Women Pastors in WELS

WELS pastoral nightmare after taking too much Nyquil: "Meet the new DP and her Life Partner."

From Bailing Water:

Anonymous said...
More WELS double-think. Keep in mind that the "answerman" is a seminary professor. What part of St. Paul's inspired words to the Corinthian women does he not understand: Remain Silent. I weep for the faithful in the WELS that see the freight train of pastorettes coming at them but can't seem to get out of the way. I weep for my own synod for its failure to step away from the WELS flawed theology of the public ministry when it had the chance.

ELSer

***

GJ - Everyone in the world is forgiven, according to WELS. And, everyone is a minister, too. The Rev. Dr. John Brug stated more than a decade ago that there is "nothing in the Bible against women pastors." Various pastoral papers have said the same thing, Wisconsin pastors being prone to parrot each other, especially when they are wrong.

No One Here Can Love Or Understand Me

Recent Mequon Reunion.
Missing from photo - WELS pastor William Tabor.

All 12 districts will be meeting in convention early next week to discuss local and synod issues. At two of the conventions, new district presidents will be elected—Rev. Larry Cross, president of the Minnesota district, is retiring June 30 and Rev. Paul Janke, president of the Arizona-California district, is not accepting nominations for re-election.


"For me, 10 years is good," says Janke. "It's been a privilege to serve, but I desire to get back into the parish ministry full time. There is quite a bit of travel involved in being district president, so there are a lot of things in the parish that I miss. I'm really looking forward to teaching Bible studies and Bible information class and visiting—those are some of the real joys."

***

GJ - Actually, Janke was admonished by a number of pastors not to run for District Pope again. That is when he stepped down. Perhaps the district felt Janke had done enough damage already.

Cross? Cross? That rings a bell. I believe he was involved in the recruitment of Tabor, the WELS pastor who got away with murdering his wife, although the mistress went to prison. Everyone involved with Tabor and the cover-up has come out smelling like roses.

Photographic Evidence

Abortion on Demand Means Eliminating Baby Girls in India and China

India and China are known for allowing only boy babies to be born. China has a One Child policy. In northern India there are cities with a ration of 100 boys to 30 girls being born. Likewise, since the boy must care for his parents when they are older, the boy baby is chosen over the baby girl in China.

Mark Steyn has a warning about what will happen in the next decade or so, with a lack of females to marry in China:

By mid-century, when today's millions of surplus boys will be entering middle age, India and China are expected to account for a combined 50% of global GDP. On present trends, they will be the most male-heavy societies that have ever existed. As I wrote in my book America Alone, unless China's planning on becoming the first gay superpower since Sparta, what's going to happen to all those excess men?

And what of the western world? Canada and Europe are in steep demographic decline and dependent on immigration to sustain their populations.

Fire at Universal Studios: Culprit Found

The Second Sunday after Trinity

Built on the Rock, by Norma Boeckler
The Second Sunday after Trinity

Live Lutheran Worship Service, Sundays, 8 AM, Phoenix Time

The Hymn #44 by Koren - Guds Menighed syng
The Invocation p. 15
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual 1 John 3:13-18
The Gospel Luke 14:16-24
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #656 by Brorson – Great White Host
The Sermon

The Poor, Blind, And Lame, The Highways And Hedges

The Hymn #304 by Matthias Loy – St. Chrispin
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #39 by Neander – Lobe den Herren, den

The flowers on the altar are given in memory of Cleo Kiehler, who died last week at the age of 71. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

Note – when the author of the hymn is listed (by Koren, etc.) it means the hymn was written by a Lutheran. Loy served as a pastor in Delaware, Ohio, just north of Columbus.

1 John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. 14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death.15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16 Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Luke 14:16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one [consent] began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel [them] to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.





THE POOR, BLIND, AND LAME, THE HIGHWAYS AND HEDGES

In this Gospel the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us a parable about the Kingdom of God and why its population is so small. In the parable we are warned against carnal security but comforted about the lowly status of believers, which would alarm us otherwise.

The invitation to the great supper is the call to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. When people worry about who is saved through Christ, they should remember that God has made provisions for many different opportunities to hear the Gospel invitation. People have savagely prevented the Gospel from taking root in their lands, murdering missionaries and making the teaching of the Gospel illegal. We should not condemn God for the hardness of man’s heart. Nevertheless, God still extends the invitation in many forms. The problem is not getting the Gospel message out but the rejection of the Gospel. Now America is the country most in need of missionaries. Not only are we becoming drastically short of ministers, but the American people behave exactly as the people of the parable.

How burdensome is a great supper? The king—that is, God the Father Almighty—proposes to hold a great feast of celebration in eternal life. What is the cost of attending? There is no cost for us. Jesus the Son of God has paid the price with His holy and innocent blood. He has paid for our sins. The Holy Spirit has gone out through the Word and Sacraments to extend this Gospel invitation to us. This is beautifully portrayed in the Means of Grace chapter in Isaiah:

KJV Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

If you have no money, buy and eat. Buy wine and milk without money and without price. This is nonsense for unbelievers but Gospel for Christians. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be fed.” If you hunger and thirst for the forgiveness of your sins, you will obtain this food for your soul for no price at all, through the grace, love, and mercy of God.

Let your soul delight in fatness. We say we do not like fatty foods, but we love steaks, desserts, whipped cream, ice cream. From the beginning of time man has enjoyed these foods because they are so satisfying. Wave an ice cream bar in front of someone and see who rejects it. In the same way, the Gospel of forgiveness delights us and satisfies us.

At one conference we sang the ancient hymn “Te Deum Laudamus” many times. I keep singing it to myself. Difficult tune. Very old. But more enjoyable to sing than almost any other hymn. Why is that? Because it teaches the truth of the Bible. It proclaims the Gospel and fills our souls with the praise of God.

The great supper is God’s invitation to enjoy eternal life with the saints, angels, and the Holy Trinity. But how did people respond in the parable?

· I bought a piece of land.
· I just got some oxen.
· I just got married.
The excuses are all lame, ridiculously funny, because not one is a reason to avoid a great supper.

The excuses make us even more aware of how feeble the alibis are when people say they are too busy to receive the feast of promises concerning eternal life. Anyone who is a minister or a layman has heard them all. I remember one couple who visited church once and left in anger because the building fund was mentioned. They treated this as an imposition upon them, even though no one imagined asking them for anything, since they were visitors. One insurance agency owner summed it up well, “Any excuse will do.”
We have another version of this parable at work now in this Age of Apostasy, when the established church leaders are clearly false teachers and unbelievers. Some stories even turn out humorous in their grotesque perversion of the Gospel. One Church of England bishop said that one of his ministers could change himself into a woman and still serve as an Anglican priest. (Probably at a lower salary) Other denominations fling homosexual activism at their members and then announce to the press that the issue is dividing the denomination.

The level of apathy is so bad that I am shocked when someone reports a small knot of people who actually react appropriately to what is happening. We could also say that the great supper is the feast of orthodox Christian literature available to those who are discerning. Let me mention some things:

The Church Fathers, such as Augustine and Chrysostom, Jerome and Ambrose, established the meaning of orthodoxy in many different battles for the truth.
The Reformers and post-Reformation authors by themselves have written enough to keep us feasting for the rest of our lives. We have Luther and the Book of Concord, Chemnitz, Chytraeus, J. Gerhard, and many others.
Certain American authors are good because they fought the same battles in their day: Jacobs, Krauth, Schmauck, Lenski, and Walther.

I have just listed the most neglected authors in the Lutheran Church today. There is more interest in the ravings of C. Peter Wagner than the pure Word of God from Luther.

We are what we consume. I thought about that when I bought groceries today. I purchased only healthy items, with lots of fruit. No cookies. No ice cream. No chips. No dessert of any kind. If we consume orthodox literature, we will enjoy the fruits of orthodoxy.

Two things have been very apparent from working on the collection of quotations known as the Megatron Database. First - I have read the same quotations so many times over that I have no doubts about the clarity of God’s Word or the meaning of the Confessions. That is one result. The second result is the fanatical opposition to the truth that I have witnessed in response to those quotations. Time after time people have raged about the very use of those quotations, the good examples from Luther and the Confessions, the bad examples from the synodical prima donnas. Neither type is my personal opinion in my words. Both types of quotations represent the expressed truths and untruths of various authors.

But I have had Lutherans say, “How dare you quote Luther so much!” One Church Growth leader, Larry Olson, Dmin, Fuller (Dmin stands for d-min-ished doctrine) published an angry letter against me in CN that said in so many words, “How dare you quote me verbatim!”



Once again, it is important to mention that this is not opposition to a person but to the Word of God. One friend phoned me and said that he did not find writing computer code exciting. I said, “Get on another mountain. You are on the wrong one for your personality.” If a Lutheran hates to hear the best quotations of Luther, he is on the wrong mountain, too. He should move over to the Enthusiasts who deny that the Holy Spirit works exclusively through the Word.

That is why we have such a ragged looking rabble at the great supper. Episcopalian Bishop James Pike became an Episcopalian because he was thrilled at all the high society people who were Anglicans. (Pike preceded Spong in denying all the doctrines of the Bible. He died stupidly in the desert and was mourned by all three of his wives.) In contrast, the high and mighty do not like Lutheran orthodoxy at all.

When a group broke with the Church of Rome over the declaration of the infallibility of the pope at Vatican I, not one bishop left the Church of Rome to join them. Many voted against the measure. Many voiced their opposition. Pope Pius’ own son was against it. Strossmeyer gave a famous speech against the whole agenda of Vatican I, but he never left and he humbled himself before the pope later for being so courageous. The high and mighty do not want to give up their comfort and security, the esteem of their friends. In contrast, many people will walk over their own mothers to betray the truth.

So we should not be concerned that those who love Lutheran orthodoxy today are few, poor, of low esteem in the eyes of the Apostate Church, scattered, and lacking the praise of the unbelieving world.

When no one came to the great supper, the master declared:

Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

The poor, blind, and lame are symbolic but also actual. The people with the worst health are often the most grateful for what they have from God. With one foot in heaven, they receive God’s blessings in gratitude…while we look at our abundance and demand even more. Someone who has lost ground from a degenerative condition but remains cheerful and grateful to God is an example of this parable at work.

We should not forget that the master tells the servants to go out and compel people to attend his great supper. In other words, God provides the means through His servants to invite people into His Kingdom. Some people worry that it is all up to them, that they are solely responsible for millions doomed to eternity in Hell. That is typical of Reformed thinking, where money is raised with such slogans as: “God has no hands but yours, no legs, but yours, no voice, but yours.” Such blasphemy raises money but makes people asking about helping out the poor, old Creator of the universe, Who is blind, mute, and lame, according to this absurd confession of faith.



One CLC pastor was staggered when I gave a missionary sermon from Jonah, where the Word of God clearly shows that God determined to convert Ninevah and did so, in spite of the headlong rush of Jonah to leave town and go the opposite way. Who else but God could create a huge storm, catch Jonah like bait in a large fish, and vomit him on the shores of Ninevah, stinky, humbled, and ready to preach? Only God. Man said no, but God said yes. God always provides for accomplishing His will through His Word. He only asks us to teach His Word and not our word.

In the same way God snagged us through the Word. We have all wandered from the truth at times. We have been complacent. We have allowed the attractions of the world to take us from the Word. But through time and troubles God has burned the dross away to refine our faith and keep our eyes on the cross, on the Savior, on His eternal-life-giving Word. We are the poor, the blind, the lame, the riff-raff from the hedges and highways. We are the lambs gathered by Jesus and carried in His arms.


Quotations

"But Christ was given for this purpose, namely, that for His sake there might be bestowed on us the remission of sins, and the Holy Ghost to bring forth in us new and eternal life, and eternal righteousness [to manifest Christ in our hearts, as it is written John 16:15: 'He shall take of the things of Mine, and show them unto you.' Likewise, He works also other gifts, love, thanksgiving, charity, patience, etc.]. Wherefore the Law cannot be truly kept unless the Holy Ghost is given."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV, Justification, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 159. Tappert, p. 125. Romans 3:31; John 16:15.

"But as the Confutation condemns us for having assigned these two parts to repentance, we must show that [not we, but] Scripture expresses these as the chief parts in repentance and conversion. For Christ says, Matthew 11:28: Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Here there are two members. The labor and the burden signify the contrition, anxiety, and terrors of sin and of death. To come to Christ is to believe that sins are remitted for Christ's sake; when we believe, our hearts are quickened by the Holy Ghost through the Word of Christ. Here, therefore, there are these two chief parts, contrition and faith."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XII (V), #44, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 263. Tappert, p. 187.

Need for Forgiveness
"For now we are only half pure and holy, so that the Holy Ghost has ever [some reason why] to continue His work in us through the Word, and daily to dispense forgiveness, until we attain to that life where there will be no more forgiveness, but only perfectly pure and holy people, full of godliness and righteousness, removed and free from sin, death, and all evil, in a new, immortal, and glorified body."
The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III, #58, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 693.

Who Has the Word?
"The Church has no word of its own. Whatever is not taken from Scripture is not the 'Word of the Church,' but what Luther bluntly calls 'prattle.' Also other books can exert a divine power and efficacy, but always only inasmuch as they have absorbed God's Word. Of Scripture Luther says: 'No book teaches anything concerning eternal life except this one alone' (St. Louis edition XIV:434)."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans. Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950, I, p. 315.

"But the chief office or force of the Law is that it reveal original sin with all its fruits, and show man how very low his nature has fallen, and has become [fundamentally and] utterly corrupted; as the Law must tell man that he has no God nor regards [cares for] God, and worships other gods, a matter which before and without the Law he would not have believed. In this way he becomes terrified, is humbled, desponds, despairs, and anxiously desires aid, but sees no escape; he begins to be an enemy of [enraged at] God, and to murmur, etc. This is what Paul says, Romans 4:15: 'The Law worketh wrath.' And Romans 5:20: Sin is increased by the Law. [The Law entered that the offense might abound.']
Smalcald Articles, Third Part, II. #3. The Law. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 479. Tappert, p.303. Heiser, p. 142.

"Contrition is altogether necessary in those who truly and earnestly repent. For there can be no true repentance in those who, persuaded of their own holiness, dream that they are without sin, or who disregard, minimize, excuse, cloak, and defend their sins, despise or ridicule the divine threats, do not care about the wrath of God, are not moved by His judgment and displeasure, and therefore persevere and continue in sins against their conscience, delight in sins, and seek and seize occasions for sinning and for whatever they intentionally heap up without the fear of God--in them, I say, there can be no true repentance...."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986, II, p. 581.

Medicare Advantage

My mood after dealing with medical bills, time past.

Mrs. Ichabod is in the hospital again tonight, for observation and tests. She looks healthy and energetic, but she may have another bout of Valley Fever, which can be dangerous.

I decided to use the opportunity to mention Medicare Advantage, since many people do not know about it. Once Medicare D began, we were squeezed into a corner, paying huge amounts for prescriptions, kicked out of two plans in two years. The health plan she had for 12 years encouraged her to shop for something else. So we did.

As I understand it, Medicare Advantage gives a fat sum of money to an organization to take care of all doctor, hospital, prescription, eyecare, and dental care. There are small deductibles for each prescription and some other items, but no charge for the plan itself (saving us $3600 a year). So we are paying nothing for the plan, less for out-of-pocket costs, and getting organized care where all the medical people work together well. We use Cigna, which has generic coverage for the prescription doughnut ($2500 total in prescriptions, which we reached in May).

I wanted to mention this because neither one of us knew how much better Medicare Advantage could be, and I have a health insurance license. Pastors who read this should inform themselves about this alternative in case they can help their members by pointing them to a plan in their area. One way is to Google "Medicare Advantage" and put the zip code in the window. Several plans and their outlines, plus a phone number, will appear.

I will join the same plan when I am 65. Mrs. Ichabod is in Medicare because she is disabled.

We no longer have a file folder with 100 recent Medicare and supplemental forms in it. Almost all the billing is done inside Cigna.

Obama Quits Trinity United Church of Christ, Takes Up Smoking Again

Obama alternates between Nicorette gum and Cigs.

Months before anyone noticed, Ichabod was studying the website of Trinity United Church of Christ. One reader said, long before the scandal broke, "Have you read their radical racist website?"

"Yes," I answered wearily. Eternal vigilance is the price of being an information maven.

The hero of WELS Church and Change, Leonard Sweet, was president of the Chicago seminary when Wright graduated.

Now Obama has given himself the Left Foot of Fellowship.

Obsession with Infant Communion

How did the LCMS turtle get on the Eastern Orthodox fencepost?

Check Cyberstones for evidence of LCMS infant communion obsession. One of the posts says, "I was talking to an Eastern Orthodox friend of mine, and he said..." Oh yes - my EO friend who graduated from The Fort, center of rock-ribbed Lutheran doctrine.

Click here for Gary Gehlbach's infant communion website.

Here is the faux-Augustana Ministerium, the cubic zirconia of Lutheran confessionalism:

Rev. Robert Schaibley, Superintendent; Rev. Dr. Kent Heimbigner, Legate; Rev. Gary Gehlbach, Recording Secretary; Rev. Gregory Schultz, Bursar; Rev. Eric Stefanski, Dean of Communications; Rev. Dr. Steven Hein, Dean of Education; Rev. James Heiser, Dean of Missions; Rev. Michael Liese, Dean of Pastoral Care; Rev. Drew Newman, Dean of Pastoral Recruitment. Faux-Augustana overlaps ELDONA, so the nano-group with the superfluity of mini-bishops must be the farm team for ELDONA.

"Join now and you could become the Gauleiter of North Dakota."

***

saxoniae has left a new comment on your post "Obsession with Infant Communion":

I'll admit that I'm really scared of LCMS pastors who keep bringing up infant communion. Pr. Petersen posted on his blog back in early 2007 in response to Rev. McCain's disagreement with infant communion:

"Newsflash1: people have questions about this. Newsflash2: the Confessions haven't addressed it as directly or fully as you claim."

I replied to him that people have questions about this only because certain pastors who want it keep bringing it up.

I didn't get a response to that.

But what is your problem with Augustana Ministerium? Last I heard it was an organization providing financial support for faithful pastors who had been "fired" from their Calls.

Timothy C. Schenks

***

GJ - Hmm. I thought you read my post. Faux-Augustana is another lobby for Eastern Orthodoxy.

Heart-thumps for EO include many other aspects for this non-confessional, high church fad. I am not against formal liturgical worship, but I do question the integrity of men who call themselves Lutheran (as Neuhaus and Fenton did) up to the point where they tear away the mask and own up to their foreign allegiance.

Motley Magpie is another, tediously superior, EO stalking horse.

Pennsylvania Episcopalians Pray for the Predators, Not the Victims

Bennison is facing ecclesiastical court charges as well as fraud charges in civil court.

Praying for the Predator But Not the Victim

The Rev. Gregory Brewer, a known conservative and rector of The Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, the largest parish in the Diocese of Pennsylvania said, "It is a GLARING omission that there are not prayers offered for Charles/John's victim or her family; nor are there any prayers offered for those who will be called to testify."

On June 9, Bennison is scheduled to go on trial in Philadelphia on charges that he concealed his brother's sexual abuse of a minor, decades ago. Bennison, 64, was pastor of a California parish in the early 1970s when he hired his brother, John Bennison, as its youth minister. John Bennison soon began a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl that lasted several years.

Last year, the girl's family complained that Charles Bennison knew of the abuse, but did not act to prevent it, and failed to inform his superiors when John Bennison sought ordination. John Bennison resigned from the priesthood in 2006 after a Los Angeles TV station, and later VirtueOnline brought the bishop's abusive actions to the attention of Episcopalians and Anglicans worldwide.

***

GJ - Will Lutheran clergy ever have enough spine to stand up to the leaders who have engaged in the same kinds of cover-ups?

Ripe Baloney from the Sausage Factory

Jay Webber reported that the ELS called Mequon the Sausage Factory, because all the pastors came out the same. He told one pastor that WELS stood for "our Weaker Evangelical Lutheran Siblings."

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA":

"Could the exposure in Thy Strong Word, the Internet posting of Thy Strong Word, and the Ichabod blog have been a cause for the loss of this great tradition of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse?"

I can't believe you're taking credit for this. GA was dead and gone long before your book or your blog.

***

GJ - Oh really? Thy Strong Word was printed in 2000 and pubished on the Internet at the same time. Before that I sent email bulletins out about hazing. I know they got around, because TSW included some of the badly spelled responses, from WELSians who were forwarded the email.

Supposedly GA was killed in 2002. I am not a math major, but I assume that 2002 is after the year 2000.

I never claimed to be the sole cause of GA's putative demise, but published facts do contribute to the eradication of something truly evil. The secrecy was not to protect the fun, but the abuse.

--

Names Changed to Protect the Innocent has left a new comment on your post "Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA":

I understand your doubts. Those lies you listed are in fact lies. I agree that they are lies. Especially - "there is no church growth in WELS." However, trust that I am telling the truth here.

HB stands for "Herzliche Bruederschaft," which in German means, "Sincere Brotherhood." It's a name that accurately depicts what is now going on.

Now, God willing, these truer friendships will help foster a truer attitude toward real sins and real doctrinal problems. If, as so many do, we trace a lot of WELS' problems to GA, then we can certainly hope that the "opposite" of GA will help foster the opposite results, based on God's Word, naturally.

It may also be of interest to the readers here that more and more efforts are made at teaching and encouraging proper admonition, confession, and absolution among the brothers at WLS, with a great amount of emphasis on sexual sins such as internet pornography. That is a good thing to address.

--

GJ - I guess the days are gone when the Mequon divinity students went to x-rated movies as a group.

Ignore the Stream of Eastern Orthodox Converts: Do You Believe Me, Or Your Lying Eyes?

Jaroslav Pelikan, Yale Church Historian, trained at Concordia, St. Louis, joined ELCA much later, and died in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Benjamin Kjendal, LCMS, Semi-Popes":

You've stepped in a violation of the Eighth Commandment, there. See? It's stuck all over your shoe! And I mean, real, authentic, full-bore false witness, not that nonsensical "let's just all try to get along" stuff that comes out of HQ.

[GJ - That is the first time this morning I have heard the 8th commandment falsely invoked.

All this has been said regarding secret sins. But where the sin is quite public so that the judge and everybody know it, you can without any sin avoid him and let him go, because he has brought himself into disgrace, and you may also publicly testify concerning him. For when a matter is public in the light of day, there can be no slandering or false judging or testifying; as, when we now reprove the Pope with his doctrine, which is publicly set forth in books and proclaimed in all the world. For where the sin is public, the reproof also must be public, that every one may learn to guard against it. (284)]

Out of my graduating class of 2006, only two are not currently serving LCMS churches--one because of divorce, another because he just went East. Did anybody know about Ben's leanings? Sure. Were they ignored? No, but neither were they handled well. Since none of us has ever failed to handle a situation well, or to foresee all the possible outcomes, or to discern all the thoughts and motivations of a sinful human heart, that leaves us free to sit back in our comfy chairs and feel smug. /sarcasm

During my four years at the Fort, never once did I hear anyone say "It's just a matter of polity." Never once did I perceive the faculty as devious and never once did I engage in or did I know one of my classmates to engage in dishonesty. Political wrangling takes place, sure. People have agendas, this is true. MDiv students "cooperate and graduate", as at the other institution. Are they dishonest? By and large, the most honorable group of men I have ever had the pleasure of associating with. This is not to say that the students there are a bunch of saints, or that the graduates are better than graduates of the other seminary-- we drank a lot of beer and shot a lot of pool, to be honest, and in my district, out of the pastors I have discovered to be kindred spirits, three are CSL graduates, and one is a classmate from CTS. The CSL grads were surprised to discover that I wasn't an ass, and I was surprised at how confessional they were. All of us were disappointed at the loss of Issues, Etc.

It's possible that I am misunderstanding your post and subsequent comments. Since I don't believe that is the case, however, I think you should either issue an apology to CTS, or should dedicate equal time to the libel of CSL.

Thank you for your time.

***

GJ - For starters, one of your fellow Ft. Wayne students did write me and say, "It's just a matter of polity."

Jay Webber (MDiv, The Fort) was deep into this 20 years ago. He is now in the Little Sect on the Prairie, but will guide Wisconsinites toward true worship at their next conference.

Heiser, another watchman at The Fort, is sinuflecting east as the Metropolitan of ELDONA, the nano-synod with a letter in its name for every member parish. Missouri-watchers tell me that one or two graduates of The Fort and a similar number from St. Louis have poped or semi-poped each year. The issue is not exactly how many poped from your class, but the general trend. I do not have an official count, but I did report someone joining Rome - as a report from another person. I have to work for a living, so I do not have time to check every fact.

One graduate of The Fort earned his doctorate there and joined Eastern Orthodoxy the next day. That is no more ironic that The Fort awarding DMin degrees in Church Growth while claiming (under Robert Preus) that they were reclaiming Missouri for Walther and Lutheran orthodoxy.

One can find Heiser working with Archemandrite Gary Gehlbach (LCMS) on this page. I think Gary's major is infant baptism. The EO lobby is obsessed with clerical robes, infant baptism, and Byzantine spirituality.

Fenton is famous for abusing Lutheran doctrine as he was leaving his LCMS congregation. Apparently he was a key person in the latest LCMS hymnal. Was Fenton from The Fort or St. Louis? That is irrelevant.

First the LCMS pastors were embracing the Church Growth Movement. WELS and the ELS were too, but denying it. Then Missouri began turning out Roman and Eastern Orthodox priests. The low church and high church defections are proof that the educational systems of the synods have failed miserably. Lutheran doctrine is not confessed. Lutheran doctrine is not taught. Lutheran doctrine is not believed.

I am not a Lutheran because it was the brand name of my birth. I consider Luther's doctrine and the confirming statements of the Book of Concord to be the true, Biblical, universal faith of the Church.

--

Brian P Westgate has left a new comment on your post "Ignore the Stream of Eastern Orthodox Converts: Do...":

Fenton was out of Fort Wayne.
I still can't see how you can talk about Heiser, et al. as being Eastern sympathizers when they oppose infant communion and even ICONS. Plus Heiser publishes good old Lutheran material, which most certainly is the exact opposite of being Eastern Heterodox. It also appears they have almost a dozen parishes now . . .

***

GJ - The Fort turned out an EO mole? I am shocked, or as Queen Victoria used to write in her Germanic style - schocked.

CPH publishes Lutheran books, too.

I look at the people who are raised up as teachers and examples in any denominational setting. The Eastern Orthodox tendencies of ELDONA and the so-called Augustana Ministerium--which cannot even find an original or honest name--are plain.

Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA

Top Dog Is the Name of the Game in WELS

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Score reports? Anonymous has left a new comment...": GA was technically a "single" night--but a lot of "unsanctioned" events led up to it. GA itself was the "pinnacle" of the entire thing and fairly harmless w/lots of beer drinking--but there was more to it than just one night. I would agree that it was not secretive for the most part--at least not portions of it. There were some activities that were officially "sanctioned" by the Dean of Students and other activities that was not "sanctioned."As for sexual abuse. I have not heard anything at all in regards to that. However there was some sexual weirdness (for lack of a better term). For example at NWC, it was not uncommon for a first-year student to be told to "hump" the Sprinter (statue now up at MLC). I'm not saying it happened every year--but it did happen. MLSveteran--thanks for sharing your insight into what occurred at MLS in the past. We will not be sending our children away to any Lutheran school--even if that means our only option is public school. With or without initiation, I do not trust a few 22/23 year-olds to guide my children spiritually or to parent them properly (especially as they are not even parents themselves). I cringe when I hear Synod officials state they are more capable of raising my child in the faith than my husband and I. The church is there to assist the parents--encourage them, not to take over their God-given role.Anyways, I hope the Synod schools have done away with initiation of any sorts.I know a lot of the area Lutheran high schools did away with any form of initiation. My ALHS [Area Lutheran High School] put a strict anti-hazing policy into effect in 1991. I was never hazed and neither were my classmates. The fear of expulsion was enough to keep the bullies at bay.

--

MLS Veteran has left a new comment on your post " Score reports? Anonymous has left a new comment...":

The series of secretive hazing rituals have a lot to do with this

I am not sure how "secret" the hazing was at the prep schools, colleges (DMLC and NWC), although I had never heard of GA (before Ichabod, anyway).

I remember hearing about the hazing at the prep schools in my late grade school years (6th, 7th, and 8th grade) and was warned by some friends against going away from home to high school.

But I attended all 4 years anyway. Kind of questions my intelligence right there, doesn't it?

From my understanding, there is no longer a hazing of freshman (known as your "Zex" year) at MLS. I am not sure about Luther Prep. Since Luther Prep is a much newer school they may have avoided this "sentimental" tradition.

To a certain extent, the harsh treatment of freshmen (ala the plebes of West Point, Annapolis, or other military academies) was a means whereby control could be kept over 13 and 14 year olds living away from home for the first time. There were only 2 or 3tutors in the dorm with the responsibility of looking after 125 or more male students, so the upperclassmen often were used to keep discipline over the younger classes (hazing could occur through the Sophomore year).

This is much like the "trustee" system in prison, where certain prisoners are given power over other prisoners to assist in the control of the prison population.

Unfortunately, such a system is wide open to abuse. Much like any abuse, many of those abused take revenge not upon their tormentors, but upon those that follow after them.

So young people, 13 or 14, COULD be subjected to some pretty harsh treatment. Often a number of freshman would wash out, at least in part to this social phenomena.

Unlike the Seminary, where people are much older (22 years old or older), it was impossible to "opt out" of the activities. Or, I should say, opting out meant quiting school.

Some will tell you after initiation (held during the first 2 months of school) that the Zex year is basically over. However, the formal initiation was simply
more of a public ceremony with fairly harmless events.

Problems would occur during the normal 24/7 life of the dorm student.

In any organziation, there is always an unwritten rule against breaking the "bonds" of the institution. Sort of like Skull and Bones (famous Yale secret society) were some pretty freaky rituals go on, if the rumors are to be believed.

I can truthfully say that as far as I know there has not been any sexual type abuse in connection with this tradition of hazing. The real problem arise with the fear and hate that often accompanied the Zex year (nice for a Christian school dedicated to training pastors to have a tradition associated with fear and hate).

GA, a single evening, sounds fairly mild compared to a full year (and if one was especially targeted, it could continue into the sophomore year) in prep. That part about being naked within view of some female kitchen workers sounds kind of creepy though. It gives Ichabod's term "The Sausage Factory" a very graphic interpretation.

Thanks, Ichabod, I can't enjoy Hickory Farm summer sausage anymore!

--

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Score reports? Anonymous has left a new comment...":

Interesting. When we went through the Seminary (late 90s), there were no "score reports"--unless of course the people I knew just wasn't "cool" enough to be included..I don't know.

I will say that while most (maybe 99.9%?) WELS pastors went through initiation at both NWC (not sure what they do at MLC) and the Seminary. Not all agreed with it--but they still went through with it to fit in.

Not all men went through initiation though--I know of one man that did not. During his first year at NWC, he was told by the Dean of Students at NWC that he would never ever be a WELS pastor because he had chosen not to participate in initiation. He was ridiculed and mocked. He did not merge into the "brotherhood" as defined by the WELS.

When he hit the Seminary, he again refused to participate in GA. I remember 2 seniors (only 1 of which is still in the ministry) at the Sem approaching him in the Sem parking lot--trying to convince him that he needed to participate in GA to "build the bonds of brotherhood." I watched as he emphatically told them "NO."

He never ate lunch at the Seminary because the mockery during GA was too great. If you did not participate, you were isolated--making it very clear that you were not part of the "brotherhood."

This man's argument for not joining in on initiation is that humiliation and degradation is not how one builds the bonds of trust in Christ. The disciples of Christ were solidified together not by mockery or perversion--but by the teaching of Christ--as well as His love and patience with them.

I am not sure how many men have refused to participate in initiation over the years, but many participated not because they truly believed it was a "good" thing to do, but because it was what they felt was "expected" and they were too afraid to stand up for what was right.

It's a sad statement--especially as it is still remembered who did and did not participate. In that, many WELS pastors will know who I am talking about because literally 99.9% of all pastors that I know of prior to the 2002 "effigy" burning at the Seminary participated in GA.

This man has been in the ministry now for many years--but the ghosts of initiations ignored follow him to some degree. After all, "once and opty, always an opty" at least in the minds of some "brothers."

***

GJ - The weirdness of WELS is beyond comprehension. A college president was talking to me about a WELS pastor. In the middle of the conversation, the president said, in an aggitated voice, "He didn't like GA." That was apparently an indictment in WELS.

Two men went to Dean John Brenner at Mequon, expressing their opposition to GA. Brenner defended GA. Neither man finished at Mequon. Doesn't WELS teach that "you must express yourself to the person involved?" Yes, but that only makes the dissenter a target. That is the idea. Hazing promotes conformity and mediocrity. One only has to contemplate the faculty at the Sausage Factory to see the results.

When I sent an email about GA to various people, I received an email denouncing me for printing an article about it in Christian News. They could not say I had never witnessed GA, so they made up an accusation (as if it mattered). They could not deny the details because I saw the first-year class at Mequon disrobing outside (after looking for the pope's bowling ball in the sewer water pond). And I heard a circuit pastor laughing about the female kitchen staff watching this annual skin show. I know from WELS pastors about: someone's leg being broken, a tooth being knocked out, a NWC student knocked unconscious by being hit with a pillow case full of books. (That gives new meaning to the term pillow head.) One prep school student was held out of his second-storey window by the heels. Unfortunately, the morons lost their grip and dropped him. He broke some bones in the terrifying fall.

GA was highly secretive. Anyone who knew the outcome would get special treatment from the upper classmen. I was told repeatedly that no one was allowed to tell anyone else the secrets of GA, including spouse and children. Hazing was a freshman ritual at Michigan Lutheran Seminary and at Northwestern College. The senior year at NWC included Bonecruncher, a pre-GA hazing that included various humiliations, and sex jokes - with wives and girlfriends invited to watch. The Wisconsin sect confuses sadism with humor. I heard of many cases where students took a year off from Holy Mother School to get away from the abuse. The next higher class seemed to have a franchise on abusing the next lower class. Leaving for one year got away from that particular group's franchise.

WELS is an abusive sect with many characteristics similar what we see featured on TV. The micro-mini sects and nano-synods are similar. The core issue is corrupt doctrine, which I will take up later.

--

Same anon as before has left a new comment on your post "Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA":

GA is highly secretive. I always found this fascinating. I talked to a WELS pastor (second career btw) and when I questioned him on what occurred at GA, he stated he could not tell me. He went on to say that he had not even told his wife, so he couldn't possibly tell me. The goal of GA was secrecy--this secrecy is to further bond the men into the "brotherhood."

What I find interesting is that we criticize Masonic lodges for several reasons--but one reason is because they are based on a lot of secrecy. Yet here we see a history of WELS schools endorsing selective secrecy and I find that a bit hypocritical.

The "opty" I know, never participated in "Bonecruncher"(senior then at MLC)--so I have no idea if wives/fiances/girlfriends were there or what occurred.

He also didn't live on campus at the Seminary, so he was a able to just tune out most of it. He would go to class and leave right after. He was much more insulated from the whole thing at the Sem than he was at NWC when he was a dorming student.

So, does anyone know if hazing is totally removed from all levels of the WELS system? It seemed to affect the dorming schools moreso than the ALHS. I believe GA was technically abandoned in 2002 right? I was told by someone they built an effigy representing initiation and burnt it.

Is there any confirmation on this?

I think there is a lot of room in the WELS for spiritual abuse to occur. I am assuming you will be blaming UOJ--but I am not sure we can lay the blame of this all at the feet of UOJ. I am opening to hearing varying thoughts on this though.

Thanks for discussing this--I think it needs to be talked about because it explains a lot of why the WELS is the way it is.

***

GJ - I doubt whether hazing will disappear. Tiefel (aka Teufel) at Mequon is 100% for GA. He fought to get GA going again when it had been stopped. According to a very good source, there is an open and sanitized GA in operation at the Sausage Factory, plus a secret and abusive GA still in progress. Secrecy is the key for all these pathetic little brother-hoods (like my pun?), from WELS to ELDONA.

--

Names Changed to Protect the Innocent has left a new comment on your post "Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA":

Hello -

I thank Dr. Jackson for pointing out the ills of hazing. In high school at LPS I was originally disappointed that hazing was virtually non-existent by then (mid 90s), except for a few trouble-making seniors, most of whom never made it past graduation, let alone college anyway. However, I now agree that it was a horrible practice.

At MLC I never once heard of anything remotely close to hazing. Not even a whisper.

At WLS I had heard GA was dead, and was glad to find out that it was. I know Dr. Jackson takes denials of GA as confirmation that it exists, so this comment is primarily for other readers. (Besides, if a denial constitutes and admission then it's a lose-lose situation as far as talking about the issue goes.)

GA at WLS now no more. I've heard of one person with whom a couple seniors messed around with, but it amounted to nothing more than a trip to check out the dark attic.

Nowadays there is an event planned for the first couple weeks of school. Seniors take groups of juniors to various fun places (e.g. batting cages, golf courses, restaurants) in the area like Milwaukee to get them acquainted with the region and to get to know the juniors. The seniors pay for this out of their own pockets. Afterwards, a large barbecue dinner is prepared and everyone eats together. A devotion is conducted afterwards by the student body president. The topic is usually about biblical brotherhood and how faith unites us, and not some superficial unity.

I suspect this drastic change comes from the harsh criticism by many, which is good, since the criticism was valid. It also appears that most (again, not all, a few still are stubborn) of the newer generation of students who had less hazing in high school and none in college view hazing as ridiculous and pointless and much prefer to build actual bonds of Christian brotherhood and friendship.

You can believe this report or discount it, it matters not to me because I and many others know and have experienced the positive changes.

Many problems remain, particularly theological ones and the rampant infatuation with church growth methods, but at least in this area of WELS, I can report that a dark chapter is being set aside.

Thanks for your time.

--

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA":

I am wondering if shedding light on all of this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Besides the doctrinal issues, the hazing in the worker training schools seems to be a type of conditioning that lays a foundation for all sorts of problems that the called workers experience in the real world. The Masonic type of secret rituals and the vow of silence is creepy enough as it is. It is no wonder that so many are now coming forward and saying publicly that the WELS is cult-like in their actions.

The brotherhood thing or "good ol' boy network" works to the advantage of the called workers when a lay member attempts to air a grievance through the circuit pastor or district bishop. Obfuscation and nepotism seem to describe that situation properly.
As indicated in this posting, the hazing has another aspect to it that would be equally important in a cult setting. This has to do with the "opters" or those who choose not to participate. One who more actively resists will surely be handled more harshly. The strangest twist on all of this is when members are admonished to bring their concerns forward. To the unsuspecting, this would appear to be fair and democratic. But, sometimes it is used as a means to identify those who will not "get with the program". They can be singled out and be given special treatment. In some of these situations, it would be better to remain silent and let "one rascal beat up another" as Luther once said.

--

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA":

Yes...GA is dead. There is a new tradition...HB (another German abbreviation, which stands for something like "Brotherly functions" or something). It is a day when the seminary students get together in groups. Older students man certain locations, which are different every year; locations such as a mini-golf place, a driving range, Frisbee golfing, batting cages, restaurants etc., and the Juniors go from one place to another. It is a brotherly-bonding event where you actually sit down and chat with the new Seminarians and get to know them and they you. It's really quite fun and helps facilitate the family atmosphere of the Seminary.

GA is dead for a number of reasons, the prime reasons being it fostered anger/bitterness from some students toward others. There are greater numbers of second career students for which GA is inappropriate for; there is the issue of potential lawsuits that could occur if an injury of any kind occurs; and it is an out-dated tradition. The Seminary faculty unanimously approved the ending of GA, even warning students about there being harsh consequences if any aspect of GA ever happened.

GA is dead, and the Seminary is the better for it.

***

GJ - Those who doubt my doubts should reflect on the perfidious atmosphere of lying in the Wisconsin sect. "There is no Church Growth in WELS." (Wayne Mueller, in charge of Church Growth) "The Anschluss will only cost $8 million dollars, or we will pull the plug." (SP Gurgel, finessing the so-called amalgamation.) "Floyd Luther Stolzenburg has a Scriptural divorce." (VP Kuske, Kovaciny, etc.) "Al Just is innocent." (Lloyd Huebner, president of DMLS) "Tabor is innocent." (The Love Shack) "I didn't know nothing." (Fred Adrian, about his vicar Scott Zerbe).

If GA is indeed gone, that is good. If all hazing is banished from WELS, that is very good. Could the exposure in Thy Strong Word, the Internet posting of Thy Strong Word, and the Ichabod blog have been a cause for the loss of this great tradition of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse?

Lawyers may have frightened the WELS GA veterans and enablers more than any publication. The legal problem is this - WELS cannot deny knowledge when the facts are in print and on the Internet, years before and publicly commented upon. That is how they lost the Zerbe case, when the minor girl--"counseled" by the married vicar--sued in court. The judge, informed by the little girl's lawyer, forced WELS to tell the painful truth. The sect had a boatload of cases. The jury voted a large settlement. WELS immediately filed an appeal. (I call that going to court against a fellow Christian. No?) I still have the list of felons in my file.

By Norm Teigen

Studying to be a Synod Pope and/or Hatchet Man

Getting 'with the program'

There was a very interesting piece in MinnPost today about former Attorney General Mike Hatch and his successor Lori Swanson. The fine details of the story would be interesting only to Minnesota people, I think, but there is another issue that might be of interest to readers of Norman's Demesne.

The idea is that within the AG's office, Mike Hatch had a 'program', his own program, his own career. If you are one of Mike's people you got advances and promotions. If you were an ordinary attorney who was interested in doing the business of the State of Minnesota you wouldn't get far because you didn't 'get with the program.' Those who weren't with Mike Hatch's program were pushed off the boat.

I've recently been reading the two volume set of Ian Kershaw's biography of Adolf Hitler. In the early days of his political career Hitler's program was to promote rugged Aryanism and anti-Semitism. Advancement within the movement was directly related to how fiercely one was getting along 'with the program.' The program was Hitlerism, Naziism.

In recent ELS church history, [and this is quite a jump], a pastor or professor had to 'get with the program.' This meant that one had to follow the leader no matter what. The leader determined what was good for the Synod because of his own experience. His followers associated the good of the Synod with the good of the program. Patronage was denied to those who were not with 'the program' and a number of good men were forced out of the ELS.

My late father, B.W. Teigen, wrote a book which the synodical leadership felt was not 'with the program' and some persons who read his book were branded as 'Teigen-ites'. One didn't have to be a member of the family to become a Teigenite. Some persons were thrown overboard and some of these arbitrary decisions were justified by presidential investigating committees.

The anti-Teigenites in the ELS are slowly slipping away and their influence is waning. One restored Teigen-ite, a relative, is actually going to be giving the main address at the upcoming ELS Synod Convention.

There is a 'get with the program' situation in the Missouri Synod, too, according to many sources. The 'program' is the brain-child of the incumbent President who has fired a number of qualified people. These people were qualified to serve the church but were not with the President's program and had to go. They were, to use another common expression, 'thrown under the bus.'

What can be done about this? Misuse of power can happen in churches, too, and it is up to the laypeople to stay on top of things.

Incensed and Incensing Clergy from The Fort

Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne, surrended to Church Growth and to Eastern Orthodoxy. Graduates call it THE FORT to display their sense of irony.

Ben Kjendal wrote:

"As I have struggled to be faithful to God over these past two years here, I have come to realize what that means in the greater fellowship of churches that are part of the Missouri Synod. I can no longer in good conscience remain in that fellowship, no matter how wonderful this little piece of it is. There are other pastors who also strive to be faithful and who remain in the Missouri Synod. But, as I have preached here, part of our faithfulness to God is in submitting to the authority which he has placed over us. In the Missouri Synod this means that pastors are to be in agreement with each other in terms of teaching and worship. That is not a reality in our synod, and is no longer the case for me. At times Jesus asks us to drop all that we have to follow him. For every Christian, that may be something different, but for me and my family that means leaving the Missouri Synod and seeking fellowship in the Orthodox Church."

The following quote was mistakenly attributed to the Niles ELDONA site. Instead, the Luther quotation is from a collection by Sanders - Devotional Readings from Luther's Works for Every Day of the Year, by The Rev. John Sander, L.H.D., published by the Augustana Book Concern in 1915. I misread the email from Grey Goose. He wants me to cry, "Fowl!" but it was my error.

Where else would God dwell? Those self-constituted saints, in their own estimation excellent, high and great, are much too proud, much too high, wise and holy. They have passed up through and far above heaven, so that they could not be his habitation on earth, although they boast of being the only Church and people of God. Though they appear in all the pomp and glory and ornament of their self-made holiness, yet God does not do them the honor to look at them. He is found in the humble huts of the poor and despised, who fear and believe the Word of Christ and would gladly become Christians, but who feel that they are very unholy and unworthy sinners. "They are the temple of the Living God."

Score reports?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Another Triumphalist WELS Post":

Off topic just a bit, but relevant to the topic of the seminary/Sausage Factory/etc.

I was reading on an older post about "Score Reports" at the seminary.

What exactly is/was that?

I know what GA was (is?)--but am clueless on the Score Report issue...

Thank you.
A woman in the WELS who will be able to use her name once she leaves the WELS.

***

GJ - In a WELS gathering, someone brought up score reports. I think it was a pastor's wife. She objected to the custom. I wondered about the term. Her husband, a circuit pastor at one time, laughed and explained. The guys got together and described exactly what they had done with their dates. She continued complaining and he continued laughing. That may explain the Wisconsin sect's attitude toward women.

After Sig Becker left the LCMS for the Wisconsin sect, he complained to Herman Otten about the drunkenness and adultery of the WELS pastors. That suggests the amount of both was surprisingly higher than in the Missouri Synod.

A national traveler told East Coast (a WELS pastor) that the Wisconsin ministers were the crudest, most loutish, and and carnal of all the denominations he had seen.

The series of secretive hazing rituals have a lot to do with this. The doctrinal foundation is UOJ. Everyone is forgiven already, so whatever they do is fine. WELS also has a strong streak of antinomianism. The Law is obsolete, some of them will say. UOJ and no-Law go together quite well. Both have been thriving in ELCA for decades.

ELCA Scholarships

ELCA's closets are empty.

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 7, 2008

Scholarships for students, others to attend International AIDS Conference

by Melissa Ramirez Cooper

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is offering scholarships for seminarians, students and others ages 18-26 to attend the International AIDS Conference July 31-Aug. 9, 2008, in Mexico City. Held every two years, the conference draws more than 20,000 health workers, government representatives, people living with HIV and AIDS, and others. This year's theme is "Universal Action Now."

Another Triumphalist WELS Post

Not relevant, but still funny.

The dread LutherQuest [sic] Discussion Group is dissecting the latest loss of LCMS pastors to Rome and Constantinople. The recent Ft. Wayne graduate who was thirsty for Eastern Orthodoxy had a friend equally thirsty for Roman Catholicism. The loss is not in clergy but in the laity damaged. Many Missouri members refuse to acknowledge the current of Roman/EO bewitchment. As one LCMS pastor on my email list wrote, the group email discussions in Missouri are saturated with crypto-Romanism. He used the term sacerdotalism, but I think crypto-Romanism is a better description. Neuhaus said he became the Roman Catholic he always was. Apparently Jaroslav Pelikan said the same thing about Eastern Orthodoxy, after he joined. (We used to see Pelikan every week at Bethesda, New Haven, Connecticut, just down the hill from Yale Divinity School.)

A WELS member just had to weigh in on the LQ [sic] thread and crow about how pure his sect is:

This thread is a powerful reminder of the gem the WELS has in its ministerial education system and the rich blessings God gives to us through it.

Username: Sames
Full Name: Steve Ames
E-mail Address: steve.ames2@verizon.net
Last Logged In: May 26, 2008
Registered: November 27, 2004
Total Posts: 1383
Status: Senior Member
Denomination: WELS
Positions Held (elder, pastor, layman, teacher, etc.): layman

***

I noticed that a Gurgel (not the fugitive), on the faculty of the Sausage Factory in Mequon, is earning a D.Min. in preaching. The school is not named in the WELS worship bulletin. I doubt whether Mequon has a D.Min. program. That would be another degree of theological incest. Imagine - graduates of an unaccredited college and seminary, holding unaccredited M.Div.s, conducting a unaccredited D.Min. program. The D.Min. is a recycled S.T.M. degree. The seminaries were no longer attracting post-grad students to S.T.M. programs, so they started D.Min. degrees. Ministers flocked to take these degrees, so they--like Kincaid Smith and Larry Olson--could call themselves doctor. The D.Min. at Fuller Seminary, where Dr. Olson studied, has minimal requirements, as he admitted in his confession published in Christian News.

Smith's D.Min. at Ft. Wayne was in Church Growth. The whole program was Church Growth, as he confessed in a conversation. Under Dr. Robert Preus? Oh yes. His seminary faculty endorsed Church Growth principles - in writing.

The Sausage Factory is taking it to a new level, as the management experts say, if they are admitting that their instructors are studying at other religious institutions. Once that position is taken more publicly and defended by the infallible faculty, the dam will break. WELS pastors will scramble for more D.Min.s from Baptist, Pentecostal, and Unitarian schools. They have been doing this for decades, but the facts will be finally out in the open. Richard Krause was the circuit pastor and getting an ecumenical D.Min. 20 years ago. Dr. Krause's advisor was none other than Dr. Larry Olson, D.Min.

The WELS gems of the ministerial education system are turning out lumps of coal. Anyone can reckon that a system turning out future Baptist and Pentecostal ministers is deeply flawed and doctrinally corrupt. When Paul Kelm (D.Min., Concordia, St. Louis) was an adjunct at Wisconsin Lutheran College, his course promoting Reformed doctrine was required for graduation.

Robert Wilken: LCMS...ELCA...Church of Rome

Wilken taught at Notre Dame as a liberal LCMS, but his congregation under Fritz Pfotenhauer (grandson of the famous one) joined ELCA. So Wilken became ELCA for a time. Wilken followed the lead of his long-time friend (LCMS, then AELC, then LCA, then ELCA) Richard Neuhaus and joined the Church of Rome.

Trivia from Herman Otten - Otten and Marquart ran the student newspaper at Concordia, St. Louis. Wilken and Neuhaus arranged a defenestration and took over.