Stars and Stripes Forever

I never thought this would be tried on an organ. Wait for the piccolo solo to be played. That is the biggest surprise.

Take that, Norman Teigen.

I usually do not like piano transcriptions of music. They sound like Cliff Notes, if you get my metaphor. I like this Horowitz transcription. The piccolo solo is played beautifully. On another YouTube, a tuba player tried to play the piccolo part. Readers will have to look that one up on their own.

News from The CORE

There is no news.

The CORE continues to burn through $20,000 a month, but they cannot update their sorry excuse for a website.

One event still listed on the calendar is dated December 7th - Koine Rock N Roll.

The ecumenical Living Last Supper was five days ago.

By now people have noticed how lazy and lethargic the Emerging Church people are. They are so spent from all their conferences and planning that they never get any real work done.

Most of their real work is done in secret. I have to admit that. They never cease their attempts to undermine Lutheran doctrine and worship. And they are just as shameless as they are restless. Paul Calvin Kelm cannot get any traction with a copied Bible study called "Fuel," so that qualifies him for a full-time job doing the same at Wisconsin's Little College - WLC.

WELSians who just fell off the beet wagon should pay attention to the Changers at work. The Changers howl about a sprinkle of light discipline and call it "unbrotherly." Their chorus of outrage is always pitiful, even though they are untouched, as Kelm and Stroh have proven.

But the Church Growth Shrinkers are nasty, dishonest, ruthless, and unscrupulous. They never stop driving people out for being Lutheran. They never stop grabbing money for themselves so they do not have to do any real work.

The crypto-Calvinists were just the same, but why bring up a topic WELS never studies? The crypto-Calvinists had the real Lutherans exiled and in prison while they promoted anti-Lutheran doctrine. It was only by accident that the ruler found out about their designs.

Everyone knows what Church and Change is like. Their favorite leaders have been quoted ad infinitum and ad nauseam on this blog.

A more conservative Pietism will not save the Synodical Conference from its Pietism and Enthusiasm. The DPs and board of doctrine types who parade around as the saviors will not make any difference. If the old Synodical Conference cannot get past institution-worship and ancestor worship, they will simply follow ELCA down the drain, a little later, a little poorer.

The era of Pietism, the fetid womb of the Synodical Conference, has to be renounced as another dark age of the Lutheran Church, as as the Age of Rationalism was. Lutherans must study, for the first time, the Book of Concord, and examine current topics in the light of the Confessions.

The Book of Concord has enough in it for people to study the rest of their lives. Most pastors have not even begun, so how will they lead the flock if they have hobbled themselves with ignorance?

WLC - Wisconsin's Little College - News

Mark Braun is infamous for promoting the Fuller Seminary (Reformed) concept of "soil testing."
Not every Lutheran is convinced.
Some actually read Matthew 13.

Paul Calvin Kelm

1. Kelm will be responsible for and take over the Sunday night praise services at the college. Strobel has been leading the contemptuous worship services. Kelm, who has worked with Ski, will take it much farther into Schwaermerland.

2. Kelm will hold small-group Bible studies, focusing on "Christian Leadership" or "servant leadership," with the goal of eventually helping student leaders to hold their own Bible studies. Will women teach men? They already do in WELS.

3. Kelm will start being Number Two in mid-March. He turned 65 in December. His house is up for sale in Green Bay, so he plans to stay in Milwaukee.

WLC is the synod's center for apostasy. They used to be ahead of the Sausage Factory, but Mequon has gone over completely to Fullerism. Ditto MLC. If the synodical higher education system cannot teach Lutheran doctrine, they ought to sell the campuses to some of the for-profit online schools.

The two most famous lecturers at WLC have been Martin Marty of ELCA, long ago denounced by WELS, and Archbishop R. Weakland, the Roman leader known for his homosexual affair covered over with hush money stolen from church funds. Actually, Weakland followed the WELS playbook quite well, so that is probably why they sought him out and paid him to be a featured speaker.

WELS Shrinkers are featured in FIC. WELS felons are never named.


Archbishop Weakland is grateful.

ELCA Leaders Play Rough - No Wonder the "Conservative" Leaders Admire Them - They Love Rough Sects

ELCA to the Scriptures: "You fracture me."

Read this link about ELCA taken over and property and not returning phone calls.

Keep Up with Lutheran News Links

Admit it. You like the LOLcats, too.

I cut out the blog list and realized how much I used it. I like Lutheran News, which is a blog of Lutheran blogs. It picks up blog posts from the entire spectrum, including your favorites, which are already linked. Linking promotes more reading and more search engines finding and more linking and reading, like Dune and that berry juice.

The final result is that active bloggers occupy the top position in Google searches, whether they are web, image, or blog searches.

The WELS emerging apostate churches yak about outreach, but they never seem to get their blogs going. If their Twitter addresses are discovered, the messages stop. One can only guess that they despise the Parable of the Sower and the efficacy of the Word.

I have had a good time searching through the open pages of Facebook, yet another web feature. Many of the best and brightest of the Church Apostate are too dumb to lock down their information. They will not let me be a friend, but they open up their lists of friends, their wall comments, and their photo albums. I will reveal more later.

All the Fuller classes in the world will not make WELS friendly to non-relatives. Love is the fruit of the Gospel, so love is lacking in UOJ sects.

More ELCA Self-Destruction

His Grace, the Presiding Bishop of ELCA, managed the lavender takeover of his denomination.

ELCA continues to ape WELS, ELS, and Missouri by rewarding the guilty and punishing the innocent.

Now there is a flurry of restorations in ELCA. Congregations and pastors under their fake discipline have been reconciled to the ELCA leadership, which shepherded a statement at the August 2009 convention allowing this to happen. The ELCA bishops showed signs of resisting so they were by-passed completely.

I could list the announcements of the new order. One woman pastor was officially out of ELCA for about 10 years, because of her lesbian partner, but now the bishop is preaching her into heaven for her humility, her witness, and her blah blah.

One shockaroo was finding an LCA pastor who left the organization at the same time I did. He was a married man. Mrs. Ichabod and I knew him as someone on the far Left of the Left Wing. He was in another denomination for a number of years and now is back with ELCA, because ELCA welcomes him.

Meanwhile, ELCA is pounding congregations - like Faith in Moline, just because the Faith members said they would have the bishop arrested if he showed up on their property.

ELCA has a dual message. One is: "Few churches are leaving ELCA, and we recognize their rights. We just want to have a conversation with them before they vote the second time."

The second message is: "We will fight you in every way possible, enlist our corporate lawyers, block, dither, obfuscate, deceive, slander, and rage in public against you, in His Name. Amen."

One article gave the projected loss at 5%, which is a new case of whistling past the graveyard. The Northern Illinois District cut their budget by 40% already, suggesting the losses may be a wee bit larger than 5%. ELCA canned 47 staff at once.

Their main problem at the moment is the withholding of funds. The larger the congregation, the more likely it is to withhold funds and vote on leaving. ELCA is facing a superfluity of small congregations with pastors in rainbow colored stoles. The good news is that Pastor Cedric and his Life Partner will not need an altar guild. They will fuss over the decorations all week long.

What can WELS learn from this debacle? First of all, very few are going to join WELS upon leaving ELCA, no matter how apostate WELS wants to be. All the baby-steps toward ELCA--including women pastors, open communion, and Church Growth--will not avail.

WELS will plummet even faster if the leaders and members continue to take a soft approach on their apostates and a hard approach on those who dare to mention the horrible legacy of Mischke and Gurgle. At the moment, with Kelm and Stroh in the catbird seats, Jeske and Becker running loose, Patterson coiled to strike, and the schools in a flat spin, the future is certain.

WELS Does Not Need Women's Ordination - They Already Have Women Pastors

WELS does not need women's ordination to have women pastors,
thanks to Larry Olson, Church Growth,
and apostate leaders.


Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "When Rockers Age, They Lead Polka Masses":

I might have read this on a bathroom stall:

For a good laugh - http://www.lutherquest.org/discus40/messages/13/86750.html?1267154435

***

GJ - Notice that the LutherQuest (sic) discussion includes ELS Pastor Jay Webber, co-worker with Roger Kovaciny and Floyd Luther Stolzenburg.

Was Webber on the ELS Board of Doctrine when WELS/ELS discussed women consecrating Holy Communion, the fruit of Olson's Staff Ministry efforts?

The two denominations solemnly declared a moratorium on this practice. Doubtless a condemnation trembled on their lips, but was never spoken. The clergy on doctrinal boards are selected for their ability to condemn everything except false doctrine.

The Berg who wrote the article in question, quoting John Brug at the Sausage Factory, is the son of Norm Berg, WELS heresiarch in charge of spreading Church Growth through the national mission board.

None Dare Call It Karma - ELCA District Slashes Budget While Bashing Straight Congregations

The Bishop Leads His Flock To Perdition - Gary Wollersheim

Northern Illinois Synod financial cuts

February 24, 2010

Dear Leaders of the Northern Illinois Synod and Congregational Presidents, Vice Presidents, Treasurers:

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am writing to report that the Northern Illinois Synod Executive Committee recently made some difficult decisions concerning the Synod spending plan for 2010. Cuts were necessary because the Statements of Intent received from our congregations were about $400,000 short of the budget, which was approved at last year’s Synod Assembly. In fact, anticipated Mission Support for 2010 is approximately $194,000 less than last year’s actual income. I believe this shortfall in Mission Support is due to the challenging economic times in which we live and also because there are 15 congregations in Northern Illinois that have chosen to withhold Mission Support.

I give God thanks for the generosity of the vast majority of our Northern Illinois Synod congregations. For even during these difficult economic times, many individuals and congregations have sacrificed to keep their pledges at the same level as last year. Some were even able to increase their giving. Thank you for this encouragement and for your faithfulness in responding to God’s mission.

The cuts in our 2010 spending plan fall into four main areas:

First, we will make cuts in terms of the operation of the Synod offices. Sandy Musch, Assistant to the Bishop, has graciously offered to reduce her work to three-quarters-time during Fiscal Year 2010. We will not replace two part-time Conference Assistants to the Bishop. Office hours for support staff will be reduced. And again, as last year, all staff salaries will remain frozen.

Second, all Northern Illinois Synod Committee budgets will be reduced by 25%. This affects important programs of the Synod such as seminary scholarships, social ministry grants to congregations and support of the companion synods and congregations in India and Tanzania .

Third, our agencies and institutions will be cut by 25%. I have heard that some agencies and institutions are receiving direct gifts from congregations that are withholding Mission Support. However, in this time of great need, this cut still represents a significant decrease from our Synod budget.

Fourth, even though we will continue to forward 55% of our Mission Support for Churchwide ministries, the actual amount of dollars will be less. This saddens me because Churchwide has already been forced to make significant staff cuts, including in the Global Missions and Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Ministries units.

Finally, some of you may wonder if I am discouraged by all of this. Well, I must admit there are days. But, at the same time, I am prayerfully confident that the economy will improve, that congregational conflict will taper off, and we can soon concentrate more fully on the work that God has graciously given us to do. Most importantly, at the end of the day, I look to Jesus, the “founder and perfecter of our faith.” And I pray that, by God’s grace, we may fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith.

In Christ,

Bishop Gary Wollersheim

***

GJ - I will copy stories on all the ELCA clergy being "restored" to the clergy roster. Methinks they were not really gone, much like erasures on a hard drive. They were installed by ELCA bishops, lionized by advocacy groups, and held up as examples. Their discipline was a sham, so the restoration is also a farce. However, this particular farce is a good reminder of how ELCA works, so financial support is on a five-spin death spiral.

Hats off to my fellow Moliners for standing up to the mini-pope Wollersheim. Faith Lutheran Church in Moline, on my walk to junior high and high school, is thumbing its nose at the posturing bishop.

If some ELS congregations had done the same to Pope John the Malefactor, the only wounds inflicted would have been the bruise from him experiencing the Left Foot of Fellowship.

Ministry of Pork

WELS Polka Worship - and Pork Chops

Polka and Pork Chops We will offer a polka-style worship service on Sunday, September 7, at 10:30 a.m. With our own members serving as instrumentalists in the worship band. There will be no Continued from page 2 Communion during this service. The 8:00 a.m. Service that day will be the regular liturgy with communion. A grilled pork chop dinner will be served after the 10:30 a.m. service in our gym. Tickets will soon be on sale for the dinner. Invite your neighbors and friends.

http://www.trinityluthbp.com/newsletters/Trinity%20news%20letter%20AUGUST,%202008.PDF

http://www.trinityluthbp.com/

Built on porkchops this church doth stand,
While younger WELS ones are rockin'.

When Rockers Age, They Lead Polka Masses

Leave The CORE alone. I mean it!

Joseph Schmidt has found a Polka Mass for aging rockers to contemplate. Yes, that is what you will look like in 20 years, warbling doggerel in the name of reaching out with relevance, transforming polka fans into polka Lutherans.

I recall linking a WELS church already doing this.

Sour Note

Joe Krohn--member of Doebler's WELS Rock N Roll Church in Round Rock, Texas, and former member of Gunn's CrossWalk in Phoenix, Arizona--has euthanized his latest blog.

http://www.lutherrocks.blogspot.com had one basic message - Boycott Ichabod, The Glory Has Departed.

Nevertheless, Joe was a daily communicant at this blog. He chose a bust of Beethoven as his icon on the followers list.

He copied my use of Feedjit, so I looked at his numbers before erasing my tracks. He was lucky to get one reader a day.

Likewise, the Rock N Roll Church is fading. To boost attendance, they canned Joe as Rock-Meister.

He is no longer a follower on the fake blog or Bailing Water. Nevertheless, there must be room for another camp follower on Paul McCain's blog. Paul likes UOJ, Church Growth, and unionism just as much as Dom Perignon Patterson.

Mid-Week Lenten Service, Because We Are Not an Emerging Church, 7 PM Central

The Lost Sheep, by Norma Boeckler

Mid-Week Lenten Vespers


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 6 PM Phoenix Time

The Hymn #552 Abide with Me 2:11
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 2 p. 123
The Lection The Passion History

The Sermon Hymn #436 The Lord's My Shepherd 1:33

The Sermon – God's Dominant Love

The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45

The Hymn #281 The Savior Calls 1:29


KJV John 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

The Gospel of John is often called the Gospel of love, because the word is found there so often.

The word is over-used in our time, often applied to everything. We love this and that, we love, love, love this and that.

John’s Gospel describes God’s love and contrasts that with man’s hatred for the truth and rejection of Christ.

KJV John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

KJV 1 John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

And yet –

KJV John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

This is an important contrast, because all the false religions of the world make man pleasing to God by his sacrifices, works, and endless prayers.

John’s Gospel teaches us that God loved the entire world so much that He gave His only-begotten Son. God’s love is prior and it dominates.

The Passion of Christ contrasts the steadfastness of Christ with the fickle and fearful nature of the disciples. That is where this verse is so important. Exposing the massive flaws and weaknesses of the disciples, the Gospel says, nevertheless,

John 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

Jesus did not stop loving His disciples when they were fearful at the time of His arrest. One follower, thought to be Mark, ran away. A soldier caught his cloak, and he ran away naked.

KJV Mark 14:51 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

Peter mistakenly drew out a sword and sliced off the ear of one man.

KJV John 18:10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.

Only John was at the crucifixion, which had been foretold three times.

After the crucifixion, the disciples were so afraid that they locked themselves in a room.

Still later, they were fishing, not for men, but for fish.

The disciples present a cross-section of our weaknesses and failures. The lesson teaches us that throughout His greatest trial, Jesus still loved His followers. They were His sheep. They belong to Him, so He protected them.

We have herding dogs, and they show the same concern. They understand sickness and pay special attention to the patient. Sassy sleeps with front paws on one of her sheep and her remaining back leg hooked on another. Their tender concern is a shadow of Christ’s work as the Good Shepherd:

KJV John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

KJV Matthew 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

KJV Mark 6:34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

This is an important lesson – that God loves us to the end.

KJV 1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

God’s dominant love is taught to us by the Holy Spirit in the Gospel. That creates faith and sustains our faith in trying times. When we fall as sinners, which must happen because of our nature, God continues to love us. The Gospel is proof of that love and it is not withdrawn because of our sinful nature.

As Luther said, we should not use the Gospel as a pillow to fall asleep on. So many take forgiveness for granted, so much that they “sin more that grace may abound.” That is a reversal of the message of the cross, which is – All sins have been redeemed on the cross.

It is this forgiveness that gives us the power to withstand temptation and turn away from sin. And yet, the more we are forgiven, the more we experience our need for forgiveness.

In the cold spells that hit Arkansas and every other part of the sunbelt, I thought of Luther’s comparison of God’s love to a furnace. On bitterly cold days, we could feel the chill seeping through the walls and windows, the feeble heat pump unable to keep up. Lighting up the fireplace, I could feel its radiant heat across the room. Luther called God’s love a baking hot oven that we can feel. In fact, we cannot help feeling it.

“Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.”

WELS Men of Honor

rhs (http://rhs.myopenid.com) has left a new comment on your post "How Elton Stroh Got His Groovey Job Back": Whatever happened to integrity and men of honor in the synods?

Mugshot

McCain's Bad Grammar and Worse Theology

Paul McCain, UOJ BloggerFrom Paul McCain, MDiv, former pastor (one parish for three years):

I have, over the years, conversed with many Calvinists, in person and over the Internet. I always ask them, “Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are among God’s elect and are saved?” There are generally two reactions to that question: (1) A long and rather painful pause after which they say, “I hope I am. I do believe in Christ.” or (2) A quick, “Yes, I believe in Christ.” Now, let’s be honest here and admit that many Lutherans would answer in somewhat the same way. But here is the problem.

If our feelings of certainty in our salvation is (sic) based on our feeling that we have faith, we will flounder. The answer we must always give to the question of “Do you know you are saved?” is not, “Yes, because I have faith” but rather, “Yes, because Christ Jesus died for me” and of course, in my opinion, the very best answer of all is simply to point people to Luther’s explanation of the Creed and say, “Here, this puts it very well.”

Point yourself, and others, not to faith, not to subjective feelings that there is faith in your heart, but always, always, always, point people to Christ and what He has done for you and the whole world. Do not confused (sic) faith in faith, with trust in Christ. There is a key difference.

We are Christians, not Faith-ians.

***

GJ - The UOJ Stormtroopers are getting increasingly touchy. Recently a branch of the Preus clan began denouncing those who "deny UOJ." So I asked, "Like Robert Preus?" That set off a longer rant, especially since I provided written proof, from Justification and Rome.

In the epic piece of balderdash copied above, Paul McCain has shown how little he understands Calvinism or Lutheran doctrine.

UOJ fanatics like to lead by attacking faith, using their weak little straw man arguments. They remind me of the ALC/LCA leaders who likewise said, "The Bible is not a book that fell from heaven," as if someone claimed that.

Paul, whose rudeness has been displayed publicly on Facebook, sounds just like Bucky Hellwig in this piece. It is no wonder I got them confused once, when Bucky was posting anonymously on LutherQuest (sic).

UOJ goes together with Enthusiasm, Church Growth, and Receptionism because they are all flavors of separating the Holy Spirit from the Word, grace from the Means of Grace.

If Paul had taken the time to engage in the scholarly study of comparative dogmatics, instead of packing his bags for the Purple Palace, he might have learned how to do more than preach to the double-justification choir.

The formula, left unspoken in his diatribe, is thus:

1. God absolved the whole world of sin, without the Word, without the Means of Grace, without faith, at the crucifixion or at the resurrection, the Moment of Absolution still being debated. That is General, Objective, or Universal, or Universal Objective Justification.

2. Everyone has to make a decision to believe in UOJ, but they are justified already (Part 1). They need Part 2 for Part 1 to be really, really effective, even though it is already really effective. Part 2 is called Subjective Justification.

This formula first appeared, in the fulness of time, in a very influential, prolixic, boring, confusing book by the Halle Pietist George Christian Knapp. It appeared in German and English, years before Walther placed his predestined and predestinating feet on the shores of the Mississippi. This book remained a primary theology book for all Protestants for most of the 19th century.

A variation on this theme of Universalism has been the mantra of the LCA and ALC moderns: God has already forgiven everyone.

This has been explained many times before, but I will repeat the quotations found on the lower part of this blog. They represent Lutheran doctrine rather than the Enthusiasm McCain endorses so smoothly:

"Nowhere in the Bible is any man constituted or declared righteous ‘without faith, before faith.’” R. C. H. Lenski, Romans, Augsburg Publishing House: Minneapolis, 1963, p. 382. Romans 5:19-20.

"They [the false teachers] fared like a man who looks through a colored glass. Put before such a man whatever color you please, he sees no other color than that of the glass. The fault is not that the right color is not put before him but that his glass is colored differently, as the word of Is. 6:9 puts it: You will see, he says, and yet you will not see it."What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 644.

"To this incline your ears, and be persuaded that God speaks through men and forgives you your sins; this, of course, requires faith."Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 200.From Thy Strong Word:J-520

"It is a faithful saying that Christ has accomplished everything, has removed sin and overcome every enemy, so that through Him we are lords over all things. But the treasure lies yet in one pile; it is not yet distributed nor invested. Consequently, if we are to possess it, the Holy Spirit must come and teach our hearts to believe and say: I, too, am one of those who are to have this treasure. When we feel that God has thus helped us and given the treasure to us, everything goes well, and it cannot be otherwise than that man's heart rejoices in God and lifts itself up, saying: Dear Father, if it is Thy will to show toward me such great love and faithfulness, which I cannot fully fathom, then will I also love Thee with all my heart and be joyful, and cheerfully do what pleases Thee. Thus, the heart does not now look at God with evil eyes, does not imagine He will cast us into hell, as it did before the Holy Spirit came...." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 279. Pentecost Sunday. John 14:23-31.J-528

"Faith is that my whole heart takes to itself this treasure. It is not my doing, not my presenting or giving, not my work or preparation, but that a heart comforts itself, and is perfectly confident with respect to this, namely, that God makes a present and gift to us, and not we to Him, that He sheds upon us every treasure of grace in Christ." Apology of the Augsburg Confession, IV. #48. Of Justification. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 135. Heiser, p. 36.J-545

"These treasures are offered us by the Holy Ghost in the promise of the holy Gospel; and faith alone is the only means by which we lay hold upon, accept, and apply, and appropriate them to ourselves. This faith is a gift of God, by which we truly learn to know Christ, our Redeemer, in the Word of the Gospel, and trust in Him, that for the sake of His obedience alone we have the forgiveness of sins by grace, are regarded as godly and righteous by God the Father, and are eternally saved." Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III. #10. Of the Righteousness of Faith before God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 919. Tappert, p. 541. Heiser, p. 250.J-590

"For neither you nor I could ever know anything of Christ, or believe on Him, and obtain Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the Gospel. The work is done and accomplished; for Christ has acquired and gained the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if the work remained concealed so that no one knew of it, then it would be in vain and lost. That this treasure, therefore, might not lie buried, but be appropriated and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed, in which He gives the Holy Ghost to bring this treasure home and appropriate it to us. Therefore sanctifying is nothing else than bringing us to Christ to receive this good, to which we could not attain ourselves."The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III, #38, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 689. Tappert, p. 415. Heiser, p. 194.

***

GJ - I do not see Luther as an enemy of faith, since the Reformer shows how the Holy Spirit works through the Word to create and sustain faith. This faith trusts the Gospel Promises. That is why Luther taught justification by faith in harmony with the Scriptures.

Knapp

PS -

Jay Webber, in the ELS, went to Ft. Wayne at the same time as McCain. Robert Preus was deep into UOJ and CG at that time. Jay still defends UOJ too.

On LQ, the FW guys said the same things McCain just did. They have their Calvinist quip, their "faith in faith" quip, and a couple of other repeat-after-me sayings they memorized.

They never come to grips with the efficacy of the Word, the Means of Grace, or the classic passages in the Book of Concord about justification by faith.

Worst of all, they cannot address Robert Preus' own words in Justification and Rome.

How Elton Stroh Got His Groovey Job Back

From the WELS Grapevine:

SP Schroeder met with WELS Kingdom Workers and asked them not to rebuild the Kingdom Workers and start a new version of Perish Assistants.

WKW defied the Synod President (and the recent convention) as a direct and deliberate attack.

That is the heart and soul of false doctrine embedded in the Wisconsin Synod.

Just as Church and Change turned into a second Love Shack, to pull off stunts staffers could not get away with in public, Kingdom Workers is using its cover to revive what should have been killed years ago.

Members and clergy can do what they have always done - nothing. Meanwhile, Church and Change is well-organized, funded with WELS money, and secretive in all its communications. The failed ex-SP Gurgle and his Sausage Factory brother are both in Church and Change. Dom Perignon Patterson, who denies being a Chicanery leader, attended the last Chicanery convention.

The Word of God has not been tried and found wanting. In WELS, it has hardly been tried at all.

Synodical Money Laundering

The proposed Kingdom Workers hiring of Elton Stroh is a great illustration of synodical money laundering.

I learned from studying the Lutheran Church in America budgets how this was done.

If a program was loathsome to the congregations, the LCA hid it completely. Funding the odious National Council of Churches was listed in one national budget brochure and papered over in the next, grouped under "Reaching Out with the Gospel." The NCC could be funded in wide variety of ways, with incremental grants: LCA budget, women's group budget, and World Hunger Appeal budget. But the buck does not stop there. Money was switched back and forth so many times that the plebians never knew how much the NCC received from the original pile of donations. Naturally, it was none of their business where the insurance companies' gifts were going.

Likewise, the Schwan Foundation gives to the LCMS, the Little Sect on the Prairie, and the Wisconsin Synod. The figures are available because tax-exempt foundations have to report their income and expenses. All three synods get Marvin Money in various categories, so that can be switched around too. They also have women's groups with money, separate mission entities, etc.

Elton Stroh and Paul Calvin Kelm were cut out of the synod budget but popped up later with invented positions provided by their Church Growth buddies. The lilliputian Wisconsin Lutheran College had a felt-need for two chaplains at once.

WELS Kingdom Workers felt a sudden need to increase staff and hire Stroh as "an administrator." Do not worry - the best friend of Church Growth in WELS--James Huebner--will make sure everything is on the up and up. After all, WELS paid for Olson, Huebner, and Kelm to study Church Growthism at Fuller Seminary. They sold their expertise (same template, literally) in various WELS congregations.

Synodical money laundering benefits the in-crowd, which is exclusively Reformed, as many verbatim quotations have already proven. The real crime is the enabling of this generational theft by the silence of the lambs, the meek pastors who hope a few crumbs drop from the banquet table.

Read the article below on the economy. There is a lot more recession to experience, and no one is facing the truth.

An Economic Forecast

From a Reagan advisor.

Here is the article.

As bad as the problems are, I think we can overcome them. However, we have to face the truth about Cuban health care, unfunded mandates from Congress, oppressive taxes, and the Nanny State. I am not sure if Boomers are up to it.

PS - Yale Divinty revealed that this is the worst economy their graduates have faced since the Great Depression. Most of the graduates and faculty voted for Obama.

I was worried about mentioning an accredited school to the WELS Pietists, but I remembered John Brug spent a session at Yale. Here are some possible reasons why Brug will not be denounced on the fake blog:

1. Brug was at Yale but he did not get a degree.
   
2. He teaches at the Sausage Factory so he is de jure immaculate.
   
3. He was born WELS, and nothing else counts.

Stroh and Kelm - It Is All about the Money - Always Was

A foundation built of straw - Elton Stroh.

The following paragraph is from a WELS Kingdom Worker letter dated "February 2010" which was received today.

"Another historic development in 2010 will be the consideration of a new WKW program, The Center for Parish Renewal. If adopted, a call will be extended to Rev. Elton Stroh [Fuller alum, Church Growth] to serve as an administrator. WKW will be working with the WELS Conference of Presidents' Parish Assistance committee chaired by First Vice President Jim Huebner [Fuller alum, Church Growth] to assure complementary non-duplicating resources are available to congregations. Designated gifts to support this new program may be sent to WKW apart from mission project gifts."

WKW is going to grow by one staff member. Interesting when one considers the same letter also included the following:

"Due to the current economy and financial losses suffered by the Schwan Foundation, matching funds for national [WKW] projects will not be available in 2010. The generosity of the Foundation still provides for the operation of WKW. In 2009 WKW full-time staff salaries were reduced by 20%. Salaries are restored in 2010."

***

GJ - The WELS convention eviscerated Perish Services. Stroh and Kelm [Fuller alum, Church Growth] became unemployed at the end of December. Doubtless they got a few months of severance pay. They already have their new jobs lined up.

Remember when someone heatedly denied that Kelm and Stroh hit up Kingdom Workers for money?

What do the three men named here have in common? - Fuller alumni, Church Growth.

I am sure the ELS/WELS boards of doctrine will jump on this like hobos on a hot-dog.

No, not to thwart it - to support it.

PS - I heard that WELS started to grow for a few weeks, while Kelm and Stroh were unemployed.

Standing Tall in 1918

This photo was taken in 1918.

It shows 18,000 men preparing for war in a training camp at Camp Dodge, Iowa .

From the Anything Goes District of WELS

From an emailing sent by The CORE:

"Satan's Sex Ed"

April 11th - May 2nd

"30 Days to Live"

May 9th - May 30th.

"Bloodlines"

starts February 28th and runs through Lent. Martin Luther once said, "Blood alone moves the wheels of history." Join us as we look at the Bloodlines that flow into and out of the cross.


If you suffer, thank God! It is a sure sign that you are alive.

-Elbert Hubbard

***

GJ - The question is: How many items were copied from false teachers?

Paul Calvin Kelm was promoted for teaching FUEL, but that was dropped. Out of gas?

The CORE also promoted The Living Last Supper on their website, urging people to attend this event.

Someone wrote:

"Remarkable that WELS still has them on the roster. They're also recommending a Live Last Supper performance on The CORE's website. Brief research shows that it's put on by an ecumenical group pulling in performers from Catholic schools etc. During the performance there's an opportunity in the play to have the performers distribute Communion to those attending. Would be interesting to know if they will do so and if the Core will participate. Kinda wishing I lived closer to Appleton so I could witness some of this stuff first hand. Like watching a dead gold fish circle the bowl as a kid."

***

GJ - That comment above is so far off. WELS would ban The CORE only if they recommended reading the Confessions, studying Luther, and sending kitteh art to Ichabod.

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "From the Anything Goes District of WELS":

Opportunity to receive Communion from 12 actors?
http://community.ucc.org/forums/Topic4193800-1922-1.aspx?cons_id=&ts=1266894184&signature=c01522c2359d8e06a046db82d9f6104c

http://choralmusic.com/livinglastsupper.htm

Opportunity to receive Communion with members of the Catholic church? This invitation is to the same presentation The Core will be attending.
http://www.holyspiritknights.org/School/Calendars/wf122309.pdf

***

GJ - As long as the Roman Catholics serving communion are not women. Oh wait, I forgot. That is OK in WELS, commended in WELS. There is just a moratorium on women priests in WELS, until people are mature enough to accept it.

Reformed and Lutheran - No Concord There

Calvin denied the efficacy of the Word, too.

Joseph Schmidt has a great post on his blog.

Lutheran doctrine is not compatible with Reformed doctrine - the Reformed know this and the Lutherans do not.

The "conservative" Lutherans do not acknowledge that all their great insights are directly from the Reformed, except for those turncoats who have found greener pastures in Rome or Constantinople. Confidential to the ultra high-church Smells and Bells faction - Reformed sanctification is very much like Catholic/EO sanctification.

True - some recent insights are from such geniuses as Peter Drucker. He revolutionized business management in America. We would really be in trouble without Drucker's Management By Objective, eh?

We could be in a major recession.

Demotivator

Invocavit - The First Sunday in Lent

By Norma Boeckler

Invocavit Sunday, The First Sunday in Lent


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn #148 Lord Jesus Christ 3:61
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 146 Lamb of God 3:62


Doing and Believing – The Difference

The Hymn # 153 Stricken Smitten 3:63
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 154 Alas and Did My Savior 3:14

KJV 2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

KJV Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

First Sunday In Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, inasmuch as the adversary doth continually afflict us, and as a roaring lion doth walk about, seeking to devour us: We beseech Thee for the sake of the suffering and death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to help us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to strengthen our hearts by Thy word, that our enemy may not prevail over us, but that we may evermore abide in Thy grace, and be preserved unto everlasting life; through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Doing and Believing – The Difference
The three-fold temptation of Jesus shows Him to be truly man, subject to all our trials, and true God, having the will and power to withstand all temptation without sinning.

Jesus’ trials began immediately after He was baptized by John in the river Jordan.

This is a parallel to the life of the ordinary Christian believer. Our temptations begin after God has planted faith in our hearts. As one person told me, “I was never tempted before I became a Christian. I did whatever I wanted.”

Jesus fasted in the desert and Satan sought to capture Him. As Luther saw so clearly, Satan pursued the Chosen People from the moment God predicted that Someone would arise who would crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). The prophet foretold that this would not happen until a non-Jew was on the throne of David.

By that time, as Luther said, nothing was left of Israel except a stump. It was occupied territory, ruled by pagans, taxed to death, humiliated in every possible way.

The Savior was revealed at the Baptism of Jesus and Satan went to work, returning later at His crucifixion, the final act of Satan’s drama.

First Temptation
During the temptation of Jesus, Satan made three different offers. The first one was to have Jesus prove His divinity by changing stones into bread. During a fast in the desert, every round stone would look tempting. The same temptations are offered today – take care of yourself. Many feel triumphant when they do that. From clergy to well known frauds, there is a great deal of smugness in getting away with it and reminding others of the successful strategies of greed, malice, and trickery.

Jesus responded with the Word,

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

This is a statement which includes a direct reference to Isaiah 55:

KJV Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

This is a great reminder that the Word, going out from God (since it belongs to Him alone) is our life – we live by it – and the sole cause for accomplishing God’s will.

I see books about Bernie Madoff in the bookstores. For many years, people knew he was crooked. Yet they gathered billions of dollars from investors, promising them impossible investment returns, and lived high and mighty. When the schemes came crashing down, as they had to, the same money men were filled with despair and some gave up their lives. They lived on falsehoods and died in shame, turning stones into bread but realizing at last they were just stones after all.

Every generation has its fraudulent churches, which glory in their material success. Visit any urban area and you will see these monuments, neo-gothic splendors maintained with endowments and almost empty. They have lost their grip of God’s Word and comfort themselves with spending the interest from their funds. A lot of money must be spent to tuck-point the brickwork, clean the curtains, and send the clergy to more conferences.

On an individual basis, many have gone into an easy form of crime to turn their life of want into luxury, only to discover that this led them to the hoosegow. There are always those temporary lulls where all the schemes seem to be working. One coke dealer (and I do not mean soda pop) took every precaution, even to the point of avoiding areas where he could be hurt or arrested. Nevertheless, while sunning himself on the beach, he saw men with sub-machine guns descending from ladders on helicopters, all running toward him at once. They were federal agents who were drawn to his cause by his very success in getting away with it.

Jesus was asked to trust in His own devices, and He had the power to do so. But He quoted God’s Word instead. When we think we can solve our own difficulties, with our own cleverness, we are saying, “I trust in me, but not in God’s Word.”

Second Temptation
In the second temptation, Satan urged Jesus to throw himself from the highest point of the Temple, so that angels would take care of Him, as promised in the Word.

7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Tempting God has become a major trend among American churches. For instance, I saw this notice in an Episcopalian church and similar ones published all over: “We have prayed that God will increase our membership by 10% per year in the next three years.” There are many variations on that, but they all concern man telling God what to do and when to do it, combined with some sort of deal about what man will do, such as organizing and spending to make this happen. It is a business plan for churches and it has not worked for most of them. The one with the earliest success, Garden Grove (Schuller’s) is floundering and failing, trying to sell off assets to survive. Schuller claimed, “I started the Church Growth Movement.”

On an individual basis, people tempt God by demanding He take action according to their dictates and time schedules. This is also tempting God, putting Him on trial. “I will believe in you if You obey me.” If God obeyed man, He would not be God. Many pagan religions are based upon deals with idols. Feed the idol incense or human sacrifice and he will perform miracles.

Herman Melville, the free-thinker, made fun of this in Moby Dick. These false teachers do not appreciate how much they feed the fires of atheism until they become part of that everlasting furnace themselves. In the name of salvation, they pull others down with themselves.

Third Temptation
Satan took Jesus to the highest mountain, so He could see the vast power He would have if He only bowed down to worship Satan. Jesus responded with the Word:

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

In one course I teach, we look at Billy Graham versus his partner in the Evangelical Church, Templeton. As I mentioned before, Templeton went from being the most influential minister in Toronto to being an outright atheist. I was interested in Templeton’s version of all this. He was dazzled by the intellectuals at Princeton, and he felt that Christianity had to conform itself to the rationalistic demands of the world. He never got over his anger than Graham failed to go through the same brain-washing.

If Templeton had searched among faithful teachers, he would have realized that rationalism is the final step of Calvinism. Princeton broke with the old ways, so the conservatives marched off. All of Templeton’s questions could have been addressed by the great scholars of the Lutheran Church – Chemntiz, Chytraeus, Luther. Instead he was fed mush and he found it distasteful.

One of the Fuller boys had to have a Princeton degree too – C. Peter Wagner. That did not make him any better either. Lutherans have failed to create their own universities. Instead they have parochial schools and long for the prestige of old, large apostate universities.

The cross individuals must bear is the disapproval of the world, which is always eager to witness to its lack of faith. The fallen-away are the worst of these.

Conclusion from Temptations
There is a crucial difference between Biblical Christianity and Pietism/Romanism/Eastern Orthodox.

Most people follow the wrong path and define Christianity by issues of doing, not believing.

When Evangelicals and Catholics talk, they give this away by describing their lives by what they do.
An Evangelical will talk about not watching TV or the movies, about avoiding the wrong kinds of dress. Christianity is bound up with the act of praying.

A Roman Catholic will speak about Mass, the peak being daily Mass.

So the ultimate criticism of Christianity, people imagine, is “How can you do that if you call yourself a Christian?” Manipulation is easy, “How can you NOT help out if you call yourself a Christian?”

A definition based on doing will always lead to Pietism and then to rationalism, because we should all do good things together, no matter what we believe – they say. Thus the Word of God is obsolete.

In contrast, Jesus’ answers were all directly connected with believing the Word of God.

Christians are not condemned for being sinners, because all of us remain in that state.

Believing in the Word of God means we can fight against temptation with the Word rather than our dubious virtue. We are weak and frail, bound to fall many times over. We may suffer the same temptation for decades and continue to battle it. The Gospel of forgiveness is the only power that can defeat sin, first through justification by faith, secondly with the fruits of the Spirit.

John Bunyan was a perfect example. He was the most obnoxious cursing and blaspheming man in the area. The Gospel tamed him and he became a local wonder, an example of the power of the Word. He immersed himself in Luther and taught the difference between Law and Gospel.

Obedient Slaves No More - New Lutheran Congregations

"Another once-in-a-lifetime giving opportunity? Yes, sir!"

Many new congregations have been formed as they leave ELCA's Lavender Mafia in search of the straight and narrow.

Here are some.

Many have withdrawn from ELCA, their property intact:

Here is a list.

They have taken far too long to wake up to ELCA's agenda, which was clear enough during its formation in 1987.

The "conservative" Lutheran denominations will need to be something other than another version of ELCA if they want to last longer than a metropolitan newspaper.

Missouri, WELS, and the ELS have followed the same business model as ELCA, always a few years behind the cutting edge, thanks to the de facto merger created by Thrivent funding and joint efforts at various levels.

The exodus and new congregations show that people can be fooled for a period of time before they bolt, but they will respond eventually.

The best thing the Boomer clergy can do is retire, so they stop ruining the "conservative" Lutheran groups. But they won't because their greed knows no end. After exploiting all their opportunities to live off synod subsidies, grants, and related foundations, the same clergy want semi-retirement sinecures as well.

The Reformation model is to study and discuss Biblical doctrine and let the Sword of the Spirit do its work. That will not be attempted by those who trust their political skills, their DNA, and the protection of their apostate classmates.

Kelm, Upside Down Theologian - Home for Sale

"Upside-down evangelism follows the path of least resistance to the God of gracious acceptance."
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"It's just easier for many people to work backwards from the subjective to the objective in their thinking. In fact, upside-down evangelism may start with gospel and work back to law, stating the solution as a prelude to the problem and clarifying both at the cross." [This is Moravian Pietism, as shown by Walther's Law and Gospel.]
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"Upside-down evangelism doesn't begin with personal sin and guilt, but rather with the consequences of sin. Societal consequences (for which each day's newspaper provides evidence) are the 'perceived need' door to understanding the alienation of life and people from God."
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"Upside-down evangelism may begin with different diagnostic questions. What do you want out of life? lets the other person pick the path for witness. How do you feel about where our society is heading? uncovers fears and needs without becoming too personal. What makes people happy (or unhappy) do you think? allows someone to express preceived [sic] needs in the third person."
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"Evangelism upside-down is starting with the subjective issues of perceived reality and working back to God's objective truths of ultimate reality - sin and grace. It's offering the attendant blessings of salvation as the 'hook' to gain an audience for God's plan of salvation." [felt needs used to sell the Gospel]
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 4.

***

GJ - Someone asked recently, "How can WELS avoid ending up like the Episcopal Church?" The answer is in the Word and the Confessions.

To paraphrase Chesterton, it's not that the Word has been tried and found wanting. It has hardly been tried at all.

The only discipline in WELS is upside-down discipline. Confessional Lutherans are punished while apostates are rewarded with cushy jobs.

WELS and LCMS Follow Mainline Trends - Here Is the Result

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: Diocese in Crisis. Churches to Close. Unpaid Loans to Diocese
Average Sunday Attendance Down 19% since 2003

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
2/13/2010

The Diocese of Northern California is in free fall. Churches are closing unable to pay their basic obligations putting the diocese itself on the brink of a financial crisis as a result.

In a letter to the diocese the Canon for Administration and Finance Bobbi Yeo, writes, "It should not come as a surprise to hear that some churches in the Diocese are struggling to maintain a full-time or even three-quarter time clergy or that some churches are having difficulty paying their basic obligations. In many cases it is loans from the Diocesan Endowment and Memorial Trust, group insurance premiums paid with Diocesan funds on behalf of churches, or Mission Apportionment that is left unpaid.

"Clergy and congregations are making heroic efforts to increase their membership and stewardship. In some instances these efforts have not resulted in the degree of success necessary to maintain sustainability. There are those who feel we are on the brink of a crisis which requires a response from the Office of the Bishop. This is because this is a crisis - not only for the congregation, but for all churches in the Diocese. We are strong when everyone is strong."

Yeo said that Bishop Barry Beisner has requested the formation of a Church Response Work Group made up of concerned Board and Council members along with staff to look at the situation.

"This group consists of folks with expertise in pastoral issues, property issues, law, administration, and finance. When certain markers are identified, such as arrearages in obligations to the Diocese, reductions in the clergy person's work week, or requests for special subsidies, a team will be appointed to make contact with the church and schedule a visit. The intent is to provide a holistic and integrative approach to identify core issues and assist the church in any reasonable way to address these issues effectively."

Yeo said the focus will be on the health of the Diocese as a whole.

"Years of deficit budgets have depleted Diocesan resources to the point where we simply can't continue to subsidize churches which appear unable to sustain themselves. After its latest meeting the group acknowledged that we don't necessarily know how this is going to work."

According to the most recent diocesan figures prepared by the national church, the diocese has 14,008 members, but average Sunday attendance was 5,694 in 2008. It is thought that a more realistic figure for 2010 would be closer to 5,000.