Saturday, May 28, 2011
Our Plea for Change at Holy Word
On April 15th of this year I resigned my Elder-ship at Holy Word. I dissented while on the board to contracting with Cornerstone Stewardship Ministries (a not-for-profit corporation); especially to the exorbitant fee they were charging and that we were willing to pay it. It was wrong on so many levels and I cited Matthew 21:12 as part of my disagreement. On April 10th at the quarterly voters' meeting, the congregation voted in favor of hiring Cornerstone. I could not in good conscience give my offerings to Holy Word any longer since I would be supporting this. In my mind this had a logical trickle down effect. If I was no longer giving my offerings, how could I in good conscience be an Elder? How could I be a member for that matter? My only choices were to leave or stay and try to effect change. I felt it was my Christian obligation with the help of God to do the latter.
On May 18th we submitted the following via email to the leadership at Holy Word Lutheran Church which precipitated what has been chronicled earlier on this blog.
"Pastor Patterson et al,
On May 18th we submitted the following via email to the leadership at Holy Word Lutheran Church which precipitated what has been chronicled earlier on this blog.
"Pastor Patterson et al,
I have to disagree when you say (I believe you are saying this) that 1 Cor. 5:19 says that all men are reconciled to God; as in forgiven therefore justified and righteous before faith. This is certainly not the case with say for instance Cain or Edom of the OT. The two verses preceding contradict this as the context refers to those ‘in Christ’ as in ‘have faith in Christ’. I believe the Bible does speak about believers the same way whether it is before or after Christ’s passion. The trouble is that many in WELS are teaching that UOJ is in the wrong place. It is displaced from Christ and on the whole unbelieving world. Therefore in order to make the teaching work you have to change the meanings and context of words. It is confusing.
Our focus is on Christ as it has been for all believers of all time; beginning with the promise in the Garden of Eden. God was (and is) reconciling (ongoing) the world (since it is God’s will for all to be saved) for the sake of Christ so that by faith believers (who are sinners) would be saved. As Job said in the OT…I know that my Redeemer liveth! Christ possesses the forgiveness, righteousness and justification that He won (or would win) – objectively - for all and it is imputed to those who believe in Him as their Savior for all times. By Grace through FAITH ALONE. Christ stands in no one’s place aside from faith. He that believes…will be saved…He who doesn’t is damned…no belief in Christ…means you remain in your sins.
It is troublesome how you handled a meeting with my wife Lisa. You acknowledged that you did not want to hop over my headship in your email of 4-20-11 and yet you communicated with her via email on 4-18-11 unbeknownst to me. Here is the brief email in its entirety; “I have no desire to get between you and Joe on the things that he has recently taken a stand on. Just want you to know if you and Joe desire to talk to me or confront me together I am willing. Otherwise, I will leave you to follow your husband and seek God's will in the Scriptures. I trust that you are thoughtful Christians.” You did not hear from her. I told you in my email two days later that she was right with me. Instead of leaving her to me, on the 28th of April, approximately 15 minutes before arriving at her place of employment to have your vehicle serviced, you texted Lisa if you could speak to her for a minute and ended up leaving almost 90 minutes later. Needless to say it was in my opinion as well as that of Lisa and her employer (also a member of your congregation) that you took advantage of the situation. You have said more than once that these kinds of discussions are a waste of time for you; that they entangle and keep you from doing your job. It was disturbingly evident when you emphatically declared to Lisa more than once that “your job is to save souls”. She called you on it and I am thankful for that. She IS my better half. Lisa was right by correcting you that it is the work of the Holy Ghost to save souls and that your job is to merely proclaim the Word. When she pressed you as to why you would say such a thing, you changed the subject.
Even so it is still our hope to remain WELS and to work through the contradictions between worship and practice at Holy Word and what is presented in Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions; using them to guide us. This was my fervent prayer as I was installed as Elder.
Areas that we hope for change and a willingness to help in this work are as follows:
- Suspending work with Cornerstone Stewardship Ministries. Spending $45,000 to do stewardship is not stewardly. To throw money at what we should have been doing all along is irresponsible. For me to hear as an Elder that some members who have not been in attendance for at least two years without contact is astounding in light of the example we have in Jesus as our shepherd. When I read Pastor Patterson’s background from the Holy Word website:” In addition to serving the congregation of Holy Word, he has also served the church at large. In 1996, he was appointed second Vice President of the South Central District of the WELS, and in 2000 he was appointed first Vice President. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors for Wisconsin Lutheran Child and Famliy(sic) Services, and he has spoken at numerous conferences, marriage retreats, and seminars. He has also written several articles for various synod publications such as Forward in Christ, Meditations, Lutheran Parenting, Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, and Lutheran Leadership.” And when in the short time I was an Elder and saw what Pastor had on his plate…my first thought (sic) was, ‘Hey! He works for Holy Word! What gives?’ All of these things are honorable…but at the expense of his calling? Shouldn’t he be spending more time at home especially now?; preaching and teaching the Word; administering the Sacraments and doing visitations? Use the money to call a pastor who is equipped to spearhead the Hispanic ministry. I couldn’t believe my ears in one of the Elders meetings when there was some talk of possibly selling the property to another denomination if we had to.
- Strike the official title of “Deaconess” and rename the position Coordinator of Hispanic Outreach. To keep this title that infers authority (male version of deacon – see duties and requirements in the epistles) sets a precedent. There are deacons who are preaching in WELS already (this is another issue). The King James Bible does not translate to deaconness for very good reason. There is too little info on Phoebe in the Bible to base this position and title on, nor any other female in the Bible.
- In areas of worship, there is freedom…adiophora as you like to call it. However it ceases to be so when the reason you do it is un-biblical. In other words…it is not that you do it; it is why you do it or why you don’t. The Lutheran Confessions say that we do not abolish the Mass. In Luther’s time, Mass (Holy Communion) was celebrated at least every Lord’s Day and church festivals. So why don’t we? You even intimated a story either in Bible class or one of your sermons about a pastor who attends HW who inquired of you from what you preached that we sin daily, hourly and even by the minute sometimes; that we are always in need of forgiveness…so why don’t you go to communion both services on communion Sunday? You actually capitulated and said that now you do. So I ask you; Why don’t we celebrate it every Sunday? It is the Body and Blood of our Savior for the remission of sins…why withhold this? Lisa asked the same question in your meeting with her. Your answer was “that it is a matter of convenience”. I see disconnect. What about the order of service known as ‘Morning Praise’? Was this designed for Sunday worship? There is no Confession. Why would we eliminate a confession of sins? Confession was regarded as a Sacrament in Luther’s time. What changed? Music as well needs more scrutinizing. I addressed this with Ron Stelljes last fall. And yet there is more and more music sung at HW that comes from the heterodox. The Bill and Gloria Gaither song that was used for worship last March was void of all substance and better left to venues like Trinity Broadcast Network, Joel Osteen, Jesse Duplantis and the rest.
- Pastor, you are a duly called and ordained servant of the Word. To turn your call over to laymen is a travesty against the Office of the Holy Ministry. These men are not equipped to be giving sermonettes during worship; teaching Bible class or leading the upcoming small groups. You are. HW south Bible class has been short changed ever since north began worship. There is just too much conjecture taking place without the solid leadership of someone who has been to Seminary. Why hasn’t our Vicar done more in leading Bible class at south? This would be valuable experience. I only recall being there once when Vicar led Bible class.
- By changing the name of the school you are showing your lack of faith in the power of the Word. (How ironic since the name of our church is Holy Word) It was stated that you won’t be changing our Lutheran doctrine and I believe you are telling the truth. I believe it has already been changed beforehand. This is branding and nothing else. (Or is it bait and switch?) The success of a church or school is not measured in numbers but how well you teach the Word of God in truth and purity. So many of the symbols of the Church Catholic are falling by the wayside and soon, very soon we will look and worship like everyone else around us; pandering to the felt needs of culture instead of transforming culture. We are to be different. It is not so far fetched to presume as Lisa opined in your meeting, ‘You might as well change the name of Holy Word Lutheran Church to Holy Word Christian Fellowship.’ Again it is not that you are changing the name it is the motivation behind it.
- Correct teaching of Objective Justification; that it is on Christ for the world and distributed through faith; that there is no forgiveness of sins apart from the Means of Grace (MoG) in Word and Sacrament. Teaching forgiveness aside from the MoG nullifies the Sacraments. You are confusing the Atonement with Justification.
- Your role with Elders needs to be more passive. It is possible that based on your personality no one wants the agenda because they are afraid of you. Or, your recruitment system is 100% successful in garnering men who support you fully. There should be an Elder lead that runs the meeting concerning spiritual matters only; worship and practice, discipline and concern for the pastor and his work load; setting the pastor’s work agenda; not the pastor telling the Elders what he is going to be doing. Any other matters should be left to the respective boards, committees and councils. The President and VP should be tending to council matters; all things Holy Word and not every Elders meeting.
- Fellowship ties should be examined with Christ the Rock. Is there anyone paying attention to what is going on there? If this video is any indication, one has to wonder. This is from this past Easter. Watch the ending!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjjq8h8ttBw&feature=related
What we believe about the Bible and the Confessions influences greatly what we do in preaching and teaching, worship and practice. It is my heartfelt thought that we have strayed as a Confessional Lutheran Church.
Respectfully submitted,
Joe Krohn"
