WELS Administration Picks World Missions Instead of Schools

I have many sources within WELS. Some information is so good that I cannot be too specific about its content or origin. Anyone can conclude the obvious from the funding battle, but the thoughts have been put into print as well.

The WELS administration has decided to pick world missions over the funding of schools. World missions are essential. Schools are not. They must admire the political expertise of George Bush on the illegal invasion issue. WELS officials are copying the tactic of alienating all possible supporters.

The synod administration has decided to let both prep schools go down, temporarily prop up Martin Luther College, and keep the seminary long-term. Merging a teacher's college with a future pastor's college created a big problem years ago. WELS cut back its parochial schools, under the Fuller-trained Church Growth leadership of Norm Berg. If the two colleges had been kept apart, they could have turned DMLC into a nursing home with no problem, keeping Northwestern College. Now they have to move the pastoral training program to Wisconsin Lutheran College when MLC closes. WLC already has a pre-seminary program, no surprise, and plenty of Schwan money.

Although Gurgel admits to having the "gift of leadership," his reasoning is invulnerable to logical analysis. World missionaries can be replaced at any time in the future. A school, once closed, cannot be opened again. Although a school is a big drain on money, the cost of starting one is almost impossible for any church body, let alone a failing institution. Schools inspire loyalty and giving. No one can guess what closing a beloved school does to the trust of the members.

For decades now the Lutherans of all synods have chosen to abandon their schools. CLC clown David Koenig made the thinking all too obvious when he would shout, "Schools are for us. World missions are for them." Since he craved being the only world missionary in the sect, he might have admitted, "World missions are for me." The various administrations could say the same thing. How else could Pope John the Malefactor travel to South Korea, with another representative, on the expense account of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod? How else could Gaylin Schmeling travel through Europe with his wife?

Oddly, the men who are closing the schools received an education for almost nothing. When Gurgel was ordained, he received all his prep-college-synod tuition back as a gift from the synod. That was policy then and helped WELS pastors get a start with their new shepherdesses. The skyrocketing cost of Lutheran education is simply because the proportion of synod support has been decreased decade after decade.

The Lutheran doctrinal approach is: orthodox doctrine will produce fruit. That requires trust in God's Word, absent today among the apostate leaders.

The Reformed doctrinal approach is: God needs us to convert the heathen. If we do not act now and work with other Christian groups to accomplish this, millions of heathen will tumble into Hell. Deeds, not creeds! We are God's hands and feet and eyes and wallets. We have seen the godless, naked pagans of the French Riviera and Brazil. Send us back so we can save their sin-drenched souls.

WELS and Missouri in Fellowship with Hinduism

"St. Olaf's College Appoints Hindu to Head Religion Dept

URL for this entry:

Fellowship with 300 Million Gods - St. Olaf Lutheran College Brags About It!

WorldNetDaily reports that St. Olaf's, a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has appointed a practicing Hindu, Anantanand Rambachan, to head the Religion Department.

Rambachan says that his appointment:

'is not meant to indicate or signal a new attitude or direction for the college. At the same time, St. Olaf, like many other academic institutions, is growing and changing. … Today, courses on Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism are taught without controversy…," he said. "Institutions should increasingly reflect the diversity of our nation and this, of course, includes religion.'"

Poetic justice has arrived at last. One Hindu god is Kali, bloodthirsty goddess of destruction. The Thugs, who used to strangle their victims and rob them, were devoted to Kali. Thugs would warn travelers about bandits in the area, walk with them to help guard them, and then murder and rob once the travelers began to trust them. In the same way, Lutheran leaders say, "Trust us. We will take care of you on the journey."

Do not be alarmed, WELS, ELS, and Missouri members. When the so-called conservatives have evangelism programs, multi-culutralism, leadership conferences, and religious radio shows with ELCA, it is always "outside the framework of fellowship," to borrow a worn phrase from WELS.

The original St. Olaf was largely responsible for turning Norway into a Christian country. St. Olaf's College is turning its religion department pagan.

I was interviewed for a world religion position at a local community college. I was warned by an insider at the college that no Christian was allowed to teach in the department, even part-time. The religion departments of public and Lutheran colleges are filled with atheists, apostates, pagans, enemies of the Christian faith.

Ironically, I have taught world religion at a for-profit university about 45 times so far and still going strong. I teach soldiers, all nationalities, all faiths, from all over the world, online and in the classroom. My employer, an atheist, has no problem with me expressing conservative Protestant views, including my support of Creation.

WELS and Missouri Have No Problem Working with ELCA

ELCA pays for abortions for any reason through its church health plan. ELCA lobbies for abortion on demand through its World Hunger donations, which are diverted for political lobbying to create a just society. Missouri and WELS pose as pro-life organizations, but they have no trouble working on joint religious projects with ELCA.

In Related News - Your Tax Dollars Slaughter the Innnocent

"Planned Parenthood Reports Record Abortions, High Profits
By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
June 15, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - Despite a drop in donations and the first fall in income from clinics in its history, the nation's biggest abortion provider made a high profit last year, thanks to the American taxpayer. Pro-lifers want this to stop.

During its 2005-2006 fiscal year, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America performed a record 264,943 abortions, attained a high profit of $55.8 million and received record taxpayer funding of $305.3 million.

According to its annual report, income is divided roughly into three major categories: clinic income (fees charged to customers at clinics); donations (gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals); and taxpayer money (grants and contracts from federal, state and local government).

For the year July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006, Planned Parenthood received $345.1 million in clinic income, $305.3 million in taxpayer funding and $212.2 million in donations. Total income reached $902.8 million while total expenses came to $847.0 million, leaving a profit of $55.8 million."

Does This Remind Anyone of the Lottery? Rummage Sale 2007

The state lotteries were established to "help education." Public education is worse than ever before and still craving more money. States with lotteries never experience any tax relief. They are the high tax states.

Notice is hereby given of the next Rummage Sale at Luther Prep.

The Gospel Is Not Efficacious in WELS, So We Voted To Engage in Public Begging and Commercialism

"Mission Advancement Offices were established at each of the four synodical ministerial education schools, as directed by the synod in convention in the summer of 2005. The four ministerial education schools are: Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon (training pastors), WI; Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN (training pastors and teachers, staff ministers); Michigan Lutheran Seminary in Saginaw, MI; and Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, WI (college prep education for future pastors, teachers, staff, and lay ministers).

The goal of these offices is to advance the mission of the schools."

The problem with a rummage sale, sometimes called Junk For Jesus, is that the charity competes with real businesses to sell products to the public. The charity is free from all kinds of restrictions and taxes, so any bargain is really subsidized by the taxpayers in one sense and business owners in another sense.

The Christian charity is saying, "We cannot support ourselves with Gospel-motivated gifts, so we are getting free stuff from merchants and selling it to their potential customers." This is really shameful for the Christian Church. The parents, who are already paying $8,000 for a year at prep, are then supposed to give again.

The next problem comes from the success of these dishonest efforts. They make money, hand over fist. Free labor. Free goods. Tax free. No rent. No insurance. No business license. No pesky inspectors to see how much salmonella is being distributing in the donated food products. Christian commercialism produces greed. Soon the group says, "We need a pie sale. We need a car wash. We need a dinner. We need cash."

The Faith, New Ulm, building used to belong to the United Church of Christ. The UCC members built a hall and kitchen for selling food to the public. It was a restaurant with a professional kitchen taking business away from legitimate concerns.

Commercialism is the last gasp of a Christian group. The classic teaching on stewardship is 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, (not 1 Corinthians, as WELS wrote on one slide show). Paul was collecting money for the poor in Jerusalem. He did not organize a camel wash, sell used robes, or compete with local eateries. He asked the Christian believers to give based on the Gospel message of Christ.

Debates of the Century

The WELS AnswerMan dealt recently with charges from the Church of the Lutheran Confession (sic) about Wisconsin Synod unionism: Church and Change invited non-Lutheran apostates to be featured speakers. The same letter mentioned CLC congregations working other denominations on a Creation Museum. Both groups posture about "fellowship principles" but invoke gales of laughter when they do.

Item: At a joint ELCA-WELS religious conference, WELS leaders explained their fellowship principles (sic) to ELCA. According to DP Robert Mueller, ELCA said, "We could use some of those." All those who believe that story raise your hands. Only one? Wally, put your hand down.

Item: WELS had a series of Roman Catholic priests and the pedophile Archbishop Weakland as featured speakers at Wisconsin Lutheran College. That was either before or after Martin Marty was their featured speaker. The Church and Change speakers do not violate fellowship principles because they believe what the WELS leaders believe - nothing.

Item: WELS produced or produces the Joy religious radio show with ELCA.

Item: WELS joined with Missouri and ELCA for the lavishly funded Church [Growth] Membership Initiaive.

The CLC has long suffered from the antics of Paul Tiefel Jr. and David Koenig. Yes, this Tiefel is related to the WELS Tiefel and both are nicknamed Teufel for some reason. Koenig hates Lutheran doctrine so much that he once devoted the entire service at his congregation to a rant against Lutherans for not being mission-minded like the Roman Catholics. The CLC responded by making him a world missionary again and featuring him often in their little magazine. Koenig and Tiefel's derelict doctrine used to fill the pages of While It Is Day, a publication so bad the elders of Tiefel's church asked him to stop. So he did not stop. Koenig phoned Valleskey and asked if the former seminary president went to Fuller Seminary. Valleskey said yes. Valleskey was angry that Koenig admitted this fact in one of his oh-so-ferocious letters to me.

Is this WELS-CLC debate on unionism the funniest yet, or is it less entertaining when Waldo Werning and Jack Cascione argue about which one is a false teacher?

Luther Prep's Rummage Sale

WELS' Luther Prep held a rummage sale last year and raised $46,000 by selling over 200 items donated. Let me guess some of the items:

1. The Complete Works of Donald McGavran, donated by Wally Oelhafen.
   
2. Luther's Works, brand-new, in the original wrappers, donated by Wayne Mueller.
   
3. Management by Objective, by Peter Drucker, donated by SP Gurgel.
   
4. The Contagious Christian, Fuller Seminary edition, heavily marked and underlined, but signed by the owner, donated by Jeff Gunn.

Scottsdale magazine has photos every month of society people holding expensive parties and raising a specific amount for some charity. The Beautiful People wear expensive clothes and dazzling grins. The magazine features a lot of ads for plastic surgery and cosmetic dental work.

The Luther Prep photos look rather sad and earnest. They are buying caulk for the Prep-tanic, and their faces show it. They even invited President-in-Waiting Wayne Mueller to speak, reminding them of their impending doom. Isn't that like being in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital having the senior funeral director at Wendt Brothers Funeral Home visit, with a smile on his face?

ELCA Convention - Everyone Is Meeting This Summer

Here is the boring ELCA agenda:

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, in his sixth year as ELCA presiding
bishop, will chair the assembly. Hanson is also president of the
66.7-million member Lutheran World Federation (LWF), based in
Geneva, Switzerland. Assisting Hanson during plenary will be the
Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, and Carlos Pena, ELCA vice
president, Galveston, Texas.
Hanson, who was elected presiding bishop in 2001, previously
announced he will be available for possible re-election at the
2007 assembly. Almen, who has served as secretary since the
formation of the ELCA in 1988, said he will not seek another
term.
Each of the ELCA's 10,389 congregations may send one
representative to the assembly as an official "congregational
observer."
In addition to the elections for presiding bishop and
secretary, the assembly will act on:
+ a proposed social statement, "Our Calling in Education," a
59-page proposal prepared by a task force with input from
throughout the church. Dr. Paul J. Dovre, retired president of
Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., and Christi Lines, principal,
St. Paul's Lutheran School, Waverly, Iowa, co-chaired the task
force. Social statements are social policy documents, adopted by
the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, addressing significant social
issues.
+ a "Blue Ribbon Committee on Mission Funding" proposal for
stewardship education and mission funding. The ELCA Church
Council formed the committee to study funding policies and
practices of the ELCA. The council is the ELCA's board of
directors.
+ a renewal initiative for the church, "Book of Faith:
Lutherans Read the Bible," aimed at helping members to engage the
Scriptures, and for intentional teaching, understanding and use
of Lutheran approaches to Scripture.
+ a proposal to affirm the church's work to introduce
"Evangelical Lutheran Worship," the ELCA's newest worship
materials introduced in 2006.
+ a proposal to commit the church to greater engagement in
response to HIV and AIDS through development of a churchwide
strategy for the coming decade.
+ budget recommendations for 2008 and 2009. For 2008 the
Church Council has proposed a budget of $81.67 million and an
ELCA World Hunger income proposal of $19.25 million. For 2009
the council recommended a budget of $81.92 million and an ELCA
World Hunger income proposal of $20 million.
In addition, the assembly will:
+ elect 11 new members to the Church Council, and others to
various boards and committees that work in partnership with the
churchwide organization.
+ act on several constitutional amendments to be presented
for consideration, along with resolutions or "memorials" from
synods, and proposals from assembly voting members. A churchwide
Memorials Committee will meet June 29-30 to determine its
recommendations on synod assembly memorials to the churchwide
assembly.
+ hear reports on multicultural ministries and justice for
women. The Church Council commended the content of each report
"for study, reflection and response throughout this church."
+ hear reports and greetings from representatives of the
ELCA's ecumenical partners, other church bodies and church
organizations.
+ recognize the 100th anniversary of Lutheran campus
ministry and the 60th anniversary of the LWF.

Turning the Liturgy into the Law Luther's Bear Story

Most people have not heard of Ulrich Leupold, my worship professor at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. He was a musical genius, earned a Ph.D. at the University of Berlin at the age of 23. He became a pastor after that. Persecuted for being part-Jewish, he escaped and settled in Canada.

My bride and I moved to Waterloo, Ontario, in December of 1969. Leupold only taught one more class before he began dying of a degenerative disorder. I was glad to have been one of his students.

Leupold spent the semester calming the students down about "must." Some thought the liturgy must be chanted. A few thought it must not be. Leupold admonished us not to make preferences into Law. About chanting, he said: "Chanting is fine as long it is does no harm to the throat of the pastor or the ears of the congregation."

The papalists were beginning their Long March (like Mao's) through the church. Soon everything was Law, especially in reaction to Fuller Seminary dogma. Some LCA pastors divided their congregations over such things as heaving themselves onto the altar and telling them they had never worship properly before. Their worship professor at Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, was fired for producing such divisive, Roman legalists.

Luther's bear story is instructive. He wrote about a bear who attacked two brothers. One got out a knife to stab the bear and killed his brother instead. Luther used the story, probably true (knowing German efficiency), to illustrate how the Anabaptists killed infant baptism in order to slay the pope. Ironically, Wayne Mueller used that story in an official letter to defend the use of Baptist sources, manipulating his quotation from Luther. When I answered his deception in Christian News, President-in-Waiting Mueller said to a group of pastors, "If I ever get my hands on the guy who gave Jackson that letter..." I was already free of WELS at that time, so someone obviously leaked. The name is on the tip of my tongue. Nope, I forgot.

Back to the live bear and dead brother. The more contagious the Fuller people have become, the worse the papalist party among the Lutherans. Proof is the number of Lutheran pastors who have poped to become priests or semi-poped to become Eastern Orthodox.

I favor dignified worship over Baptist entertainment seeker services. Below are some opinions in harmony with the Leupold warnings:
1. The purpose of worship is to convey Christ to the congregation through the efficacious Word, not to recruit new members through seeker services, entertainment, gimmicks, being ashamed of the liturgy, Creeds, sermons, and Lutheran hymns.
2. If pastors and congregations do not trust the Word, they should stop using the name Lutheran, which fills them with shame, and find a new affiliation.
3. Holy Communion might be offered every Sunday, as it was during the Reformation, but no one should make that the Law, as if a congregation is less than Lutheran for having the Lord's Supper once a month.
4. Closed communion--not close communion, not demi-semi-open communion--is the only appropriate expression of the sacrament. Liberals love open communion, but boy can they excommunicate when they are crossed. And they excommunicate for life. Therefore, I favor excommunication for all false teachers.
5. Since the congregation chants, it is logical for the minister to chant. However, two things distract from worship - a horrible singer like me, and a performer like Opera Man.
6. Romanizing tendencies are just as contagious as Fuller addictions. The Lutheran Church should not make Rome the final word on anything, yet Lutheran pastors are following the three-year reading cycle of Rome, the new color schemes, and other mistakes. Would a straight ministerium change the colors? Ask yourselves that. The priests changed the colors. Why should Lutherans follow?
7. The Eucharistic Prayer (ELCA, Missouri) takes away from the simplicity of the Consecration. Can anyone deny that the idea is to create more of a performance and focus on the minister? Liberals can hide behind Romanizing trends because they can worship the concept of worship without trusting in the Object of worship, Christ. No one despises the Gospel more than a faithful priest of Rome while diligently mastering the art of the Mass. High church can turn into as much of a performance as a Fuller-Willow Creek Seeker Service.
8. Lutherans should avoid terms associated with the Church of Rome. Perhaps "Father" might be seen as neutral, but the word suggests Roman doctrine or Anglican tendencies today. The same is true of Mass and other terms. Insisting on these distincitive words in the name of Reformation-Fundamentalism is just another form of legalism. Luther wore the robes of an Augustinian monk for the first eight years of the Reformation. Must I as well?
9. I like incense, always have. I have never used incense and probably never will. I doubt whether most Lutherans associate incense with Lutheran worship. One ELS pastor said he knelt during the Consecration (like a priest) "to annoy the WELS pastors." That strikes me as a poor reason to ape Rome. A better way to annoy some WELS pastors is to quote Luther.
10. The sermon should never be neglected, no matter what the excuse. Most laity arrive at the Sunday service in need of the Gospel, not tarted-up pep talks, coaching, Law harangues, and begging for more money for the synod or other worthless causes. The congregation can only be built on the Word, not on social activities. The Law bears no fruit and offers no comfort.

Would You Buy a Used Synod from This Man?

President-in-Waiting Wayne Mueller issued this formal denial in the midst of the WELS Church Growth tidal wave, which he supervised and promoted:

"There is no Church Growth Movement Program in our synod. Our church body is opposed to the false theology of the Church Growth Movement. We have no programs inside or outside the budget with that name. Nor do we have any programs with a different name which utilize Church Growth theology."
Wayne D. Mueller, Administrator for the Board of Parish Services, WELS, "A Response to 'Saving Souls vs. New Programs,'" The Northwestern Lutheran, November 1, 1991, February 1, 1992, p. 50.

In the same article, Wayne Mueller provided an escape clause for his previous official denial:

"There may be pastors or congregations which use methodology which church growth people use. This does not mean they have adopted the theology of the Church Growth Movement. Our Lutheran Confessions allow complete freedom among our churches in methodology that does not conflict with the gospel."

A few months earlier, the editor of The Northwestern Lutheran (now Forward in Contagion) solemnly declared:

"A number of experts on church growth principles added muscle to the conference. Among the experts were George Barna, George Gallup Jr., Lyle Schaller, and Tom Sine--icons in the church growth movement...Of the four church growth experts mentioned above, I have heard three of them speak at some length." [On opposing page is the letter about Church Growth which Wayne Mueller answered] James P. Schaefer, The Northwestern Lutheran, October 15, 1991, p. 63.

Just to make sure everyone knew how beloved the Church Growth Movement was and is in WELS, Jeb Schaefer, added with a twist of his meat cleaver:

"I share the judgment of Prof. David Valleskey that one 'can probably pick up a few helpful hints' from the church growth folks."

There you have it folks. The vote at the WELS convention will be for or against the Church Growth Movement.

Was Our Staff Infection There?

Willow Creek Community Church said, Experience the Contagious Church:

Staff Infection Leads to Contagion.

This raging infection is at least seven years old. Has anyone contacted the Center for Disease Control?

Swim in the Polluted Waters of Willow Creek

Pay to become contagious! Here's how:

Buy a Gift Copy for Larry Oh! and Pastor Jeff

Did Pastor Jeff buy this or was it bought with synodical offering money?

This Gunn for Hire.

Relax, o partisans of contagion. Pastor Jeff knows that this revolution will face determined opposition, not to mention puns and some laughter. He wrote about his pioneering efforts in Forward in Contagion, FIC.

They have a training team? Is Jay Leno writing this stuff?

Why Are These People Grinning?

Members and pastors: Do you see how the WELS leaders are thumbing their noses at you? More than that, they are pushing their thumbs into your eye sockets. Church Growth did not die a natural death when Pilgrim Community Church (Paul Kuske) deflated, when Crossroads Community Church (Rick Miller, Mark Freier, Kelly Voigt) turned honestly non-Lutheran. The Long March through the synod continues.

Area High Schools versus Prep Schools

Ichabod is being read in all the synods, so I am getting questions. Today I was asked about the difference between a prep school and an area Lutheran high school.

I think WELS made a big mistake in its failure to make a number of area high schools into prep schools. That would have provided a more unified system and a way of short-circuiting the us vs. them funding that will arise when an area school must be financially supported by individuals and congregations. For example, when WELS stupidly bought the failed Prairie du Chien school from the Roman Catholics, they moved the New Ulm prep school away from a dense population of members to an area where the WELS membership was not so dense. The first thing the New Ulm area did was create an area Lutheran high school, taking away the most likely students who would have attended Prairie. Besides, there is an aversion to having high school children so far from home. Prairie was merged into Northwestern Prep to become Luther Prep, but Prairie built a $500,000 music building during the shut-down. Pure genius.

One question involved the cost per student of a prep school education (synod subsidy). My brothers are CPAs, but that gene bounced right past me. I would have to look over all the reports, assume they are accure, and interpret them. That is not my forte, but more like my pianissimo.

I can talk about a prep school education since our son went to Michigan Lutheran Seminary.

Missouri once had a prep school system. Long ago, the Lutheran leaders knew that a proper college and seminary education would require a good high school. The European model provided students with a balance of all the disciplines with an emphasis on languages. Children learn languages easily and adults seldom have the time, energy, or inclination to learn them later. WELS and Missouri had similar schools but Missouri closed them down in the name of saving money and spending it on missions. Sound familiar? That is the argument in WELS today. Parts of the LCA had prep schools. My college, Augustana (sic), had a prep school.

As I understand it, Missouri started at the sixth grade. They would take a little boy off the farm and turn him into a Latin and Greek scholar. In Walther's day, all dogmatics lectures at St. Louis were delivered in Latin, with the questions and answers in Latin. That was really necessary because the good doctrinal books were in Latin. Much of Luther was still in Latin. And doctrinal discussions always used Latin terms. If the faculty is trained at Fuller, all one needs to do is wave arms in the air and pray, "Balla-llaala-sissa-bommba-achi-wawa."

A modern prep school means that a boy in the 9th grade will enter college with ability in German and Latin, able to start Greek and Hebrew. The college will do the Greek and Hebrew work so the young man can start seminary and follow Lenski and the other good commentaries, instead of reading Calvin and Handfuls on Purpose.

The LCA liberals argued against the value of Greek and Hebrew. They could not see the value of those ancient languages. As a result, the pastors are universally ignorant.

According to my reader, Martin Luther College faculty members could not tell the difference between area Lutheran high graduates and prep graduates. They soon will. Most of the MLC students come from prep schools. Once the preps are gone, MLC will become the Nursing Home on the Hill, next to the statue of Herman the German. "Used to be a college, I hear tell." MLC bought a nursing home to create an instant dorm. God has a way of recycling property.

Area high schools vary in their faculties and size. I have never visited one and have nothing against them. Their local nature makes them vulnerable to student population problems, finances, and quality of faculty. Teaching at a prep is an honor. Michigan Lutheran Seminary had an outstanding faculty when our son was there. The school had a great spirit. Dorms for young men and women meant that distant families could have their children stay there. We could not get our son home on weekends at first, when we lived only 25 miles away. He enjoyed MLS that much.

An education begins with the parents. I tutored Martin in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He helped upper classmen with their Latin, got passed out of intro Latin, and later aced the German test (his mother's contribution). Being good in languages was a plus at MLS, not an object of scorn. The school provided an atmosphere of learning. Math was tough. Science was challenging. Piano was required! The school constantly encouraged church vocations. No one was obliged to sign on for a hitch, but they were encouraged to consider it. Area Lutheran high schools, for some reason, do not have that motivating force.

Many Missouri and WELS pastors will say that they entered the ministry as a direct result of their prep school experience. At MLS pastors were respected and their work was considered the highest possible calling. Young women headed far away to Martin Luther College because they wanted to teach in parochial schools when a local state school was easier to attend and promised more opportunity. Not surprisingly, prep schools also promoted marriage and a distinct possibility of very bright but near-sighted kids in the parsonage.

I enjoyed going to MLS with my wife. The atmosphere was great. The school had a wonderful spirit. Dinners meant that all the parents wore red sweaters, since they were Cardinals. The choirs would show off their great talent in music, each group separated by levels of ability. Our son was in the group nicknamed The Bonehead Chorus for their lack of singing ability. Nevertheless, we always got goose-flesh when the choir walked in singing, "God Word in Our Great Heritage" in perfect harmony, a cappella.

The MLS campus was very impressive at the time. The preps got money so that everything was attractive and well maintained. Tuition was a bite out of our tiny budget but not impossible. Another prep school concept is that no one is sent away for lack of funds. Some impoverished students are very bright. The Pieper boys were the sons of a poor widow who had a housekeeper's job at Northwestern College.

I see the prep system as a natural outgrowth of the value placed on the efficacy of the Word in the old days. WELS and Missouri were dirt poor in previous years but rich in their Lutheran heritage. MLS was once called the Plywood Palace because of its lack of funds. Now WELS and Missouri are incredibly rich in funds (really - more on that later) but impoverished in doctrine.

I am not in favor of prep schools as institutions. People worship every brick in some buildings because of their sentimental value. They often become white-washed sepulchres full of dead men's bones, like the soaring quasi-gothic structures of the Episcopal Church. If WELS faces its doctrinal problems and begins with a multi-year study of the Book of Concord, the money and school situation will straighten itself out. The Michiganders need to fight for doctrine rather than the school.

Northwestern College made the same mistake with a feeble effort to save the school. The faculty did not have the spine to make a doctrinal argument. They weakly argued that keeping two colleges was cheaper. That was like telling a murderer that bullets cost money. Church Growth was out to snuff NWC and everyone knew it. Silence was golden and NWC merged into DMLC to become MLC. (Another Northwestern name silenced.)

The first thing the new college did was water down the curriculum of the pre-seminary students by having one track for all students, whether future teachers or future pastors. And for once, the future pastors were taught by women. No wonder they are so sensitive about which coffee beans are used in their Church Growth cafes!

How To Be Contagious - Like Fuller Seminary

After flopping with Pilgrim Community Church in Columbus (sponsored by Paul Kuske) and Crossroads Community Church in South Lyon (three WELS pastors - Rick Miller, Mark Freier, Kelly Voigt - supported by DP Mueller), WELS has once again proven that its learning curve is flat.

WELS has blessed Phoenix with CrossWalk (get it? Cross Walk). I do not think they ever call it CrossWalk Lutheran Church. I looked up their website and had serious trouble finding what denomination it was. More on that slop later.

Phoenix already has a huge Church Growth Stealth Lutheran Congregation - Community of Joy, ELCA. Thousands of members. The senior pastor has a D.Min from Fuller, just like Lawrence Otto Olson, nicknamed Larry O! and Our Staff Infection. He has been contagious for years.

Back to this whole issue of being contagious. I read Jeff's column in FIC. Some of you public school graduates are wondering, "What is FIC?" The magazine used to be The Northwestern Lutheran, a fine name with a decided handicap - the name Lutheran. Boo hiss. How can we grow with Lutheran in our magazine title? And Northwestern? The reality is - half of WELS is in Wisconsin, the old Northwestern Territory, more or less. The other half of WELS is in Michigan and Minnesota, with pockets in Nebraska, which has the population of Rhode Island. WELS is no more a national denomination than is the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

Now that I have explained FIC, it seems entirely appropriate that a magazine ashamed of being Lutheran would feature a congregation ashamed of being Lutheran. That is one definition of contagious.

As soon as I saw Jeff's article in the June issue of FIC, I thought, "This smells like the latest craze at Fuller Seminary." That beehive is so predictable that I can ignore the place for 10 years and still have my Dreck-Detector (TM) go off. I googled "contagious Fuller Seminary" and got this link:

I Think I Am Going To Be Sick!

Good old Bill Hybels, WELS' favorite theologian and pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, is selling a kit on how to be contagious. They sell the kit at the Fuller Seminary bookstore, a sure sign of approval. The WELS leaders send their sheep-like shepherds to Willow Creek to be trained in being non-denominational.

So Jeff is contagious and has a contagious church. His article will amaze anyone interested in exploring the vanity of Church Growth wannabees. His authority is a book on Primal Leadership, Yale School of Management. Some emotions are contagious, he declares with authority.

Jeff, if I stand in front of an audience and begin throwing up, some people will gag and toss their cookies. If I laugh, they will laugh. If I repent of my criticism of Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek, dabbing my red-rimmed eyes, some women will start crying and say, "I think he means it, poor boy." I did not have to go to Yale University to learn that much.

Primal Church Growth Tactics

Why do these people love everything except the Word of God? Why do they trust every secular fad but reject the Means of Grace?

Now I will explain why I call a pastor Jeff and do not even use his last name. That takes us to the latest Church Growth experiment, CrossWalk. You must have a strong stomach to view their website:

WELS Double Cross.

Jeff is the pastor there. If we look up "Jeff's Weekly Hello," we find out he has a last name, Gunn, a wife, and five children whose names all begin with "A." But there is no indication of his denomination. The message about Virginia Tech is Reformed in nature, quoting the favorite bad translation of the unionists, the NIV. People are invited to church Sunday for "a great message" (no sermon?) and "terrific music from Jonathan" (no worship?). There are many commands to pray, which the Reformed love. Prayer is their one and only Means of Grace.

CrossWalk is going to have a vision event (another Fuller and corporate management tool) to envision the next 15 years. Most of us do not know what our cell phone carrier will be in the next six months, but these vision things are handy ways to manipulate while seeming to listen. "Fritz, you want to return to the historic liturgy and the Book of Concord? Does anyone have an idea that won't scare away our prospects? Yes, Velvet, how is that dance job working out? Great. You want to teaching dancing at CrossWalk? What a vision!"

The statement above is satire, purely for the amusement of our pan-Lutheran readership.

In reality, the website is another sad, sick manifestation of the Fuller plague.

KJV 2 Timothy 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker (transliteration - gangrene, also translated as cancer).

I once visited a woman with gangrene. She was very close to losing her leg. She was so contagious that I had to visit her wearing a gown and a mask.

Look at how contagious Fuller and Willow Creek have been. The WELS magazine ejected Lutheran from its title. The hymnal does not have Lutheran in its name. Hymns in CW are often the old Baptist warblers that TLH never allowed. Doctrinal verses have been cut out of Lutheran hymns. Feminists have reworded the Creeds. Sheep-like shepherds are told to appear as Reformed as possible to embrace the vast hordes trembling to join WELS as soon as Luther's doctrine is neutered. What a disgrace to Christianity.

Wednesday - Why Men Hate Going to Church. (My answer - Because sensitive Church Growth fanatics have sissified church with pandering messages and VBS ditties passed off as hymns.)

Hiking Group - I cannot imagine Christ dying on the cross to set up hiking groups.

Guitar workshop - Ditto.

Online giving - "God has a claim on you!" Rubric: "We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and Amex."

And you thought I was being cruel about the vision workshop? Reality is far more piercing than anything I could make up.

Food - "Join us early and bring an appetite! Our CrossWalk Cafe serves bagels, donuts, fruit and our own special blend of coffee (we use only "fair-trade" coffee beans!) or fresh juice. The CrossWalk Café opens at 8:30 a.m. on Sundays. We'd love to get to know you!" (I am glad they are sensitive about fair-trade coffee.)

Common Questions - "We're friendly! We strive to create a warm, friendly environment for you. We won't surprise you by asking you to stand up or stick out in any way. We also won't ask you to give us any money. We want you to be able to check us out without feeling singled out. No pressure!

We're relevant! Our messages are meant to apply to your everyday life. They're practical and filled with comfort. We believe that everyone needs to know what God expects of us, and what God offers us in his love. If you come to CrossWalk, you'll hear just what God has to say about this - straight from his Word, the Bible! With our upbeat music and our fun and creative worship, you'll go home encouraged and equipped each week!"

Willow Creek pioneered "We won't ask you for money." But the website asks for online giving. Hmm.

I finally found a definite affiliation with WELS on the Common Questions page. The cafe is mentioned on TWO pages and affiliation on only one.

This contagious leadership and contagious church baloney are supposed to be new and revolutionary, but this is the same old Dreck served up 20 years ago and failing everywhere. C. Peter Wagner, the Pentecostal Baptist, admitted that Church Growth principles do not work.

The Yale School of Management will not help. Perhaps this might:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than
your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,
but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace:
the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Isaiah 55:8-12

Mueller versus Brenner - You Read It Here First

I am risking my reputation for calling elections (Crumley, Kieschnick, Kieschnick re-election, Dan Preus out) to predict the WELS Synodical President results.

The California DP has been mentioned as a candidate backed by the Church and Change people. That would go against the unwritten rule, that the First VP (Mueller) gets the job. Secondly, no one has more clout than President-in-Waiting Mueller. He has been the power behind the throne for years. He was able to get voted back in as VP after being voted out, a phenomenon worthy of a dissertation (Ph.D., abnormal psychology, Wayne State University).

The recent letter sent by the seminary faculty, opposing the close of MLS, tells me that Brenner definitely has a base there. Church Growth people in WELS want to close the schools. For instance, closing Martin Luther College would make Wisconsin Luther College (far more liberal) the only WELS college. WLC has plenty of Schwan money. MLC is flat busted, due to synod support money being withdrawn by the synod. The budget has been manipulated against the schools for more than 20 years.

Brenner has the added advantage of being from Michigan, where his father Slick served as a pastor and opponent of the liberals. The original John Brenner--three John Brenners in a row, almost as confusing as Constantius, Constantine, Constantia, Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans--was synodical president during the most trying times, the Great Depression. He was also known as the scourge of the liberals. He detected the changes in Missouri before anyone else noticed. SP Brenner has always been held up as the ultimate bogeyman by the Church Growth fanatics, a singular honor in the eyes of many.

John Brenner was a popular dean of men at Michigan Lutheran Seminary, before he was called to Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. For those of you who do not know WELS history, MLS was a seminary. When the Wisconsin Synod merged with Michigan, the seminary was turned into a prep school, with the promise of synodical support, the funds now being yanked away to support the hobbies of the Church Growth leaders.

Brenner is one of the rare men who would gain support from the Michigan District (grew up there, taught there) and from the Jurassic Age of WELS, when his grandfather was synodical president on a shoestring budget. Therefore, he would have plenty of support in the State of Wisconsin, where WELS pastors and members are densest.

Mueller would necessarily line up the bureaucratic support, the Church and Change people, the ordination of women advocates, and the extensive network of Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek alumni. Many Wisconsinites want MLS closed as a matter of principle (Wisconsin versus Michigan, really puerile). The dissenters would gladly cut out the very people who will support Mueller to avoid those cuts.

Right now I would give the odds to Brenner to win, but only if his people watch the ballot counting. The DMLC-NWC merger vote was flipped, a narrow defeat turned into a narrow victory. Retiring SP Gurgel then went to the disctrict conventions and promised, to win the second (necessary) district vote, that it would cost only $8 million. The Michigan District bought this line from Gurgel - "If it goes over $8 million, we will pull the plug." Sure. Some say the cost-saving merger cost $30 million. Do the Michiganders remember being goosed the last time? You bet.

Brenner should win a honest vote. The disgust toward the Mueller-Gurgel reign is so great that Wayne should not be able to stop the urge to throw the rascals out.

Immune to the message given by the disastrous drop in mission offerings, WELS has instituted an emergency pledge drive to close the gap between the $28 million given the previous year and the current $20 million mission offering. One might expect news releases urging people to die faster so the Grim Reapers (Planned Giving Counselors, aka Tetzels) could harvest faster. "The fields are white for the harvest," as Don McGavran told a slack-jawed Lawrence Otto Olson. "You must harvest with a sickle, not a pen-knife."

Two Cities - St. Augustine

Two Cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own glory; the other says to its God, “Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.”

City of God