My technology friends tell me Ichabod is being read around the world, but especially in the states of Wisconsin and California.
I hear from various readers. One was a Roman Catholic and is now joining a truly conservative Lutheran congregation.
Another is Bruce Church, who has interesting blog material he sends my way. This morning I noticed he is giving stuff to Norm Teigen as well. Norm's blog continues to be my daily favorite.
Norm Teigen represents what is being lost (or thrown away) in the Little Sect, WELS, and Missouri. Every organization has its faults, but I believe the old Synodical Conference was once the domain of kind, gentle, orthodox people. The pastors were genuinely self-sacrificing. Some were intellectual giants who labored in obscurity but produced remarkable material.
The apostates took advantage of the trust built up by real churchmen. The apostates used their own nastiness, aggression, and ruthlessness to drive out the earlier leaders and pastors. The single biggest uniting factor has been Church Growth for the last few decades. Other damaging factors are unionism, Pentecostalism, and homosexual liberation.
Whatever is bad is then driven out by what is even worse. ELCA proved that. As bad as the LCA and ALC were in 1987, their synodical officials were considered too conservative to be trusted in the new lavender ELCA. Who created the La Cage ELCA? - the worst offenders of the LCA and ALC. The worst offenders of the past began howling as soon as they were shelved and ridiculed by the new leaders.
I look back at the LCA congregation I joined when I was 16. I left the Disciple of Christ on my own because First Christian in Moline made me ill. (How ironic, since the entire Lutheran Church today is enthralled by a sociologist from the Disciples of Christ, Donald McGavran!) The LCA congregation I joined had only recently been part of the Augustana Synod, part of the LCA merger. The only services we had were liturgical. The sermons were Biblical, not self-help rants.
The Wisconsin Synod did not like the fact that my LCA experience and theological training made me aware of the fraud being perpetrated by the Love Shack and the Sausage Factory. The more they lied, the more research I did. Many documents were sent to me, sometimes anonymously, other times by pastors who lacked the spine to do the work themselves.
Now the ELS, WELS, and Missouri synod members are crying in their beer about the bad leaders they have elected and enabled. They enable these thugs by sending them money, attending their meetings, and apologizing for the crimes committed in the Name of God.
Let me make a comparison. Bill Clinton did not become president and stay president because he was a good leader. He was a farce as Arkansas governor. He was a crashing bore as a speaker. He was far worse than a womanizer and creek-jumper. Every time he fell on his face, people propped him up again. He had powerful international friends already when he was governor of a largely ignored Southern state. When someone that incompetent is put in power and kept in power, it is because of powerful friends.
When you see an adulterous pastor promoted by his pals, it is not because of the wisdom of Holy Mother Synod. It is because of its corruption. That corruption is so entrenched now that the leaders are not even embarrassed over their criminal cover-ups. As soon as anyone gets a peek at what they are hiding, the attacks begin.
If you enjoy Ichabod, you will laugh at the following. A number of people have been falsely accused of being "Greg Jackson." If that is not funny enough, one pastor threatened Holy Mother WELS with sending me the latest WELS theological pratfall. He is no longer a WELS pastor.
