This is not kelmed in order to show how bad ELCA is, but to show how all the synods behave. The website is now linked on the left for readers 'convenience:
This March, Rev. Jason Cooper of Emanuel Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Strawberry Point, Iowa, gave a sermon on the topic of sexual immorality using scripture from the lectionary on 1 Corinthians 10. (read here and listen here)
Toward the end of the service, a former church council president approached the microphone and voiced his disagreement with the message and claimed that Rev. Cooper had violated his "Letter of Call" for stating that the ELCA's new policies oppose God's directive in Scripture. (listen here - the last minute of the service)
This incident led to a meeting between Rev. Cooper, Northeast Iowa Synod Bishop Steven L. Ullestad and Assistant to the Bishop Mark Anderson. Rev. Cooper explained that during the meeting Bishop Ullestad informed him that if the former church council president followed through with his claim against the pastor, Bishop Ullestad "would rule against me, that I had, in fact, violated my Letter of Call. The only two things he specified, that I recall, was that I was a little too Catholic in my understanding of the . . . reason for sex. The second thing was that he said I couldn't say that the ELCA had violated the will of God."
At a second meeting, Rev. Cooper said that Bishop Ullestad told him "You don't understand. You could be in really serious trouble." Rev. Cooper replied, "Do what you have to do . . . I stand by what I said."
Rev. Cooper went on to say that during the meeting there "really was a feeling that either I recant or I was done, at least from the synod's perspective."
To set the context, Rev. Cooper had been the pastor at Emanuel Lutheran for 6 years, and it was his first call. The year prior to this incident, Rev. Cooper submitted his papers with the ELCA seeking a specific call, to which the bishop's office encouraged him to consider two or three other calls as well. But Rev. Cooper did not feel God was calling him to any of those positions at the time.
In February of this year, Rev. Cooper again submitted his papers seeking a new call. As of the first week of September, 2010, he has not received any profiles from any of the four ELCA synods to which he submitted his name, and none of the synods have talked with him.
According to Rev. Cooper, "When I asked the Bishop (Ullestad) flat out, 'Am I blacklisted?' He said, 'Well, congregations don't want pastors who cause problems.'"
So let's look at Rev. Cooper's record. Over the last 6 years, Emanuel Lutheran has met their expenses every year. Their benevolence has been at least 10% to 20%. They have seen an increase in worship attendance every year and received 40 new members in 2009, all in a town with a population of just over a 1000 people.
The only "problems" that Rev. Cooper can be accused of causing are that he took a public stand against the denomination's homosexuality policies and clearly stated that the ELCA is elevating their own view over the authority of Scripture. Rev. Cooper believes this is why the ELCA has refused to work with him as he seeks to find a new call.
Based on Rev. Cooper's testimony, it seems clear that the denomination wants to deny pastors the freedom to express publicly their "bound conscience," if it does not line up with the ELCA's decisions. It can further be understood that pastors are not to preach or teach anything other than what the ELCA social statement says.
With that in mind, pastors should remember that their responsibility is to faithfully live out his or her calling and the vows taken at ordination, most especially to teach and preach in accordance with the Holy Scriptures, the creeds and confessions. We all are ultimately responsible to God and God alone.
It is wrong for the ELCA or any denomination to prohibit or discourage pastors from teaching from the Word of God. It appears that the ELCA is trying to silence orthodox pastors, which should cause all of us to question the ELCA's motives and actions.
(Rev. Jason Cooper resigned from the ELCA, Sept. 2010) |
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From ALPB:
I am a pastor in the NE Iowa Synod. I know and vouch for Pr. Cooper. The blog article is accurate. I have both read and heard Pastor Cooper's sermon (back in April, about four weeks after the sermon). I've talked with Jason and with members of Emmanuel in Strawberry Point. The fact remains that Bishop Ullestad four times told Jason he had violated his letter of call by preaching the sermon he did (in which case, I have done that far more), yet the Bishop refused to initiate discipline, despite Pr. Cooper's repeated request that he do so; indeed, if the Bishop thought Pastor Cooper had violated his letter of call, then the Bishop should have been willling to back that up with the full weight of the discipline process.
Two more points of interest and follow-up:
1) Pastor Cooper is not a long-standing critic of the ELCA. In fact, he was dean of his conference through March of this year; he was a moderate who three years ago thought that pastors Hahn, Hatcher, and myself and others in Call to Faithfulness were a little too radical. Interesting thing is that the direction of the ELCA over the last two years opened Jason's eyes. BTW his sermon is not radical--it's simply Biblical and catholic.
2) Emmanuel, after Pr. Cooper left and led strictly by their lay leadership, passed a first vote to leave the ELCA on June 6, by 92-28. The second vote on Sept 12 fell one vote short with a 107-55 margin. The 28 pro-ELCA revisionists recruited 27 inactives who hadn't darkened the church doors for years (a lesson in the importance of having an up to date list of voting members). I doubt those 27 showed up this past Sunday at Emmanuel. Certainly the 107 did not--they, representing 75% of the active membership of Emmanuel, have left and begun a mission congregation (which I think will go NALC). My two congregations provided them with 70 LBW's for their first worship service this past Sunday (yesterday) at the Strawberry Point Civic Center--and the mission congregation worshiping at the civic center likely more than doubled the rump congregation that gathered at Emmanuel. Another pyrrhic victory for the revisionists at Emmmanuel and for the ELCA.
Ken
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Jim,
No one else in terms of being told directly that they have violated their letter of call, as Pastor Cooper was (but I note that the Bishop explicitly refused to bring discipline charges against Pr. Cooper which of course would have required the Bishop to make public such a case vs. Pr. Cooper, which would also have put his "neutrality" principle and "bound conscience" on public display--and demonstrated the unworkable and empty nature of such principles and terms). However, with
38 pastoral vacancies in the synod, something does indeed seem to "be up" in that other orthodox pastors besides Jason Cooper, who have filed their mobility papers with the synod have been told that "congregations do not want pastors at either extreme on this issue." I think the Bishop's generalization does not speak for all the congregations seeking pastors (and note then that to be orthodox and to have spoken out on these issues make one an "extremist.") I know personally of orthodox pastors in other synods who have sought to have their mobility papers sent to the NE Iowa synod and who have been told that "we have no vacancies at the present time." There are congregations among the 38 vacancies who are going into their
3rd year without a pastor.
Ken
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GJ - This example can be multiplied many times over. The established synods--whether far Left (ELCA) or Methodist Mild (LCMS, WELS, ELS)--are fascinated with their own power and saturated with doctrinal, financial, and moral corruption. All of them have been yammering about evangelism while driving out faithful members and pastors for decades.
They all talk about doctrine, too, but what do they promote? They spend most of their time and money on the latest bilge. They do a little bit to publish older material and whine, "But nobody buys it."
Thrifty pastors whose computer skills are limited to copying my Photoshops and Groeschel's sermons have a potential solution that meets their felt-needs.
Lulu.com is a user-friendly publishing service. Someone can write a book and publish it, with many promotional features, for free. The only cost will be ordering a proof copy, which is provided at the wholesale price (about 50% off).
Old-fashioned publishing - $10,00 to 25,000 per title.
Computerized publishing - $3,000 for ordering 1,000 copies, which have to be sold at a profit to get into the black.
Lulu publishing - $10 proof copy to get the final version in public view, with promotion through Google. $200 to make it an e-book with Apple.
Starting a church:
ELCA/WELS/LCMS model - Spend $1 million buying land, providing mission or salary support.
Independent model - Find an inexpensive meeting place, use a computer and broadband to broadcast and save the services. Very little cost.
More people are now outside of the synods and calling themselves Lutheran than those who are members of synods. Decades of unfaithfulness to the Word have accomplished this.
