Mary Lou College's Own Flock of Seagulls--or--Girls Gone Wild

A WELS member sent me the link to this video, which makes the previous one (the statue fight) look positively confessional in comparison.

Familiar names like Huebner and Krause star in this travesty, which includes prissy lip-synching and crotch grabbing. I thought Michael Jackson was sick when he felt compelled to do the same, but this is worse and comes from the WELS "College of Ministry."

Read the comments on the video and notice the great impression made on the audience.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mary Lou College's Own Flock of Seagulls":

I open myself up all sorts of criticism but whatever, blast away.

Breathe in slowly...exhale... Okay,that video doesn't threaten Orthodoxy, it doesn't promote Enthusiasm, it doesn't encourage any kind immoral behavior, it isn't the mark of the beast, and just because some Youtube viewers thought it was blazing a path of homoeroticism in pop art doesn't mean that those young men intended to be nasty.

They were just having fun and it is okay to leave it at that. (They paid for their fun too, imagine how many times they had to listen to that song..whew)

You've got great perspectives Jackson, but when you get bent out of shape about something stupid you shoot your credibility. I'll just bet that there are more important things for theologians to be worrying about--fine, big deal. The video was fairly frooty--But leave the criticism to gossipy old women.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mary Lou College's Own Flock of Seagulls":

I would expect and maybe look over this kind of thing if it were coming from Mankato State. It comes, however, from the synod college of ministry. Those students are disappointing and foolish. Disappointing because more should be expected of them as future members of the public ministry. They should also expect more of themselves. Foolish because they must know that this sort of thing has a way of popping up and lingering. I should think discipline is in order, specifically for actions unbecoming to the college and the ministry. Yes,kids will be kids as they say, but, again, this video did not come from Mankato State. It came from the synod college of the public ministry. Should we not demand better of our future public workers? Shame on them and MLC if they fail to discipline this group of fools.

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GJ - One of the hallmarks of Pietism is a constant effort to prove, "We are not Pietists!" This reaction is common throughout the WELS education system. It used to be that leaders could say, "That never happened." But if the students want to videotape their unfunny routine and post it on You Tube, they should expect a response.

I mentioned before that some MLC students, renting a house, were so obnoxious, that a disabled woman did not like going by the place. I posted her information on my doctrinal bulletin (Ur-Ichabod) and the house was cleaned up in 24 hours.

Thou Hast Played the Role of the Harlot

The irrelevant is relevant at the end of life and in the midst of crisis. Word and Sacrament by Norma Boeckler.

75] And since our election to eternal life is founded not upon our godliness or virtue, but alone upon the merit of Christ and the gracious will of His Father, who cannot deny Himself, because He is unchangeable in will and essence, therefore, when His children depart from obedience and stumble, He has them called again to repentance through the Word, and the Holy Ghost wishes thereby to be efficacious in them for conversion; and when they turn to Him again in true repentance by a right faith, He will always manifest the old paternal heart to all those who tremble at His Word and from their heart turn again to Him, as it is written, Jer. 3:1: If a man put away his wife, and she go from him and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? Shall not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to Me, saith the Lord.

FC, Election, Book of Concord

Every Christian denomination claims to be Gospel-centered, but the non-Lutheran confessions of faith reject the efficacy of the Word. The Book of Concord is consistent with Luther in making the efficacy of the Word the foundation for all statements about the Gospel.

The Church of Rome offers herself as the objective proof of salvation, all denominations defective without the glory of the Antichrist. A Roman Catholic can be confident of landing in Purgatory for thousands of years of torture...perhaps. Heaven awaits but a heavy price must be paid by man.

Deformed theology talks about the Scriptures and the Gospel, but they imagine both are dead without man's improvement upon them. As Luther observed, they talk about Christ but destroy the bridge to Christ, the Biblical Means of Grace.

Lutheran unionists want to ignore the chasm between orthodox Lutheran doctrine and heterodoxy, because ecumaniacs hate their own confession of faith.

For three decades, the Lutheran unionists have promoted fear to encourage their brothers to abandon the faith.

"Doom has come upon us all. Studies have shown - We are going to lose all our young people, so we have to have a modern hymnal with feminist lyrics and creeds." WELS lost their youth anyway, by being faux-mod to the point of hysterical irrelevance.

"Everyone hates those Germanic funeral dirges. We need something snappy to attract the young and unchurched Joe. Nevermind granny. We will lose a few to gain a kingdom." Exit Dorothy Sonntag for ELCA - guess that did not work.

"I think we can learn a few practical tips from those people. Look at how much they have grown while we are dying." C. Peter Wagner, the Valleskey Professor of Church Growth at Fuller Seminary, admitted - "Church growth principles do not work." Normally I ignore Pentecostals, but Wagner is right about this. Fuller has hollowed out the Evangelicals and Pentecostals while corrupting the Lutherans - with no gains in numbers and huge losses in actual Christian influence.

Long ago, the Little Sect on the Prairie stood up to Missouri's backsliding, but they could not muster enough faith-based courage to knock the skin off a pudding when WELS stuffed Church Growth into everything they did. Gaylin Schmeling told the ELS convention that they should break with WELS if Wayne Mueller became Synod President. Orvick scowled, as he should have. Wayne Mueller was Synod President, in everything but name.

The unthinkable has become the norm in the old Synodical Conference. Women teach men. Women usurp authority over men, a foretaste of women's ordination - just around the coroner. Open communion is endorsed and promoted. The unionistic, Deformed NIV is quoted without blushing. The Gospel-centered liturgy is left hanging on a hook in the coat closet, to be used only under duress.

As one Shrinker said, "I will use the liturgy once a month, but I will go outside and puke afterwards." The poor little puker was let go, but Paul Kelm counseled him back into the good graces of Holy Mother WELS.

Ski and Bishop Katie enjoy monthly trips to Enthusiasm Conferences, noting with glee how many other WELS workers are there. Can anyone imagine a Fox Valley pastor announcing monthly trips to Bella Vista, blogging about the great worship experience here, and not having the Doctrinal Pussycat show his claws at last? Yet those two are simply a node of the cancerous tumor.

District VP Patterson organized a trip to the Exponential Conference, cut salaries to hire Gurgle, and wants to be Synod President! Easter egg hunts will expand rapidly when Kudu Don takes office.

Witte was a founder of Church and Change. After getting a DMin from Gordon Conwell, writing a windy if not flatulent paper on WELS (hardly a dissertation), Witte accepted a call to the Asian Mission Board. Who says WELS has no discipline? Maybe the calling board knows Witte hates Asian food.

I can imagine Kelm going next to Witte's parish, because no one else is taking the call.

The loud, obvious Shrinkers are not the real leaders. Notice how Huebner has played the role of traditional worship leader while participating in the Gang of Three, the traveling Pasadena Pestilence tour: Kelm, Olson, Huebner. They studied at Fuller together, to be "church consultants."

The stealthy Shrinkers are the real leaders. Like Jungkuntz of old, they let their pals go out on the limb and take the hits. "Way to go, you really told them. You have guts. Keep it up." The loud and proud Shrinkers are weather-vanes, who ultimately point to the source of their energy. Mequon is a Kelm-enabler. Jeske is a Ski-enabler. Etc.

So Much Is Expressed in a Few Sentences

The Lost Sheep, by Norma Boeckler

But we entertain heartfelt pleasure and love for, and are on our part sincerely inclined and anxious to advance, that unity according to our utmost power, by which His glory remains to God uninjured, nothing of the divine truth of the Holy Gospel is surrendered, no room is given to the least error, poor sinners are brought to true, genuine repentance, raised up by faith, confirmed in new obedience, and thus justified and eternally saved alone through the sole merit of Christ.

Formula of Concord, SD, XI, #94. Concordia Triglotta, p. 1095. Tappert edition, p. 632; Heiser English-only, p. 294.

Henry Eyster Jacobs stated that the power of the Word is related to its purity. The more we water it down, the less power it has, because faux-religious language is merely man's word. The media ministers prove this true.

The pure Word brings poor sinners to genuine repentance, which is godly contrition and faith in the Savior. Sound doctrinal teaching strengthens the New Creation, who is justified by faith alone, apart from the works of the law.

Explanation of One of the Great Passages in the Book of Concord

Closing of the Formula of Concord, Concordia Triglotta, p.  1095.

Martin Chemnitz was the genius behind the Book of Concord and the Formula of Concord, 1580.

We have no intention of yielding aught of the eternal, immutable truth of God for the sake of temporal peace, tranquility, and unity (which, moreover, is not in our power to do). 

Genuine Lutherans do not give up any truth of God's Word in order to achieve earthly peace, lack of conflict, and a false unity. No one has the power to do this, because all such attempts end in conflict and apostasy. God does not give any believer the authority to water down and corrupt His Word. Nor are we allowed to agree to falsehood for our own well-being.

Those who worship the synod instead of the Savior will always dither, waffle, and compromise to please the restless heretics who can never be satisfied. Ambition cloaks itself in concern for the institution, so murdering souls is considered an adiaphoron while dissent from error is reckoned the sin against the Holy Spirit.

Nor would such peace and unity, since it is devised against the truth and for its suppression, have any permanency.

What did Bohlmann gain by promoting Church Growth and then studying it? What did McCain and Barry accomplish by doing nothing about CG unionism on their doorstep? The only theologian they humiliated and toppled was Dr. Robert Preus, when McCain was only three years out of Ft. Wayne, one parish left behind in a rush to the Purple Palace.

The false peace or Sitzkrieg of Barry/McCain was broken by Kieschnick's all-out war against every hint of confessional Lutheran doctrine.

In the ELS, Orvick and Moldstad both allowed Fuller's false doctrine to grow into Emerging Church mockery, but the two presidents managed to pound B. Teigen and an entire group of ELS pastors for pressing doctrinal issues. Moldstad, like Melanchthon, has brought bitterness and division to his church in the name of peace. Flogging will continue until morale improves.

The Wisconsin Synod has begun facing the issues, so they are being discussed in the open instead of festering like neglected gangrenous wounds.

Still less are we inclined to adorn and conceal a corruption of the pure doctrine and manifest, condemned errors.

The time has come for Lutheran leaders to welcome doctrinal discussions, instead of defenestrating everyone who seems to threaten their little kingdoms. Banished forever should be phrases like this:
1. This can be understood correctly. Concealing error!
2. That is a grey area of Scripture. Blaspheming the Word of God!
3. He is not a false teacher. He is a nice guy. Irrelevant - and both parts dead wrong.
4. You are the only person worried about this. Ha!

But we entertain heartfelt pleasure and love for, and are on our part sincerely inclined and anxious to advance, that unity according to our utmost power, by which His glory remains to God uninjured, nothing of the divine truth of the Holy Gospel is surrendered, no room is given to the least error, poor sinners are brought to true, genuine repentance, raised up by faith, confirmed in new obedience, and thus justified and eternally saved alone through the sole merit of Christ.

If the WELS/ELS/LCMS members and pastors simply spend the rest of their time discussing and studying the doctrine of the Bible, they will receive great blessings from God. The history of their synods is a blip in time, and their recent history is a disgrace. More navel gazing will yield nothing.

Everything promoted and defended by Lutheran synods must be measured against the foundational doctrine of the efficacy of the Word. Other topics associated with the Word (perspicuity, authority, inerrancy) are reflections of the Holy Spirit's exclusive work through the visible and invisible Word.

We cannot read anything of value from the Pietists, Calvinists, and Enthusiasts--and I don't just mean the Mequon profs--because they have declared war against the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace. It is not that they have nothing of value to say. No, it is far worse than that. Everything they say is an attack on the Holy Spirit, even if they pretend they just swallowed Him, feathers and all.

A cursing blasphemer is better company than a smooth Calvinist, a charming CG guru, or an Angry Young Man Emerging Church guy. A cursing blasphemer has some self-knowledge. The Enthusiasts do not, and they think they are doing God and the world a favor.

The time has come to listen to Luther, not just quote him in the fashion of Three Points and a Poem. Lutherans need to immerse themselves in Luther's doctrine instead of Babtist doctrine.  We only have so much time to study. Those who study Luther do not have time to study C. Peter Wagner. And those who study the Pasadena Pestilence do not read Luther at all, except to misquote him.

I look at seminary student photos, and I see in those photos the sons of pastors who muted themselves to advance their careers. Twenty years ago, they talked big in private about how bad Church Growth was, and they gave me many insights about its doctrinal errors. But they held their tongues and went with the downhill flow. Now their sons are facing the wreckage of the Boomer bailout. Dad thought this part of the Book of Concord applied to other people, people he was ashamed to be seen with - at Lutheran gatherings.

The good parts of the three synods still exist, but they will have to insist on being heard while there is still light.

More Work To Be Done

Crumbling! Everything we worked for! Fading! Crushed by the Word!
CATS: You have no chance to survive make your time. Ha ha ha ha ...

JS has left a new comment on your post "Applying the Efficacious Word - At Every Level":

Long time reader, first time commenter here. I love your blog and this post particularly. You stab the dagger at the Lutheran's point of vunerability: efficacy of the Word. Anything added to that is hogwash. I especially like that you put the NIV on your list.

I am an LCMS pastor who almost came over to WELS. The more I learned about her though, the more I saw in her a little sister of Missouri, struggling with CGM and losing. I appreciate your blog. keep it up please.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Applying the Efficacious Word - At Every Level":

Thank you, Rev. Jackson for this great post.

You're calling it like it is regarding Jeske and his ilk in both the WELS and the ELS.

Add to these folks the papers given at the Symposium on Congregational Health, last month. They start off talking about the Means of Grace, but they end up talking Church and Change garbage.

I wonder how many pastors in the WELS and the ELS will pump this garbage into their unsuspecting congregations.

Keep calling it like it is, Rev. Jackson.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Applying the Efficacious Word - At Every Level":

For the last 30-40 years, or longer, we in the WELS know no better - reformed is what we have been taught in our churches and schools. Over the last 10 years, a few of my friends have left the WELS ministry and all mentioned how a huge burden of law had been lifted - not Biblical law, but WELS law. It has been said that many in the WELS are afraid of leaving it because they have been brainwashed that by doing so they will end up in hell. Sounds Baptist. Good post. I thank my Lord every day for the faithful called pastors and teachers in the WELS who are striving to bring it back.

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DK has left a new comment on your post "Applying the Efficacious Word - At Every Level":

ROCK ON JACKSON!

Great post.

Keep it up and thank you.


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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Applying the Efficacious Word - At Every Level":

The least WELS management can do is to give members a reason to stay by cleaning house. Send Jeske and his ilk packing.

***

GJ - I think Jeske has been packing for a long time. He just wants to take his whole crew with him, while reluctantly playing the victim, or perhaps the hero welcomed by far-sighted Kieschnick.

I. The Symposium by itself is not so alarming. But this should fill every WELS member and pastor with disgust and dread - The seminary obviously set up Paul Calvin Kelm as the leader of the Symposium, sending suggestions to the participants. The Fisher footnotes tell the tale, and The Sausage Factory was happy to post his Dreck.

II. Even worse - The Sausage Factory had Don Patterson and Kelm give papers on how to improve seminary education! The faculty has to be brain-dead to think either man has something to contribute to Lutheran education. Both examples show that Mequon is the problem.

Applying the Efficacious Word - At Every Level

I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy again.
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love.
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain.
I've a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin'...

What? He's canned?

The UOJ Stormtroopers are in a foul mood, now that the standard bearers of Church Shrinkage through Unionism are disappearing. They have a safe haven at St. Marcus/Time of Gath. Bruce Becker went there after hiring Paul Calvin Kelm. Roger Zehms moved up from Texas. Perhaps the only WELS pastor to have started an ELCA mission (Kelm) can find a slot there. Jeske is fond of apostasy and stealth.

Jeske is so full of himself that he calls his parish youth event the WELS Teen Rally 2010. Their featured speaker will talk about herself and her out-of-wedlock baby. That reminds me of another approach  - why do drug addicts always speak to teens about the dangers of drug addiction. Why not invite someone who never took illegal drugs?

Church Shrinkage, women's ordination, and all the other church issues are addressed by the efficacy and clarity of the Word. It is foolish to start with issues and trace how the Synodical Conference and Uncle Heinrich dealt with them. Those discussions end up as the Quest for the Historical Heinrich (or fill in the name). Side issues involve various unspoken canonical traditions, no matter how ridiculous they are.

B. Teigen's book on Holy Communion was dangerous to the ELS precisely because he attacked their weakest point - the efficacy of the Word. The Synodical Conference lived and died because of Enthusiasm - the Pietistic notion of grace without the Means of Grace. Walther's bizarre kelming of Knappe's double-justification meant that everything else was off-key. Why? Walther implicitly denied the efficacy of the Word in his Easter absolution sermon, a tradition carried on by F. Pieper and other disciples.

The Scriptures teach the efficacy of the Word alone. Without marketing surveys and soil testing, God created the universe through His Word. "Let there be light. And there was light." Genesis 1, exegesis found in John 1.

The Reformed have a different spirit. Luther refused to shake Zwingli's hand because of that spirit. Lutherans who do not comprehend the difference are bound to follow Zwingli, either in agreement or in compromise.

The Reformed separate the Holy Spirit from the Word, in a mocking way by Zwingli, elegantly  by Calvin. Either form is Enthusiasm, the root of all false religion (Smalcald Articles, Book of Concord).

Sig Becker correctly pointed out that the Reformed place reason above the Word (magisterial use of reason), unlike Luther, who made reason subordinate to the Word (ministerial use). Although his insights about that one issue were good, Becker published grave errors in defense of Receptionism and Universal Objective Justification. Both errors revealed the blindspot of the Synodical Conference - the efficacy of the Word alone.

We need to turn Midwestern Lutherans into Jews to grasp this. Jews have no trouble with appointed Scripture lessons, liturgy, ancient hymns, and the efficacy of the Word. They have tales of rabbis who said something casually and it happened at once, because the word of a rabbi is like the Word of God.

Once Zwingli and Calvin taught their disciples to place their reason above the Word of God, this concept of the efficacy of the Word was lost. As I argued before, the Reformed Pietism of the Synodical Conference made it vulnerable to Biblical errancy, unionism, Receptionism, open communion, women's ordination, and the Church Growth Movement.

I can hardly find an ELS/WELS/LCMS leader who thinks God works through the Word alone. They all think God needs Drucker's Management by Objective, Barna's surveys, and the slick Pentecostal programs of C. Peter Wagner. Even by compromising and trying to assume a safe semi-Lutheran position, these men are maladroitly serving Zwingli and Calvin, providing a Lutheran veneer for Enthusiasm. At least classical Reformed theology was religious; the Fuller/Willow Creek/Emerging Church model is secular veering toward the occult.

All three synods have studied Church Growth, discovered a few minor problems, yet found it delightful, wholesome and good for everyone.

The Wisconsin Synod was more ga-ga about Fuller than the other synods, so WELS suffered the most and built up the most loathing for the Pasadena pestilence. Missouri has found the solution in Romanism and Eastern Orthodoxy. They may not pope as dramatically as the Church of England priests, but the exodus has been steady and well publicized.

If Lutherans want to defeat Enthusiasm, they will have to study the efficacy of the Word at all levels. Weak congregations create weak circuits and even sloppier districts. Look at the Fox Valley apostates as examples, led astray by Kelm-Parlow-Witte, but not united in error. Congregations and individual members can demand a public study of the issues and refuse to accept another quisling yes-but approach to New Age Nazism.

What are the failings of the ELS/WELS/LCMS?

1. The NIV,
   
2. unionism with ELCA,
   
3. women teaching men and usurping authority,
   
4. Church Growth,
   
5. open communion.

All these errors came from the influence of Reformed doctrine, an influence made possible by the lack of teaching about the efficacy of the Word alone, a doctrine hated by the Reformed.

Oh yes, that is the next stage, already indicated by the Wizard of Ooze, Mark Jeske, calling on "the Powers of the Universe to help us in our personal and business concerns." (Time of Gath broadcast) Paul Y. Cho taught this occultic nonsense decades ago, and the Evangelical/Pentecostals lapped it up.

As one pastor told me, before he was kicked out of WELS, "There have been many fads in WELS, but Church Growth is the first one forced on us from the top down."

The clergy, as a group, have failed their flocks. True, some tried to do something and found themselves jobless and friendless, but that was also the fault of their so-called friends. If the laity do not take this study on themselves and force the circuits and districts into action, Jeske's Church and Changers will rule the roost, Kieschnick will merge Missouri with ELCA, and Pope John the Malefactor will get his DMin at Fuller.

Use the Force!

Official Word from WELS on Changes: Kelm/Stroh No Longer Helping Congregations Perish

 

Where have you gone, Babtist Ed Stetzer,
Wisconsin turns its lonely eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Paul Calvin Kelm has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey). 

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A WELS layman wrote: "Chicaneries: Don't think you're going unnoticed by those of us who  pay our churches' bills."

 

From the office of President Mark Schroeder

In its meeting last week, the Conference of Presidents (COP) took action to reconfigure the former Parish Services units into a new Congregation and Ministry Support Group (CMSG). The move comes after representatives of the various units of Parish Services and the COP developed a proposal that was in keeping with the intent of a 2009 synod convention resolution.

The convention spent considerable time discussing the role of the synod in helping to strengthen congregations and their members as they carry out their ministries. The convention recognized that the units of Parish Services provide valuable help to congregations, and it wanted to ensure that those resources are more widely accessible and utilized. Since the district presidents are called to supervise doctrine and practice in congregations, the convention eliminated the Board for Parish Services and the position of BPS administrator and placed the units of Parish Services under the responsibility of the Conference of Presidents (COP). The intent of this decision was to create a closer and more direct cooperative relationship between the district presidents and the resources available to them and the congregations in their districts.

The new CMSG offers some new and more targeted approaches to helping congregations. It will operate as an arm of the district presidents primarily to provide resources and training to called workers and congregational leaders. Familiar programs of direct ministry to laypeople such as youth rallies and various retreats, publications, and Web sites will continue to be offered and coordinated as possible. The CMSG will be responsible to the COP through the synod president. It will work closely with Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and Martin Luther College to deliver continuing education to called workers. It will develop networks of district pastors and teachers who will work with the CMSG to deliver assistance to congregations. With its various areas of expertise, it will provide a unified team approach to identifying the needs of congregations and their leaders.

CMSG composition
The units of the former Parish Services, along with their grassroots commissions, remain in place, with the following changes:

• The administrators for all of the entities are now called "directors."
• Adult and Youth Discipleship retain separate commissions but are served, at least temporarily, by a single director.
• The Commission for Parish Schools will now be called the "Commission for Lutheran Schools" to reflect its broader work of serving Lutheran high schools and early childhood education programs. The unit will be headed by a director and an associate director, with the possibility of adding a second associate director in the future to provide assistance to struggling schools and to congregations seeking to begin or improve early childhood programs.
• Since the COP has replaced the Board for Parish Services as the calling body and because of some changed responsibilities, the COP issued the following calls: Rev. Mike Hintz (Evangelism), Rev. Bryan Gerlach (Worship), Rev. Carl Ziemer (Special Ministries), Rev. Dave Kehl (Adult and Youth Discipleship), Greg Schmill (interim director of Lutheran Schools), and Jeff Inniger (associate director of Lutheran Schools).
• Each unit will be responsible for its own program and budgeting, but all units will also work in close cooperation with each other in areas where cooperation is beneficial.
• A new "Congregation and Ministry Support Council," comprised of CMSG directors, COP members, and representatives from WLS and MLC, will coordinate the work within the CMSG and the work of the CMSG with the COP and the synodical schools.
• One of the directors of the CMSG will serve as a coordinator of the CMSG units. This position will be filled by COP appointment on an annually rotating basis. Rev. Bryan Gerlach has been asked to serve in this capacity.
• In the interest of gaining better and more consistent distribution of CMSG resources, the COP will consider in the coming months whether the commissions should be comprised of the district coordinators of each unit.

Parish Assistance program discontinued
The Parish Assistance program will no longer exist in its current form. The COP eliminated the positions of Rev. Paul Kelm (effective Dec. 31, 2009) and Rev. Elton Stroh (effective June 30, 2010). The Forward with Lutheran Schools program (which had been a part of Parish Assistance) was placed under the responsibility of the Commission for Lutheran Schools. Should Greg Schmill accept the call as the interim director of Lutheran Schools, he will oversee a continuation of the Forward with Lutheran Schools program as time allows.

Parish Assistance is currently working with a number of congregations. In order to avoid a sudden discontinuation of services, congregations may choose to engage directly Kelm or the part-time consultants now serving them. These direct arrangements would be made between congregations and consultants and would not be a part of a synodical program. Stroh will work with other congregations now being served by Parish Assistance to determine how they will best be served.
The COP recognized that some form of consultative services to support congregations and their ministries should continue. It envisioned an entity with its own commission and director (as a part of the CMSG) that would provide short-term assessment of congregational needs and advice as to how those needs could best be met. The COP directed the synod president to appoint a committee to outline the scope and function of this new entity and to bring recommendations to the COP by its April 2010 meeting.

The importance of congregational health
These efforts to reconfigure the ministries of Parish Services underline the importance of congregational health. We have also recognized the valuable role that the ministries of the new Congregation and Ministry Support Group can play in helping congregations and called workers to address the challenges facing them. Please join us in the prayer that God will bless this new entity and that it will receive the full support and encouragement of our entire synod.
Serving in Christ,
Mark Schroeder

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Official Word from WELS on Changes: Kelm/Stroh No ...":

The point about C&C and Lutheran Schools seems valid. Notice that in the 80's up to now when our schools under Perish Services & Perish Schools started focusing on licensing, accreditation, competing, marketing, charging more tuition, leadership, etc., and Perish Assistance pushed many "ministries"and other programs in the church (outreach,small groups, etc.) and less emphasis on our Lutheran schools - our churches along with our schools began to shrink.

Krauth on Anglicanism

C. P. Krauth pegged the Anglicans in one witty sentence.

"Its Articles, Homilies, and Liturgy have been a great bulwark of Protestantism; and yet, seemingly, out of the very stones of that bulwark has been framed, in our day, a bridge on which many have passed over into Rome...It harbors a skepticism which takes infidelity  by the hand, and a revised medievalism which longs to throw itself, with tears, on the neck of the Pope and the Patriarch, to beseech them to be gentle and not to make the terms of restored fellowship too difficult."
Charles P. Krauth,
The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology,
Philadelphia:
The United Lutheran Publication House,
1913 (first edition, 1871),
p. x.

Pope Sucker-Punches Church of England

Pope's gambit could see 1,000 quit Church of England

Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent, and Richard Owen in Rome 

 

 

(Paul Rogers/The Times)

Dr Rowan Williams: the plans were a serious blow to his attempts to stop the Church of England fragmenting further

As many as 1,000 priests could quit the Church of England and thousands more may leave churches in America and Australia under bold proposals to welcome Anglicans to Rome.

Entire parishes and even dioceses could be tempted to defect after Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to offer a legal structure to Anglicans joining the Roman Catholic Church.

His decree, issued yesterday, is a serious blow to attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, to save the Anglican Communion from further fragmentation and threatens to wreck decades of ecumenical dialogue.

Dr Williams was notified formally only last weekend by the Vatican and looked uncomfortable at a joint press conference with the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, to announce the plan.

Related Links

• Rome parks tanks on Archbishop’s lawn

• Move to unite church looks further away

• Q&A: what now for Church of England?

Multimedia

• BLOG: is this an act of aggression?

Anglicans privately accused Rome of poaching and attacked Dr Williams for capitulating to the Vatican. Some called for his resignation. Although there was little he could have done to forestall the move, many were dismayed at his joint statement with the Archbishop of Westminster in which they spoke of Anglicans “willing to declare that they share a common Catholic faith and accept the Petrine ministry as willed by Christ for his Church”.

In a letter to bishops and clergy, Dr Williams made clear his own discomfiture. He wrote: “I am sorry that there has been no opportunity to alert you earlier to this. I was informed of the planned announcement at a very late stage.”

The Bishop of Fulham, the Right Rev John Broadhurst, chairman of Forward in Faith, which opposes women bishops, hailed it as a “decisive moment” and predicted that, based on his group’s membership, up to 1,000 Church of England clergy could go.
Christina Rees, of the pro-women group Watch, described the Vatican’s move as poaching. She said:

“It is one thing to offer a welcome, but this seems to be a particularly effusive welcome where people are almost being encouraged. In the Anglican Church we like to operate with transparency. If this has not been done here that will add to the sense of this being a predatory move.”
Pope Benedict wants to make Christian unity an enduring legacy of his papacy. He is due to visit Britain next year; Dr Williams will visit Rome next month. The Pope has already shown his determination to reunite Christendom at almost any price, welcoming back the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X despite a Holocaust-denying bishop in its ranks.

Under the plan, the Pope will issue an apostolic constitution, a form of papal decree, that will lead to the creation of “personal ordinariates” for Anglicans who convert to Rome.
These will provide a legal framework to allow Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving distinctive elements of their Anglican identity, such as liturgy. Clergy will have to be retrained and re-ordained, since Rome regards Anglican orders as “absolutely null and utterly void”, but they will be granted their own seminaries to train future priests for the new ordinariate.

This deal was done with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly the Holy Inquisition that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger himself headed before he became Pope.

The Council for Christian Unity was not represented at simultaneous press conferences in Rome and London, suggesting that the Pope has had enough of dialogue focusing on canonical moves towards unity. Dr Williams was briefed formally only when Cardinal William Levada, of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, flew to London at the weekend to tell Anglican and Catholic leaders of the plans. It is understood that leading members of the council and other senior Anglican and Catholic figures tried desperately to block the decree.

One result of the Vatican’s move is that women bishops are likely to be consecrated sooner rather than later in the Church of England. This is because Parliament and the General Synod will not sanction legal structures to “safeguard” opponents of women priests within the Church if Rome is offering an open door with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s blessing.

Dr Williams said that the announcement did not disrupt “business as usual” in relations between the two churches. It would be a serious mistake to view the development as a response to the difficulties within the Anglican Communion, he said. It was aimed at people who had reached a “conscientious conviction that visible unity with the Holy See was now what God was calling them to”, he said. “It is not a secret that in this country the ordination of women as bishops is one of those test issues.”

You don't want American style bishops, you sexist pig limey cretins?

Can We Download the Boilerplate for Free Now?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "In the Pope We Hope: Apostasy as a Solution to Apo...":

Golly GJ,

When I saw the following in yesterday's "Together" newsletter from WELS, I expected you to be commenting on this breaking news at your earliest opportunity. In case you missed it ...

"The Parish Assistance program will no longer exist in its current form. The COP eliminated the positions of Rev. Paul Kelm (effective Dec. 31, 2009) and Rev. Elton Stroh (effective June 30, 2010). The Forward with Lutheran Schools program (which had been a part of Parish Assistance) was placed under the responsibility of the Commission for Lutheran Schools. Should Greg Schmill accept the call as the interim director of Lutheran Schools, he will oversee a continuation of the Forward with Lutheran Schools program as time allows.

Parish Assistance is currently working with a number of congregations. In order to avoid a sudden discontinuation of services, congregations may choose to engage directly Kelm or the part-time consultants now serving them. These direct arrangements would be made between congregations and consultants and would not be a part of a synodical program. Stroh will work with other congregations now being served by Parish Assistance to determine how they will best be served.

The COP recognized that some form of consultative services to support congregations and their ministries should continue. It envisioned an entity with its own commission and director (as a part of the CMSG) that would provide short-term assessment of congregational needs and advice as to how those needs could best be met. The COP directed the synod president to appoint a committee to outline the scope and function of this new entity and to bring recommendations to the COP by its April 2010 meeting."

***

GJ - I hear various things from my sources, many of them anonymous. Taint true until it is public, and like the un-election of Wayne Mueller and the retirement of Aderman, it may get undone, especially when Chicaneries are involved.

Why don't we have feature articles in FIC about congregations shrinking by 50% after being taken over by Church and Change leaders? And closing the school, to boot?

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Can We Download the Boilerplate for Free Now?":

Confidential to GJ; those churches were already shrinking. They only lost the difference up to 50% when the crusaders left because the churches were no longer legalistic. I suppose you think it was Bush 2's fault for 911 when we had eight years of Billary.

In the Pope We Hope: Apostasy as a Solution to Apostasy

.

The Vatican says more Anglicans have expressed an interest in joining the Catholic Church.
ROME, Italy (CNN) --

The Vatican said Tuesday it has worked out a way for groups of Anglicans who are dissatisfied with their faith to join the Catholic Church.

The Vatican says more Anglicans have expressed an interest in joining the Catholic Church.

The Vatican says more Anglicans have expressed an interest in joining the Catholic Church.

The process will allow groups of Anglicans, including bishops and married priests, to join the Catholic Church some 450 years after King Henry VIII broke from Rome and created the Church of England, forerunner of the Anglican Communion.

The number of Anglicans wishing to join the Catholic Church has increased in recent years as the Anglican church has welcomed the ordination of women and openly gay clergy and blessed homosexual partnerships, said Cardinal William Joseph Levada, the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Their talks with the Vatican recently began speeding up, Vatican officials said, leading to Tuesday's announcement. Should Anglicans be allowed to join the Catholic Church? Have your say below

"The Catholic Church is responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion," Levada said.

Levada said "hundreds" of Anglicans around the world have expressed their desire to join the Catholic Church. Among them are 50 Anglican bishops, said Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

The Anglicans will be able to retain their Anglican rites while recognizing the pope as their leader, Vatican officials said. The British monarch is the titular head of the Anglican church.
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While married Anglican priests may be ordained as Catholic priests, the same does not apply to married Anglican bishops, Levada said.

"We've been praying for this unity for 40 years and we've not anticipated it happening now," Di Noia said. "The Holy Spirit is at work here."

The Church of England said the move ends a "period of uncertainty" for Anglican groups who wanted more unity with the Catholic Church.

Both groups have a "substantial overlap in faith, doctrine and spirituality" and will continue to hold official dialogues, the archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster said in a joint statement.

"Those Anglicans who have approached the Holy See have made clear their desire for full, visible unity in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church," Levada said. "At the same time, they have told us of the importance of their Anglican traditions of spirituality and worship for their faith journey."

Preserving Anglican traditions, such as mass rites, adds to the diversity of the Catholic Church, he said.

"The unity of the church does not require a uniformity that ignores cultural diversity, as the history of Christianity shows," he said. "Moreover, the many diverse traditions present in the Catholic Church today are all rooted in the principle articulated by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians: 'There is one Lord, one

Find Your Local Purpose-Driven WELS Church

Rick Warren and Ed Stetzer -
Where have you gone, Babtist Ed Stetzer,
Wisconsin turns its lonely eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Paul Calvin Kelm has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey). 

---


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Find Your Local Purpose-Driven WELS Church":

FYI, The WELS has an approved, paid for the rights, rewrite of The Purpose Driven Life along with edited study materials for the 40 Days of Purpose small group study, and even "replacement" videos to substitute a more WELS based message in place of Rick Warren. I'm sure you won't be impressed that it was all produced by St. Paul's, Muskego. However these materials were used by other Milwaukee Area WELS churches. Maybe NPH has them by now. I haven't looked. Just sayin'

Karl G.

---

Expand the "Show advanced search options" bar and choose "Lutheran - Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod" (it's listed, so they are there). Put in zip code and select widest range.


Below are three WELS congregations and one LCMS parish.

Ascension Lutheran Church -- Plymouth, MN -- Pastor Bruce Janisch.
Shepherd of The Hills -- Pewaukee, WI -- LCMS

St. Paul's Lutheran Church -- Muskego, WI -- Peter Pan-denominational
Crown of Life Church  -- Corona, CA -- Rick Johnson, a Leonard Sweet-heart. Read about one Shrinker praising another Shrinker.

   
There's also a "Lutheran -- Unspecified" option. Could be many more in those lists... It would take someone familiar with each state to fish though all the names in the unspecified list... Here is a link to a zip code finder: http://maps.huge.info/zip.htm. When I briefly checked, I did not see the usual suspects, like The CORE, or St. Mark's DePere, but I was only looking at the "Lutheran - Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod" option -- they could have listed themselves as lutheran unspecified, or simply not specified "Lutheran" at all -- which is more than likely IMHO if they are going that direction anyway.  Also, I believe that Brothers of John the Steadfast are compiling a list of LCMS Willow Creek and Purpose Driven churches...

Purpose-Driven Church Finder.

Willow Crick Association Church Finder

Supposedly Al Barry and Paul McCain were against CG, but St. John in Ellisville was a member of the Willow Creek Association and probably still is.

Does it require seminary graduation to determine that membership in a Lutheran denomination and another denomination--like Willow Crick or Saddlesore--is rank unionism?

WELS laity - use the church finders to locate dual membership congregations in your region. Post comments here and I will compile a list.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Find Your Local Purpose-Driven WELS Church":

Porpoise Drivel Churches:
The advanced search function isn't working at this point.

A ZIP code search starting with "54" covering most of northern Wisconsin turned up only this one below. Note the date of their campaign.

Central Lutheran  Chippewa Falls WI 450 40 Days of Community: February 2006 40 DOC. Someone said WELS, but there is no clear identification. Another said LCMS.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Find Your Local Purpose-Driven WELS Church":

In my search I didn't find any WELS, but many LCMS congregations:

Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Lutheran (Missouri Synod) Altoona WI

St Matthew Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Lutheran (Missouri Synod) Eau Claire WI

Mount Olive Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Lutheran (Missouri Synod)
http://www.mtoliveweston.org
Weston WI

Trinity Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Lutheran (Missouri Synod)Wausau WI

St. Mark's Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Lutheran (Missouri Synod)Wausau WI

St Paul Lutheran
Lutheran - Lutheran (Missouri Synod)Madison WI

Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Lutheran (Missouri Synod) Sun Prairie WI

Christ Memorial Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Lutheran (Missouri Synod)Madison WI

Trinity Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Unspecified/other
Merrill WI
(Trinity doesn’t list their affiliation here or on their website. Their pastors/lay minister are all LCMS trained.)

St John Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Lutheran (Missouri Synod) Merrill WI

St Lukes Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Unspecified/other
Wisconsin Rapids WI
(Again, hard to find a synodical affiliation, but LCMS trained people and links.)

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Find Your Local Purpose-Driven WELS Church":

Some more search results:

St. Paul's Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
http://www.stpaulmuskego.org/
Muskego WI

Shepherd of The Hills
Lutheran - Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Pewaukee WI
(Shepherd of the Hills is LCMS)

Ascension Lutheran Church
Lutheran - Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
http://www.ascensionlutheranchurch.org/site/default.asp?sec_id=1913
Plymouth MN

Crosswalk Church
Lutheran - Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Phoenix AZ
Not really WELS. Their own district rejected them, but Pastor Jeff is on the WELS roster. Wisconsin Lutheran College got its prez from CW, plus two board members, including Gunn. WELS is really disciplining that church!

Shepherd of The Hills
Lutheran - Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Fountain Hills AZ
(Shepherd of the Hills is ELCA)

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Anonymous Shrinker has left a new comment on your post "Find Your Local Purpose-Driven WELS Church":

You guys are ALL Losers. Get a life.


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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Find Your Local Purpose-Driven WELS Church":

2 more WELS congregations that have done a 40 Days of Purpose series are Good Shepherd Lutheran in Lake Benton, MN and St John Ev Lutheran in Pipestone, MN.

Guess Where Zehms Landed? St. Marcus - Where Else?

George Skestos started Lutheran (sic) Parish Resources in Columbus, Ohio, so his buddy Floyd Luther Stolzenburg could play at being a pastor - immediately after being forced out of the LCMS ministry. Columbus did not want Floyd, so they hired another divorced pastor, Roger Zehms. Skestos doubled down and paid for Floyd, giving Columbus two Church Growth fanatics.

Roger Zehms is no longer in Texas, rubbing shoulders with Kudu Don Patterson. Zehms was chair of the District Mission Board for a time. Now he is a member of St. Marcus (Jeske) in Milwaukee. Zehms is doing jail ministry, which is a good way to meet old CG friends who are serving their time.

Zehms' favorite professor was Jungkuntz, the father of all heretics in WELS.

Jungkuntz: My NWC boys have done well in the Wisconsin Synod.

Reu Said It Best - Perhaps the Synodical Conference Should Listen

Professor Michael Reu, taught at Wartburg Seminary (Iowa Synod, then the old ALC of 1930) for 44 years, 1899-1943.

The Old ALC of 1930 was comprised of the Buffalo Synod, the Ohio Synod, and the Iowa Synod. The Old ALC merged with the Liberal Norwegians to form The ALC (TALC) in 1960.

The LCA followed in 1962, with the Muhlenberg Tradition of the ULCA uniting with the Swedish Augustana Synod, the Finish Suomi Synod, and the Happy Danes (as contrasted with the Gloomy or Pietistic Danes).

Reu was a giant among scholars. He started out more liberal. If memory serves, he was the one who worked against inerrancy when the 1930 merger took place. Lenski in Ohio was on the opposite side, so a committee was formed to keep Lenski silent.

Reu's Luther and the Scriptures is an ironic turn, since Reu means repentance in German. The liberals never forgave Reu for backsliding into orthodoxy. The book is one of the few discussed from that era, but I also liked his lectures on fellowship. I have often quoted Reu on this subject.

"Here we discover the first mark of unionism: A difference in doctrine which hitherto has been regarded as divisive, is suddenly made to lose its divisive significance." (About the Augsburg Confession, Variata, Real Presence)
M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 19.
Notice how Valleskey wrote about the Reformed downplaying the Means of Grace, when the Reformed reject the Means of Grace.  A crucial difference became minor.

"The second mark of unionism, therefore, is this: Differences in doctrine are made to lose their divisive significance with a view to uniting hitherto separate churches." (about unification of all Protestant forces) M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 19.
The Jim Huebner sermon rant argues that everyone involved in outreach is united in the same good cause.

"The third mark of unionism, therefore, is this: A formula of unification is found which each of two hitherto separate churches may accept but which each of them interprets differently. An external bond is found for internally divided groups." (About Melanchthon using 1 Cor. 10:16 as the basis for uniting the Reformed and Lutherans, Luther's favorite text against the Reformed.)
M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 19. 1 Corinthians 10:16.
The Conference of Pussycats had to devise a formula to allow Church and Chicanery to invite Leonard Sweet and other New Agers to teach the Word of God to WELS. St. Louis made Sweet their featured speaker and broadcast his idiocies. Everything is "Outside the Framework of Fellowship." There is nothing to complain about - the problem has been solved. Having Roman Catholic speakers is both denied and defended. Antichrist? That is so 16th century.

"Doctrinal indifference is at once the root of unionism and its fruit. Whoever accepts, in theory as well as in practice, the absolute authority of the Scriptures and their unambiguousness with reference to all fundamental doctrines, must be opposed to every form of unionism."
M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 20.
ELCA began what the ELS, WELS, and Missouri have pursued - cooperation with all religions in worship services. Mark well how the conservative Lutherans went to Fuller Seminary to study together, after Fuller repudiated its already weak statement on inerrancy. Doctrine gets in the way of outreach, says Fuller. We have no time for that debate, says Fuller. Does that sound like Huebner, Valleskey, and the rest?

"We find this attitude of tolerance quite frequently among unionists. It is often used to assuage a troubled conscience, one's own as well as that of others; for the unionist declares that every one may continue to hold his own private convictions and merely needs to respect and tolerate those of another. This attitude is totally wrong, for it disregards two important factors: (a) in tolerating divergent doctrines one either denies the perspicuity and clarity of the Scriptures, or one grants to error the right to exist alongside of truth, or one evidences indifference over against Biblical truth by surrendering its absolute validity; and (b) in allowing two opposite views concerning one doctrine to exist side by side, one has entered upon an inclined plane which of necessity leads ever further into complete doctrinal indifference, as may plainly be seen from the most calamitous case on record, viz., the Prussian Union."
M. Reu, In the Interest of Lutheran Unity, Columbus: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1940, p. 20.
For the last few decades, those who adhered to the Scriptures and Book of Concord have been treated as slow, backwards, or dangerously destructive. One couple said, "SP Gurgel doesn't want to hear from us anymore." The synodical leadership is so deep into apostasy that they hate anyone who brings up sound doctrine. To defend clergy adultery and Church Growthery, VP Kuske and DP Robert Mueller had to drown dissent from their error in a sea of Dreck. Their LPR heroes are still active today. WELS leaders are eager to slander someone with "Eighth Commandment!" in their efforts to advance false docrine.


***

GJ - Reu's ALC is now part of ELCA. Would he be impressed with ELCA today?


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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Luther and the Scriptures - by Michael Reu (ALC)":

It is so fitting that today's version of Pietism has doctrinal indifference as one of its trademarks. It appears to have been this way for a long time. In The Complete Timotheus Verinus, Loescher points to doctrinal indifference as one of the first traits of Pietism.

***

GJ - Pietism and doctrinal indifference go together well, with a side-helping of unionism. The Pietists claim to have a heart religion, which they insist is superior to the head religion of Lutheran orthodoxy. Notice that the leading apostates of Missouri call themselves Jesus First, another hallmark of Pietism. The Church and Chicaneries talk just like Jesus First members. Yes, I kelmed this post from an earlier one.

The Finkelsteinery on Unionism

VP Patterson and the Conference of Pussycats support Lil Rockers at the WELS Rock N Roll Church Hive in Round Rock.

The Finkelsteinery has  a detailed post about unionism in WELS.

The Synodical Conference segments (ELS, WELS, LCMS) have exactly the same position on fellowship as ELCA--everyone knows, "Anything goes!"--except ELCA is honest about it.

WELS leaders have built their careers on unionism and promoting false doctrine.

Too Bad Patterson Does Not Use the Historic Lessons

KJV Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fellowship Principles? Fellowship Only with the Ba...":

It is ridiculous that the WELS cultish mentality leads the pastoral leadership to ignore the plank sticking out of its (WELS) own eye.

I recently had a conversation with one of the stealth leaders of C and C (Patterson). He tried to completely disown C and C and said he has his own concerns about the group ("pure gold?"). Yet he is leading the CG charge in the SouthCentral Babptist District as he gives approval to the Methodist methods of Doebler, journeys off to visit Stetzer, pushes soccer for Jesus, safari hunts to Africa, and grant writing 101 for free vicars and staph ministers.

Patterson's own church is cutting teachers' salaries, yet this small to mid-size church brings on president-in-exile Gurgel to ramp up for Patterson's ascent to DP.

Jeske, Kelm, Parlow, Patterson, et al are persistent errorist that the WELS won't touch. Yet the pastoral leadership screams about the LCMS view of ministry and fellowship principles...huh...

***

GJ - The secret hazing ritual at Mequon starts with everyone lying about GA being held, the upperclassmen pretending to be the opposite of what they are (Pietists versus The Hards). False teachers have always deceived people about their doctrine, but GA has honed the skills of the Shrinker leaders. DP Robert Mueller said, "No one in WELS has a problem with Church Growth - just you." Later he admitted Paul Calvin Kelm was in constant trouble over CG doctrine. Say what? - I was the only one who objected.

Patterson and the Shrinkers have two stories, depending on the audience. If they have two conflicting stories, they do not believe either one. The Kingdom of God is not advanced with deception.

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Freddy Finkelstein has left a new comment on your post "Too Bad Patterson Does Not Use the Historic Lesson...":

TM,

Your observation regarding the connection of CGM to Synod administration -- or Administration with a capital "A" -- resonates with me. The principles of CGM grow out of organizational theory, and in the Church, represent the wish-dreams of Administrators become reality.

My father, a rather "mavericky" fellow, has spent his entire life studying organizations and administrators for the sole purpose of knowing how to circumvent them. I think this grew out of his intense dislike for the administrators in charge of his tour in Vietnam... I have found that his observation regarding Administrators has in every case been true: "Administrators don't climb ladders. They start by looking for something -- anything -- to manage or administer (the smaller the better), and proceed to build a ladder beneath them by expanding the project, or adding sub-projects. They are always on top of the ladder. As the scope of their administrative responsibilities expands, so does their value and influence." Administrative growth occurs, not as individuals act out of concern for the organization, but generally as they act out of personal ambition. Administrators, ever the "creative idea men," are always suggesting new programs to administer -- it often comes off as creative philanthropy, but in reality, perhaps even sub-consciously, it's self-promoting.

CGM, with myriad projects requiring someone to administer them, dangles golden carrots in the faces of administrator-types. And when introduced to "virgin territory", to a congregation or Church Body without CGM, aggressive administrator-types become unstoppable: it's an easy opportunity to become important. If we are to get rid of CGM, as a practical matter we really ought to severely reduce the administrative positions that serve to lure such personalities to begin with, limit the number, scope, and duration of "new programs," require frequent turnover of staff who serve in administrative positions, and really scrutinize the roots of "new programs."

My Opinion,

Freddy Finkelstein

Fellowship Principles? Fellowship Only with the Babtists:All Others Get the Left Foot of Fellowship

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why Are the Chicaneries Raging? Aren't They in Ch...":

I recently had a conversation with my ex-pastor (a conservative and a great guy) about my recent defection to an LCMS church. I moved to Milwaukee for a job and not wanting to spend 6 months visiting WELS churches before I found one that wasn't Whoopee Worship, I used http://www.lutheranliturgy.org/ to find a Confessional church. Found one near my residence, visited and examined their teachings and found them to be in agreement with the Book of Concord. Joined the church. Done.

My ex-pastor was upset and we got into a discussion about fellowship. He told me that the LCMS church I joined cannot be teaching the truth (by definition)because we are in fellowship with the heretical LCMS churches. I mentioned that He too was in fellowship with errorists as long as Jeske and others go uncorrected.

He defended the WELS by saying that there is a difference between errorists and persistent errorists and that since we don't know the WELS errorists’ hearts it's okay to continue in fellowship with them until it becomes obvious that they are persistent. I then invited my ex-pastor to a dinner party with all my old friends who've been led astray by Jeske—I was implying that the level of persistence was obvious but I’m not sure he got it. So I said that He and the rest of the WELS actually are in fellowship with the LCMS anyway because the recognition that Jeske and Time of Grace have received from Missouri. My ex-pastor expressed his anger at the crap going on in the WELS, but he made sure to insist the LCMS's false doctrine, advising me to study the Bible and Confessions regarding Ministry, Divine Call, the definition of Church.

My questions for you: Which of the Synods' doctrines on Fellowship, Church and Ministry is more Lutheran and why? Do you think that there is any practical difference between the two views of Fellowship considering the WELS lack of discipline? Does fellowship between Christian churches exist if there is no physical interaction or exchange of ideas? Do you think it matters what Synod I belong to as long as the church I’m a part of teaches Truth?

Thank you.


***

GJ - My question is, "Who believes their own official doctrine?" That is the basic mark of apostasy. The remnants of the Synodical Conference have been bowing to unionistic CG gurus for decades and watching their Doctrinal Pussycats do the same. That alone goes against their official standards, so what does fellowship mean to them? Nothing. They love fellowship with Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek. As Reu said so well, unionism causes doctrinal indifference and doctrinal indifference causes unionism. No one today would say as much as the old ALC leader Reu. They are all "ohne Reu" - lacking him and without repentance (a pun on Reu - for those of you who graduated from Mequon).

I will write more later. Let me know what your WELS pastor has done about St. Mark, Depere being a member of the Willow Creek Association. Send me a note when the DP is disciplined for his lack of discipline.

Why Are the Chicaneries Raging? Aren't They in Charge of Everything?

The Book of Concord, as seen by WELS Church and Change.

The Chicaneries have seemed rather cranky lately, a surprise to those of us who see them running WELS and grabbing the funds for themselves.

They used to control the periodical, the quarterly, higher education, and the grapevine. Now they face a triple threat.

Their leading lights are elderly, either retired or several months short of Social Security.

They cannot suppress the truth about their dogma, plans, and activities, since they left their lupine footprints all over the Internet.

The information comes from all over WELS, prompting leaders and laity to read it for various reasons. So many people provide details that it does no good to cut someone off the secret Chicanery channels. The information providers know that the Chicanery will stomp them for telling the truth, so Ichabod is a safe way to publish rather than perish. Besides, the readership is so extensive now that a good post is going to be read right away, all over the world. "No one reads Ichabod." They wish.

Thoughts of Schwan

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Engage Maximum Deniability Drive...Now!":

"GJ - I knew someone would post this about TOF. They were quick to deny TOF was ELS even though an ELS pastor ran it, an ELS/WELS board governed it, and the missionaries were all ELS and commissioned at ELS services by the ELS president. What was it before 2009? - Methodist?"

TOF was, of course, pretty much run by the ELS with token representation by the WELS.

The key here is the Schwan Foundation (SURPRISE!!! SURPRISE!!!)

Schwan requested/suggested/demanded that TOF be officially an entity of the ELS.

As Yul Brynner as Ramses II in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956) said a number of times "so let it be written, so let it be done."

The Schwan Foundation spoke - The ELS jumped.

The huge question now is: Now that the ELS has taken on TOF as a mission of its own, will the Schwan Foundation continue to subsidize TOF at the same level it had in the past or will it shut off those funds, forcing the ELS to try to maintain that mission on what Schwan currently gives it?

The financial fact is that the ELS can in no way even hope to maintain TOF without the Schwan funds continued in the same amount as in the past.

***

GJ - I was amused to hear ELS people deny TOF was ELS when they raised money as an ELS/WELS entity and commissioned ELS pastors as missionaries at their ELS convention.

Nothing in the economic picture suggests Schwan becoming awash in funds to distribute. Their food is tasty but expensive. Wal-Mart reports that people are not even buying necessities until payday. Imagine the same people ordering up luxury foods delivered to their homes.