Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Precedents V
In May of 2009 we were out of CTR and in at Holy Word. I was in Soul Track Mind and happily distracted from all things churchy. I played trumpet in church occasionally; attended Bible class and that was it. In fall Pr. Patterson approached me on being nominated for an elder spot. I turned it down. I needed a break from church politics and was having the time of my life in the band. 2010 was another story as told previously. As I studied Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions in light of what happened at CTR, things started to come into focus.
WELS' first Deaconess (I welcome any corrections on the claim to
"Twenty or thirty years ago it would have been unheard of to have the office of Deaconess at a WELS church. Since Scripture does not change or the Confessions, one has to ask; what did? Jocelyn’s comment on the day she was installed to paraphrase, ‘Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to have an opportunity like this, especially in the WELS…’ immediately caused me to ask that question.
Deaconess doesn’t appear in the KJV or the NIV; the two officially synod recognized versions of the Bible for its entire existence. The word was actually invented in the 14 or 1500’s and yet was not used in the KJV which was published after. I think there was a reason for this. Deacon (diakonos) as it appears in the Bible is always used as a masculine term. Deacon is mentioned a few times in the Bible and it seems to infer an office that was filled by a man. We see this in Acts as seven of them were chosen. We also find the expectations of a deacon in a couple of places and it always refers to men. There is a hint of a woman deacon (Phoebe) in Romans 16, and yet the church fathers used the word ‘servant’ instead. I found this source helpful in my study:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G1249
The root word definition of running an errand is quite striking since this is what Phoebe was doing; bringing the letter of Romans to the Christians in Rome. When you look at the other definitions and given the weak evidence to support Phoebe in an office of a deacon; when looking at context and keeping in the consistency of women’s role in the church, I can see why the choice of the word ‘servant’ was made.
I am not diminishing Jocelyn’s expertise in this area nor am I saying we shouldn’t use her gifts in this ministry, but I feel it would have been more prudent to hire her as a staff member as you would a secretary or admin. assistant. I believe we are in error installing a Deaconess in our church."
A few days later I met with Ron. We discussed this issue as well as some other things. He had spoken with Pr. Patterson regarding my concerns (and no doubt forwarded my email to Pastor). Ron said that Pastor had capitulated on them more or less except for the Deaconess. They believed they were not in disagreement with Scripture. I told Ron that I did not agree. In a follow-up email to our meeting I wrote this:
“I stand by my concern about the Office of Deaconess that we have created at Holy Word. I fear we are headed down a road that is dangerous. The KJV and NIV Bibles may not have been the ‘officially’ endorsed translations, but they are/were nevertheless used because they are solid. And deaconess does not appear in them. The fact that many translations do not use this word tells me that there was trepidation regarding its use. There is conflict/contradiction with deacon which is only spoken of in the masculine in all other places of the Bible and this leaves the door open to confusion regarding women’s role in the church. My study notes say ‘probably a deaconess’, but what kind? We are willing to hang our hats on a probably? There were things that were unheard of in other denominations twenty or thirty years ago and now they are rank with apostasy. One look at ELCA is enough to make you sick. We are headed in the same direction when you look at where we were at one time and where we are now.”
When I was studying this issue regarding the deaconess role in church, I found the following article extremely helpful. It is logical and objective in regards to what is stated in the Bible on the subject. It even calls into question whether it is even proper to call a man into the office of a Deacon. I would encourage the reader to click on the link and read the article.
http://www.bibleresearch.org/articles/a8w8.htm
Here is the summary from the article:
"The early church had problem (sic) serving the needs of the widows in a fair and equitable manner. The apostles determined that the care of widows was not a part of their function or responsibility, but belonged to men of good character within the congregation.
The apostles instruct the elect to choose men to perform this task. Once men were chosen they were set apart for this service—they were not chosen by the apostles or the elders and ordained to an office.
These men were to administer and distribute the goods and services provided for the care of deserving widows within the congregation. But, they were not the personal servants or assistants of the ministry. And they were not the enforcers of the faith within the congregation.
The establishment of an office of authority denoted as Deacon or Deaconess within the congregations of the Sovereign Father's earthly family is contrary to the apostles instruction and intent."
These concerns presented to the leadership at Holy Word were disregarded. This issue became one point in a letter to Pastor Patterson and the Elders last week in the context of other practices that are symptomatic of WELS in general regarding Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions of which all Pastors and teachers give an oath to uphold.
***
GJ - My guess is that Kudu Don Patterson got a grant for another free staffer, in addition to his annual free vicar. How else could Holy Word afford African safaris? Someone has to sacrifice, and it might as well be the ordinary WELS members. If you read the pink bulletin insert, you will see that the Antioch Foundation gave Kudu Don a LARGE three-year grant. Doebler also got at least one grant from Antioch, $60,000 when he wanted $200,000. Dream big, as Parlow would say, begging works. Doebler got a three- year grant, $20,000 per year for each of three years. The first year's grant went to the musician from Mary Lou College who was on sabbatical. Where the other money went - I do not know - the trail grows cold. It was supposed to be designated each year.
The concept of deaconess was borrowed from Roman Catholics and Mennonites. The Lutheran deaconess movement was quite significant in the Muhlenberg tradition (which became a large part of the LCA). Those deaconesses were teachers and nurses. They often were in that service a short time, before they married - since all were single. One founder was rather frustrated with "marriage fever."
The nurses had an impact on all medical care through Florence Nightingale, who learned from their training. In the Crimean War, she battled night and day for better sanitary care for British soldiers and later for better nursing care at home.
Call me jaundiced, but this seems to be another case of WELS deviously abusing titles to advance the Church and Change agenda of the Enthusiasts.
Years ago I said WELS would have women pastors before Missouri. I was right. WELS does not bother to ordain theirs, but they have women leading in worship. The pastors will not fight it. They are all Wauwatose.*
*Wauwatose is a condition where all doctrinal discernment has beeen taken away by the myth of Wauwatosa's superior methods, which is just another version of Pietism.
