and now wants Faith Lutheran Church in Moline to give up its name.
Most people think ELCA should drop Lutheran in its name.
May 4, 2010
The Reverend Mark Gehrke &
Church Council
Faith Lutheran Church
1611 41st St.
Moline, IL 61265-3499
Dear Reverend Gehrke and leaders of Faith Lutheran Church,
Grace to you and peace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who is and who was and who is to come. Amen.
The Northern Illinois Synod Council, having noted that the congregation at Faith has elected to withdraw from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, kindly requests your consideration of a change in the name of your congregation. Our request is based on the following rationale:
Ø Faith Lutheran Church has been associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for more than two decades. A change in the congregation’s name may assist you in developing your new identity as a congregation affiliated with another body of Lutherans.
Ø A congregational name change may assist the people of Moline and the surrounding communities in coming to know the difference between the Faith Lutheran Church congregation and Saving Faith, the Synodically Authorized Worshiping Community.
Ø Finally, a change in your congregation’s name will be of mutual assistance to you and to the Northern Illinois Synod in marking an end to our long-standing partnership.
The Northern Illinois Synod Council understands that it has no authority over the name by which your congregation is known. By this letter the Council simply and respectfully requests your consideration of this topic.
In Christ,
The Reverend Gary Erickson, Secretary
Hard Copy to Follow
Cc: Bishop Wollersheim
Mr. Bill Bartlett, Vice President
Posted by oneno at 7:13 PM
1 comments:
Anonymous said...
When the synod says changing the name would assist the people of Moline and surrounding communities in coming to know the difference between Faith Lutheran Church and the group known as Saving Faith are they saying this Saving Faith group is going to continue on?? This request is ludicrous, Faith Lutheran Church preceded the ELCA and it should continue as such long after.
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GJ - I walked, biked, and drove by Faith in Moline 45+ years ago, on my way to Coolidge and MHS. I imagine they will change their domain name:
http://www.faithelca.org/pwsite/
Having ELCA in the domain name is not a good evangelism today today, unless the parish needs more people in the altar guild.
The LCMC formed out of The ALC churches that left ELCA immediately upon merger in 1987. The ELCA drones probably chuckled and said, "We only lost a few." But those few became a core of leadership for today. The LCMC is already bigger than the Little Sect on the Prairie (nee ELS).
The Core (not to be confused with The CORE) is forming another Lutheran group, and several others are also collecting entire congregations and groups of people who will never enter an ELCA church again.
