Friday, January 14, 2011

Lie Down with Obama, Get Up With Fleas Fleeced.
Who Won Both Houses and the Presidency in 2008?

The ELCA clergy vote predominantly Democratic.
The ELCA leaders probably vote  Democratic 99%.



ELCA NEWS SERVICE
January 14, 2011
ELCA, Board of Pensions Respond to Lawsuit on Annuity Payment Reductions

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the ELCA Board of Pensions responded publicly to a Dec. 3 lawsuit filed against them in a Minnesota state court by four plaintiffs. The plaintiffs claim the ELCA Board of Pensions acted improperly to reduce annuity payments to retirees participating in an annuity retirement fund. 

     The suit was filed in a district court in Hennepin County, Minn., by the Rev. Arthur F. Haimerl, the Rev. Benjamin A. Johnson and two former pastors, Larry D. Cartford and Dr. Ronald A. Lundeen.

     Named as defendants were the ELCA Board of Pensions, based in Minneapolis, and two members of its leadership team, John G. Kapanke, president and chief executive officer, and Curtis G. Fee, vice president and chief investment officer. The ELCA, a separate nonprofit corporation based here, was also named.

     "The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is aware of the allegations contained in the lawsuit filed in the Minnesota District Court," according to a statement from the ELCA churchwide organization. "The lawsuit claims that the ELCA Board of Pensions, a corporation separate from the churchwide organization, acted improperly by reducing certain annuity payments. We are disappointed the plaintiffs chose to name the ELCA as a defendant in this matter. While we deny the allegations, we will not comment publicly on the specifics contained in the lawsuit so long as this matter is in litigation."

     "The ELCA remains concerned about the retirees who filed the lawsuit as we are about everyone adversely affected by the downturn in the stock market and the state of the economy. We ask everyone to keep the retirees and the church in their prayers during these difficult times," the statement said.

     In 2009 the ELCA Board of Pensions informed about 12,500 retirees in the Participating Annuity and Bridge Fund that, because of significant market losses, their annuity payments would be reduced 9 percent for 2010, and would likely be reduced further by 9 percent in 2011 and 2012.

     The reductions were needed because the Participating Annuity and Bridge Fund suffered significant market losses in late 2008 and early 2009, resulting in a funding shortfall of as much as 39 percent in February 2009. To ease the impact on plan members, the trustees decided to implement reductions over a three-year period.

     Last month the trustees of the Board of Pensions announced smaller 2011 reductions in annuity payments for plan members in its Participating Annuity and Bridge Fund, primarily because of positive market performance in recent months. The trustees reduced annuity payments for 2011 by 6 percent instead of 9 percent for plan members in the Participating Annuity and Bridge Fund.

     In the lawsuit the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants' actions were not proper and not permitted based on the terms of the retirement plan agreement. The plaintiffs claimed that "annuity payments were guaranteed for life" and that "increases in these guaranteed lifetime annuity payments would be permanent."

     Earlier this month the Board of Pensions caused the lawsuit to be moved to the federal court in Minneapolis.
     "We believe this lawsuit, brought by four individuals, lacks merit and we are vigorously defending against it," said a statement from the ELCA Board of Pensions.  "The top priority of the Board of Pensions for the ELCA Participating Annuity and Bridge Fund has always been, and continues to be, providing annuity payments to participating plan members during their lifetimes.

     "In January 2010, as a result of the historic and virtually unprecedented downturn in the investment markets in late 2008 and 2009, the Board of Pensions implemented a three-year plan of corrective measures to protect the long-term viability of the Fund for its participating plan members. The Board of Pensions believes it has acted in the best interests of plan members by seeking to return the Fund to fully funded status. The steps implemented by the Board of Pensions are intended to support continued annuity payments to participating plan members during their lifetimes. Currently we are on track to return the Fund to a fully funded status, due primarily to improved investment market performance and the action we have taken in our stewardship of the Fund," the Board of Pensions statement said.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org

He Rice Stand - WELS Can Do No Other


Jeff Gunn, WELS Emerging Church Pastor:
"Second, receive Jesus’ forgiveness.  When Jesus died on the cross, the entire world was forgiven.  That means you.  The person who repents of his sin can know beyond any shadow of a doubt that all sins are forgiven already through Jesus.  Jesus will absorb your doubt and give you assurance that your sins too are fully forgiven."

***

GJ - How can anyone who supports UOJ attack Jeff Gunn on that epic devotional - He Rice Stand?

He clearly teaches UOJ Enthusiasm, just as his DP (Buchholz) does. The long line of UOJ advocates goes back through Wayne Mueller, David Valleskey, J. P. Meyer, Sig Becker.

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lance-weber (http://lance-weber.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "He Rice Stand - WELS Can Do No Other":

The long line of UOJ advocates goes back through Wayne Mueller, David Valleskey, J. P. Meyer, Sig Becker.

They sound like a secret society practicing personal forms of presumption and Gnosticism – as opposed to following the Word of God. Should it be attributed to stupidity or overbearing egos?

***

GJ - I have spent many years trying to figure this out. More research is coming along to help. My tentative answer is the influence of Walther amalgamating Orthodoxy and Pietism. He also promoted a style of theology where theses were followed by justification for those grand declarations. Paul Calvin Kelm would call it upside-down theology, his primary skill.

The same blindness to the efficacy of the Word instigated Receptionism - the notion that the bread becomes the Body of Christ when received by the communicant. The often heard declaration that "we do not know the Moment of Consecration" reveals the stupefaction of Enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm begat UOJ and UOJ begat the Church Growth/Emerging Church Movement.

Church Growth will beget atheism - it already has.

Touch Not!

"Touch not mine anointed!"



LPC has left a new comment on your post "Abusive Church Bodies":

Pr. Greg,


Ohh the Sin-nods are so Pentecostal!

When I was in charismania and I questioned a high ranking pastor, I was given this passage:

Psalms 105:14-15 , “He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm"

LPC

Mind Control in Abusive Sects Holy Mother Synod

Do you have a problem with their doctrine and practice? They will phone you long distance and question you.



rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Abusive Church Bodies":

Recently, I downloaded and read a book entitled The Heresy of Mind Control. The attempt at mind control is one of the many dirty tricks that abusive sects engage in. We also know that a knee jerk reaction of attempting to discredit sources of factual information is another tactic that the abusive sects use. The actions of the staffer at the Guilt Shack are very revealing. Those who were closest to Joseph Stalin revealed after Stalin’s death just how paranoid old Uncle Joe really was. I guess that the despotic ones have to always watch their backside. Abusive sects can be very Stalinesque.

Abusive Church Bodies


One reason for massive defections from mainline church bodies is abuse. There are many forms of abuse, and they all stem from corrupt doctrine.

Hazing in high school, college, and seminary is a good indication of an abusive sect. The whole idea is to divide the synod between the elite (no matter how dumb they are) and the slaves. The slaves do the work so the elite can enjoy their luxury trips around the world, their bonus pay, their extra help because they labor so long and hard for the Lord.

No one is allowed to question this system, because that is equal to debating with God. The Holy Spirit has complete control of the sect, so all decisions are godly, all dissent demonic. Ralph Bohlmann used to climax his venomous letters with "Satan must be laughing right now..."

Therefore, the sect pushes people out because they disagree while protecting the corrupt, the incompetent, and the adulterous. The formula is simple to comprehend. If the elite commit a crime, they are promoted. If the slaves do something wrong, they consigned to the lower depths of Hell and shunned. Doing something wrong includes truly bad things, like marital infidelity, but also includes questioning Holy Mother Synod.

Stay with me - it is not that complicated. The elite can question Holy Mother Synod all they want. They usually attack all the old traditional things that are holding back the Kingdom of God. While ELCA tried to cure all the injustice in the world through Marxism, abortion, and homosexuality, WELS-LCMS-ELS knew the answers were revealed at Fuller Seminary and its clones. Both sides, ELCA and the Syn Conference, managed with "Our way or the highway to Hell." No surprise - bullying worked.

ELCA and its previous bodies were abusive, but everyone overlooked it. Now the drama is public. ELCA pastors and congregations are communicating their experiences through the Internet. If the ELCA bishops could burn people at the stake today, they would be happy to do so.

I have tried to tell many innocent pastors and laity that these sects specialize in one thing - spying. Yes, the leaders pretend they are dumber than rocks about important issues. They do not know. They do not remember. They do not comprehend. But they make sure they know every detail that may concern them.

Several people have been accosted for the crime of knowing me--gasp--or reading this blog. That is pretty hilarious by itself, because the synod leaders read this blog and know me. They are the elites, so that is OK. My Facebook friend list of 1280+ includes a rainbow coalition, from Otten and Werning to Church Growth leaders of various sects and factions. One WELS DP is on my list. He has looked over the names and jumped on one person I know.

Here is an even better example. I friended someone I never met. He is no longer WELS. A staffer at the Guilt Factory published on this man's wall: "Are you the one leaking to Greg Jackson?" That was a public accusation, especially paranoid since the friend was not in WELS and we had no communication except "Happy Birthday."

WELS leaders will tell anyone with ears that I have no friends and no one pays attention to me. So why are they jumping on my distant and casual friends like a hobos on a hotdog? And why do they care what I write, if I have no credibility? A good friend, via the Net, says, "Because they are frightened."

One LCA pastor assured me that no one in the LCA read Christian News. I said, "Those leaders who know you are reading every word. That is their job."

For example, I was a microbe in the LCA when I left. I published a few things here and there, but I was not on any national or district committees - too nauseating. When I sat down for lunch with LCA President Crumley at the Ad Fontes meeting, he began by asking me about WELS colloquy and what it entailed.

Crumley did not even ask if he had the right person or "What are you up to, uh, Greg?" Someone would think, "This guy watches over 3 million members and thousands of pastors. He could not keep up with all the personal details." Yes, he could, if it mattered to him. The LCA was facing merger with the ALC at that time and did a great job of suppressing defections. There were almost no clergy or congregational exits.

WELS and ELS have also suppressed congregational exits by pushing people out, but they have not stopped massive losses by their abusive behavior. People slip away, one by one.

The damage continues. I hear from various people because they trust me to hear about their pain and to keep things to myself. Therefore, I keep background vague. I urge them to rely on the Word and to read the Gospel of John, not to expect anything from an abusive sect.

One pastor dismissed Tabor murdering his wife as piffle because "it happened a long time ago." I still hear from people deeply affected by Tabor's adulterous behavior and the synodical cover-up of the murder. A number of clergy and laity come to mind. That is an ongoing effect because of the felonies committed in the name of making Holy Mother Synod look innocent.

Old news? Fred Adrian was involved in a similar cover-up in Michigan, WELS. No murder, just a minor child, a member of his congregation. He is back serving as a pastor.

Someone suggested that I attend the WELS-ELS-LCMS trifecta in May. I responded that I was not interested, not as long as the abuse continued.

I know - write a letter. I did.

I sent three certified letters to WELS clergy, and all three signed the receipt card. That included reform candidate SP Schroeder. No one answered or acknowledged the letter. A previous email, sent a long time ago, was never acknowledged.

Months later, after receiving my certified letter, Schroeder wrote:

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Greg,

I did write to you I regard to the matter in the email I mentioned.  This was some time prior to your sending of the certified letter.  Since the certified letter was not addressed to me but sent as a “CC”, and since I had encouraged you to contact these men directly and you were doing so, I did not respond directly to your letter.   

Regardless, I apologize if this appeared to be a lack of response.  It was not intended to be.

Thanks.

Rev. Mark Schroeder
WELS President


***

GJ - That was the extent of his response, except for his previous advice - "Write a letter."

See how that works?

What Sasse Says: Concerning the Unity of the Lutheran Church

What Sasse Says: Concerning the Unity of the Lutheran Church

Lutheran Cathedrals Are Also In Trouble

The State of Episcopal Church Cathedrals in the US

A SPECIAL REPORT

By David W. Virtue and Mary Ann Mueller
www.virtueonline.org
December 16, 2010

A special VOL investigation into the state of Episcopal cathedrals across the U.S. has revealed that many are living on borrowed time, while a handful are thriving in difficult economic circumstances. Cathedrals usually occupy prime real estate locations in major cities, locations that, should they go out of business, offer great opportunities for developers or evangelical mega churches.

The cathedral of the Diocese of Western Michigan - the diocese of the now deceased Bishop Charles E. Bennison, Sr. - was sold to an evangelical mega-church for less than the price to build it. The diocese is now without a cathedral. Fire sales can be expected in other dioceses across the US in the next decade.

Of the some 100 domestic dioceses in the Episcopal Church, 18 dioceses have no cathedrals including: Alaska, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Eastern Oregon, North Texas (Fort Worth); Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Northern Michigan, Northwest Texas, Rochester, San Joaquin, Southern Virginia, Southwestern Virginia, West Texas, West Virginia, Western Michigan and the Navajoland.

ELCA and The Episcopal Church Agree

Diocese of Virginia Faces Critical Resolutions on Sexuality, Property Negotiations

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
January 10, 2011

When the Diocese of Virginia meets January 20-22, high on the list of resolutions will be one affirming "same-gender unions" and another relating to current ecclesiastical wars regarding property issues.

Liberals in the diocese want to see the full blessing of same-sex unions and view it as "providing a generous pastoral response" in keeping with General Convention resolution C056 allowing bishops to bless same-sex unions though not necessarily to marry them. (An exception occurred recently in the Diocese of Massachusetts.) Virginia statutes define marriage as between one man and one woman. Voters in seven states, including Virginia, have approved constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.

Should this resolution pass at the 216th convention, and there is every likelihood that it will, it will place the Diocese of Virginia firmly in the revisionist camp from which there is no immediate return, if at all. It means that the diocese can no longer claim to recognize those of conscience who may disagree with the diocese's position. While it will not be mandated or coercive for a priest to have to perform a same sex blessing, it should be noted that women's ordination was optional until it was made mandatory by General Convention, violating the consciences of traditionalist priests and forcing a number of parishes and dioceses to cede from The Episcopal Church.

Apostasy and Schism Are the Fruits of Marrying the Spirit of This Age

The Dubliners: Why Peter Carrell has it all wrong

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
January 11, 2011

In an article written for The Living Church, http://tinyurl.com/4l57exd the Rev. Dr. Peter Carrell of the Diocese of Christchurch, in the Anglican Church of New Zealand, opines that the non attendance of eleven orthodox primates in the Anglican Communion in Dublin, later this month, amounts to nothing and "in ten years or so, all will be well again."

Perhaps it is because the Rev. Carrell lives in far off NZ, has never attended a Primates meeting, a CAPA meeting, has never met or talked with orthodox archbishops like Henry Orombi (Uganda) or Nicholas Okoh, (Nigeria), has not seen what Archbishop Robert Duncan has gone through, (it was Duncan who said orthodox Episcopalians would have been exterminated if they had not left TEC), has never met an ACNA bishop nor seen the devastating impact that theologically revisionist bishops like Jack Spong and the takeover of the Episcopal Church by a handful of politically correct pansexualists has done, that he can write the nonsense he does from the safety and distance of NZ. (In NZ only one diocese - Nelson - is remotely orthodox, the rest rolled over a long time ago.)