Words of Wisdom

Northwest SD Lutheran has left a new comment on your post "How Many Shrinker Churches in the Syn Conference W...":

It is always interesting to see things like this. In the world the church is always struggling but never succumbing. The church is a bent reed that will not break and smoldering wick that will not be snuffed out. These are the churches that build upon Christ as the Rock. Many are having economic troubles but if the Church is trusting in the Word of God it will make it through. My church is a perfect example as we will likely sell the current church that is rundown and move to a smaller location or merge with another congregation. God has kept us here by his grace.
But what about those who build on sand like The SORE and others. I do not know where Glende and Ski ever thought that people were going to come and watch their movie when they can go to the one at the non denom movie theater down the road. Even worse they could go to Lakewood in Dallas. Before we know it, Ski and Glende will be heading there too.

The people who go to Church are those who want to go and receive the Word and the Sacrament. In this society we do not have that many who do this on Sundays. I do believe many people want Word and Sacrament they just have not had anyone explain the Word and Sacrament explained the way God explains it in the Bible to them. If people want to go to a movie they will go to one and not to one with the people at the church hosting it. Church is Church and not a movie. The only way a church succeeds is by being a church and not a wet nurse for felt needs. If building size mattered then the churches who change would be succeeding and they clearly aren't.

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GJ - As Luther wrote, and Walther quoted at the end of Law and Gospel, orthodoxy produces fruit. Faithfulness is success. Although we all fall victim to thinking about material gains, God will provide and He will accomplish His will through the Word.

Meet the CEO of Church and Change

Mark Schroeder, the head of Church and Change. gets a healthy salary, great benefits, and world travel, thanks to WELS offerings.

"But wait," you are saying. "Isn't Mark Schroeder the Sect President?"

Yes, but that is the beauty of Church and Change. They are too cheap to pay their own way. In fact, they started with WELS offering money. That is like poisoning the patient and billing him for the arsenic in advance. But it works for them.

Mark forced Wayne Mueller out as as First VP. Wayne was always a Church Growth leader, even when he lied about CG existing in WELS (but it was confessional if it were, which it weren't).

The First VP was even more obvious - Jim Huebner, son of Al Just's criminal defense lawyer. Stop whining. You read this blog for those asides.

Huebner went to Fuller with Larry Olson and Paul Calvin Kelm, always worked with them, always belonged to the CG sorority in WELS. Huebner is the poster child for Church and Change.

The one, great victory of Schroeder's presidency has been - drumroll - adding Lutheran to the title of FIC, making it FICL, to rhyme with pickle. The content remained all Church and Change, with the worst of the lot represented in each issue: Bivens (Fuller), Aderman (founder of Church and Change), Patterson (don't get me started).

The portable Asian seminary needed a new president. The old one, John Lawrenz, was Church and Change, stepping aside for Steve Witt, another founder of Church and Change.

Meanwhile, both colleges and The Sausage Factory are dominated by Church and Changers. The graduates are impoverished in two ways. First of all, they pay a fortune for a third-rate education. Secondly, they do not get a Lutheran education but an anti-Lutheran brainwashing experience.

Schroeder endorsed the Church and Change feminist conference in his presidential email letter. Guess who the advisors to that group are - Church and Changers.

Meanwhile, he has done nothing about The CORE, plagiarism, and other congregations hiding their anti-Lutheran identity.

Once upon a time, people thought Church and Change would push him out of office. Why? He has done everything they want.

DP Jon Buchholz does the same thing, pretending to be against Church and Change while promoting their cause every chance he gets.

But just wait about 30 years. They are working on it.

And, by all means, write a letter.

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grumpy has left a new comment on your post "Meet the CEO of Church and Change":

So the honeymoon with Schroeder is over? I thought you used to sing his praises.

One other victory you neglected to mention was that he has saved the prep school system.

I think some cliques within the WELS are so well entrenched and so well connected that, because of the organization of the WELS, it would be nearly impossible to expel them without declaring a civil war within the WELS.

Another issue is somewhat ironic. Whereas the laity are kept in check very quickly if something is perceived as being outside the bounds of WELS doctrine, called workers are given a MUCH more lax environment.

Case in point:

Jeske can be openly involved with a broadcast associated with the Missouri Synod, correct?
Let it be known that some lay members occasionally visit a nearby Missouri Synod church once a month or so in order to worship with friends or relatives, and see how the hammer comes down.

Lastly, I hate to remind Dr. Jackson, but no colleges or preps are closing this year either...ZING!!!!

Grumps

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GJ - I did not sing Schroeder's praises. I saw a couple of positive moves, but that was it. I thought he needed time. Others have said to me, "I am disappointed. He is ineffective as a leader."

I posted about the closing of schools a few months ago. Church bodies are slow to take action. One person admitted it was already discussed (dividing the college into two other locations) at Mary Lou College. The source is Pastor Jenswold, so ask him what he was talking about. Zing!

Schroeder stopped the outright looting going on at headquarters. I suggest putting RFID tags on the silverware and crockery at Holy Word, Austin, Texas.

Saved the preps? Time will tell. The demographics say otherwise.

One pastor wrote me that three things need to be eviscerated before WELS can survive:
1. UOJ.
2. The school system.
3. The WELSian concept of ministry.

He agreed about this with another WELS pastor.

Many times I pass on the insights of another, whether it comes through email or conversation.