need synod subsidies.
They must know how to po-mouth...or network.
From our research department, based on published information:
Austin is in Travis County (http://www.traviscad.org), and Round Rock is in Williamson County (http://www.wcad.org).
Paul Mattek's home is at http://www.traviscad.org/travisdetail.php?theKey=142144 . It's valued at a little over half a million dollars.
Looking under Robert Timmerman in Travis County, you'll see he owns three properties. His business location is worth $350K. The other two homes are worth a total of $650K. He's got some kind of ranch property in the Texas Hill Country as well.
Ron Stelljes is in the Williamson County listing for only $180K. The researcher thinks it is undervalued.
Tim Moll's home is 2/3 of a million dollars.
Bill Starke - $280K.
Lew Rabenberg - $254K.
Allan Gebert - $195K.
Nathan Steinke - $182K.
Gary Franke - $170K.
Andy Alff - $170K.
I found a "Joey Krohn" at
http://www.traviscad.org/travisdetail.php?theKey=584345 , and he's got a home listed at $276K.
And Pastor Doebler's home looks to be worth about $165K.
It looks like Holy Word sold the parsonage to Pastor Patterson on Nov 30, 2006. It's appraised at over $200K. You can get this information from the "Datasheet" PDF link on http://www.wcad.org/appraisal/publicaccess/PropertyDetail.aspx?PropertyID=162930
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why Is the Patterson Network On Synod Welfare?":
You also neglected to unearth Patterson's own ranch that he owns out in the Hill Country.
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GJ - Doebler, at Rock and Roll
The amount of money wasted in WELS is simply phenomenal. Estimate the lease and overhead for the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock in A-Town. Add the salaries and benefits of a pastor and a pricey executive assistant. That is a staggering amount of money for a "mission" no one wanted, for a white elephant theatre, for two people Tweeting about how hard they work: one service a week during Lent, a half-hour service followed by a three-hour party, with an official launch date based a rock band and a performance platform being built. The Sunday evening services allow local WELS members to attend to make the "mission" look like it has real attendance.
The CORE's two blogs, from two full-time people, are D.O.A.
Rick Gunn has a similar deal in CrossRoads
Most pastors have an unpaid staffer, named Frau Pfarrer (the pastor's wife). The vast majority of wives are lucky to get a little income as the church secretary or school teacher. I wonder what these wives think about Church and Chicanery missions needing $50k staffers when there is so little to do and even less is being done.
I proved to a local professional that a little blogging would bring in new customers. She and her husband did a little more with the blog I set up for them. They landed a new customer just like that, for free. The Internet is a phenomenal method for broadcasting the Word for little or no cost. I find the Shrinkers are ga-ga for useless overhead but numb to the efficacious Word.
Look at the silly website for The CORE. A lot of elaborate eye-candy techniques are designed for people with short attention spans. But nothing has been done in publishing good content since it was launched with a three-hour party. Given the need for three days to recover from a three-hour party, a website could easily have dozens of worthwhile items on it by now. But, WELS members should be glad, the offensive new material is published at a glacial pace. Twitter uses up so much time and energy, dontcha know.
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Anonymouse has left a new comment on your post "Why Is the Patterson Network On Synod Welfare?":
You will be judged by your own standards, Ichabod.
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GJ - Actually, WELS is being judged by its own standards, by its own members. They are appalled at: the COP protecting false teachers: throwing money at wasteful self-indulgent, non-missions; and soft-pedaling the Stetzer gig at Church and Chicanery's conference.
11 comments:
Often it seems that the called workers/administrators have a poor grasp of financial matters. I think that is what has caused many of the problems in the church in recent decades.
For example, our pastor's parsonage is comparatively nicer than the majority of the members' homes (larger, more modern, in a nicer neighborhood). No rent is required, the utilities are all paid by the congregation. In addition, there is no tax liability to the pastor with respect to the implicit cash value of this housing, which could well exceed $1,000 per month if an individual needed to pay for these items out of pocket.
The pastor also receives a good health plan; again, better than many members, some of whom are uninsured. The premiums are entirely paid by the congregation.
Car mileage is also paid for visitation trips, etc.
Our congregation also pays a salary according to synodical code. No, it's not a fortune but with the preceding items it is greater than that of many of the members.
Often our pastor seems unhappy with this arrangement and feels that the congregation is not doing enough.
Often the pastor claims that he is on a fixed salary. This claim is made with no appreciation that most members cannot simply go to their employer and ask for more money on a whim. It either has to be earned through increased productivity, tenure, innovations to the running of the business etc.
If our congregation was a business, with declining membership and a constant loss of money the pastor would be let go.
As far as I can tell, the only drawback the pastor might legitimately claim is the pension plan offered. However, most of the members (currently employed) are no longer covered by pension plans. Pension plans have pretty much disappeared.
I once heard a quote that went something like this:
"The best pastor is a full time farmer and a part time pastor..."
Maybe it is my non-German heritage that makes me a bit critical at this point. (I'm Italian, as shown by my name).
Sincerely,
I. Donwannago Broke
You will be judged by your own standards, Ichabod.
You also neglected to unearth Patterson's own ranch that he owns out in the Hill Country.
For a previous related post on Mattek and Patterson, see:
WELS COP Loves Rock and Roll Church
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2009/04/wels-cop-loves-rock-and-roll-church.html
I'm a simple country WELS pastor. It is shocking to me to see these C&C pastors with their hands out begging for grants when our synod is in an fiscal crisis. How can Doebler's assistant get a pay raise?
Why doesn't DP Glaeske do anything about this? Has he no ethics?
How can Patterson ask for a free vicar, a free staff minister, and give a "free" call to Gurgel?
The COP has a vacation down in Texas for their winter meeting. Doesn't anyone get it. Maybe they are lining Patterson up as the Presidential candidate to oppose Schroeder.
Signed,
A hard working WELS pastor of 25 years, who has never been on an African safari and I don't own a weekend home in the hills.
Faithfully serving the Lord..
Lord coming quickly.. A WELS pastor
Oh no our kingdom is crumbling...
Rock and Roll Joe has pulled his blog and taken cover.
Next Texas might secede from the WELS or as it has been aptly named..the South Central Babtist District.
Scam artists!
GJ, you hit the nail on the head with your list of things I am appalled at. Because of those exact things, I've been unable to feel comfortable dropping my offering in the plate for the past couple years. I cannot in good conscience continue to fund these antics.
Parasites!
Say it ain't so Rock and Roll Joe Krohn. He may have ducked for cover, but not before many people got to see his writings and defense of this type of thing that has infested our churches.
Did anyone ever tell Joe it's o.k. to have a beer in a pizza joint, but in church it's different matter? Same with the music. You can play in a horn band, Joe, but bringing the styles of Chicago or Blood Sweat and Tears or the grandest of all horn bands...Chase - style music into church does not really edify the whole body. (you might want to stay away from some of BS&T's and Chase's "dark" lyrical content and scary Greek mythology even if playing it in the pizza joints Joe)
It seems to me that some folks are trying to edify their own "bodies" without regard with what is best for the whole.
Look, I can listen to Wilson Picket or James Brown in my car on the way to church, but hearing a "groove" infested song, similar in nature, during church does nothing but secularize the sacred.
You listen to Wilson Picket and James Brown on your way to church? Now there's some prep for worship!
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