Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Two ELCA Problems Parallel WELS, LCMS, and ELS":
I know this comment is in the wrong place, but did not see a recent post on Wimpy Little College (WLC).
I am surprised that no one has yet commented that WLC rather recently cut some major degrees from their curriculum, leaving some students high and dry. Now they have money for Paul Calvin Kelm as a second campus pastor to work with other pastors' members, maybe do a little WELS sheep-stealing among the non-WELS churched students, and I suppose to make WLC a "mission arm" of the "church" among their unchurched students.
Whence this sudden wealth at WLC to add a "pastor" after cutting curriculum so recently? It must be living proof that a fool and his money are soon parted. Why support a college that leaves students high and dry while pampering a retired reject with a cushy call?
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GJ - A few seconds ago I was thinking, "Nobody cares about this extra call." I heard from a parish pastor that people dismiss it as WLC going its own way, Kelm wanting a college call when he qualifies for Social Security and Medicare. The same parish pastor says that people on campus think the college needs zero chaplains, not two.
The published description of the call shows that the apostate board--drawn from MLC and CrossWalk Phoenix--wants to promote the failing Church Growth methods of Pietism. Bones would say to Kirk, above, "It's dead, Jim."
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Money for Kelm, Not To Finish Degrees":
WELS provides NO financial support to WLC. It is not a synodical school.
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GJ - Wade a minute. WLC collects donations as a Wisconsin Synod institution, Brigadoonish. When Martin Marty (ELCA) or Archbishop Weakland (Church of Rome) lectures there, it is not WELS. When raising money from the Schwan Foundation, it is WELS. The faculty is WELS, many of them trained at Marquette, which I understand is Roman Catholic. The board is WELS but not Lutheran.
I guess I won't get any fund-raising letters in the mail.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Money for Kelm, Not To Finish Degrees":
"A 4-year, private, co-ed, Christian liberal arts college affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod."
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This is a quote from the college's website. They sure don't get to be affiliated with the WELS without funding, finance, and support.
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GJ - Certain there is a cost based on the synod's connection to WLC. No staff time? Please. The funny thing is - this is used to justify their dabbling in Roman Catholic ecumenism, CGism, and Martin Marty-ism. At those precious moments they are not WELS but totally, seriously independent.
How many millions have gone from the Schwan Foundation instead of MLC or the seminary or the preps? That is not a cost?
Brigadoon.
Why It's Almost Like Being in WELS!
Maybe Marv Schwan gave me the pow'r,
For I could swim Michigan and be home in half an hour.
Maybe the beer gave me the drive,
For I'm all aglow and alive.
What a day this has been! What a rare mood I'm in!
Why, it's almost like being in WELS!
There's a smile on my face for the big Kelm disgrace!
Why, it's almost like being in WELS!
All the music of life seems to be like a bell that is CCMing for me!
And from the way that I feel when that funding appeals,
I could swear I was joining, I would swear I was joining,
It's almost like being in WELS.
19 comments:
Like the cagey mobsters they are, the evil leaders lurk in the background always looking out for themselves and their friends.
WLC did not cut "some major degrees from their curriculum." They cut one program in which only three or four students were declared majors.
Was it a sad occasion? Yes.
Was it what WLC needed to do when their backs were against the wall financially? Who knows.
If I'm understanding this correctly, most readers of this blog want to see WLC shut down, but then complaints arise when they appear to be spending money that they don't have.
It just seems that if people don't have something to complain about, then they aren't happy.
Sinecurism must continue at any cost and expense. Do NOT give a second thought to the welfare of churches, schools, and souls. Let God sort them out. We need to look out for ourselves as masters of our own destinies.
In response to Anon @ 11:46AM:
You said a mouth full! Another example of this would be a certain church in the SCD who called a certain ex-SP at the expense of teacher's salaries.
And hey, WLC called Kelm, so they got him. The need for chaplains? I don't get it, especially when almost all the leaders at WLC are pastors themselves. Can you teach part time and hold the position of campus chaplain?
In Christ,
from WELS church lady
I agree with the WELS church lady! With so many credentialed individuals at WLC why call Kelm. As a WELS member, I really want to see and know where the money is going. Maybe we should all demand to know. Could "apathy" be part of the problem? I think the WELS needs to be accountable for their actions......
This is more of the same-old same-old. Ever since 1977 or so the WELS synod has withdrawn support for the schools and channeled money to advance the careers of the baby-boomer generation pastors, on the pretext of doing missions. As though it's not hard enough to get money from the greedy churches the synodical schools, the synod actually redirects money there via mission support, the Church Extension Fund and other channels.
One baby-boomer pastor asked me why they don't get that many smart people going into the WELS ministry anymore (like they used to). He gave me the example of someone who aced pre-med school but then decided to become a pastor. I told him that when he went through Northwestern and Mequon, tuition and board were cheap, and whatever money they put in they got back upon going into the ministry, and everyone knew it was a great deal. Now you only get three types of students: 1) those who REALLY have the call and would become a pastor even if they had to be celibate and indigent, or knew they would be flogged and crucified (Mat 23:34), and 2) students naive enough not to know they are getting a bum deal, or 3) students with such bad GPAs they'd get a bum deal no matter where they went.
Ironically, the flexible #2 and #3 students who actually complete seminary more often then the #1 inflexible students, because the totally committed to Christ students are going to bang their head against the prevailing attitude at the synodical schools which are not totally committed to Christ. In other words, they didn't even have a chance to go into the ministry before they were hanged and crucified!
Amid all of the programs that have been cut at MLC, one has been expanded greatly-Early Childhood Education. A recent WELS Connection Infomercial was touting the blessings that one Synod congregation was receiving from its preschool (read: day care center). Workers were hoping that just one frazzled working mom might find her way into church on Sunday morning. While I will not judge all working mothers or their needs and motives, why are we as a conservative synod funding, establishing, and training workers for day care orphanages? The day care movement is a product of the 1960's feminist idea that the institution (the "village") can raise a child better than the traditional family. By actively creating and profiting from these anti-child, anti-family social experiments we are either enabling the single-parent paradigm or 2-parent materialism. Neither would seem to be compatible with the traditional values of orthodoxy. I know it's adiaphoric, but wouldn't the justification that these little cast-offs are hearing about their Savior at day care be offset by learning Christian education at their mother's side-in their own home? I am certain that the maturity and moral character of the average MLC graduate is such that anyone would trust him or her explicitly, but I think Mom Knows Best.
So just how much money does WELS Synod put into WLC?
WELS provides NO financial support to WLC. It is not a synodical school.
Hi Jim Becker WELS,
I'll tell you exactly why the WELS is getting into pre-school. Ever hear of state-funded 4-year-old Kindergarten and state-fund childcare? Here's how it works. The state pays for 4th grade Kindergarten in many place regardless of parental income, and they allow for an optional devotional time that parents can opt their children out of.
In addition, there's a pool of children/parents that qualify for childcare/pre-school based on low income.
Similarly, but for older students, the WELS has several school-choice "charter" schools such as Jeske's St. Marcus school, in the vicinity of failing public schools.
The thing to watch out for is whether the state pays enough, because otherwise these schools can become a drain on church resources if the church or some religious foundation(s) have to kick in a thousand dollars per student, as is the case in Milwaukee WELS school choice schools. That's what's occurring in Jeskeland.
Dear Anonymous 5:33 PM,
While the WELS does not support WLC, the WLC raises funds from WELS members, and is WELS when it comes to fund raising. One could put a price tag on the WELS logo, and it would be millions for sure.
To anon 6:21 PM,
Exactly, WELS synod does not fund or finance WLC.
Church Lady: That is a complete lie that the ex-SP is causing teachers to get their pay cut. An out and out lie.
I hope Kelm won't be charging for his chaplin services like he did the perish services! And the question is a good one ~ why do they even need to spend money on even one campus pastor, let alone two of them? How many WELS churches are planted in the Milwaukee area? If one of these students felt the need for spiritual guidance during the school week, surely one of the pastor/profs would surely step up to the plate. Otherwise, the student could just regularly attend one of the many area churches on Sunday morning to establish their church home away from home and have a pastor ready to meet their spirtual needs. In these times of tightening budgets where people are without calls, retirement is looking like a viable option, and some called workers are turning down scheduled raises just to keep their jobs, the big question is WHY? Is the first campus pastor so busy and overworked that they need Kelm to pick up his slack?
-Things that make me go HMMMM
"A 4-year, private, co-ed, Christian liberal arts college affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod."
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This is a quote from the college's website. They sure don't get to be affiliated with the WELS without funding, finance, and support.
Church Lady: That is a complete lie that the ex-SP is causing teachers to get their pay cut. An out and out lie.
Are you paying the ex-SP? Then how can you know better?
In response to Anon at 12:19:
This is WELS church lady, and that business about Gurgel and teachers salaries was depicted on this blog a few months ago. Someone alerted the information to Pastor Jackson and he put it on the post pages. You may request GJ to put the information out once again; however, his exact source was not noted.
In Christ,
from WELs church lady
The confusion and web of deception continues from the old bookkeeping practices under the ex-SP.
Anon 3:21 PM said "This is a quote from the college's website. They sure don't get to be affiliated with the WELS without funding, finance, and support."
Oh yes they do.
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