McCain Count Seriously Wrong

According to Paul (Do you know who I used to be?) McCain:

Gregg, you need to tell the truth. The only reason I agreed to see you at the International Center was because you were without a position in the ministry an were selling insurance and tried to sell me a policy. This was before you alienated absolutely every person and every Lutheran Synod, micro-Synod and Lutheran congregation in the USA. Name even one single Lutheran pastor who supports you Gregg. I feel sorry for you.

This eruption came just because I mentioned that I knew him. Imagine if I had admitted he gave me a personal tour of the Purple Palace and got together with me a second time! Egads!

McCain makes it sound like he found me outside the doors of the LCMS office building, pushing my shopping cart full of personal possessions and aluminum cans, brushing away lice and fleas. After he claimed to have a $1 million AAL policy, I tried to sell him something?

I will put it this way - McCain is consistently wrong.

I recently had a long, friendly conversation with Pastor Herman Otten, McCain's former friend. I wonder if McCain alienated his former political ally - the very person who got the Barry-McCain administration into place - by constantly promoting Barry in his paper through secretly leaked materials from McCain. McCain publicly denied working with Otten. We don't really know it's true until we have an official denial from McCain.

Drifting back to my main point - I had a an exceptionally friendly email from a WELS pastor. He reads Ichabod every day and loves it. Before that it was an email from a pastor's daughter, whose father enjoys Ichabod as well. Yesterday I also had a long conversation with a pastor about all kinds of things.

McCain knows from his extensive study of politics, that a motion to make a decision unanimous fails from one negative vote. Therefore, his main contention is seriously wrong, as people must have guessed.

Laity are writing and signing their emails while synod minders are posting anonymously. Both encourage me.

I am trying to encourage people to stand up for the truth rather than continue in their synod-worship. The only ones gaining from synod-worship are those who have lived off the synod dole and hope to continue in their life of luxury and ease.

Intelligent Post on LQ

Rev. Ed Wright (Thewrightrev)
Member
Username: Thewrightrev

Post Number: 58
Registered: 4-2007
Posted on on LutherQuest, Thursday, August 23, 2007 - 11:44 am:

--------------------------------------------------------
We look upon our ELCA 'brothers and sisters' with disdain, but we will follow in the same footsteps unless we look at ourselves first (the LCMS). I see women's ordination just around the corner, then who knows what's next? Oh, I want to be optimistic about our synod, but little by little we have compromised God's Word with poor exegesis so we/I blame the current administration, but in reality all of us pastors and members are guilty of wanting either our ears tickled or to tickle others ears. So, let's pray for our friends in the ELCA and at the same time understand, but by the grace of God go I.

ELCA News Service Still Silent

I routinely go to the ELCA News Archives for their news releases.

I expected plenty of news after the convention, such as:
1. Mobs surround ELCA headquarters, wave pitchforks and torches.
2. Last congregation leaves ELCA - now only staff left.
3. ELCA merges with ELS - Moldstad excommunicates Bishop Hanson.

Nothing has been posted since the convention. Perhaps everyone went on vacation - or into hiding. I expect something every day, at least a few new stories a week. So far - nothing for over a week.

Yes, the National Council of Churches Lives

The United Church of Christ - bellwether for the Lutherans - has been shrinking and losing the PR race for decades.

So has the National Council of Churches. There were some major efforts to unite all Protestant groups in the 19th century. One result was the Federal Council of Churches, renamed the NCC when the FCC got too Marxist and too loud about it. Of course, renaming the group solved that problem.


An ELCA pastor has been named to an NCC post, proving they have some cash left in their faltering budget. Her name is Ann Tiemeyer, graduate of Yale Divinity. The ELCA news blog is a good way to keep up with their news.

WordAlone - LCMC

WordAlone/LCMC
We are rapidly running out of names for Lutheran groups. I cannot remember exactly what LCMS is, but I know they are congregations from the ELCA. Some congregations within LCMS are completely out of ELCA. Others have a dual-membership. Apparently, WordAlone/LCMC had two main groups, charismatic and non-charismatic. The two factions have parted ways.

No one (except Ichabod) wanted to leave ELCA when it began in 1987. Now the exits are being stampeded. During the last 20 years, WELS and Missouri have done their best to identify with and work with ELCA. No wonder people are not rushing to join either WELS or Missouri.

Augustana Ministerium
One Lutheran name has already been recycled. The Augustana Synod was a group of Swedish-American Lutheran churches. They chose their name to distinguish them from the generic, non-confessional Lutherans of the time. My wife, my mother, and I all graduated from Augustana College. Conrad Bergendoff wrote a book about the ministers of the denomination, called The Augustana Ministerium. Now a group within the LCMS has called itself The Augustana Ministerium.