Trying Out For a Gig At Rock and Roll Church (WELS)

I love Rock and Roll,
Put another dime in the offering plate, baby!

***

GJ - Book him, Matt. He has no talent, but he is loud.

Maybe This Is Why the Church and Change People Want To Oust SP Schroeder

Synod President Mark Schroeder was elected to make a difference.

Q: I have one grandfather that was an LCMS minister and another was a WELS minister. I understand the history of their division and I accept the need. What I fear there is a trend in WELS to follow the same rout as LCMS. In the desire to increase church attendance many WELS congregations are not making a solid doctrinal stand. Law and Gospel are still present but one must look for it. Do these same concerns exist at our seminaries and synod offices?

---------------------------------------

A: Thank you for your concern about the centrality of Law and Gospel in our preaching and teaching. God has promised that his church will endure until Jesus returns again, but he has made no promises that individual church bodies or synods will always be blessed with the pure doctrine. That is why the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:2 are such an important reminder for our synod: "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel which I preached to you and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain." In other words, our synod and its congregations will need to be vigilant in holding on to the truth of Scripture and careful to preach solid Law and Gospel boldly and consistently .

I assure you that I share these concerns, and I know that our seminary faculty would say the same. As we face declining numbers in worship and in church membership, we will want to avoid the temptation to resort to methods or "quick fixes" which rely on something other than the means of grace, which alone can bring people to know their Savior and through which the Holy Spirit will work. All efforts to increase church attendance and membership need to be carefully evaluated in the light of God's Word, not on the basis of "what works." If we water down the message of Law and Gospel, if we change the message to a generic message that simply tells people what they want to hear (instead of what they need to hear), we will eventually have no gospel message left. We may fill churches, but the danger is that those churches will be filled with people whose true spiritual needs -- the call to repentance and the assurance of full forgiveness in Christ -- will not be met.

Please keep our synod, its congregations, and its pastors in your prayers as we address these important matters. Thank you for your concern.

In Christ,

Mark Schroeder, WELS president [email: mark.schroeder@sab.wels.net]

Schuller Fires Schuller as Prime Preacher on HOP - ELCA's Kallestad To Preach

"Would it kill you to wear a tie, son? And that pink shirt is so..."

Schullers Part Ways at Crystal Cathedral's 'Hour of Power'

Son will remain senior pastor of Crystal Cathedral.

Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service | posted 10/27/2008 04:35PM


On upcoming broadcasts of the Hour of Power from the glistening Crystal Cathedral in Southern California, the face that will appear in the pulpit won't always be that of Robert A. Schuller, the son of founder Robert H. Schuller.

The elder Schuller, 82, announced Sunday (Oct. 26) that differences between them about the future of the ministry have led to a decision to expand the platform of the broadcast.

"It is no secret to any of you that my son, Robert, and I have been struggling as we each have different ideas as to the direction and the vision for this ministry as we move into the future," the elder Schuller wrote in an announcement made at a church meeting Saturday and posted on its website the next day.

He added that the disagreement was placing the ministry in "jeopardy" and that the two men would "part ways in the Hour of Power television ministry to each pursue our own unique God-ordained visions."

Church spokesman John Charles said the decision about the younger Schuller, 54, was a board decision.

"He's still senior pastor of Crystal Cathedral, the local congregation," Charles said of the younger Schuller. "He's just no longer the single pastor on the Hour of Power."

Charles said the younger Schuller had differed with the board, chaired by his father, about whether there should be more faces in the Hour of Power pulpit.

Already, that is changing, with Walt Kallestad, pastor of Community Church of Joy in Glendale, Ariz., preaching Sunday.

The elder Schuller said he hopes other ministers who, like, Kallestad, have taken part in his ministry's Institute for Successful Church Leadership, will be guest ministers. Other possibilities included Bill Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago, and Kirbyjon Caldwell, senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston.

Susan DeLay, a spokeswoman for Willow Creek, confirmed that Hybels had been invited but said he has no upcoming plans to speak at the Crystal Cathedral. Caldwell's plans could not be immediately determined.

The elder Schuller said he would continue to host the weekly service and preach occasionally.

Charles said Monday the younger Schuller and other Crystal Cathedral representatives were not commenting on the situation.

The church posted a statement from the regional body of its denomination, the Reformed Church in America, which Charles said is likely to play a greater role in the church's future.

"Our next goal is to see both Robert A. and Robert H. given any assistance they may need to continue to be passionate about their individual visions and remain harmonious in their relationships, not just as father and son, but also as co-laborers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ," the statement reads.

"They are not just television icons; they are precious individuals loved by God and millions of people around the globe and they deserve our utmost respect and support."

***

GJ - Kallestad is an ELCA pastor in Glendale, Arizona. I attended his service once. Community of Joy avoids the Lutheran name, to keep the prospects from thinking Kallestad is gay.

Kallestad earned a DMin from Fuller Seminary, just like WELS' Larry Olson.

Coup Against SP Schroeder Being Organized at The Love Shack

The Church Shrinkage Movement is not happy
with the elected Synod President. The WELS laity and pastors are.

The Church Shrinkage Movement leaders (aka Church and Change) are organizing a coup to get rid of Synod President Mark Schroeder, my sources tell me.

Blatant antagonism from Rev. Bruce Becker (Bored Member, Church and Change) was obvious in the calling of Paul Kelm to The Love Shack. No entity was supposed to call anyone, due to budget restraints. SP Schroeder advised against calling and especially against calling any polarizing figure. No one is more polarizing than copycat Kelm.

Church and Change cheerleaders tried to pretend SP Schroeder knew about the call before it appeared on the call list. Repeated contacts with him, from people I know, have shown that he did not know. Church and Change would lie? Shocker.

Church and Change arranged for Babtist Ed Stetzer to be the main speaker for their confab in 2009. Stetzer twittered this fact in July, bragged about in in August, and posted the date and information on his website. The COP discussed it, and furrowed their massy brows, but did nothing. Then Church and Change denied there was a conference and a date with Ed Stetzer. They wouldn't be lying again, would they? That would be so-o-o-o out of character for them.

Pastors and laity will have to support sound doctrine if they want to get rid of this cancer called the Church Growth Movement, Church and Change, Becoming Missional, Purpose Driven, or whatever fleece they want to hide under.

For the last 20 years confessional Lutheran pastors (if they can be called that) have been content to throw their own under the bus. If they remain gutless, motionless, and speechless, The Love Shack will win and WELS will become another Unitarian sect in a few years.

The WELS Church Shrinkage leaders have been: Ron Roth, Hartman, Valleskey and Bivens, Paul Kelm, Hagedorn, Wayne Mueller, Bruce Becker, Larry Olson (DMin, Fuller), James Huebner, and many more. Some of the newer ones to emerge are Mark Jeske, Don Patterson, Ski, Stelljes, Doebler, Gunn, Rick Johnson, and Borgwardt. Martin Spriggs was a WELS pastor addicted to Willow Creek. Now he is charge of technology at The Love Shack.

There are plenty more Shrinkers: just connect the bread crumbs to the ones listed above.

What do the Shrinkers love and promote?

1. Willow Creek Community Church.
   
2. Andy Stanley's Baptist Northpoint Church.
   
3. Management by Objective.
   
4. Marketing the Gospel.
   
5. Fuller Seminary (Olson's DMin, the seat of learning for all the world and American mission board people. Valleskey's and Bivens' alma mater.)
   
6. Waldo Werning, embalmed or not.
   
7. Kent Hunter, DMin, Fuller Seminary.
   
8. Leonard Sweet.
   
9. Hiding the name Lutheran.
   
10. Hiding the sacraments.
    
11. Rock and roll music.
    
12. Cell groups.
    
13. The ordination of women.
    

Church and Change 2007 Beehive Report

Bruce Becker, Bored Member, WELS Church and Change. Perish Services, Church Shrinkage Unit, WELS


The triangles going up to the fish's mouth represent offering money
devoured by Church and Change buddies
(free vicars for Patterson, grant for Doebler, etc).
The triangles leaving the fish's rear end
symbolize Church and Change pooping on the synod
at every opportunity, fouling the water.

The faint-hearted Tendrils paper lavished praise on the fabulous worship services of the Church Shrinkers.

One of my sources described the experience of two WELS members who actually attended the 2007 conference. Here is the summary:

1) Sheer volume of blatant Church Growth.

2) Church Growth being covered with comments like, "Oh yeah, we think Law and Gospel is important, but..."

3) They weren't even good at Church Growth. The services were sloppy, the preaching sucked, the praise bands sucked.

The layman said that you could close your eyes and say "non-denominational" one time fast and you were immediately transported into a magical land of apostasy.

Things may not be good in the WELS, but some congregations have their head on straight and are speaking out against Church Growth.

CGM Alive and Purring in WELS - WELS AnswerMan

Borgwardt: "We're not gay - we're generic."

WELS Q and A

Q: On your recent WELS Web site homepage, you highlighted www.crossroadschicago.org, the Web site of a new WELS mission. When I researched the site, I discovered that the Church Growth Movement is alive and well in WELS. I could not find any reference to WELS anywhere on the site, and the copyright is by Crossroads "Christian" Church. If I didn't know better, I would think I was looking at a Disciples of Christ website! In its statement of faith, which is vague and subject to a great deal of misinterpretation, it states that Crossroads is "a Christian community with roots in the Lutheran tradition." That's the language of the ecumenical movement! What's happening to my WELS? As WELS members, are we now ashamed of the word "Lutheran"? Are we becoming just like the vague and generic evangelical churches that offer a generic gospel so as not to offend anyone? Tell me what's going on in the WELS. This isn't confessional Lutheranism at all!

-----------------------------------

A: The best answer to your question will come by directly contacting your brothers and sisters at Crossroads Christian Church.

What I know about the congregation is that it was founded recently by some very dedicated and solidly Lutheran young people who are interested in outreach with the gospel, especially to others their age. They perceived that the name Lutheran would dissuade many from even looking to their Bible-based message. In the Chicago area "Lutheran" means liberal, homosexual-supporting, pro-abortion, women voters, denial of biblical inspiration, and false ecumenism.

Of course, to you and me Lutheran means something entirely different. But the fact that this group of Christians called a fine, young, conservative WELS pastor to be their shepherd speaks to me more loudly than their choice of names.

After you speak with them directly, you will have to judge which is the greater risk: Using the name Lutheran in an area where Lutheranism denotes all the things we deplore, or not using the name Lutheran and risking the suspicion of their brothers in other parts of the country that they have joined the Disciples of Christ.

***

GJ - How many unwarranted assumptions are in this answer? I stopped counting. I hope all the conservative Lutheran congregations have erased "Lutheran" from their websites, or prospects will expect the clergyperson to come dancing out in lavender hose and rainbow stoles.

I believe this is an old Q and A because the Chicago stealth congregation was featured in the stealth magazine some time ago, before SP Schroeder was elected. The answer sounds pure Wayne Mueller.

I wonder how many Church Shrinkers met with pastors and laity first before savaging them behind their backs - for the crime of criticizing Fuller doctrine. I think the grand total of Matthew 18 meetings is zero.