A Little Leaven
Exponential 09 Conference to Feature a Speaker Whose Biggest Regret is Not Clubbing a Church Lady With a Baseball Bat
The Exponential 09 church planters conference has invited Gary Lamb of Revolution Church in Canton, GA to be one of the featured speakers. Gary Lamb is on the record saying that one of his biggest regrets is that he didn't club a church lady with a baseball bat, punch her husband in the face and set fire to the church organ.
Gary Lamb has no business being a pastor or a conference speaker. The LAST thing the church needs is Lamb teaching other pastors how to be like him.
Here is the relevant sound bite from the "sermon" where Gary Lamb shared this sick 'regret'.
Lamb's lust for murderous violence doesn't end here. Read what Lamb wrote on his blog to the person who stole one of his church's trailers.
To the people who stole our trailer:
First let me say, God loves you. Second let me say we forgive you. We really don’t want to forgive you, but God says we should so we do. Third of all I want you to know that I think you are scum bags. I think you are lowlife degenerates who need a good butt kicking. Matter of fact I feel so strongly about the fact that you need a good butt kicking that I am volunteering to do it. I hope you believe in God because you should get on your knees and cry out to Him like never before because if we find you, I can promise we will kick the crap out of you. It won’t be pretty, it won’t be over quickly, and it will be very painful. I know that doesn’t sound very nice but I feel pretty strongly that is what you need.
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Gary Lamb -Gary is the Founding Pastor and Lead Pastor of Revolution Church in Canton, Ga. Started on August 15th, 2004, RC has quickly become known for it's (sic) crazy passion to do whatever it takes to reach those who are disconnected from church. In it's (sic) 4 years of existence, RC has grown to over 1,000 people in weekly attendance, has launched a second campus, and over 70% of those in attendance were previously unchurched before attending Revolution for the first time. Prior to starting RC, Gary started a church in Ames, Iowa. He has a huge passion for church planters and works as consultant for a church planting group in Georgia and teaches church planters at the West Ridge School of Church Planting in Hiram, Ga.
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GJ - Gary Lamb will speak at the Exponential Conference. Last year, VP Don Patterson--in his capacity as doctrinal supervisor and guru to The Sausage Factory--shepherded a group of WELS workers to the last confab in Orlando. There they listened to Babtist Ed Stetzer and hired him for Church and Change.
Whiskey Tango is code for White Trash.
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.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Open a Can of Whiskey Tango When You Attend Exponential -
Endorsed by VP Patterson
Deep Cleansing Breath:
Now Try To Read "Airport"
Without Screaming in Pain
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Deep Cleansing Breath: Now Try To Read "Airport" W...":
The airport analogy is straight from Reggie McNeal. Can't the WELS ever be original?
http://www.pastorkenkelly.com/2008/12/reggie-mcneal-conference.html
Reggie has spoken at our church on several occasions. His talks always challenge me to re-think how we do church and how I live the Christian life. Today was no exception. His talk was based on his newest book The New Missional Renaissance which will be released late next month. Here are some takeaways.
* Henry Blackaby was right. We need to join God in what He's already doing. God is having a great time out there. The question is whether we want to play.
* 3 convergences that are creating a missional renaissance: the rise of an altruism economy, the desire for personal growth, and spiritual awakening.
* We're in a culture that wants to talk God and not church.
* Three shifts needed: from internal to external focus in ministry; from program-driven to people development; from church-based leadership to kingdom-focused leadership.
* The church needs to be like the connecting hub of an airport. The hub is not the destination. We've made the church the destination place instead of the hub that sends us into the world with the gospel.
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BHM: Project Airport
Our mission counselors and cross-cultural consultant planned Project Airport to assist our District Mission Boards to better serve their missions. Part of the reason for inviting every DMB member to attend was that many new men have been elected to their position who were not present for the original training (back in the previous century) in the Barnabas Project, a very useful and helpful tool for shepherds.
The airport theme was chosen because of so many parallels between equipping, supporting, maintaining and making improvements in airline service and in our service to our missions and missionaries.
As we planned, we began to realize the benefit of bringing together in one place (actually, two places: Denver and Chicago) not just DMB members, but also all those who are or can be involved in assisting our missions, missionaries, and congregations who have the potential to start new mission ministries. So we invited District Presidents, Synodical Council (SC) district representatives, the Board for Parish Services (BPS) Administrator, Commission on Adult Discipleship (CAD), Commission on Evangelism (CoE) and WELS Kingdom Workers (WKW) to attend. We really appreciated the gracious response to our invitations. All told, our WELS VP, 6 district presidents, our BPS Administrator, 4 SC men, 5 CAD, 12 CoE, and 64 DMB members attended the workshops. It was a well-rounded group that actively participated in the breakouts and seemed to appreciate the opportunity to grow and work together for the sake of our Lord Jesus and his kingdom.
Throughout both gatherings, we were enriched and uplifted with consistently inspiring devotions from the word of our God. The analogies to airplanes and airports were many, creative, and seemed exceedingly appropriate to our church as we followed the themes of “Trusting God’s outreach promises” (Cares), “Sometimes it’s hard to get off the ground” (Westra, Gauger), “It takes a lot of people for an airplane to fly”(Hagedorn), “The value of regular maintenance” (Geiger, Fisher), and “Working with God to set missions free to fly”(Birkholz). The singing was wonderful, both with and without accompaniment.
Pastor Hagedorn kept the fast-paced conference on its rather tight schedule. Ten different presenters led the workshops. The airport/airplane analogies continued. The workshops were presented according to five consecutive categories, each one building on the previous one:
• Outreach Orientation (awareness-possibilities upon taking off)
• Outreach Orientation (development/foundation—getting plane ready to fly)
• Awareness of our Culture and Community (aware of fellow passengers)
• Partnership and Connections (co-workers needed in order to fly)
• One on One Impact Training (pilot and crew)
Awareness
MC Schulz took off with quite a list of God’s grace at work among us through the many and varied examples of new mission starts and ministries associated with home missions and NA Outreach. CAD Administrator Kehl reviewed NAO with us and then led a breakout session encouraging us to consider ways to broaden its impact. You will notice the enthusiastic responses which were posted on newsprint around the conference room.
Foundation
Cross Cultural Consultant Kehl then led us in a lively session and breakout focused on the spiritual foundations which lead individuals and churches to be outreach oriented.
Culture
MC Schulz brought us into the 21st century culture, helping us to understand our world and giving us some great questions for us to consider as we work to share the news of Jesus with those who think differently than we (possible new passengers on our plane). Hispanic Consultant Roth helped us get into the shoes of today’s immigrants with a card game that got everyone confused, and Hmong Coordinator Piepenbrink helped us realize an Asian perspective on our BHM guiding principles for cross cultural ministries.
Partnership and Connections
CoE Administrator Hintz helped us realize the value of a good ground crew as he outlined a model outreach-minded congregation. Pastors Roth and Piepenbrink outlined their services. Pastor Warnecke from WKW's touched on the many ways they are available to serve our mission fields. MC Schulz offered a look at some of the new and innovative ways in which mission ministries are starting these days. We then were broken out into small groups to consider how and where each of our districts might start new ministries. After that, Mel explained how we can get money for all this, if there’s any available.
One on One Training
With the big picture concerning “flight plans” established the previous day, Tuesday helped us focus our attention on the “crew”: our missionaries and leaders. MC Schulz and John Tappe took us on an excellent guided tour of the Barnabas program, showing us how they use its many tools to encourage and assist the men on the front lines and how there is more than enough material on its pages to help every DMB member become a more able and helpful shepherd to those they serve. It should be mentioned that the two men had recently reviewed, edited, and updated the Barnabas manual.
MC Schuppe offered some useful helps on mentoring, gleaned from his personal experience and study, and MC Huebner led us through some coaching approaches (with assistance from Mrs. Christy Geiger’s materials) which seem to be bringing blessings to many. Districts were then asked to work together to decide on which kind of approach (shepherd/mentor/coach) or combination of approaches they might use to best serve their missions/missionaries.
Where, from here?
We noticed throughout the day and a half there was little of the “in and out” traffic and sidebar conversations one sometimes witnesses at conferences as attendees sometimes seem to be wishing they were elsewhere. We give our God thanks for the high level of the quality of the presentations and devotions and the attendees’ enthusiastic participation in breakouts and small groups. The blessings of district coworkers (evangelism, CAD, DMB, etc.) learning, thinking, and planning together seemed apparent. We heard desires expressed for more of this kind of thing.
We are today making all the tools, breakout group responses, information, devotions and PowerPoint presentations from Project Airport (including the newly updated Barnabas Project) available to the BHM members on a CD.
We trust that the information was and is helpful and encouraging to all who attended. It sometimes happens that one attends this kind of workshop, is exposed to some things, but then goes home and becomes so busy again that the notebook sits on the shelf.
Our expectation is that there are those who put what they learned to good use right away when they arrived home. We need to continue to find new ways to encourage our sister churches to seek to start new mission ministries. The tools we’ve just been given are invaluable for that purpose.
We also trust that the sights of every DMB were raised. We can continue to grow as shepherds, using the Barnabas Project materials. Perhaps some are choosing or will choose a mentoring or coaching approach. We are right now looking for those with whom we could work together on pilot projects, intentionally making use of the shepherding/mentoring/coaching approach. We will figure out a way to prioritize it in our schedules so we can work alongside you (if you should so desire). Just let us know.
May God continue to bless the after-effects (jetwash?) [flatulence!] of Project Airport!
MC’s Schulz, Schuppe, and Huebner and CCC Kehl
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GJ - Does anyone wonder why everything crashed? The pilots are Schwaermer, buzzing here and there, blowing money to introduce the same old Fuller babble as if Enthusiasm were invented in Milwaukee last week.
Another Reason To Cut the Technology Budget
Easter Sermons Are Easy
By Martin Spriggs:Bio on April 13, 2009
Ran across an interesting article about the average attention span of someone listening to a lecture (or sermon as the case may be). It’s called Kill lecture boredom through science from the Speaker Confessions blog. The results are based on a very small study of monitoring heart rates of students. While the results are not concrete enough to publish is a scholarly journal, I think we all might agree with them. He comes to two conclusions: 1) 20 to 30 minutes is the sweet spot amount of time for lectures, and 2) if you go longer, do something different every 20 minutes to regain people’s attention.
While most sermons hit that “sweet spot”, some would argue that the sermon is at the heart of a 60 minute period of time (the service) through which we are trying to hold the attention of the congregation. Throw in the fact that we hold services on a Sunday (read weekend) morning, many are sitting on uncomfortable pews, the under 5 year old crowd offers pretty stiff competition, etc. and you find a challenge worthy of the best public speakers.
All of us are fresh off Easter services, and I for one find it very easy to “tune in” to Easter sermons. Adrenaline is high. Hymns have a peppy contrast to those we’ve been singing over the last 6 weeks of Lent. Churches are full. Yet there are other times of the church year that I have to admit my heart rate drops pretty low by the end of a sermon.
Here are the tips the article offers. Some could be applied to the sermon. 1) Ask a question and look for a show of hands, 2) Give them a challenging problem to solve, 3) Show a short film, 4) Move to a new spot on the stage. Essentially, anything to help reset their attention cycles.
Obviously some of these same principles apply to Bible class and even when you are writing content for your website. If they are “tuned out” your breath is wasted. Maybe you have some good ideas to share?
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GJ - Did you get a buzz out of those ideas?
WELS Imprint has a few dozen posts. I have 2,600 - without a salary, benefits, or training at Willow Creek. Or Trinity Deerfield. Or Fuller Seminary.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Another Reason To Cut the Technology Budget":
And Martin Spriggs graduated at the top of his class.... At WELS the quality goes in before the product goes out. Do you believe it?
Awesome Vision
New Vision an Awesome Calling
By Dr. Joel Nelson - Bio on February 16, 2009
WELS Commission on Youth Discipleship (CYD) recently adopted a new vision statement. The statement expresses the awesome calling CYD has as a Parish Services unit and the fervent desire it has for our entire church-body: Every congregation actively partnered with parents to nurture youth: their perspective, potential, and place in the body of Christ.
The word perspective recognizes that youth have points of view, opinions, ideas, and dreams from which the church can learn. The word potential recognizes that youth have abilities, talents, attitudes, and energy through which the church can benefit. The word place recognizes that youth must be valued, included, empowered, and engaged in ministry, making themselves and the church whole.
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GJ - Copying more would violate the Geneva Conventions about the use of torture on civilians. Nelson has a degree in education from Cardinal Stritch.
When will the word awesome be officially banned from the English language? Soon, I hope.
PS - Bruce Becker, Wayne Mueller, and Peter Kruschel still have their bios on the WELS website. Is Martin Spriggs waiting for their return?
Top Gunn Shrinking
Some facts conveniently overlooked or not known by Joe Krohn, who gets his misinformation from buddy Don Patterson:
- CrossWalk was not allowed to join the district for many reasons.
- The District Mission Board did not start CrossWalk. Some local churches did with a Board of Directors, just like Baumler's model C and C parish. The Perish Assistants at The Love Shack promote this business model.
- Actually, a BoD for Crosswalk Lutheran Ministries, Inc. (check the Arizona State corporation commission web site) was formed from WELS members at Emmanuel, Tempe, and a couple of other WELS churches.
- CrossWalk has a Board of Directors making the decisions once everyone--women and children combined--has a say.
- CrossWalk has received all its money from Thrivent, wealthy WELS members, and grants.
- Gunn was never a tent-maker, in spite of what FIC claimed.
- The money for CrossWalk has dried up under the new district leadership, and Gunn is out of ammo.
- One rumor is that he is headed for that garden of apostasy, Wisconsin Lutheran College, to head a real campus church.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Busta Gut Speaks His Mind":
Confidential to Greg - The point was it is God growing Crosswalk as they HAVE been faithful to the Word. I know you enjoy being the Lone Ranger of Lutheranism and all, but the hallmark of faithfulness to the Word isn't always non-growth. Sometimes you seem to wear it like a red badge of courage. :)
Joe Krohn, Rock N Roll
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GJ - Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Joe. You tried to start a blog and you failed, so you coat-tail this one. You need to parrot my words. I am honored. But please try to read with comprehension and discernment. The only qualification is faithfulness to the Word, entirely lacking in your bunch of plagiarists, false teachers, and grant-grubbing frauds.
According to your measuring stick, Gunn is now a mere spitball in the war against the Means of Grace.
Meanwhile, Joe brags he can read minds: "I know you enjoy..."
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Clueless Joe Krohn has left a new comment on your post "Top Gunn Shrinking":
Greg,
You're always good for some laughs when I have downtime at work and I have nothing better to do, so why not indulge you at least for today. You live for these moments. Especially when you get your whitie tighties in a bunch about all of us 'apostates'.
To your facts...
Crosswalk's membership in WELS is pending just like Christ the Rock's because of the model. It doesn't jive with the WELS constitution of governing. I'm not really sure how this can be construed as non-biblical.
The were no funds to start CW so laypeople did with the approval of the DMB. Again, where is this a sin?
From what I recall of non-profit incorporation, all churches are required to file articles of incorporation. The articles are typically signed by the officers of the church who are laypersons. I guess you have been out of the loop for awhile.
The BOD does form a consensus based on input from the congregation. Is this sinful?
I didn't think it was a sin to accept offerings from WELS members. As far as grants and other gifts, it depends on where you draw the line and how legalistic you want to be.
The original call as it was drawn up was to be half time minister and he was to get another job to supplement his income. This is referred to as a tent minister and not maker. It's based on the Paul model. I'm assuming you were being facetious, but just in case. Obviously the FIC article was written before the changes in ministry.
As far as money drying up and Jeff Gunn taking another call; well that remains to be seen.
Joe Krohn
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GJ - Joe, a tent minister would minister to tents. Someone with WELS spelling acumen would say, "Past tents? Future tents?" Paul actually made tents to supplement his meager income, so a worker/pastor is called a tent-maker, a maker of tents, not a minister to tents. I will concede that illiterates in Church Growth may say--or even write--tent minister, but that does not keep the image evoked from being comical.
Please don't tentsup if I use a theological word correctly.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Top Gunn Shrinking":
Would anyone else hire the Top Gunn? He comes with so much excess baggage.
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Church and Chicaneries Have Minders Assigned To Clean Up CG Messes And Lob Stink Bombs
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Church and Chicaneries Have Minders Assigned To Cl...":
And what a mess CG makes! Handicapped to reasoning by cliché and trite remarks, they better serve the Devil than Christ as they run the ministries into the ground. Oblivious to the mess they make, they paste on Goody Two-Shoes smiles while they promote their pastoral and leadership services to the members. It works like a charm.
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GJ - So true. And they have been and still are using paid synodical positions to promote the Church and Chicanery agenda.
If y'all don't know that agenda by now, you haven't been reading Ichabod or the websties of these soi-disant leaders.
Busta Gut Speaks His Mind
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Church and Change Board Members Learned Secrecy an...":
Ken,
If you are basing your post on what you read here, then all you are doing is expanding the base of ignorance that grows on this blog like a fungus.
I was there at Crosswalk from the time Jeff Gunn received the call in early 2004. We met weekly on Sunday nights in the library at ALA in Bible study and fellowship often after attending our traditional Lutheran churches in the morning. So there were no canceled services.
You may not agree with the worship form at a church like Crosswalk, but making an off the cuff remark about it being pentecostal in nature further exposes your ignorance. It shows that you have never attended there. It is a rare occurrence if there is even clapping during the songs much less the rest of the service. Lutherans are funny that way. It's pretty low key. Jeff Gunn's sermons are solid in the Word and the Lutheran doctrine.
We did have a ramp up period during the summer of 2004 because there were some details to work out. We had some homework to do as we wanted it to be different and yet be faithful to Lutheran doctrine. We were being careful. We started in the library with 10-20 folks and the last I heard Crosswalk has 500+ on any given Sunday in worship. If you want to blame anyone or point the finger I guess it would have to be God because it is His fault.
That little rag tag group that met in the ALA library on Sunday evenings studying scripture and having pot-luck suppers are some of my fondest memories. We should all be so blessed.
Joe Krohn
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GJ - I am always happy to see Joe sign his posts. "What is so rare as a day in June?" - A signed Church and Change comment.
Is CrossWalk Lutheran? Proof is missing.
The last I heard, Rock N Roll in Round Rock had 30 in attendance, after 3 years of grants, freebies, and copying sermons from false teachers. Two full-time staff members? Wowie wow. I want Mrs. Ichabod to get $50k to be my assistant. Where does she apply? Staph Ministry? Fuller? Trinity Deerfield. Mars Hills? GCC?
Confidential to Joe - it's not the numbers - but faithfulness to the Word. Paul the Tent-maker has something to say about that.
No, I Can Read the Book of Concord and Your Evil Websites
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Church and Change Board Members Learned Secrecy an...":
Anon 7:54 am
Have Jackson call them evil because he can read hearts. Just ask him.
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GJ - Obviously WELS is divided. Like the terrorists of 1993, who bombed the WTC the first time, the Chicaneries declared war on WELS and few paid attention.
These divisions are good because the Jeske-Patterson-Parlow-Kelm-Valleskey crowd do not like Lutheran worship, Lutheran confessions, or Lutheran theologians. I can tell what they love when Chicanery Board Member Ski, sponsored by Chicanery Board Member Ash, needs this training in one year to start The CORE:
- Drive 08 - Stanley.
- Drive 09 - Stanley.
- Granger Community Church - Beeson.
- Catalyst - Stanley and Groeschel.
- Seattle - probably Driscoll of Mars Hill.
Church and Change Cats Always Meow For More
rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Ichabod Stats Spike on June 9th":
The money changers, and the Church and Changers, (are they one in the same?) both need to be driven from the temple. The laity was being blamed even in the good economic times. When the offerings didn't line up with the expenses generated by grandiose expansion plans, and the subsequent cost overruns, the laity was blamed for being tight-fisted. Because of the subtle doctrine of leadership infallibility, it was never their fault. It is coming back to bite them.
Church and Change Board Members Learned Secrecy and Deception at Mequon
Cloaking of the Church and Chicanery Board:
- Pastor Ron Ash (sponsor of The CORE) - bio and photo.
- Fundraiser Jeff Davis (takes a percentage) - photo but no bio.
- Sarah Owens - bio and photo.
- Barry Spencer (St. Marcus) - bio and photo.
- Pastor John Huebner - bio and photo.
- Pastor James Skorzewski - Ski - (fomerly St. Marcus) - no bio and no photo.
- UPS Driver Brian Arthur Lampe - no bio and no photo.
- Pastor Bruce Becker (St. Marcus/Time of Grace) - no bio, no photo, no listing.
Half the Church and Change leaders have chosen to hide their identities on their own board member listing!
We can ascertain the substance of Church and Chicanery from their conferences featuring Leonard Sweet (WELS approved) and Ed Stetzer (Conference of Pussycats finally put their paws down and nixed Ed).
We can also determine their direction from Chairman Ron Ash sponsoring board member Ski to build the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock in Appleton - one block from a large, downtown WELS congregation.
Church and Chicanery leaders like VP Don Patterson deny their C and C membership, but take leadership roles in their meetings, participate in their secretive listserve, and gather WELS workers for Schwaermer gatherings like Exponential.
Some Exponential speakers are linked up with The CORE Twitters or training:
Mark Batterson,
Craig Groeschel (writes all of Ski's sermons for him, even does the graphics),
Ed Stetzer.
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Even though no synod funds are available to start missions, the Arizona District Mission Board is continuing to forge ahead in the South Mountain/Laveen area of Phoenix.
Author: Gary Jeffers
“We can’t just do nothing!”
That’s what Arizona District Mission Board Chairman Dan Baumler said about the opportunity to do mission work in one of the fastest-growing and diverse areas of the country, the South Mountain/ Laveen area of Phoenix. Despite the recent funding difficulties that the Board for Home Missions is facing, Baumler is urging us to start a church here. The population of this area surrounding Arizona Lutheran Academy (ALA), Phoenix, our WELS area Lutheran high school, is projected to increase from 50,226 in the year 2000 to 147,270 in 2010.
The idea for a mission in the South Mountain/Laveen area originated in 2001. Members of ALA’s long-range planning committee asked the Arizona District Mission Board how they might start an exploratory mission in the community. The board suggested that a committee be formed to plan for an eventual start-up.
Interested individuals began meeting in September 2002. This South Mountain Exploratory Community Mission Committee surveyed the community and local churches. We also held meetings with the pastors of Emmanuel, Tempe, Ariz., a nearby WELS congregation, to solicit their support.
Even though there are no synod funds available to start missions, we are continuing to forge ahead. The goal is to raise $25,000 and call a “tent minister” who would receive a partial salary for his ministerial work and be employed part time in a secular position to help support himself.
As the Lord has blessed the efforts of this ministry according to his good and gracious will, the following milestones have been achieved:
• ministry plan completed and approved,
• initial budget written,
• orientation with potential core members (WELS members in target area), and
• Bible studies scheduled with potential core members.
Other blessings include
• a facility to meet in (ALA),
• a part-time job for a pastor,
• a great leadership team,
• a committed core group,
• $6,000 cash in hand, and
• WELS members of various congregations along with ALA students working together to further God’s kingdom.
More is needed—volunteers, offerings, prayers, a willing tent minister. We proceed confident of God’s continued blessings.
Gary Jeffers is a member of Grace, Glendale, Arizona, and chairman of the South Mountain Community Exploratory Mission Committee.
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“We can’t just do nothing” part two
The Lord is blessing a local effort to start a church in the South Mountain/Laveen area of Phoenix.
Author: Gary Jeffers
As you may recall from the winter edition of Mission Connection, “We can’t just do nothing“ is what Arizona Mission Board Chairman Dan Baumler said about the opportunity to do mission work in one of the fastest growing and diverse areas of the country, the South Mountain/Laveen area of Phoenix. Despite recent funding difficulties facing Home Missions, Baumler urged us to gather people and start a church here.
The population of this area is projected to increase from 50,226 in the year 2000 to 147,270 in 2010. One sees evidence everywhere that the projection is solid. Future neighborhoods are being prepared. New houses are being finished every day.
Even though we had no synodical funds to assist us, we continued to forge ahead. We established a goal to raise $25,000 and to call a “tent minister“ before the end of 2003. A tent minister is a pastor who is willing to work a part-time job to help support himself financially while he reaches out with the gospel. As a result of the overwhelming support, generosity, and undeterred nature of WELS people in our area, the Lord has blessed these efforts. The monetary goal was exceeded, and a call was extended and accepted by Jeffrey Gunn early in 2004.
Gunn was installed in a service at Emmanuel, Tempe, and Baumler preached the sermon. Praise God for directing our people to share their gifts to support this mission and to show us that new openings can happen, even if the synod doesn’t have money for them.
Another significant blessing is that the Board for Home Missions favorably reviewed what has been accomplished, and they approved the Mission Establishment Phase for this endeavor without any promise of financial subsidy. Now a core group of WELS members living in the area meets for weekly Bible classes and fellowship. They recently named the mission “CrossWalk Lutheran Church.“ They have begun to formulate short- and long-range plans for their mission endeavors in this expanding part of Phoenix.
Please keep tent minister Jeffrey Gunn and all of us in this new mission in your prayers. Together we forge a new path in reaching the unchurched in South Phoenix.
Gary Jeffers is chairman of the board of directors for the development phase of CrossWalk Lutheran, Phoenix, Arizona.
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“We can’t just do nothing ” part three
New ministry in South Phoenix keeps growing. Weekly Bible classes and three summer worship services were well attended.
Author: Gary Jeffers
Blessings continue to abound for CrossWalk Lutheran Church in South Phoenix. As mentioned in previous editions of Mission Connection, this North American outreach ministry was formed by a group of WELS members who saw a need for outreach to the unchurched in the South Phoenix area.
The population of this diverse area surrounding Arizona Lutheran Academy, a WELS area Lutheran high school, is projected to increase from 50,226 in the year 2000 to 147,270 in 2010. Even though there are no synodical funds to support the effort, Pastor Jeff Gunn accepted the call as a tent minister. (A tent minister is best described as a pastor who is willing to work a part-time job to help support himself while he also does outreach ministry.)
Currently, weekly Bible classes are being held both at Arizona Lutheran Academy and at Gunn’s home. Because of the summer heat that sends many in Phoenix out of town and also because of the desire for excellence in our worship services, regular Sunday worship has been put on hold until after Labor Day. However, three preview services were held during the summer months in the gymnasium at Arizona Lutheran Academy. This gave the new mission time to become comfortable in its surroundings and to prepare for guests in fall. We also challenged each current member to invite 10 unchurched people to our official start-up in September. The first of the three preview services was held on June 20. It was an unadvertised service attended by 110 people—another blessing and surprise from the Lord!
Please keep CrossWalk’s members and Pastor Gunn in your prayers as we forge a new path in reaching the unchurched in South Phoenix.
Gary Jeffers is chairman of the board of directors of CrossWalk Lutheran Ministries, Phoenix, Arizona.
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Volume Fall 2004, Category: BHM
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GJ - Forward in Collusion ran a three-part series on Church and Chicanery hero Jeff Gunn. Why would anyone think the synodical magazine is in cahoots with the Shrinkers?
The three-part series managed to leave out a ton of facts about CrossWalk, such as plagiarizing false teacher's confessions, ditching the word Lutheran, pretending to be generic Babtist. What a success - crating a non-Lutheran congregation in a non-Lutheran town, then spreading the Staff Infection to others.
Meanwhile, the WELS DP extended the Left Foot of Fellowship to one pastor after another. One dared to criticize the Yoda of Church Growth in WELS. Horrors! Bonk, out. Ichabodians, did you know that one requirement for joining WELS is removing criticism of CG from a website? And you think there is no doctrinal discipline. Not in the Arizona-California-Las Vegas District.
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Ken Schmidt has left a new comment on your post "Church and Change Board Members Learned Secrecy an...":
I realize that "tent ministers" time is limited but putting regular Sunday services on hold till after Labor Day seems a bit odd to me. Note the church growther emphasis on "excellence." These birds would rather cancel services than perhaps hold a simple service. This attitude borders on abandoning the flock. This guy would rather abandon Sunday services if they can't be a full blown church growth hootinanny (sic). What a contrast to the early church who would rather meet in the Roman catacombs than forsake the assembly of the saints. They feel if you can't get the proper penetecostal style emotional tone by having a large crowd then you might as well stay home and watch Joel Osteen on the idiot box! The angels must weep!
Another $1 to 1.5 Million Gone from WELS Budget
WELS missionaries are coming home jobless and homeless in a bad economy, where calls were rare even before the mortgage meltdown. They have to share parsonages or homes with friends and relatives.
Meanwhile, congregations are shedding pastors and teachers.
WELS had to take $8 million from the budget, but the latest word is another shortage of $1 to 1.5 million.
The Shrinkers of the Gurgel-Mueller regime took the largest charitable gift in history and turned it into synodical bankruptcy.
And where did this genius SP Gurgel go - the man who dissolved the MilCraft estate and blew the Schwan fortune? He is working for Kudu Don Patterson, of course, conveniently on the staff so he can lobby as an active pastor instead of silencing himself as a failed SP.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Ichabod Stats Spike on June 9th
I was looking at the pages read statistic from Technorati and saw a huge spike on Tuesday of this week. I wondered if it was a mistake, so I checked Google Analytics - same spike.
Mrs. Ichabod opined, "The conventions!" She thinks the district conventions were checking on Ichabod posts - I assume in the privacy of their rooms.
The Michigan District convention was just over. The description I got was "grim," although SP Schroeder gave an uplifting message. Besides the MLS and missionary cuts, pastors are being eliminated from their positions in their congregations.
PS - Update. I found another reason for the spike. I ran the story on the Coptic cleric who evangelizes Muslims. That got the highest page reads of all time.
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Anonymouse has left a new misspelled comment on your post "Ichabod Stats Spike on June 9th":
So your readership when (sic) from 5 to 10 on that day. Nice.
***
GJ - You wish. A WELS pastor reported, "Everyone reads Ichabod."
Perhaps they long for complete sentences, good grammar, and proper spelling.
Stand By Your Klan
WELS Church and Change is a secret, sadistic organization funded by the synod to take over the WELS. They cloak themselves in sanctimony while issuing their threats. One of them said to a DP, "One day you'll be dead and we'll take over." They are just like the Ku Klux Klan, but even less charming.
Sometimes it’s hard to be a Shrinker,
Giving all your love to just one cult.
You'll have bad times,
And they’ll have good times,
Doing things that you don't understand.
But if you love them, you'll forgive them,
Even though they’re hard to understand.
And if you love Change,
Oh be proud of Change,
'Cause after all it’s just the Klan.
Stand by your Klan,
Give them two arms twist so,
And something Calvinisto,
When Fuller’s cold and lonely.
Stand by your Klan,
And tell the world you love them,
Keep shoutin “Eighth Commandment!”
Stand by your Klan.
Stand by your Klan.
And show the world you love them,
Keep giving all the dough you can,
Stand by your Klan.
Ideas for the WELS Convention
A WELS layman phoned me and asked me to post ideas about the upcoming WELS convention. Being there is influence, so if conservative laity and pastors do not attend, they are not going to have any impact. A non-delegate has more time and energy to listen, buttonhole, and lobby than a delegate.
Here are my ideas:
- Doctrinal studies are proposed. They need to be centered on the Book of Concord so Lutherans can find their identity outside of Pietism, Fuller, and Willow Creek.
- The conflict between fake-fellowship and reality has to end. WELS has been working with ELCA on evangelism, worship, and leadership projects for decades. The influence has been one-way and detrimental. Besides, no one is fooled, even if WELS hides its romance with ELCA.
- The unionists must be punished. The Crypto-Calvinists in the COP and at The Love Shack have persecuted Lutherans for 30 years. Now the loyalists of Willow Creek (Parlow) and Southern Babtism (Parlow, Ski, Glende) need to face the music.
- The Love Shack staff is worse than useless. They have worked tirelessly to fund their friends, wreck the synod, and feather their own nests. Almost all of them should be fired, but especially the Mission Counselors and Perish Assistants.
- The Doctrinal Pussycats all need replacement, starting with those who have served (themselves) the longest. They have enabled the Church and Chicanery agenda with such idiocies as giving Randy Hunter a vicar, providing a free vicar for Don Patterson, endorsing and supporting The CORE.
Some Realities
WELS spent millions on MLS in a bad location getting worse. Area high schools and the budget battles have drained its student population. Also, regionalism (State of Wisconsin WELS versus Michigan WELS) has worked its magic. I recall one Conference Chair sneering that MLS is "just a prep for Saginaw." This is worst time in the economy to turn MLS into another area Lutheran high school.
The scope of WELS world missionary work is staggering, stupefying, beyond reckless. No wonder calls are being terminated right and left. Drunk with Schwan money, WELS began cutting off the Apache mission, its first mission, to cover the globe. The money was not there and widespread support was lacking. They need to cover a few areas well instead of trying to be ELCA or Missouri in size.
Mary Lou College and The Sausage Factory are jokes, but I don't get the humor. They only prepare students to look to Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek, Trinity Deerfield, Granger Community Church, Mars Hill, and Northpoint Babtist Church for answers. If the two faculties are so bereft of trust in God's Word, why don't they join a Schwaermer denomination instead of trying to convert WELS?
How appropriate, that Bruce Becker was finally de-funded from attacking God's Word, only to re-surface at Mequon for the WELS Prayer Institute hive training event.
Strong congregations create a strong church body. As Lenski said, "Programs come and go, but the Church is built on the Word of God alone."
The laity who want to give have seen their retirement funds decimated and their benevolence giving wasted on wild hair projects. Doctrinal and funding integrity will motivate people. Giving Don Patterson another free vicar will not.
Wayne Mueller and SP Gurgel got the synod to fracture giving, so every entity had to run around asking the same rich people for funds. That was a trend started in ELCA and Missouri. The Tetzels work for a commission, just like Jeff Davis. That strikes some as unethical and greedy.
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Bruce Church has left a new comment on your post "Ideas for the WELS Convention":
Here's an innocent question for which I don't know the answer. If the education budget for the WELS is $26.2 million (see links below), and the synodical subsidy for MLC is $4.5 million, LPS and MLS and get $3 million, and the seminary gets $2 million, where does the other $17 million go? I'll look for the answer in the comments.
The WELS Budget summary
http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=1332&contentID=51100&shortcutID=18902
Excerpt:
Board for Ministerial Education
Total Budget= $26.2 million
Total administrative $=$3 million
Total FTEs=31.7
MLC synodical subsidy is 4.5 million
http://www.mlc-wels.edu/home/newsworthy/budupd20081125/image/image_view_fullscreen
Budget reduction of $8 million forces ministry cuts
http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1712&cxDatabase_databaseID=1&id=10890&magazine=Forward%20in%20Christ
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Shockeroo from James Radloff, Classmate of David ...":
During relatively recent years, WELS has closed and/or amalgamated three prep schools (there are no longer prep schools in Mobridge, New Ulm, or Prairie du Chien). It has also closed and/or amalgamated two colleges (there are no longer colleges in Milwaukee, which was a WELS junior college for training teachers, or in Watertown, which was the only WELS college devoted exclusively to training pastors. With each closure or amalgamation, the leadership assured the membership of the synod that the proposed closure or amalgamation would place WELS on a solid financial footing for its long term future. With each closure or amalgamation, the financial position of WELS eventually deteriorated enough so that another school needed to be closed "to save the synod." We have four more schools to go. If the pattern continues, in short time we will have no schools and a worse financial position than now. At that time, there will be only one thing left to do. That would be to sell the Synod Administration Building and return to a part time president who is also a parish pastor and have the bulk of the rest of the work of the synod carried out by elected or appointed volunteers. Then we will be back where we started before the current administrative expansion craze. The only difference is that we will have lost our worker training system. If the pattern of closing schools to save the synod continues, one can only sit back and ask of our leaders, "Do you really think it is worth it?"
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Prank Call Gets $50,000 Damage Done To Holiday Inn Express
It's hard to get good help today.
Now I understand how McCain got nominated and Obama got elected.
Miss California
TMZ
Carrie Prejean: They Asked Me to do Playboy
Posted Jun 10th 2009 6:00PM by TMZ Staff
We just got off the phone with deposed Miss California USA Carrie Prejean -- and she says the pageant was trying to whore her out to Playboy.
Prejean claims pageant honcho Keith Lewis actually asked her last month if she would take two gigs -- appearing on "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" and Playboy. Prejean says Lewis told her Playboy offered $140,000 for her to pose semi-nude. She rejected both offers.
A few minutes ago we talked to Lewis who said he was not pushing her to take either gig -- but merely passing the offers along. Lewis said Prejean had insisted they not turn anything down without running it by her.
Prejean -- who told us she was "shocked" at the news she was fired and learned about it only after we broke the story -- tells us she has been more than cooperative with pageant officials.
Prejean says, "What's behind this I think is a political debate. They don't agree with the stance that I took [on Prop 8]. Shanna [Moakler] is trying to bash me. They don't like me. From day one they wanted me out and they got what they wanted."
How Delicious - To Post Anonymously While Lobbing a Few More Stinkbombs
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Anonymous Name-calling":
I still have to wonder how tearing down others is beneficial to anything or anyone except the ego of the one doing the insulting.
Your response was pretty much what I should have expected I suppose... "My sin? But look at what THEY did! What about them?" And you're right. There is a great deal of sinfulness in the WELS and it's leaders. Turns out its a pretty universal problem.
In no way do I intend to have an air of superiority in my comments (in fact the very accusation seems to me to be the epitome of irony). Just trying to understand the benefits of this blog besides the tearing down of others. Based on your response I take it there are none. And apparently now I've become one of your "anonymous" targets.
***
GJ - Why labor at satire when people write it for me?
Alter Call: The Evangelical Agenda
Someone asked me about altars and the Evangelicals, reminding me how often that word is misspelled in my religion classes.
The apostates of 19th century Lutheranism featured altar calls, following the Evangelicals. Those Lutherans also looked down on the liturgy. The first Lutheran to teach at Yale Divinity came from the General Synod, where that was common.
Billy Graham featured altar calls in his crusades, but he did not have an altar.
A Roman Catholic Church is often all altar with almost no pulpit. They have little preaching, very weak preaching if they do.
Traditional Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians have prominent pulpits and altars reduced to card tables in some instances. They do not like the words Holy Communion so they have the Lord's Supper as infrequently as possible (another hallmark of Lutheran Pietists - three times a year).
A traditional Lutheran church has a balance between the altar and the pulpit, emphasizing the Means of Grace: the invisible Word of preaching and teaching, the visible Word of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
The Shrinker churches of Lutheran apostasy do not have a pulpit and also lack an altar. They have movies screens (The CORE, Victory) and performance stages (The CORE).
Church and Chicanery franchises--like all the followers of Driscoll, Stanley, Beeson, Groeschel, and Sweet--promise to alter lives, to transform people by being real, relational, and relevant. Ski is saying that all the WELS congregations in Fox Valley are unreal, not relational, and irrelevant. Perhaps St. Peter in Freedom is not, because Glende "gets it" and goes to Stanley and Driscoll conferences.
The Evangelicals are touchy about altars because they reject the Sacraments. When Lutherans are ashamed of the Sacraments, they also put away the altar. Someone who goes regularly to conferences led by an anti-infant baptism preacher would hardly feature a baptismal font in his movie theater.
One's theology of worship informs the architecture of the congregation.
Our family loves the old WELS churches with the ornate altars and prominent pulpits.
The glory has departed.
Shockeroo from James Radloff,
Classmate of David Valleskey:
Close Both Preps
The Shrinkers have closed two preps out of four, but that is not enough. James Radloff, classmate of David Valleskey, has memorialized the synod to close the surviving preps.
You could have knocked me over with a pixel - that's how surprised I was.
Radloff edited the official mission counselors' newsletter for WELS, which always featured the worst false teachers and the most obnoxious false doctrine. I connected him with Valleskey because David did the same thing, a little more secretly - like a freight train going through a convent. But no one noticed.
Radloff is connected to the Patterson network. No surprise, again.
When I was first looking at WELS, John Lawrenz was president of MLS. He told me that the LCMS deliberately de-funded their preps until they were gone, in the name of missions.
Only a few years later, when WELS was trying hard to close MLS, Lawrenz said on the floor of the Michigan District convention, "We are willing to accept any role the synod gives us." People were shocked that the head of a school would be so willing to pull the rug, but DP Mueller did the same about closing NWC.
The Shrinkers have a demonic hatred for schools and an inordinate love for missions that promote Fuller doctrine.
Radloff's memorial makes sense, for those who know the players.
Lawrenz surfaced in a recent Church and Chicanery discussion. After he delivered his delphic comments, Patterson chimed in: "Pure gold, John. Thanks."
Dr. Luther Has Spoken,
Seconded by Hoenecke
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Anonymous Name-calling":
Permit me a clarification on my phrase "heavy lifting of dealing with sin..." We add these burdens to ourselves, perhaps to provide ourselves the satisfaction of adding to what He has already done. I stand corrected by the good doctor.
Luther's Table Talk, CCXXV:
... How could we perform a more easy service of God, without all labor or charge? There is no work on earth easier than the true service of God: he loads us with no heavy burdens, but only asks that we believe in him and preach of him. True, thou mayest be sure thou shalt be persecuted for this, but our sweet Saviour gives us a comfortable promise: "I will be with you in the time of trouble, and will help you out," etc., Luke xii. 7. I make no such promise to my servant when I set him to work, either to plough or to cart, as Christ to me, that he will help me in my need. We only fail in belief: if I had faith according as the Scripture requires of me, I alone would drive the Turk out of Constantinople, and the pope out of Rome; but it comes far short; I must rest satisfied with that which Christ spake to St Paul: "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my power is strong in weakness."
+Diet O. Worms
***
GJ - Hoenecke said it well in his Dogmatics, not available in English from Northwestern Publishing House: Pietism confuses justification with sanctification and makes sanctification the cause of justification (my paraphrase from memory).
Ichabodians can look at all the errant congregations and programs in WELS, Missouri, the Little Sect, and the micro-mini synods. They will find the basics of Pietism enshrined.
"Aha! say the Smells-and-Bells pastors, "We emphasize pure worship."
Exactly so. They also avoid the pure Word and glory in their works as they sinuflect toward Rome.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Anonymous Name-calling
Anonymouse has left a new clueless comment on your post "Another Reason for WELS Budget Problems":
I just stumbled across this blog recently and I just have one question. Forgive me if this has been addressed before, but I had trouble navigating your blog.
In what way are the derogatory name-calling ("Sausage Factory" instead of WLS for example) and personal attacks littered throughout this site God-pleasing or furthering His kingdom? Thanks for your response.
***
GJ - The nickname Sausage Factory comes from the Little Sect on the Prairie, something Pastor Jay Webber told me, laughing. I suggest you admonish the ELS.
I consider vague, anonymous accusations a personal attack, but maybe I am too sensitive.
The WELS Shrinkers call those who question their agenda - senile (former WLS president), brain-damaged (senior pastor who opposed amalgamation and CG), legalist (moi), and Crusader.
Promoting false doctrine is not God-pleasing, but the Shrinkers have been getting away with in in Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect for decades. The last time I checked Galatians 1:8, Matthew 7:15, and the Confessions, false teachers were damned rather than promoted.
Paul Calvin Kelm fought tenaciously to have Leonard Sweet as the Church and Chicanery speaker, refused to discuss the issue with any brothers, and found himself elevated to The Love Shack. Exactly how God-pleasing was that, Mr. Anonymouse?
How has false doctrine furthered the Kingdom? The old Synodical Conference is not littered but strangled with it.
Ichabod Name Endorsed
Palmyra Institute has left a new comment on your post "World Evangelism Broadcast from America":
Yes I have followed this Priest's ministry for a couple of years. It is wonderful to see how when he debates a Muslim cleric, The Muslim is left speechless!!! Praise God for the people who are being converted through this man. God bless him!
Cheers!
P.s.
I love the name of your blog...how appropriate for our country and our time.
God bless.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Rite Worship - Jonathan Schroeder
National Conference on Worship, Music, and the Arts – July 2005
Plenary Address II
Jonathan E. Schroeder
RITE WORSHIP FOR NORTH AMERICAN OUTREACH
Does the way we worship help or hinder outreach? I first wrestled with that question six years ago when the synod called me to be an exploratory missionary in Atlanta. North American outreach was to be the central focus of my ministry. When we held the first service of this new exploratory effort, it was nothing like the Praetorius service we just enjoyed.
We had nine people in attendance. As that handful of people struggled to sing the liturgy accompanied by a crashing computer, I first wondered: Is this the place for liturgical worship? I had my doubts.
Soon after that first service, another incident made me question my liturgical commitments. One Sunday morning I arrived at our rental space, unsuspecting of what awaited me.
When I noticed the doors that led into the worship space, my heart started beating faster. They were cased in blue streamers and had shimmering blue beads draped to the floor. Nervously, I parted the beads and stepped into the sanctuary. Inside, the entire room had been wrapped, floor to ceiling, in white Styrofoam panels, and then painted with snowscapes; snowflakes hung in clusters from every light fixture.
My heart wildly beating now, I reached over, and flipped on the lights…and every single light bulb in that room had been removed and replaced with blue light bulbs. I was standing in a polar ice cave.
In the chancel, an ice covered pond had been simulated, right down to fake ice fishermen, hunched over holes in the ice. As I walked to front, jaw agape, I thought of all the people I had invited to church today; I thought of all the effort that went into planning the service and writing the sermon. And as I stood and stared at the room’s crowning artistic achievement, I wondered:
“Can I really, with all the saints on earth and hosts of heaven, praise his holy name and join their glorious song, while standing next to a six-foot tall papier-mâché polar bear?” I had my doubts.
The mission fields of North America today present many challenges far more serious than my papier-mâché polar bear. We live in a post-literate, post-modern, and increasingly post-Christian country. Can we really hope to have any relevance when our worship paradigm is rooted in the pre-literate, pre-modern, pre-Christian world?
Six years ago, we held our first service with nine people. But God is good. Our high attendance happened a short while ago when we had 310 people in worship. That is all to God’s credit and his glory. But between our first service and our last service, we had to ask some hard questions. Is liturgical worship the right worship form for North American outreach? Or must we adopt contemporary worship forms to reach the lost?
Before we get started, let’s remind ourselves again of the differences between liturgical worship and contemporary worship. Let’s start with what liturgical worship is not: Liturgical worship does not mean slavishly doing page 15 and page 26 out of CW. Liturgical worship does not mean music at least 150 years old. It does not mean simply having an order of service or following a pattern of Word then music, Word then music.
Simply put, liturgical worship uses the ancient songs of the Church, the seasons and readings of the Church Year, the vestments and patterns of worship inherited from our Christian forefathers. Liturgical worship uses the great texts of the Church (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Te Deum, Sanctus, Angus Dei, etc.) as the basis for its praise, and uses the Life of Christ and the Teachings of Christ as expressed in the liturgical calendar as the basis for its proclamation. It is the product of twenty centuries of Christian worship.
Let’s also start with what contemporary worship is not. Contemporary worship does not mean using songs written recently. It does not mean using melodies that sound like pop music on the radio. It is not a matter of musical style or instruments. It is a matter of texts.
Contemporary worship does not follow the pattern of those songs and rites of the Church. It does not bind itself to the Christian calendar. It avoids vestments. It is a product of the Evangelical movement in Christianity, and in its present form it is a few decades in the making.
In our circles, discussions of liturgical versus contemporary worship fail to gain traction because they inevitably degenerate into a debate regarding style of music. This misses the point entirely. The difference between liturgical and contemporary worship comes not from style but from texts. Liturgical worship could be a music minister strumming his guitar, accompanied by drums, electric bass, and four singers up front with fuzzy microphones and the lyrics PowerPointed on the jumbo screen. Style and instruments do not make worship liturgical or contemporary. The texts, or lack thereof, do.
Understanding the difference between contemporary and liturgical worship, the question remains:
Is Liturgical Worship the Right Worship Form
for North American Outreach?
The clarion call to contemporary worship is usually advanced for the benefit of “The Unchurched.” Who among us would oppose reaching the lost? Must we abandon liturgical worship to reach them?
The big church in my community recently hired the Barna Research Group to conduct a research project on the unchurched in our county. An intriguing section of the report assessed ministry approaches for reaching the lost (Braelin Baptist Church Community Research, page 27). They asked the unchurched people in my county which ministry approaches held the greatest appeal for them, i.e., what would be most likely to bring them into church for the first time.
Barna Research Group, Braelin Baptist Research, Peachtree City, GA, 2002
Much ink has been spilled positing that reaching the unchurched of North America necessitates contemporary worship forms. The reality in my community differs greatly from that demographic assumption. Ask the unchurched in my community and they will tell you that contemporary worship falls at the bottom of the list of ministry approaches found most appealing.
This is my community. Can I tell you that the same numbers would hold true in your community? Of course not. But you can go and ask them. Making assumptions about demographic segments leads to knee-jerk reactions.
What the research shows is that the unchurched in my community don’t come to church for the first time because of worship forms, either contemporary or traditional. Do we need to punt liturgical worship to reach the unchurched? In no way. In fact, liturgical worship in outreach means playing to our strengths.
The Strengths of Liturgical Worship
for North American Outreach
GOSPEL CONTENT
The strength of liturgical worship for outreach lies in the fact that by design, it proclaims Christ for us, from beginning to end. The importance and impact of that fact will always remind me of a man named Steve.
I met the family through a couple of outreach opportunities before they attended worship for the first time. He and his young family sat in the back, but listened attentively. We scheduled follow-up calls, but I never saw him again because a few days later, he died.
He died of a heart attack at age 34, leaving behind a mourning family. He died in the middle of closing on a new house and moving in. He died in the middle of his child’s third year. He died a few days after coming to worship at our church for the first and only time.
It was Mother’s Day when Steve sat in the back and listened attentively. The sermon that day focused primarily on raising a Christian family, on our life of service for God. After he died, I found myself wishing he had attended the previous week to hear the sermon on the conversion of St. Paul. That sermon’s sole focus was sin and grace, life and salvation.
However, our worship is far more than just the sermon. I looked back at the order of service for that morning and I found great comfort. There, so clearly, the liturgy proclaimed the work of Christ for us.
In the liturgy, the Law was preached and sin confessed. In the liturgy, God’s solution to sin was proclaimed. In the liturgy God’s plan of salvation was set forth in gracious detail. Our words, our songs, our whole liturgy—they proclaimed what Christ has done for us.
I never thought it would be the last time I would see him. That young man who sat in the back is in the next life now. Only God knows what had taken root in his heart. But we were given the privilege of sowing seed and committing it to God.
What a blessing that the liturgy had such clear Gospel! Even on a day when the sermon’s focus largely centered on Christ’s work in us, the liturgy reached out with the saving Gospel message of Christ for us. I pray that it called Steve home.
STABILITY
Liturgical worship also serves the cause of North American outreach because it provides stability to our worship forms. This stability lends itself well to outreach among the lost in our rootless society. These generations stricken by marketing fads look for authenticity, historicity, and time-honored practices in worship.
Our liturgical worship forms have that; they are the living faith of the dead who have gone before us. They express the unity in the Holy Christian Church that we share with believers around the world. They communicate the joy we have of knowing this song doesn’t cease in death, but our worship will continue with the angels in heaven, and with saints on earth who follow the path we trod. Worship forms penned at the pastor’s desk on Tuesday night may certainly praise Christ and feed the flock. They cannot, however, lay claim to share the taproot of the liturgy that reaches through time and space to connect our worship to the past, the present, and the future worship of Christ. They cannot claim the pedigree of the living faith of the dead who have gone before.
ACCESSIBILITY
Another facet of liturgical worship that serves outreach is its accessibility, especially for the young and the new Christians. Liturgical worship is child-friendly. There is a reason why Children’s Church sprang out of non-liturgical churches. What were the children to do? However, when you have the stability and repetition of the liturgy, even the little children are part of the body of Christ joined in worship. My children said the words and sang the songs of the Ordinary by age three.
Liturgical worship is also accessible to new Christians. Our worship visitors are not Lutheran. Often, they were not Christian. But the accessibility of the liturgy allows them to quickly become participants in worshipping their newfound Savior. One woman, new to faith, commented when I changed the musical style of the Agnus Dei. She said, “But Pastor, that’s the only song I know.”
Critics often deride liturgical worship for its repetition and its sameness. I think that those very aspects serve as powerful tools to help assimilate new believers into the worshipping assembly. To see one of our recently baptized adults, join in the song of saints and angels, to see her take her place in the long line of Christians proclaiming Christ through the rites and prayers and readings of the church is joyful, humbling, and exciting beyond my ability to express.
VARIETY
However, this stability and accessibility does not mean mindlessly repetitive worship. Within its stable framework, liturgical worship allows for a great variety of style and form and genre. This spring we had a vespers service. The service of vespers retained its historic stability; this service and its texts have been used by Christians since at least the sixth century, with its roots dating as early as the fourth century. But after the opening versicles, familiar to many liturgical Christians, the forms and styles of the rest of the service varied.
As the Church has for 1500 years, we sang Psalm 141, words inspired by God millennia prior, but with music written in 1990. We sang the Magnificat, composed by Mary two thousand years ago, but the melody we used was barely 20 years old. Our Verse of the Day was historic, but it was accompanied by an acoustical guitar.
Why does this serve outreach in North America? Simply put, liturgical worship appreciates the old and the new, the tested forms and the emerging gifts of the church. It serves the faithful with familiar forms and varied styles. It incorporates the new believers into the living faith of twenty centuries of Christian worship. It shows a rooted worship, vibrantly adapting the new to the old and the old to the new.
Necessities for Liturgical Worship
in North American Outreach
The question I struggled with when I arrived in the mission field was simple: Is liturgical worship the right worship form for North American Outreach? The answer, in my mind, is: “Yes, but.”
Yes, but the concerns raised regarding our use of the liturgy are often valid and must be addressed. Worship poorly done fails to faithfully serve our God, whether it is liturgical, contemporary, or any type of mix in between. Worship done without passion or excellence erects obstacles to outreach and inreach.
Are there valid concerns raised about liturgical worship in our circles? Absolutely. Does mindless repetition put up an obstacle to outreach? Absolutely. Do stumbling deliveries and ill-prepared accompaniments put up obstacles to outreach? Absolutely.
So let’s address the concerns regarding liturgical practice. Let’s embrace the constructive criticism and grow from it. The problem isn’t the concerns that are voiced, but the solutions that some propose. Do we remove these obstacles, solve these problems, by throwing out twenty centuries of Christian wisdom in worship for an evangelical substitute with a pedigree of a few decades? I have my doubts.
How do we address the concerns? How do we grow from the criticism? What are some keys for using liturgical worship in North American outreach?
KNOW IT
If people think that liturgical worship is merely “just the way we’re used to doing it,” why are we surprised when they want to abandon it for the flavor of the month? How many of our people, or even worship leaders, know that the Prayer of the Day, used in our liturgical churches last Sunday, Pentecost 9, is a prayer written in the 5th century that has been prayed by Christian churches on that Sunday for 1600 years?
How many of our people know that the words of the Preface spoken before communion (“The Lord be with you./And also with you. Lift up your hearts…”) are not merely tired words that came from the ’41 hymnal, but are the most ancient and unaltered words of worship and praise that we have from the early Church. By using those words we stand at the end of two millennia of worshippers greeting each other before the Supper in this way.
Might there be benefit to our pastors and people having some perspective when it comes to worship innovations?
ADORN IT
Adorn the liturgy for North American outreach. Liturgical worship that is a testament to static sameness does not well represent the vitality of our faith. Let your worship be rich and deep and varied.
I serve a small, mission congregation. But at a festival service this spring we had worship that utilized two trumpets, an acoustical guitar, a flugelhorn, a keyboard, a glockenspiel, a flute, a motet choir and two cantors. Small does not mean shallow.
Yet many large congregations can amble along for half a year, the only adornment of the liturgy being a choral anthem predictably placed between lessons two and three. If asked, they answer, “We only did the liturgy.” Liturgical worship is so much more than that. Adorn your worship with the best of the new and the old. Experiment with new styles and new instruments. Remember what makes worship liturgical: the texts.
Could we not make a commitment to help adorn the liturgy across our church body? Why don’t we use our intranet presence and make in-depth worship planning available for every Sunday of the church year? I mean far more than the seasonal helps currently posted. Why don’t we ask our most talented people to pool their resources and efforts, and post on the intranet for every Sunday of this coming Church year, service themes, choral pieces, proper verses of the day, gathering rites, and the like? Showcase varied styles and forms. Keep it current: each year update it to highlight the best of the new and the old. We have the talent in this room to do that. Why don’t we?
EXPLAIN IT
“Liturgical worship is too hard for a first time visitor to follow.” How often isn’t that put forward as unassailable truth? I agree that going from page 17 in the front of the hymnal to Psalm 85 on page 97, to hymn 370 in the no-page-number section of the hymnal, back to page 19 for the Creed, is nearly impossible for a first time visitor without pedantic instructions at every step of the service.
Our congregation addressed that problem by printing the entire liturgy in the service folder every Sunday. All the words, all the responses, all the canticles appear in full. This provides a number of benefits.
First, no one has a problem following the service. No one is lost. The order of service is in the service folder in its entirety; the hymns are sung from the hymnal . No first time visitor has ever commented that this method was too difficult to follow.
Second, printing the entire service every week allows for great variety in an accessible format. A gathering rite for Advent can be seamlessly brought into the service. Adornments of the liturgy that incorporate congregational responses are handled in their place in the service—no flipping for an insert or a supplemental book.
Third, this format provides the opportunity to explain the words, the actions, and the symbolism of liturgical worship to those new to the faith and old. Footnote and explain the history and the content of the Te Deum. Footnote and explain the seasons and festivals of the church year. Teach some and remind some of the meaning of Maundy, and paschal and Agnus Dei. Explain the advent wreath, the farewell to Alleluia, the reasons we do what we do.
If we want accessible liturgical worship for outreach, on-demand publishing is a must. Our new worship resources like the Supplement are being provided with digital images for insertion into the service folder. But why are the rites of Christian Worship not available in softcopy? Why can’t we release an assembly edition of the rites and canticles? Let’s make these accessible to our people immediately.
EXCEL AT IT
Nothing impresses our society quite like excellence. However, most WELS churches have less than 100 people in attendance on Sunday. Our greatest challenge to excellence in worship remains quality musicians and the use thereof. Small congregations often struggle to adorn the liturgy because they lack the musicians needed.
The term MIDI refers to digital music run from a synthesizer. It will never replace live musicians, but for congregations without musicians, it can be an answer. However, small congregations dependent on MIDI music often are unable to adorn the liturgy because they don’t have, and aren’t capable of creating MIDI files for new gathering rites, choral pieces, Verses of the Day, etc.
Creating quality MIDI files requires someone with musical talents and someone with MIDI training. We have these people in abundance in our synod. Why isn’t every musical recommendation or resource suggested accompanied by a MIDI file? The current failure to do so, greatly limits the congregations that can benefit from these resources. In fact, it excludes the smallest congregations who most need the help of synodical brothers and sisters.
Why can’t we, along with every Sunday planning and liturgical resources on the intranet, make available quality MIDI files for the new pieces and the old, for the choral pieces and gathering rites, the verses of the day and new psalms?
Yes, copyright issues can be thorny. But let’s sort through them. Yes, this is hard work, and it might cost some money. Yet this is precisely why we walk together as a synod: to do those things jointly which we cannot do as individual congregations. If we are truly at a crossroads in the WELS at jeopardy of losing the liturgy, can’t we get this done?
LOVE IT
I am amazed that people act embarrassed by our heritage of liturgical worship. They act as if it can’t possibly appeal to a visitor. Then they say that the unchurched don’t really belong in worship anyway—worship is for believers. The unchurched should go to adult instruction class, and then come to worship. They say worship is not the place for evangelism.
Like it or not, especially in the mission fields, worship is the primary point of first contact with the unchurched. Our adult instruction classes were held in my basement for five years. What is more of a leap for the unchurched: coming to our place of worship, or coming to my basement for Bible study?
The majority of our worship visitors are not unchurched, in the sense that they know nothing at all of Christianity. Rather, they are what I call “dechurched,” that is, people who have had experience in Christianity but have fallen away. The dechurched find worship a far less threatening experience than the thought of attending a Bible Class with two other people in my basement. Worship? They have an idea of what goes on there. Suggesting Bible study in my basement makes them wonder if I’ll shave their heads and make them pass out flowers at the airport.
Worship is and will remain the primary first contact for many. There is nothing wrong with that; liturgical worship is the right kind of worship for outreach. So love it. Don’t be embarrassed of it. Don’t think that it can only appeal to people who have been hearing it since birth.
What a blessing it is! What a powerful proclamation! What a rich and deep resource! We are confessional Lutherans. We are different from so many other church bodies. Celebrate that difference, because we are different for the right reasons. Have the courage of conviction! We are Lutheran for a reason; we are confessional for a reason; we are liturgical for a reason.
It is for freedom that Christ set us free. God’s people are free to worship in infinite styles and forms that please Him. There is no one right form to worship God or share Him with the lost. But in the rites and texts of Lutheran liturgical worship we have a tool well fit for outreach to the post-modern, post-literate, and increasingly post-Christian society in which we live.
Don’t abandon it. Instead, know it, this gift given us by the saints who have gone before, this living faith of the dead. Adorn it, with things modern and things ancient, the best of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Excel at it, by bringing the best of our talents and efforts. Love it, with the courage of conviction and the celebration of who we are. Then, finally, trust that the Lord of the Church will do his work and will keep his promises and will call his children home.
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. – Zechariah 4:6
See also The Liturgy by James Tiefel, and The Changing Music of the Liturgy by Paul Rydecki – additional plenary addresses from the 2005 worship conference. All three addresses may be found in the file Plenary Addresses.
Other Presentations Through the Years
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GJ - Question. How does someone give a paper on Lutheran worship without mentioning the Means of Grace or the efficacy of the Word? The basics are not being taught at Mary Lou College or The Sausage Factory. A paper would be a good place to point out what has been neglected.