Michigan DP Not So Excited, Exciting

 Former DP John Seifert (middle) posed with Scott Barefoot, who sent himself as a minister to gays and organized People of Grace with Pastor Richard Starr. But do not join the Intrepids! Oh no!

According to my source (Grey Goose) Michigan DP John Seifert did not seem energetic in his support for Michigan Lutheran Seminary.

I find little difference between LCMS District Popes, WELS District Popes, and ELCA bishops. All have seized the power to kick pastors out of the ministry without cause (except the pastors' valid criticisms of the synod). All three synodical types seem to think their job is to be loyal to and worshipful toward the organization. "I love the (fill in the blank) synod" is a good career motto. Expressing a few reservations is good - tossing red meat to the base - but those reservations mean nothing.

Michigan DP Robert Mueller, a tireless bungler, saw his district vote down four different resolutions in favor of amalgamation (DMLC taking over NWC). He did everything possible to get a positive vote. Then he spoke at the national convention in favor of amalgamation. The pastors stopped speaking to him. They even left the room when he entered. So he declined to run. He got a free trip to Russia, supposedly as a missionary. Ha. Now Gurgel is going to do "mission work" overseas. Ah, that sounds so much better than a long, synod-paid vacation.

Another synod cipher stepped in when Mueller declined to run. I mean, Seifert stepped in. He worships the Wisconsin Synod, as all the officials do.

Seifert was such a loyal circuit pastor that he never noticed Bivens (same circuit) defending Church Growth and bragging about going to Fuller Seminary. Seifert heard it in his own driveway, but he forgot the episode twice. Bivens forgot too, because he could not imagine why I thought he went to Fuller Seminary. Good career move, Frosty.

When initial efforts were being made to close down MLS, John Lawrenz, then the president of the school, said this, "We are willing to accept any role the synod gives us." He waved the white flag at his own school, at the district meeting! Soon he was president of DMLC for one month, head of Worker Training, and seminary professor. For some reason he was soon out of Mequon and teaching in Russia and Asia. Obviously, pulling the plug on his own school was not a bad career move.

Delegates Asked for MLS Ballot and Vote Count

Delegates wanted a ballot (not a voice vote) on MLS, plus publication of the vote count. They got the ballot but not the vote count. How difficult would that have been?

Perhaps a vote count would have encouraged the pro-school delegates too much if they saw the level of support for MLS.

WELS conventions are controlled and manipulated by The Love Shack. For instance, they called an emergency convention to buy the Prairie du Chien campus. They just had to have that campus, so the New Ulm prep school could move. They got their way, moved the campus to a place where there were very few WELS Lutherans. The New Ulm area immediately built an area Lutheran high school. Prairie was eventually merged with Northwestern Prep to become Martin Luther Prep.

At one point WELS talked about abandoning the very campus at PdC they just had to have. While they were cutting Prairie loose, they spent about $500,000 on a new music building.

So why are delegates wary? Don't they trust the Holy Spirit?

Delegates Vote to Keep Michigan Lutheran Seminary Open

From the Vatican's New Ulm Branch:

"CONVENTION DELEGATES VOTE TO KEEP
MICHIGAN LUTHERAN SEMINARY OPEN


Delegates to WELS 59th Biennial Convention at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minn., Thursday adopted a resolution that rejects the Synodical Council’s proposal to close Michigan Lutheran Seminary (MLS) in Saginaw, Mich., at the end of the 2007-2008 school year.


Details to follow."

Doom Has Come Upon Us All! Orcs Riding on Wargs! Huebner Accepts

"On Thursday, it was announced that Pastor James Huebner accepted the call to be second vice president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

Delegates elected Huebner on Wednesday on the second ballot. Runner-up was incumbent Thomas Zarling, pastor at Christ Our Savior, Sterling, Va.

The delegates thanked Zarling for his service as second vice president for the past four years.

The second vice president is a parish pastor, so Huebner will continue as pastor at Grace, Milwaukee, Wis. In his role as second vice president, he shall “assist the president and the first vice president, serve on the Conference of Presidents, and serve as the corporate secretary for the corporation” (WELS Bylaws Section 2.20)."

***

The headline is borrowed from Tokien's The Hobbit.

Of course, millions were shocked that Huenber would accept a promotion of any type. When he was about to be ordained, he and James Tiefel were vying for the call to Grace, Milwaukee. Huebner said (as he told me), "Tiefel won't get Grace. I'm getting Grace."

Huebner's father, as president of Dr. Martin Luther College, defended WELS teacher/murderer Al Just on the stand in Phoenix. Following in the same tradition, James Huebner took Floyd Luther Stolzenburg's side in Columbus, when he arrived to "fix things," based on his training at Fuller Seminary.

It is absurd how many WELS pastors stood behind Stolzenburg, a man forced to leave the LCMS ministry for cause, a blatant false teacher who never joined WELS and swore he never would. Paul Kuske and DP Robert Mueler practically promised sainthood to Floyd. Kuske and Floyd even started Pilgrim Community Church together.

So Huebner, as Second VP, will do everything possible to undermine anything the new Synodical President Schroeder might do. Huebner will be the Church Growth/Church-and-Change minder when Wayne Mueller is not there.

Huebner wanted a copy of Lenski's Eisenach Gospels. I found one at Trinity for 25 cents and sent it to him. I inscribed on the cover: "May this help you repudiate the Church Growth Movement." I never got an acknowledgement or a note of thanks.

Huebner turned pale when I told him how many copies of things I made each week and mailed out to people.