Thursday, July 21, 2011
Summer of Love - Another Open Letter to Holy Word Austin
On Sunday May 29th, 2011, we were compelled to write to our brothers and sisters at Holy Word, Austin, Texas in regards to our expedient excommunication via the Yahoo List Mail-serve:"Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Some of you may know me and others not. For those who don't, I played the trumpet at Holy Word for the past two years and occasionally before that.
Sadly, we will not be attending any longer since the leadership of your church body has broken fellowship with our family. Many times these things happen behind the scenes and many are left with `I wonder whatever happened to so and so?'
We feel very strongly about the issues we brought up to the leadership and we were unequivocally denied on all points. We feel that the direction of Holy Word is drifting far from its Lutheran roots. When the Confession is eliminated as it was during a service in March; when there is more and more music that is used that is not appropriate lyrically for worship; when it was voted to drop the name `Lutheran' from the school name; when the Pastor leaves the duties of teaching the Word to layman while teaching a false view of forgiveness, we feel compelled and obligated to bring these to your attention.
Since your leaders are acting in your stead by applying the Ministry of the Keys, it is fitting and proper that you hear us and not only what your leaders tell you so that you can determine an informed opinion. The people who continue to be members at Holy Word share the responsibility of excommunicating a Christian--and as far as I understand it, improperly applying The Office of the Keys is a very serious sin.
I have been chronicling our experiences here:
http://hereistand2011.blogspot.com/
If the hyperlink does not work, please copy and paste the url into your browser window.
We will miss you all.
In His Grace,
The Krohns"
It was followed later in the day by this:
"Dear Saints,
God loves Joe and Lisa and so so (sic) we. If you have any questions about this recent email please talk to me off line. Cyberspace is not the place to air such difficult matters.
We will continue to serve Christ and each other in his love as we seek to find a resolution to those things that divide us.
Jesus teaches us, "They will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." John 13:35.
If you were in worship today you know how the word of God we heard applies to this present situation. If you happened to miss it, that is okay. It will be up
on our website soon, - www.holyword.net Click on sermons audio.
Giving a reason for our hope,
Pastor Don Patterson"
Today marks the two month anniversary of our excommunication by the leadership of Holy Word. We have been honest and acted in good faith regarding our confession; our willingness to discuss it with the laity of Holy Word while you refuse to do so; and an exhortation to bring this issue to an expedient end.
July marks the end of the second quarter and there has been no communication regarding the status of our membership. The WELS Constitution states that the voting assembly has the final say on these matters and Holy Word is LONG overdue on their final public vote of disposition. In the interim and as Confessional Lutherans, we have searched out a congregation that preaches and teaches in truth and purity and who does not pretend to have a 'quia' subscription to the Lutheran Confessions; a congregation who offers us the Means of Grace in Word and Sacrament. It is not meet, right and salutary for you, Holy Word to continue in this behavior of delaying the matter any longer.
In His Grace,
Joe and Lisa Krohn
