Bruce Church thought the WELS financial turnaround was due to a gift from the Schwan Foundation for $8 million.
I went back to my records and found WELS receiving $24 million in 1998, 10 years ago.
WELS doubled its spending during the peak of Schwan donations, entering into many obligations that could not be maintained. When the Schwan money began to decline, WELS turned into the profligate nephew written out of his aunt's will. Panic!
The improvement has probably come from the Michiganders unhitching their purse strings and a few 2007 tax-beating gifts. SP Gurgel had so many gifts of leadership, as he claimed, that synodical income went up as soon as he left the country.
Disturbing is the trend of saying, "We are doing great" when some big gifts come in. The last time I checked my Bible, money was the small stuff in the Kingdom. I am waiting for some sign that Book of Concord doctrine is getting a toehold.
ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Bruce Church: Count the Offering
