For the sake of the Church, show some humility."
LCMS Synod President Matthew Harrison, WELS Synod President Mark Schroeder, and ELS CEO John Moldstad are issuing a joint press release today, apologizing to their members.
One copy was leaked to this blog. I have copied the relevant parts below:
Dear Members and Pastors, Victims and Co-Conspirators,
We are issuing this communique jointly because we have been committing the same sins for the last 50-100 years. Some of you have changed synods in the hopes of escaping this, but you got it all over again, worse, because we keep track.
We have sinned so grievously that we should issue several volumes rather than one press release.
First of all, we twisted, distorted, and rejected Luther's Biblical doctrine of justification by faith. We worked so hard at this error that our own confessional leaders will attack anyone suspected of teaching Luther's doctrine.
Robert Preus was onto us and repudiated UOJ before he died. We thought we could trust his sons to edit all that out of Justification and Rome, but they botched it. We had to amp up the personal attacks to take people's mind off the truth. We are sorry for that.
All three of us realize that our little groups began in Pietism and drifted back to Halle's doctrine. For a long time we were able to call upon a sentimental attachment to Holy Mother Synod, since we cannot rely on the Blessed Virgin Mother to raise funds for us. Tragically, that was like crack cocaine. We could get all weepy about our Founders and rake in a few million at a time. Some of you share the blame. You wanted buildings rather than doctrine, so we gave you big new buildings with your names inscribed on them. Our bad.
We thought we could teach Enthusiasm and yet contain it. Now we see how wrong it was. Pastors started teaching that the elements of Holy Communion changed the moment they were touched by the faithful.
We really tried to keep the Lutheran substance while we polished up the Fuller style. We paid so much to learn all that, and now we are spinning out of control.
Everything else has followed, because we did not trust the Word of God to accomplish His will.
We were so greedy for money that we did whatever the insurance companies told us, so ELCA ( or the previous church bodies) did not get our share of the kitty.
We sold a few indulgences to impenitent sinners, just to get those buildings our members love so much. We reasoned that everything belonged to God, so it naturally belonged to us, as the Servants of the Servants of God.
Worst of all, when our clergy buddies abused members or stole money, we absolved and promoted them. When our critics found fault with our doctrine and methods, we pounded them and drove them away as evildoers. We got really good at it too.
Video link - not WELS, so it is decent.
