUNDS, INC.
2929 North Mayfair Road
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53222
(877) 888-8953"

Now You See It, Now You Don't

There are several stories about the $8 million that went missing. One is that the treasurer told the bosses they could not spend money they were using up, so they fired him and blamed him. Another story is that the money was spent but the treasurer did not make the transfer on the books, making the Fuller alumni at headquarters think they had another $8 million.

Let's talk this over confidentially. Do you know accountants, CPAs, bookkeepers? The typical congregational treasuer? They seem to have one thing in common - a fanatical drive to tie up loose ends, a predestinating perfectionism. The official WELS version of how this happened does not fit my experience with accountants.

Whatever story sticks, neither one should motivate people to invest their money with those people.

In other news, WELS reports that estate gifts are only 20% of what they projected.

No Pastor or Congregation Kicked Out of ELS This Month

The June newsletter of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod - The Pope Speaks - reveals no new defenestrations. The stewardship committee might have had a sit-down, or in this case, a kneel-down with Pope John the Malefactor. The tiny sect does not have enough members and pastors to keep kicking them out.

Meanwhile, WELS, the sister synod, is staggering toward its Waterloo - or Armageddon - in New Ulm. The synod continues to brag about foreign missions commitments it cannot afford. In the graduation announcements is this little surprise:

"Of the 41 new graduates, six are from the Pastoral Studies Institute, which trains students from culturally diverse and other non-traditional backgrounds. Among them are four brothers from a Hmong family who will now be serving Hmong missions in California, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Thailand."

So you never heard of the Pastoral Studies Institute? Al Sorum is the director. For WELS insiders, that would be enough by itself to condemn the program. Here is the link:

Qwik Trip, WELS' Own Fuller Seminary

I am just guessing, but I imagine the whole program is subsidized by the synod via Thrivent Insurance. The multi-cultural emphasis came from the pan-Lutheran meeting at Snowbird, where WELS President Mischke, ELCA Archbishop Chilstrom, and LCMS President Bohlmann were photographed for The Lutheran magazine in the never forgotten pose - "Chiefs Confer." Thrivent wants all the synods to work together through identical, lavishly funded projects. WELS works secretively with ELCA and Missouri on a whole range of religious projects.

Through Lawrence Otto Olson (D.Min., Fuller) and Al Sorum (Director, Qwik Trip) the sect has created its own alternative school system. Olson started the "Staff Ministry" program to Fullerize men and women, so WELS pastors nicknamed him "Our Staff Infection." That program allows a man or woman to have a little Fuller-style training before being "called," as they say it, to a "staff minister position," to use their term. The whole purpose of these expensive new efforts is to diminish any concept of the ministry as the Preaching Office (Luther's term, Book of Concord term). Why bother with the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace when men and women can be called ministers after a short spell at an alternative program?

The Book of Concord, reflecting the Bible, teaches that the Church depends on a learned ministry and properly called pastors who serve in the Preaching Office. When WELS officials raise these poorly trained false teachers to the level of pastors, the Preaching Office is diminished and ridiculed. The path to advancement in the Lutheran synods is through anti-Lutheran training and the advocacy of false doctrine.

Pope John the Malefactor has not objected in public to these departures from the Book of Concord and the inerrant Scriptures.

Ur-Apostasy

Pre-History
The first manifestation of unionism and apostasy can be found in A Statement. The LCMS president did nothing when doctrinal discipline was expected and deemed necessary. Behnken's inaction paved the way for Seminex.
The Statement of 44 can be found here:

Ft. Wayne Archives

Frequently Answered Questions - How Do You Do All This?

My son taught me the essentials of a database when he was still in knickers. When I started using Professional File for addresses and mailings, around 1987, the lightbulb blinked on and stayed on. I could copy material verbatim into the fields and record where I got each item. Then I could search on keywords, field names, authors, Biblical passages, and so forth. Professional File could find matching records and copy them into Word in seconds.

Wayne Mueller had claimed in The Northwestern Lutheran (now FIC) that there was no Church Growth Movement in WELS, but if there was, it was just fine. That sounded like a physician saying, "You do not have cancer, but if you do, it's fine."

So I decided to copy every single Church Growth quotation into my database, which I called Megatron, after my car battery. I needed a powerful name, an electrifying name; Megatron jump-started my research. Soon I had about 500 Church Growth quotations, mostly from WELS and their favorite textbooks. I needed to add large doses of anti-toxin, so I typed in Luther quotations, the Book of Concord, and various orthodox writers. Church Growth was my Harvard and Yale College in theology. I am grateful for all the non-Lutherans revealing their hatred of orthodox doctrine.

When people asked me to write Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, I added another 750 quotations about the Church of Rome, Chemnitz' Examination, Calvin, and so forth.

"But," some are sputtering, "how can you have so much inside information?" People have shipped me materials to copy into my database. They wanted the information to come out.

Lawrence Otto Olson (D.Min, Fuller) called Megatron, my "ready-to-go database." James Radloff began denying Church Growth affections after I quoted him often in Christian News. One WELS pastor laughed and said, "At least you got him denying it." Norm Berg, Joel Gerlach, Paul Kelm, Roger Kovaciny, Paul Kuske, and others wrote furious letters to me.

Now these Church Growth fanatics have the fruit of their labors: bankrupt synods and declining memberships.