Seminex won, my friends.
The only way the Church Growth Movement will be defeated in the Lutheran Church is by opposing its doctrine. Sure the Lutheran CG leaders are unstable, their methods embarrassing, and their sneaker services tacky. But complaining about them is not going to accomplish anything more than it has - which is nothing so far. Thirty years of ineffective grousing should convince us that another route is better.
Here are the basic doctrinal errors of the Church Growth Movement:
1. They deny the efficacy of the Word, which is a foundational Biblical doctrine, essential to all aspects of the Christian faith.
2. They believe they can enlarge the Church by adulterating the Word. In fact, they advocate adulterating the Word.
3. Their favorite word - method - is used once in the New Testament, negatively. Pastors should get out their Greek lexica--or ponies--and look up method in the Greek NT. Hint - it is spelled the same way in Greek, only with Greek letters.
4. They confuse the visible church with the true, invisible Church.
5. Most are closet Universalists, which is fine with Lutheran UOJ fanatics, who are also Universalists. As the WELS CG campaign said, "I am saved, just like you."
6. They do not comprehend Law and Gospel, often confusing the two. They turn Moses into the Savior and the Savior into Moses, to quote Luther.
7. They speak about the Holy Spirit all the time, but they deny the exclusive work of the Holy Spirit through the invisible Word of teaching and preaching, the visible Word of the Sacrament. (This is directly related to the efficacy of the Word.)
8. They follow Calvin and Zwingli in mocking the Sacraments.
9. They claim the Word of God is dead without man's help.
10. Since worship reflects doctrine, they destroy worship in the name of recruiting people.
11. They despise the Confessions, especially the Lutheran Confessions, but also their own confessions, a half-way step on the road to Unitarianism.
12. They are ecumenical to a fault, as long as their fellowship includes only those people who agree with their Church Growth principles. Those who critique their nonsense are excommunicated with prejudice.
***
If nothing is done about this among the Lutherans, there will be no Lutheran doctrine taught in 20 more years, perhaps 10. The names will still be there. The Kool Aid drinkers will be getting in line, taking a number, talking about their "beloved synod." But Lutheran doctrine will be as scarce as a Triglotta at St. Mark's, De Pere.
The upcoming doctrinal study by WELS has already given an ominous hint of things to come. The sect is going to study the Means of Grace, but the official announcement was openly scornful about those who trusted in the Word alone, slandering faithful pastors with the implication that they did not work as hard as their CG counterparts.
I read the announcement as, "The fix is on," but Wayne Mueller took a call soon after. The offical wording definitely had his spirit. Now there is some hope, if some pastors can grow a spine. The District Popes will not help.
