some how-to sermons that speak to the felt needs of the prospects.
And you owe me
Click here for Pastor Brian Wolfmueller on church consultants.
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GJ - The Chicaneries are strangely silent since the take-down of their guru, Jim Aderman. Lie down with frogs, get up with warts.
"When was the last time you kissed a frog?...'Lifestyle Evangelism and Follow-up,' a Navigator video seminar for the church, makes a solid case for Christian frog kissing as a way of life."
James A. Aderman, The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Summer, 1986 p. 2.
"A Look at Several WELS Small Group Ministries. 1. Fairview in Milwaukee (Pastor Jim Aderman) 2. Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel in Madison (Mr. Rolf Wegenke) 3. Emanuel in New London (Pastor Steve Witte)"
WELS Campus Pastors, Small Group Training Conference, Jan. 7-9, 1991, Madison. p. 19.
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GJ - Notice the dates. Church and Chicaneries were introducing Pietistic gimmicks 32 years ago, and the synod leadership supported it. TELL began in 1977, with Ron Roth as the editor, with the stated intention of promoting the Church Growth Movement. Paul Calvin Kelm was the next editor and Robert Hartmann followed.
If you have nothing else to do, count how many times Aderman published in FIC (nee The Northwestern Lutheran). Click here for the search link.
rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Noah Needed Church Growth Consultants":
When my former congregation hired a consultant, they solidified my decision to leave. I did not even try to fight it. By then, I had realized that anything that I said would have little bearing on the direction that they were headed. This meant that the law based stewardship beatings would continue for a minimum of three years, which is the term of the contract. When you figure out what has happened, you realize that the leadership no longer believes in the efficacy of the Word.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Noah Needed Church Growth Consultants":
The church consultant program is by far the biggest farce in WELS. I, too, left a church which wanted to hire Calvin Kelm. A month after I took a call, they signed the $30,000 contract thus dividing the church, addressed the "perceived needs" of the people while avoiding any real issues, and now the church and school are both half their former size. Oh yes, they got the new sign and cleared some shrubs.
The same thing happened in the church where my wife's family attends. The $30,000 contract, a divided congregation, an oversized staff, shrinking attendance and school enrollment, and worship innovations which the majority of the people do not want. But they do have an upgraded sign and some new shrubs.
I have a hunch the real growth acommplished (sic - yup, Mequon grad) through the church consultant program is the bottom line at the local sign companies and nurseries across America. They must be making good money off WELS churches.
In fact, is it possibly "church growth" in WELS refers to growing the landscaping of the church? We may have misunderstood all along!
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GJ - How ironic that Kelm (DMin, Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Louis) is reprising his role as a consultant. SP Schroeder asked that no one new be hired. Bruce Becker and the Perish Services people would not listen. SP Schroeder also asked them not to hire someone who was polarizing, if they insisted on hiring someone. Lastly, the Synod President did not know about the call to Kelm until it was issued for public knowledge. These three facts were heatedly denied by the Shrinkers, so they were once again calling me a liar for telling the truth. My multiple sources stood by the story I posted - and I do make corrections.
Kelm is 65 in December. He has a well known reputation for publishing false doctrine of the most blatant kind. His required-for-graduation course at Wisconsin Lutheran College was a dedicated effort to promote Reformed doctrine and the Church Shrinkers one and all.
Why did Kelm get propped up and promoted so many times? Why is he still the keynote speaker at Mary Lou College (WELS) in New Ulm? He was also the Mission Festival speaker at the Sausage Factory each year (how often - I do not know). And he published his toxic waste in FIC/NWL. Obviously a group has been managing his career as a crypto-Calvinist.
