Kent Hunter (left), The Church Doctor,
To Heal St. John's, Marysville, Ohio
St. John's in Marysville is one of the founding congregations of the LCMS. The Loehe congregations began a synod and invited the Missouri (Walther) guys to join. Later, the Loehe contribution was overlooked in the histories, as if Walther founded the LCMS.
St. John's is reputed to have a lot of members, but only a few of them come to church on Sunday. So The Church Doctor will fix things up. I met Kent Hunter and talked to him on the phone. He is close with Paul Kelm (WELS, DMin in Church Growth, Concordia, St. Louis).
Kent Hunter and Waldo Werning were the featured speakers--with Leonard Sweet--for the much lamented 2005 Church and Change Conference. It was euthanized by popular demand, not without some bellowing from The Moose Report.
Kent has a double doctorate, one might say. The first is from an ELCA seminary. The DMin is from Fuller Seminary, which, as Larry Olson bragged, has more LCMS graduate students than both Concordias put together. Larry forgot to mention all the WELS trainees.
Here is what one website said about The Church Doctor:
About Church Doctor Ministries
The purpose of the Church Growth Center is to participate in the transformational change of Christians and churches for the effective implementation of the Lord's Great Commission to make disciples of all peoples (Matthew 28:19-20).
The Church Growth Center is a non-profit ministry, evangelical in tone and Christ-centered. Ministry is conducted through three primary channels, reciprocally related: resources, educational events, and consultation services. These ministries are headquartered at the Church Growth Center in Corunna, Indiana. The scope of this ministry is interdenominational and international. Many of the ministry's resources have been translated into other languages.
"It is my passion, as founder and president of the ministry, to come alongside churches and help them be more effective at reaching the lost for Jesus Christ. It is my perception that there are already enough Christian in the world—to easily reach the world for Jesus Christ. But, they need to be motivated, focused and directed. It is this leveraging activity of ministry that summarizes the efforts of the Church Growth Center." – Dr. Kent Hunter
Joy Lead Partners
Mike Breen – President
As rector and team leader of St. Thomas' Church in Sheffield, Mike used LifeShapes to grow the largest church in the north of England, with 80 percent of the congregation under age 40. On staff at Community Church of Joy in Glendale, AZ, and as a teacher for Fuller Seminary in California, Mike helps church leaders in transition and coaches church planters on how to be effective in our contemporary culture.
Kent is a true missionary in every sense of the word. He loves the Church and loves creating healthy mission-oriented congregations. Kent has helped Community Church of Joy in developing a real heart and skills for mission. As a Board member for our Leadership Center and a speaker at many of our conferences, Kent has brought tremendous passion and breakthrough thinking to Joy and a multitude of leaders.
Dr. Walt Kallestad
Community Church of Joy
Note that Breen is on the staff of Community of Joy. Dr. Walt likes Hunter. Breen teaches at Fuller. Hunter and Kallestad have DMins from Fuller. Larry Olson has a DMin from Fuller. The world mission, American mission, and synodical leaders of WELS and Missouri are Fuller trained. It's one big happy family.
Community of Joy is an ELCA congregation. Many in ELCA are ashamed of Joy. Kallestad believes in entertainment evangelism. His article in The Lutheran shocked and appalled Lutherans.
The Synod Minder asks - "But have you actually been to a Joy service, Greg?"
Yes I have. It was superficial and tedious at the same time, with a big focus on how many ways someone could give money to the organization.
"But did you tell Dr. Hunter his sin?"
I spoke to him on the phone. Frosty Bivens declared it was slander to suggest Paul Kelm endorsed a Kent Hunter workshop. I had it in writing, but Bivens immediately claimed that it was possibly some kind of trick or accident. Hunter explained that he asked for and received an endorsement from Kelm, in writing. Thus Bivens cried "Slander" because the plain facts were told. I gradually learned that this was pandemic among the Church Growth syndicate members.
I questioned Hunter's non-LCMS education as an LCMS pastor. He said, "You ask a lot of questions." Later I met him at the Purple Palace, during the McCain administration, when he was speaking to the Council of Presidents. Boy, the LCMS sure has grown since then. Or maybe they did not listen to him.
