If You Like Church and Change, You Will Love "O Come All Ye Faithful"

We loved it.

I am only posting the link to the music video, for obvious reasons.

The mockery displayed in the video is typical of Shrinkers. For example, when the LCMS pastor posted "Because Christmas is not my birthday," he clearly mocked Holy Communion.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "If You Like Church and Change, You Will Love "O Co...":

The only thing is that by watching this video you are going to lose over 6 minutes of you life that you will never get back. You are much better off reading a couple of Psalms in that time that is otherwise wasted.

However, the ironic thing is that many would find no problem with doing "Oh Come All Ye Faithfull" in that heavy rock style. After all isn't it "becoming all things to all people?" The sobering fact should be clear that Twisted Sister is mocking what is a beautiful Christmas song...and they know it. They (TS) must laugh heartily when many Christians today would actually think they are doing God's will by copying their antics.

Remember the Rock anthem, then Christian rock anthem, then Rock anthem once again, (this time by KISS), called "God Gave Rock and Roll to You?"

God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you, put it in the soul of everyone.

Same refrain for every band that has done the song.

Baby Blue Eyes Explained

Baby Blue Eyes sees nothing wrong, and if it is wrong, it's harmless.
Baby Blue Eyes will cry if Holy Mother Synod is criticized.

Ichabodians know that the Chicaneries never tell the truth - they even deny belonging to Church and Change. Their hearts and minds are wrapped around Fuller, Willow Creek, Granger, Stetzer, NorthPoint, Exponential, Trinity Deerfield, and Leonard Sweet, but "they are not Changers." Ask Vicar Gurgle, whose dad at Mequon posted a Chicanery diatribe on the Church and Change listserve.

Ask Kudu Don Patterson, who led a Bible study of sorts at a Church and Chicanery conference.

The Baby Blue Eyes are a different breed, easily exploited by the Shrinkers. Holy Mother WELS can do no wrong, so there must be something terribly evil about anyone who suggests otherwise.

All the false teachers are "nice guys." How could a classmate be wrong about anything?

Worse, they are relatives. Blood is thicker than doctrine in all denominations. For instance, I wondered how Pope John the Malefactor (Little Sect on the Prairie) could stay in office. Then I read that someone named Moldstad helped found the ELS. Case closed.

Officially entered into Ichaslang.

Civil War in WELS - On Bailing Water

From: "Donald Patterson" kududon@gmail.com
To: bethanylutheranworship@gmail.com
Subject: don't be a fool

Hey, Greg,

I am not a part of Church and Change Leadership. I went to one conference a few years ago and had my own reservations. Also, Robert Timmerman does not serve as a church council pres at our church. You are lying on your blog.

Don

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Civil War in WELS - On Bailing Water":

Patterson is on the short list for VP - look out.

On Bailing Water

Monday, July 13, 2009
Civil War in the WELS ?

Greetings!

I've been following this blog since its inception, most of the time in general amusement, and often in perplexity. However, I have decided to weigh in on a comment I read recently - actually, a couple. The individual surmised that perhaps the WELS is heading toward a "civil war." Others then made reference to the incorrectly-named conflict among the states of the United States. As the Confederacy was in no way interested in taking over the U.S. Federal government - that conflagration was not a "civil war" per se, i.e. Wars of the Roses. However, what we're looking at in the WELS is a "real" civil war, or more correctly - we have already been at war for at least the last 20 years, with a good many small battles before that. The WELS is hopelessly (and I say that admitting that God can do anything) divided into 3 camps. One camp consists of the C&C folks and their hangers-on. Then there's another camp made up of the "Issues in WELS" men and various allies. But by far the largest camp is right in the middle, most of whom want little or nothing to do with the war at all. The battle is for the hearts and minds of this third group. The camp that convinces them that their way is best will win - pure and simple. I should add that there is a very small group who basically feel - "a pox on all your houses!" This then leads to my last observation concerning the comment about whether or not doctrinal issues will be dealt with at the convention. Most WELS Pastors, and a lot of laymen, know that the "real" actual work of the convention is done in the floor committees. In turn, the Presidium has pretty much carte blanche in deciding who chairs these groups and also their make-up. Thus, if the SP has done his work well - and I believe he has - the issues will be dealt with in those meetings, and the memorials which come out of those committees will tell the tale. Also, the recent Ad Hoc Committee obviously dealt with doctrine and practice and called it like it is. I believe the same will be true in the floor committees. Regarding elections: The C&Cers are on the run and hoping to get a man they can depend on into the 1st VP slot. As to finances, it really won't matter too much what is decided since our nation's leaders will continue horrible policies and the economy will not recover any time soon - with the result that more cuts will be needed anyway, regardless of how the convention goes. So, in short, a nasty little quiet war has been raging in WELS behind the scenes for decades. While LCMS and ELCA often do their fighting out in the open, that is seldom, if ever, the case in WELS. I don't see any reason for this pattern to change. I seriously doubt any group will arise at Saginaw and "walk out" of the synod, and I don't think any group will be "thrown out" either. Thus, it may look to many as though very little was done. But I believe our SP will most likely get 75 to 80% of what he needs done, and we will be on our way to fixing many problems that have accumulated over the past 20 years. From my keyboard to God's ear!

Deo Vindice!

John Bunyan - Pilgrim's Progress

William Blake illustrated the book and was buried next to Bunyan, over a century later.

Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was once the most read book in the English language, after the King James Bible. Bunyan's most read book, after the Bible, was Luther's Commentary on Galatians. I wonder how many Church Growth gurus have read either one.

Bunyan was famous for cursing before his conversion. He did not belong to the Church of England, so he was imprisoned for about 12 years for teaching as a Dissenter. He was released under a new edict of toleration but arrested again. They gave him a little jail cell, special built, where he wrote most of Pilgrim's Progress. In all he wrote 60 books, some of which perished forever because copies were gradually destroyed from being passed along and studied.

Pilgrim's Progress has been turned into an animation, which makes it a great introduction for children.

My copy of Pilgrim's Progress is from the Limited Edition Club, which means - superb paper, color prints tipped in, large print and margins. The book is a pleasure to read for its beauty, but the content surpasses that.

Allegories are difficult to write and often even more difficult to read. Moby Dick and Lord of the Rings have been called allegories.

Pilgrim's Progress...more later. Sassy needs a walk and it is 5:30 AM already.

Paradise Lost: Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio was central to the old, old ALC of 1930, not to be confused with The ALC of 1960. Lenski and many other great theologians taught at the seminary, which influenced the Augustana Synod and other Lutherans in Lutheran orthodoxy. Much later, the seminary merged with they trendy Hamma seminary of the LCA and went downhill faster than a WELS congregation with blended worship.

In WELS, Columbus was called "the sewer of the synod" for good reason.

Floyd Luther Stolzenburg was kicked out the LCMS ministerium for cause, forced to resign. His wife divorced him for the same reason.

Floyd followed her back to Columbus and began church shopping. Soon he was at St. Paul, German Village. He never joined WELS because St. Paul was not a member of WELS at that time. Floyd also made it clear that he despised WELS.

District VP Paul Kuske got an organization together, Lutheran Parish Resources, first promoted by Floyd, to introduce the local church to Church Growth. Floyd gathered up a bunch of WELS people and pastors, including future Pastor Nitz, to attend a CG workshop at a---gasp--LCMS church.

Floyd also taught CG at St. Paul, German Village.

The local congregations did not want Floyd, so funds were arranged for Roger Zehms (recently divorced) to work with Floyd. That gave Columbus two divorced Church Growth leaders. Wait, there's more.

Marc Schroeder (not related to the SP Mark Schroeder) was the pastor of Prince of Peace. He was also divorced. And he loved the Church Growth Movement.

Out of six (6) local pastors--since Floyd pretended to be one--half were divorced.

The Columbus ministers met at The Donor's house. No one named the sacred name. He was just "The Donor" at LPR meetings. The Donor was also divorced. I did not attend those meetings, which pretended to be circuit meetings.

One day I discovered that the Columbus circuit involved twice as many congregations as the metro area alone. A future DP advised me that the circuit was required by the constitution to meet. And yet, the District VP and Circuit Pastor had not called a meeting in years. Boy, did they resist having a circuit meeting. They fought it tooth and nail.

Some of the fruits of Church Growth in Columbus, WELS:

1. St. Paul, German Village, got much smaller. Robert Schumann and Nitz, both Growthers, did not get along, so the congregation become totally polarized. Schumann was forced out of the ministry and is reputedly an atheist.
   
2. Marc Schroeder was kicked out of WELS, so he and his congregation--lavishly funded by WELS--joined the LCMS.
   
3. Paul Kuske and Robert Schumann supported Floyd getting a job at an independent Lutheran congregation, though Kuske denied it. Floyd promised to commune Masons at his new job.
   
4. Roger Kovaciny joined the ELS and Thoughts of Faith, but resigned from the ELS.
   Roger raised funds at Floyd's new church for Thoughts of Faith.
   
5. Paul Kuske was voted out of office as District VP.
   
6. Doctrinal Pussycat Robert Mueller chose not to run after betraying his own district over the DMLC/NWC Anschluss. No one would stay in the same room with him, so he wisely chose not to run. WELS made him a fake missionary to Russia, which amounted to some free travel time.

Cell Groups Are the Foundation of Pietism and Reformed Doctrine

No, your eyes deceive you. That is a harmless sheep. Go back to sleep.


The quotations about cell groups, below, prove two things:

1. Pietistic lay-led conventicles are essential to the Church Growth Movement.
   
2. WELS promoted cell groups through its educational programs, funded by the offerings of faithful members.

Did WELS know what was going on? Sure! David Kuske studied cell groups and researched cell group operations in WELS. He published an article in The Pope Speaks (Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly). 1991. I think some people were getting alarmed, so Kuske's article made cell groups safe for WELS.

Notice that a lot of my quotations came from a WELS Campus Ministers training event in Madison, Wisconsin, 1990. Hmmm. Would that be where the campus church joined the Willow Creek Association, under Thomas Trapp? Oh my - I just discovered another Church Growth Principle - Use your own guys to promote false doctrine. At the 1990 event, paid for by WELS, various pastors were trained in cell groupism, with a case of books by Occultist Paul Y. Cho brought to the workshop for the participants.

Have you noticed how quickly WELS, the Little Sect, Missouri, and ELCA have grown since Church Growth promotion started in all their groups? Whoosh, the statistics climb ever sky-ward. No?

In fact, cell groups are a great way to turn a Lutheran congregation into an Evangelical Covenant franchise...or a Pentecostal sect. Any doctrine (except Lutheran) will suit cell groups. Lutheran cell groups quickly begin to rely on prayer as a Means of Grace, which paves the way for praying in tongues. After all, where do they get their training manuals - from Pentecostal cell group authors, like Cho and Ortiz and C. Peter Wagner.

Pietism and Cell Groups - Heavily Promoted by WELS, ELS, LCMS, and ELCA

First VP-in-waiting Jim Huebner has advocated Church Growthism for decades. If you liked Wayne Mueller, you'll love Jim Huebner.



From the WELS Silent Witness Program:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Pietism and Cell Groups - Heavily Promoted by WELS...":

Oh some on you guys,you cynics, I was a member of a small group for several years and NOT ONCE did the pastor of the church under which the small group operated ever ask how it was going, attend or offer a curriculum to follow............ Oh, I guess that's your point.

Further, it was surprising to some of us (most all WELS schooled from elementary age) what "conclusions" we were starting to come up with in our spontaneous and unmonitored study of God's Word. A few of us thought it well to go and seek out pastoral assistance and get the correct answer to some of the questions we found ourselves facing. That helped. Some wanted to follow a printed Bible study book produced by the synod. One person (born and schooled in WELS and now Evangelical Free Church) fiercely objected to that idea and insisted that we do a free and spontaneous study of God's Word without being "lead to a conclusion through a synod produced guide."

I have also personally heard others' "conclusions" to their small group studies (also unlikely monitor or properly lead) come up with wild things. I remember two people discussing their recent small group and saying, "maybe WELS should encourage women to be pastors since we are having such a shortage and few graduating seminary. If men aren't willing to step up and do it, then maybe God is asking the women of the church to do it" (this was back in about 1999 when there were rumblings of fewer pastors). Then they started to sight (sic) passages in the Old Testament that I think had to do with an unusual situation, and I am sorry I can't refer to it now, but I think it was a passage that more referred to God's judgment on his people. Anyway, these kids were way over their heads and I knew it. I knew at this point that it was more about "look at what everyone is doing at our church, look at the zeal" than it was about true shepherding by a called minister of the Word. I guess you could call it Free Range theology. I lost my patience and left.

I never could understand why the pastor so fervently pushed small groups and showed so little interest in leading them or monitoring them. The fruit is now coming to bear and it ain't pretty.

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Appendix, Chapter 7, TSW: Cell Group Quotations

At the end of the chapter in Thy Strong Word.

The lay-led cell group or conventicle is at the heart of Pietism, Reformed doctrine, and the Church Growth Movement. Below are quotations from WELS, LCMS, and various non-Lutherans, all saying approximately the same thing in favor of cell groups.



J-788

"Small Group Fellowships are not, as is sometimes supposed, a formal Bible class. Instead, Small Group Fellowships are a 'relationship,' a relationship among members of the group, a relationship with God, a relationship based on and centered in the Word of God. Small Group Fellowships are gatherings of people who study God's Word together and then put the Word into action together by (a) applying it to their lives, (b) by worshiping the Triune God, and (c) by serving others—sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and their very lives."
Campus Ministry Foundation (WELS), Inc., Small Group Fellowships, Madison: Campus Ministry Foundation, 1990, p. 3.



J-789

"The Rationale for Small Groups...5. It Follows Biblical Practice. a. Jesus and the Twelve Apostles (Jesus concentrated on investing Himself in His small group of disciples to teach and model spiritual truth, attitudes and behavior for them and to train them to be spiritual leaders. b. The Early Christians (Acts 2:42-47; 16:40; 20:20-21).
WELS Campus Pastors, Small Group Training Conference, Jan. 7-9, 1991, Madison. p. 3.


J-790

"Small Group Fellowships are lay-led."
Campus Ministry Foundation (WELS), Inc., Small Group Fellowships, Madison: Campus Ministry Foundation, 1990, p. 8.

J-791

[Aderman - Church and Change leader, lost half his membership at Fairview]
"HomeWORD Bound Groups, Fairview (WELS), Milwaukee, WI. The Boards of Elders and Education of Fairview Ev. Lutheran Church Prayerfully Extend A DIVINE CALL to____________________ To Lead a Small Group Bible Study along with ________. Purpose: A Bible study leader in Fairview's HomeWord Bound program shall facilitate lay-led, home Bible studies which assist Fairview in its ministry...."
WELS Campus Pastors, Small Group Training Conference, Jan. 7-9, 1991, Madison.

J-792

"Definition: 'A small group within the church is a voluntary intentional gathering of people, varying in number, regularly meeting together for mutual Christian purposes.' - Serendipity
WELS Campus Pastors, Small Group Training Conference, Jan. 7-9, 1991, Madison. p. 2.

J-793

"Types of Home Groups, by Karen Hurston (Church Growth Assoc.), from material by Bob Fulton."
WELS Campus Pastors, Small Group Training Conference, Jan. 7-9, 1991, Madison. p. 10.

J-794

"A Look at Several WELS Small Group Ministries. 1. Fairview in Milwaukee (Pastor Jim Aderman) 2. Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel in Madison (Mr. Rolf Wegenke) 3. Emanuel in New London (Pastor Steve Witte)"[62]
WELS Campus Pastors, Small Group Training Conference, Jan. 7-9, 1991, Madison. p. 19.

J-795

"A cell group is the basic part of our church. It is not another church program—it is the program of our church."
Dr. Paul Y. Cho (with R. Whitney Manzano), More Than Numbers, Waco: Word Books, 1984, p. 42. [Cho - an occultist - lectured at Fuller, had his books promoted by WELS evangelism leaders.]

J-796

"We have many different types of cell groups. I have found that there is a basic sociological principle which must be maintained in order for them to be successful. The principle is one of homogeneity."[63]
Dr. Paul Y. Cho (with R. Whitney Manzano), More Than Numbers, Waco: Word Books, 1984, p. 44.


J-797

"Students of Church Growth realize that a good structure for the church that really wants to grow is the organization of celebration plus congregation plus cell. When we see the importance of the organization of the church we are looking with 'Church Growth Eyes.' We are looking from an x-ray perspective and understanding the internal organs of the body of Christ—the Church!"
Kent R. Hunter, Launching Growth in the Local Congregation, A Workbook for Focusing Church Growth Eyes, Detroit: Church Growth Analysis and Learning Center, 1980, p. 81.

J-798

"In an article on the small group movement, J. A. Gorman notes that 'both the Church Growth Institute of Fuller Seminary and the American Institute of Church Growth became centers for influencing the use of this means for evangelizing." (Christian Education, Moody Press, 1991, pp. 509, 510)
Prof. David Kuske, "Home Bible Study Groups in the 1990s," Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, Spring, 1994. p. 126.

J-701.1

"This writer's acquaintance with this current phenomenon is threefold: 1) he has attended one of the workshops held by Lyman Coleman; 2) he has read about a dozen books in the last ten years coming from evangelical sources [i.e. false teachers] that deal with small groups either wholly or in part; 3) he has also inquired about why a number of WELS congregations have begun to conduct small group Bible study and how they have structured these groups."[64]
Prof. David Kuske, "Home Bible Study Groups in the 1990s," Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, Spring, 1994. p. 127.

J-702.1

"PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY AT CROSSROADS...Conduct seeker services... Provide small group leadership. At Crossroads, as people come to know Jesus they are encouraged to participate in groups of 8 to 10 people who meet weekly for 2 years of fellowship, holding one another accountable, discipleship training, encouragement and support. 1 Thessalonians. 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up."
Pastor Rick Miller, (WELS), Crossroads Community Church, 1 Thessalonians 5:11. [Crossroads is now Evangelical Covenant, and the pastor thanks three WELS ministers for getting the church going - Miller, Mark Freier, and Kelly Voigt - all WELS CG heroes.]

J-703.1

"Every disciple had responsibility over two types of cells, one cell where he formed the lives of the new converts, and another cell where he took the most advanced of those new converts and taught them how to be leaders, knowing that cell would soon be divided and the most advanced disciples put over additional cells. So came the multiplication." Juan Carlos Ortiz, Call to Discipleship, Plainfield: Logos International, 1975, p. 101. "A cell has five elements: 1) devotion; 2) discussion; 3) programming; 4) mobilization; 5) multiplication. It takes all five to form a cell group." Juan
Carlos Ortiz, Call to Discipleship, Plainfield: Logos International, 1975, p. 106.

J-704.1

"The cell groups are used to teach sound doctrine...Sound doctrine is not just belief in the millennium, the rapture, and the tribulation."
Juan Carlos Ortiz, Call to Discipleship, Plainfield: Logos International, 1975, p. 111.

J-705.1

"Another cause for the misplacement of believers is the Sunday school. The early church knew nothing about Sunday schools. They knew the best way for believers to grow and multiply is not through Bible lectures, but through living cells. This means small groups of four or five persons who meet in homes under a leader so their lives may be shaped so they may mobilize and multiply themselves in other cells."
Juan Carlos Ortiz, Call to Discipleship, Plainfield: Logos International, 1975, p. 29.

J-706.1

"Resources mentioned in this 'Bulletin' are available from CHURCH GROWTH, 709 E. Colorado Blvd. #150, Pasadena, CA 91101. Or call 1-800-423-4844."
Pastor Jim Radloff, editor, Mission Counselor Newsletter, Austin, Texas, May, 1988. [Radloff wrote the new memorial to get rid of both prep schools at once.]

J-707.1

"Types of Home Groups, by Karen Hurston (Church Growth Assoc.), from material by Bob Fulton. Copied with the permission of Charles Arn."
Pastor Jim Radloff, editor, WELS Mission Counselors' Newsletter, Oct., '91, 2929 Mayfair Road, Milwaukee, WI 53222 p. 11.

J-708.1

"The dynamics of assimilation into active church membership have very little to do with theological issues. Rather, a new members' class should focus primarily on relational issues of involvement and belonging." (Defining an Assimilated Member, by Charles Arn, copied with permission from EVANGELISM, 12800 North Lake Shore Drive, Mequon, WI, 53092. Annual subscription rate for EVANGELISM is $12...Charles Arn is Vice President of Church Growth, Inc. in Monrovia, Ca.)
Pastor Jim Radloff, editor, WELS Mission Counselors' Newsletter, Oct., '91, 2929 Mayfair Road, Milwaukee, WI 53222 p. 150. [Larry Olson also wrote for EVANGELISM, which was 100% Church Growth.]

J-709.1

"What Are Affinity Groups? by Pastor Wayne Vogt, Fount of Life, Colorado Springs, CO."
Pastor Jim Radloff, editor, WELS Mission Counselors' Newsletter, Oct., '91, 2929 Mayfair Road, Milwaukee, WI 53222 p. 8.

J-710.1

WELS Mission Counselors' NEWSLETTER, April, 1992: authors are - James Woodworth, Disciples of Christ; "Net Results," March, 1991; Roger K. Guy, Disciples of Christ; Arnell P. C. Arn, American Baptist Church; Jane Easter Bahls, Presbyterian; C. Jeff Woods, freelance writer and minister; Lyle Schaller, United Methodist; Pastor Paul Kelm; Pastor Jim Mumm, WELS; Pastor Peter Panitzke, WELS; Pastor Randall Cutter and Mark Freier, WELS; First Congretional Church, Winchester, MA." [65]
Pastor Jim Radloff, editor, WELS Mission Counselors' Newsletter, April, '92, 2929 Mayfair Road Milwaukee, WI 53222

J-711.1

"The church is no longer the community of those who have been called by the Word and the Sacraments, but association of the reborn, of those who 'earnestly desire to be Christians'...The church in the true sense consists of the small circles of pietists, the 'conventicles,' where everyone knows everyone else and where experiences are freely exchanged."
Martin Schmidt, "Pietism," The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church, 3 vols., ed. Julius Bodensieck, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1965, III, p. 1899.

J-712.1

"Some 15 years ago, Peter Wagner's equation read 'Cells + Congregation + Celebration = Church.'"
Ken Sidey, "Church Growth Fine Tunes Its Formulas," Christianity Today, June 24, 1991, p. 46.

J-713.1

"Wouldn't it be terrible to sleep through the Second Reformation? Cell Group Churches. The New Lifestyle For New Wineskins. Cell Group Churches Are Really Different! A 'Cell Group' Church is built on the fact that all Christians are ministers, and that there is no 'professional clergy' hired to do the work of ministry. According to Ephesians 4, God has provided 'Gifted Men' to equip 'Believers Who Are Gifted' to do the work of ministry...The life of the church is in its Cells, not in a building. While it has weekly worship events, the focus of the church is in the home Cells."
Touch Outreach Ministries, P.O. Box 19888 Houston, TX 77079 1-800-735-5865.

J-714.1

"Cell Groups For Reaching The Unchurched Are Called...SHARE GROUPS. Touch Outreach Ministries has spent many years experimenting with the best way to train Cell Group members to form 'Sub-Groups' called SHARE GROUPS which specifically target evangelizing the unchurched. SHARE GROUPS are 'pre-Bible study' Cells, which bond relationships between three Christians and six unbelievers. A series of three small books are used over a 27-week period of training. The first book, called 'BUILDING BRIDGES, OPENING HEARTS,' guides the SHARE GROUP Team through the first part of the strategy."
Touch Outreach Ministries, P.O. Box 19888 Houston, TX 77079 1-800-735-5865 p. 7.

J-715.1

"The cell groups have probably become the universal trademark of Full Gospel Central Church...A cell group is a cluster of church members who meet weekly in a home, factory, office, or other place for the purpose of evangelism and Christian fellowship through singing, prayer, Bible study, offering giving, announcements, sharing of needs, and praises and ministry to one another."
John N. Vaughan, The World's Twenty Largest Churches, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984, p. 44.

J-716.1

"Cell. Sometimes called a kinship circle; a small group of 8-12 believers; an important part of the church's structure which has the primary functions of spiritual accountability and intimacy and secondary functions of Bible, prayer, and healing."
C. Peter Wagner, ed., with Win Arn and Elmer Towns, Church Growth: The State of the Art, Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1986, p. 283.

J-717.1

"Cell groups of Christians fellowshipping together date back to the first century, for it was largely through the activities of little groups or cells of believers that the message of Jesus Christ spread throughout the Roman Empire."
Waldo J. Werning, The Radical Nature of Christianity, Church Growth Eyes Look at the Supernatural Mission of the Christian and the Church, South Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1975, p. 93.

J-718.1

"Bible studies from Serendipity. Serendipity makes available Bibles (with outlines and discussion questions) and topical study booklets for adults and teen-agers. See appendix D for sample study courses. Order a SERENDIPITY SMALL GROUP RESOURCES CATALOG from Serendipity, P.O. Box 1012, Littleton, CO, 80160 or call 1-800-525-9583 (In CO call 1-303-798-1313)."
Notebook, WELS School of Outreach IV, p. 225.

J-719.1

"Introduction to Small Group Ministry outline. Evangelism Office. Buy the book Good Things Come in Small Groups, Intervarsity Press. Small Group Bible Study Materials, Serendipity, Littleton, CO (1-800-525-9563)."
WELS Evangelism Workshop IV, LOCATING THE LOST, Five Year Plan For Outreach, p. 177. [Here is the Kelm circle again - advocating Dreck from false teachers.]