Luther has a great sermon where he discusses money as a weak god, the only god who needs our protection. We have to guard this weak god with iron and weapons, so no one takes him away from us. And yet, he will not do a thing for us when we are sick. He cannot even cure a case of the sniffles. But people worship him anyway and bow down before him, the weak god. They deceive others, love-bombing people to gain more money, hate-bombing those who get in their way.
Holy Word (WELS) in Austin has a capital funds campaign going on. I used to get badly spelled emails from ex-SP Gurgle about them, but my supply was cut off. Gurgle got the MilCraft estate when he was a District Pussycat. The proceeds of the successful business were supposed to support the widow as long as she was alive. But Team Gurgle managed to wreck the business, so the widow took them to court. WELS did not pay the poor widow until the court forced them to fork over $1 million.
The official lie was, "We have to be more careful about the gifts we accept in the future."
WELS loved Gurgle's stewardship as DP, so they elected him Synod Pope, where he reigned for 14 years, collecting millions in salary. Marvin Schwan suddenly reached room temperature, inducing panic on all those secretly spending the checks he sent. Relief! Schwan's foundation dumped millions and millions of dollars on WELS (Missouri and the Little Sect): a lot of money to absolve someone for getting divorced and marrying his manager's wife.
Gurgle proved incurable as he went through all that money and left WELS broke. St. Marvin's Cathedral on the Mary Lou College campus went un-built, because the money was gone. (This is my version. I cannot get the whole story from my contacts, who are too far away to use waterboarding and thumb-screws.) About $8 million disappeared. Gurgle blamed it on the synod treasurer, which everyone knew was a lie. Gurgle was offered a chance to retire immediately, which he did. Jail ministry was not his thing.
Gurgle spent his exile luxuriating in Asia. He landed at Holy Word, Austin, one of the central nodes of Church and Change in WELS. Poor Gurgle needed a job, so the staff at HW took cuts to pay his salary. Soon he was raising money for HW.
The concept is Holy Word going multi-site, at the expense of their nearest neighbor, Rock N Roll
Cornerstone, the joint LCMS-WELS money raising business, another Church and Change franchise, is shaking the money tree at Holy Word.
Kudu Don Patterson is the District VP. Holy Word is so broke that they need a free vicar each year, provided by WELS offerings. But one member alone, Timmerman, is so wealthy that he takes Kudu Don on hunting trips to Africa.
WELS worships the money-god, so they tremble at his word. Do not get in the way of their god, who can do very little. But his disciples will do his work for him. Have you got money and a mistress? They will preach you into heaven, even while you are alive. I heard many a sermon on the virtues of Marvin Schwan...while he was still living. (But SP Brenner and his son Slick were evil, according to these people.)
Marvin had a Scriptural divorce! He divorced his wife and the mother of his children, gave her a million dollars and a Cadillac, and married his manager's wife, who also needed a divorce from her spouse. She was Roman Catholic but converted to the Wisconsin Sect...until Marvin departed for his eternal reward. After the will was read, she went back to Roman Catholicism, proving that the money-god has to power to convert, temporarily.
The trouble with an abusive sect is that the clergy accept the abusive behavior as normal. They are bullied and threatened, so they think the same behavior is pastoral. They see crooks, adulterers, bullies, and adulterers rewarded and praised, so they emulate the same behavior.
