Here is the link showing VP Don Patterson and Rock n Roll Doebler asking for more funds.
The district board is meeting May 1 and 2. Someone converted the PDF to Word for me. Thanks.
Field Reports: Mission Enhancement
6) Holy Word, Austin, Texas. Pastor Don Patterson. Holy Word is a self-supporting congregation. However, there is a mission opportunity with the Hispanic community nearby. Holy Word would like to enhance their ministry by calling a Staff Minister to coordinate Hispanic ministry. Holy Word's request for Mission Enhancement funding will be determined at the BHM meeting on May 1-2, 2009.
Strategic Planning 2003
Introduction & Background
Holy Word has grown from a church with 26 chartering members to one of over 500 today. This is a wonderful testament to the power of the Gospel, and it is a welcome blessing to have a large body of believers.
Holy Word is an affluent congregation - read here.
Holy Word Staff Members, Not Including the Newest: Ex-SP Gurgel (Is Campaign Manager a divine call?)
Field Reports: Mission Establishment
7) Christ the Rock
15) Christ the Rock, Round Rock, Texas. Pastor Matt Doebler. The ministry has a specific need for some equipment to enrich their ministry. Pastor Doebler contacted the DMB and they located some designated BHM funds that may be available. [If you looking to fund a specific Mission Enrichment project, contact the DMB Chairman to see if there are designated BHM funds available.] Christ the Rock’s request for Mission Enrichment funding will be determined at the BHM meeting on May 1-2, 2009.
Doebler wanted $200,000 from the Antioch Foundation, but only got $20,000 of the request. I thought Rock and Roll was doing so well?
Round Rock, Round Rock, is everything they say
And no place that I'd rather be.
Where else can you do almost nothing,
All at a quarter to three.
When they play their music, ooh that rockin' music
They like it with a lot of style.
But it's still that same old back beat rhythm,
That really drives 'em wild.
They say the heart of rock and roll is still beating
And from all those grants I believe 'em.
Now the old WELS may be barely breathing
But the heart of rock and roll is still beating.
The DPs (Doctrinal Pussycats) met at Holy Word a few months ago, blessing Rock and Roll.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Massive Cuts in WELS, But Safari Don Patterson and...":
It must be nice to have so much time and money to take safaris. I am in the wrong profession.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Massive Cuts in WELS, But Safari Don Patterson and...":
Of all the gull [GJ - gall?], expecting additional assistance when they have 500 members. This is unfair and unbalanced.
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GJ - Church and Change exists to funnel money and power to the fraternity. Over the years, all the frugal leaders 2929 were replaced with the "cool guys" from Church and Change. Headquarters became The Love Shack, the exclusive haunt for their little group. At each convention they spoke and voted as a block - more funds and staffmembers for themselves.
The president of Northwestern College was not allowed to speak against amalgamation on the floor of the convention. He said, "It was the lowest day in my ministry." No, the lowest day was when he first imagined he was the college president instead of a Love Shack lackey.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Massive Cuts in WELS, But Safari Don Patterson and...":
One of the worst fallacies of political conservatism is that government should do for people what people cannot do for themselves.
You can see all the nonsense that this line of thinking fails to prevent. (I cannot bailout Wall Street all by myself, so I'm glad Uncle Sam does it for me. )
If a local congregation cannot support its own expansion efforts, it should not expand. Period. Crying "I have a big unchurched mission field nearby," isn't good enough. We all have one; here's your map and some walking shoes.
If a congregation relies on a constant steam of external funds to keep afloat, all the extra cash results in superfluous expenditures that wouldn't otherwise exist. It becomes bloated. Now that the tide has gone back out we can see who is swimming naked and cannot support themselves.
Worse, lining up for grant money lets synod political (or marriage) connections grow in importance when they shouldn't matter at all in the church. If a congregation is jockeying for position and staffing, it's losing sight of its purpose.
Ultimately this radical downsizing at WELS will be a good thing, because it will cut the number of fingers in the offering plate. Just as tax dollars should be left closest to the people, contributions to synod must also be slashed to force a radical change in synod's purpose.
Froo-froo vicar and "mission" work just builds up a synod-welfare soaking constituency voting itself largess and status quo at convention.
+Diet O. Worms
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Massive Cuts in WELS, But Safari Don Patterson and...":
No bailouts for the Peterson gang.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Massive Cuts in WELS, But Safari Don Patterson and...":
What must one do to drive Patterson and his ilk out of synod? Either he goes or our money does.
I hope the BHM reads this blog.
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GJ - Drive them out? The Sausage Factory asked Kelm and Patterson to give papers on how to improve their product!
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Massive Cuts in WELS, But Safari Don Patterson and...":
It is truly fraudulent that these WELS pastors have their handsout just one week after the Synodical council makes drastic reductions.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Massive Cuts in WELS, But Safari Don Patterson and...":
Just what is the truth? Holy Word is not self-supporting when it seeks more handouts -- especially at the expense of struggling congregations.
23 comments:
Times are tough for everyone. The Patterson gang needs to cut, too. Get rid of the Rock n Roll and go with mariachis. Besides, hispanics like it better.
Another case of members being expected to pony up for their expensive trial-and-error education.
Of all the gull, expecting additional assistance when they have 500 members. This is unfair and unbalanced.
So numbers do make a difference when you want them to make a difference.
Imagine the use and abuse with the Patterson gang in control. It would be like taking candy from a baby.
I agree that a church with 500 members should be able to expand its ministry without synodical assistance.
The 2007 WELS Statisical Report indicates that Holy Cross's per communicant giving rate is below average among Texas WELS churches.
It would seem that Holy Cross's goal is to get other WELS churches to increase their mission offerings to pay for Holy Cross's new outreach endeavor to the Hispanic community.
Possibly Holy Cross needs to have a stewardship effort in their own congregation to pay for the new outreach. That would certainly show how interested Holy Cross is in reaching this community.
There are many WELS churches with a lot fewer resources which have daughtered a congregation or started a new field without synodical aid.
By the way, Greg, you could expand your ministry without costing a dime. Put out the word in the other side of the Phoenix metro area and you can have a second worship site in no time. The offerings would more than pay for your time and travel expenses.
I wonder when the WELS will start evangelically sharing(stealing) from this church http://www.warehousechurch.org
I sometimes forget about the WELS Angels.
If these fat cats get these freebie grants, I'm done. How can the WELS cut missionaries yet hand out free grants to well-established churches?
One of the worst fallacies of political conservatism is that government should do for people what people cannot do for themselves.
You can see all the nonsense that this line of thinking fails to prevent. (I cannot bailout Wall Street all by myself, so I'm glad Uncle Sam does it for me. )
If a local congregation cannot support its own expansion efforts, it should not expand. Period. Crying "I have a big unchurched mission field nearby," isn't good enough. We all have one; here's your map and some walking shoes.
If a congregation relies on a constant steam of external funds to keep afloat, all the extra cash results in superfluous expenditures that wouldn't otherwise exist. It becomes bloated. Now that the tide has gone back out we can see who is swimming naked and cannot support themselves.
Worse, lining up for grant money lets synod political (or marriage) connections grow in importance when they shouldn't matter at all in the church. If a congregation is jockeying for position and staffing, it's losing sight of its purpose.
Ultimately this radical downsizing at WELS will be a good thing, because it will cut the number of fingers in the offering plate. Just as tax dollars should be left closest to the people, contributions to synod must also be slashed to force a radical change in synod's purpose.
Froo-froo vicar and "mission" work just builds up a synod-welfare soaking constituency voting itself largess and status quo at convention.
+Diet O. Worms
No bailouts for the Peterson gang.
"Ultimately this radical downsizing at WELS will be a good thing, because it will cut the number of fingers in the offering plate. Just as tax dollars should be left closest to the people, contributions to synod must also be slashed to force a radical change in synod's purpose."
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Amen.
What must one do to drive Patterson and his ilk out of synod? Either he goes or our money does.
I hope the BHM reads this blog.
It is truly fraudulent that this WELS pastors have their handout just one week after the Synodical council makes drastic reductions.
"GJ - Drive them out? The Sausage Factory asked Kelm and Patterson to give papers on how to improve their product!"
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The stupid sods cannot help themselves! The answer of course is to hire Kelm and Patterson as consultants for thousands of dollars per hour.
The Patterson Gang has hijacked WELS.
If synod is cutting 100 jobs, what would the BHM even have to talk about? There should be no extra funds for extra outreach to the hispanics. I'm sorry if this sounds racist but they should be similating into the community anyway. Let them attend the regular services as a way to learn about Jesus and learn english too. It would be nice if the BHM would record those meetings and make them available to the rank and file. It would be interesting to see what they talk about behind closed doors.
A weird religion just got a lot weirder. Two members of the ugly gang of 4 who make no bones about being renegades have been recruited to make improvement recommendations. This is like putting a coyote in a hen house to protect the chickens. How stupid can leadership get? Yet, out of sheer arrogance, the leaders continue to want and demand respect from their peers and member churches.
The time has come to let WELS fail. They obviously care more about preserving a corrupt institution than serving member congregations. Unless they can print money like Obama, there is no hope.
In answer to Anonymous May 1, 2009 11:21 A.M., remember that a financial decisions in WELS are usually made based on whom you know rather than the merits of the cause. With that system, inequities have and continue to happen. A "valid" spin can be put on any decision.
Finally a breath of sanity.
"SC adopts budget proposal
A special message from President Mark Schroeder
The Synodical Council (SC) met last Friday and Saturday to adopt a proposed budget that will be recommended to the synod convention in July.
The WELS constitution requires the SC to submit a budget proposal that is balanced and in line with the anticipated financial support from all sources. A budget that would call for spending greater than anticipated support is not an option. The projected support for the next two years made it necessary for the SC to reduce the synod's ministry program by more than $8 million (from $38.4 million to just under $30 million). As it considered this situation, the SC was very much aware of the painful and difficult choices confronting us. It was clear that significant budgetary reductions in all areas of ministry will be necessary. Recognizing that, the SC made every effort to find ways to limit the size and scope of the reductions that will need to be made.
Some of these reductions will involve the loss of called and hired positions in our mission fields, at our schools, and at the Synod Administration Building. Since the boards and groups that oversee these ministries will be responsible for communicating with the called workers, congregations, and mission fields that will potentially be affected, the budget information in this communication is in summary form only; details will be released in the coming weeks. This will give those responsible the time to speak personally to those that will be affected. Complete financial information will be included in the Book of Reports and Memorials and will also be posted online.
Some of the features of the proposed budget include:
A salary freeze for all synodical workers in the first year of the biennium and a one percent increase on the base salary in the second year.
A re-amortization of the synod's debt (projected by the end of June to be reduced from $22.4 million to $15 million by Year of Jubilee offerings and by budgetary payments toward the debt). Re-amortizing in this way will reduce annual debt payments from $2.7 million per year to $1.6 million per year, making $1.1 million per year immediately available for the support of gospel ministry. The re-amortization payments would begin in the second year of the biennium (2010-11).
Increasing the portion of health care costs paid by workers by changing the plan deductible from $500 to $1,000, resulting in an annual savings of approximately $400,000.
As the budget was constructed, the SC was keenly aware that there are clear differences of opinion in the synod as to which ministry programs should be given priority. As it weighed the many different scenarios, the SC decided to present a budget that offers two options or alternatives. This approach reflects the SC's recognition of the priority preferences expressed by recent conventions, as well as the current economic conditions and other factors which may have changed since then. The SC is also convinced that presenting two options will help to create an atmosphere in which brotherly discussion and debate will be conducted based on the factual information and a careful consideration of the long-term ramifications of any decision.
There is really only one significant difference between the two proposed options. Both options require significant reductions in all areas of ministry. The difference: in Option A, Ministerial Education receives a synodical subsidy allocation of $9.1 million; in Option B it receives $8.1 million. In Option A, World Missions receives $5.9 million and Home Missions receives $5.2 million. In Option B, each mission area is allocated an additional $500,000 in subsidy.
This chart is a comparison of synodical subsidy allocations under the two options. Please note that these figures represent synodical subsidy only and do not include funding from special funds, gifts, or fees.
*Ministry Support includes the President's Office, Conference of Presidents, district ministries, Synodical Council, special called worker support, Ministry of Christian Giving, Finance, Technology, Human Resources, Communications, and facilities.
The specific impact of these allocations under both options will be described more fully in the coming days after the areas of ministry have had an opportunity to revisit their plans and priorities. Regardless of the specific decisions they make, under both options above significant numbers of missionary positions, mission locations, faculty and staff positions at schools, and administrative positions will no longer be able to be funded.
Because of the size and scope of the reductions in ministry programs, steps to reduce ministry will need to be taken immediately. In fact, some have been taken already, as vacant positions have not been filled and various programs have been scaled back. In cases where reductions cannot be made until after the new fiscal year begins in July, transition funding has been included in the 2009-10 budget proposal.
As the picture becomes clearer and as the time approaches for final decisions to be made at the synod convention, we recognize the need for continued faith and trust in God's promises. We will need to maintain our trust that even in these painful and difficult decisions God will graciously work to bless his church. And we will want to conduct our discussion and debate with the prayer that God will use this situation to unify us in our common mission for the good of his kingdom.
Serving in Christ,
Mark Schroeder"
Assured recommendation: put more fat in the sausages.
Just what is the truth? Holy Word is not self-supporting when it seeks more handouts -- especially at the expense of struggling congregations.
Let 'em eat cake!
It must be nice to have so much time and money to take safaris. I am in the wrong profession.
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