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."

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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?

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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

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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). 

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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.

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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.


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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.

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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.