ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
That is Mark Jeske, describing himself at Concordia LCMS, Mequon.
Pardon me, but does St. Markus have a product recall program that would ship Ski back to Milwaukee so they can repair his Lutheran doctrine?
No, St. Markus would have to sub-contract the work. The man who hired Bruce Becker is not going to make Ski a Lutheran.
"Our pastor: The Rev. Christine Thompson is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Ordained in 1995, Rev. Thompson served as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Detroit, and as the Episcopal/Lutheran campus pastor at Wayne State University, also in Detroit, before accepting her current call as campus pastor at the Corner House. She has been serving at UW-Milwaukee since May 2007.
A native of Chicago, Rev. Thompson received her Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
Rev. Thompson is a gifted preacher, teacher and vocalist. In 1997, she was a member of a delegation invited to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the National Choir of Cuba in Havana and Santiago, Cuba. The group conducted workshops on African American worship and sacred music. In June 2005, on Pr. Thompson’s second trip to Tanzania, East Africa, she was a presenter at “Women As the Eyes of the Church,” a consultation on women’s work in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania/Mbulu. She also served as spiritual advisor to the group of southeast Michigan women who attended the conference. Pr. Thompson preached at Haydom Lutheran Church/Tanzania in the summer of 2005 and at St. Paul Lutheran Cathedral/ Namibia in the summer of 2006. She is regularly invited to preach ecumenically. She has preached revivals at Calvary Baptist church and Calvary Presbyterian church in Detroit, Michigan. She has been well received in Episcopal pulpits including, All Saints/Detroit and (sic - the sentence broke off there).
Rev. Thompson has served on many strategy teams as a facilitator and a writer.
She is a member of the writing team that produced, “Following The Way: A Strategy for Mission by African Americans for African Americans in the Southeast Michigan synod.
She is certified by World Impact school for cross-cultural church planting. She was certified as a Peer minister trainer in June 2006, and certified as a Bridgebuilder consultant in September 2006.
Rev. Thompson loves singing, reading and analyzing movies. She is the mother of two adult sons."
Closing of Lutheran campus ministry at UWM raises questions
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Mar. 27, 2009
The abrupt closing of a longtime Lutheran campus ministry at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee - while leaving its sister program intact at Marquette University - has opened a painful schism in its sponsoring synod over questions of race, class, gender and the future of campus ministry in Milwaukee.
The Corner House at 3074 N. Maryland Ave., operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Milwaukee Synod, has been closed since mid-March after the board that oversees both campus ministries announced it was letting Corner House's pastor, the Rev. Christine Thompson, go.
Synod Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers said the decision by the Lutheran Campus Ministry-Greater Milwaukee board was strictly financial. He said the program would be insolvent by summer if it didn't make drastic cuts, and that a new ministry would emerge at the Corner House.
But critics say the less-than-transparent process and its outcome - UWM's urban ministry is shuttered midsemester and its African-American female pastor out of work, while its more-affluent counterpart remains open with a white male pastor - raise troubling questions.
The synod's decision to now consult anti-racism team members on the appointment of new campus ministry board members, they said, heightens their suspicions that biases might have played a role.
"We can't know what played into this, so we're left to make assumptions," said the Rev. Steve Jerbi, pastor at All Peoples Lutheran Church, which has worked with both campus ministries. "The process has left far more questions than it has answers."
The Synod Council's executive committee and the Lutheran Campus Ministry board will address those questions at a listening session from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at Adoration Lutheran church, 3840 W. Edgerton Ave. in Greenfield.
Even the location is controversial for some, who see it as too far removed from those committed to and served by the UWM ministry.
Thompson, whose contract ends March 31, did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
At least two board members have resigned after the controversy. Pastor Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld stepped down as vice president of the campus ministry board after voting against Thompson's dismissal. Lay representative Catherine Alexander resigned from the Synod Council, which oversees the campus ministry board, citing the "vague and secretive processes used in reaching this decision."
The ELCA's Milwaukee Synod has ministered to students and staff at the two universities for decades - from a former brick duplex near UWM, named for its location at N. Maryland Ave. and E. Kenwood Blvd., and from offices in Marquette's Alumni Memorial Union.
Marquette's serves about 150 students a semester, according to its pastor, the Rev. Brad Brown.
The Corner House's outreach has waned in recent years as it struggled with staff turnover and the demands of an aging building, said a former interim pastor and a former board member.
But supporters said Thompson was making progress on programming since her arrival in 2007. They said the Corner House holds much potential and that the synod would support it financially if it considered it a priority.
"There is a great opportunity to use that ministry and facility to help young adults develop their faith, identify their spiritual journey, at a time in their lives when that is critical," said Venice Williams, executive director of Seed Folks youth ministry, who had begun collaborating with Thompson.
The campus ministry board has struggled. Founded in 2005 to oversee and provide financial management, including fund raising, for the ministries, its membership had dwindled from nine in January to four after Thomas-Breitfeld's departure this month.
Stumme-Diers said its decisions on the Corner House and Thompson were based on the report of a task force. Critics say they've been unable to see the report or know the identities of its three authors. Stumme-Diers told the Journal Sentinel that it would be available at Monday's meeting.
The bishop said biases did not play into the decisions regarding Corner House or Thompson, but that input by anti-racism team members in the creation of a new board is essential for a synod that is primarily urban.
"As a synod that takes seriously our anti-racism work, we want to include an anti-racist commitment to this (campus ministry board) leadership as we plan for the future," he said.
Stumme-Diers said he would work to place Thompson in a different ministry in the synod.
WHAT'S NEXT
There will be a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at Adoration Lutheran church, 3840 W. Edgerton Ave. in Greenfield, to address concerns about the closing of a Lutheran campus ministry operation at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
***
GJ - One WELS member said, "Send them Kelm." Catholics would call that the ultimate sacrifice.
If she can copy and paste, I would refer her to Point of Grace WELS Lutheran Campus Ministry.
"Dr. Luther, who, above others, certainly understood the true and proper meaning of the Augsburg Confession, and who constantly remained steadfast thereto till his end, and defended it, shortly before his death repeated his faith concerning this article with great zeal in his last Confession, where he writes thus: 'I rate as one concoction, namely, as Sacramentarians and fanatics, which they also are, all who will not believe that the Lord's bread in the Supper is His true natural body, which the godless or Judas received with the mouth, as well as did St. Peter and all [other] saints; he who will not believe this (I say) should let me alone, and hope for no fellowship with me; this is not going to be altered [thus my opinion stands, which I am not going to change]."
Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article VII, Lord's Supper, 33, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 983. Tappert, p. 575. Heiser, p. 267.
Jennifruit Yup. It was a gr8 conference. Granger has pretty impressive facilities.
about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to Jennifruit
@Jennifruit i do remember u vaguely. i was at GCC in Nov for a conference. only time but hope 2 get back. u have some amazing leaders there!
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to Jennifruit
@kstrandlund have you ever been to GCC? I grew up in South Bend, was in Milwaukee for WLC & after (total 15 yrs). Moved back here 2 yrs ago.about 12 hours ago from web in reply to kstrandlund
GCC = Granger Community Church, in the South Bend, Mishawaka area (Indiana).
Meet the staff at Granger.
@kstrandlund Hey Katie! Remember me from St. Marcus? You totally follow many of the staff members/pastors at my Church - Granger Community!
about 12 hours ago from web in reply to kstrandlund
is intrigued to see that @pastorski is following @timastevens. Small world! Ski was my Pastor in Milwaukee and Tim Stevens at current church
about 13 hours ago from web
---
A WELS layman wrote: "This is that Leadership Conference ski and katie are twittering about lately...they both attended the one back in November at Granger Community Church. I am so hurt and offended...................
http://www.catalystoneday.com/"
What is it?
Why is it important?
How do you get it?
Once you have it, how do you keep it?
Hear Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel uncover the secrets to creating and sustaining momentum. Learn about creating systems, environments, and entire cultures that will set the right initiatives in motion and fuel progress. Whether you need fresh insight for your staff, your church, your business, or yourself, this is an exceptional, can’t-miss opportunity.
Make plans now to be part of Catalyst's newest offering: a One Day leadership experience packed with teaching and insight from two of the leading voices in the Church today. Connect with other influential leaders in your area. Gain fresh perspective. Challenge the process.
Catalyst One Day, part of the Catalyst Voices series, is an opportunity to hear the nuts and bolts of leadership, up-close with Andy and Craig. The event features dynamic worship with the North Point worship team, idea-inducing Q & A, and candid conversation between Andy and Craig. See you there!.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
At Catalyst One Day, you will:
Discover the key to creating and sustaining momentum in your organization
Identify and break through the barriers to momentum
Overcome personal leadership lids
Leverage the three triggers which ignite organizational momentum
Create a culture of continual improvement
Embrace a new approach to leading organizational change
***
GJ - Can everyone see where this is going? Education at WLC, membership at St. Marcus, new membership at a totally awesomely mega-church of Enthusiasm.
---
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Stay in WELS, Enjoy Groeschel's Sermons: At the Po...":
The CORE is not WELS. They just say they are. I don't know why they say they are WELS.
I am supposedly WELS. I cannot be in fellowship with The CORE. I cannot believe WELS is allowing the CORE to operate calling themselves WELS. This has gone way way way too far. I no longer have a place to call my church.
Three doofus Synod Presidents in a row--Naumann, Mischke, Gurgel--promoted the Church Growth Movement in lockstep with ELCA, Missouri, and the Little Sect on the Prairie. ELCA had more than two parts then: ALC, LCA, AELC, Lavender Mafia. Thrivent was AAL and LB. Now all are one, driven by fear of the future and lack of trust in the Means of Grace.
They knew in 1978 that Lutherans were moving away from their former strongholds into the Sunbelt, that few of the children baptized in a parish would stay to be confirmed and married. I knew those statistics because I attended national LCA evangelism training time after time. The LCA taught exactly what the WELS was learning, in a manner of speaking.
For example, the LCA trained me in Management by Objective, by Peter Drucker. MBO is a business model I heard repeated within WELS, years later.
The LCA cast its covetous eyes on the Enthusiasts of the day: D. James Kennedy and others, making the LCA version far more mainline while denouncing the examples they copied so adroitly. The Wisconsin Sect sent all their leaders to be trained at Fuller, Willow Creek, and Trinity Deerfield. Wally Oelhafen could recite the party line on Reformed doctrine while gushing about Church Growth. The Sausage Factory did the same thing, teaching Church Growth in one class while criticizing Reformed doctrine in another. One sausage gave me his "Lord, Liar, Lunatic" paper from Mequon, where he repeated the Josh McDowell sales pitch. I said, "Where did you learn this nonsense?" He clammed up.
So WELS has an alien synod growing from within, highly trained in all the anti-Lutheran dogma of the Enthusiasts. Try to do your Matthew 18 due diligence with their leaders. They will--like Ski, Kelm, and Bruce Becker--brush aside all criticisms. Like thistle growing in the field, they will not be moved.
The Reformed synod-within-the-synod will continue to work at total control. Younger pastors like Glende and Ski have grown up under Fuller leaders, always rewarded for "getting it." They will not relinquish their power with grace and humility.
VP Don Patterson has lined up ex-SP Gurgel as his vicar. That gives Gurgel a podium for politicking, so maybe people will forget his stewardship as DP and SP. Gurgel got his brother a teaching position at the Sausage Factory, so Patterson can tap the signals intelligence from Zion Hill in Mequon.
---
Thoroughly Disgusted has left a new comment on your post "The Synod Within the Synod":
Are you really so arrogant to believe that Pastor Ski took down his blog simply because you posted copy and pasted it to yours? You call on others to repent but you ought to repent. You are constantly plotting and causing division among the church.
***
GJ - The reading comprehension skills of WELS liberals are awesomely bad. I wrote that Ski took away the link after I wrote about it. The content is still there. The blog is still there. I can ascetain the timing of the lost link but not the cause. Ski would have to sit down with me and explain why he removed the link but kept the content - and why.
---
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Synod Within the Synod":
Pastor Jackson is not plotting and causing divisions. He is exposing errors, something which God's Word commands. He is an unofficial spokesman for those that have been shushed by circuit pastors and district presidents.