Light from Light, Attorney Rick Techlin's blog:
Then on February 24, 2011, District President Engelbrecht sent the following letter:
Dear Brother,
With this letter we are inviting you to meet with your district praesidium at Trinity Lutheran Church in Neenah on Friday, March, 25, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. This invitation is being extended to the five pastors and two laymen who have raised concerns regarding doctrine and practice within our district, the three pastors who serve as a ministry team at St. Peter, Freedom and The CORE in Appleton, and your circuit pastor[s].
The goal of our meeting is to affirm that, while there may be some differences among us regarding our approaches to ministry, we are all united in doctrine and practice. We will gather as brothers in Christ with the District President asking questions based on the concerns that have been raised and moderating any discussion those questions may generate.
It is our prayer that the Lord Jesus will be honored by the time we spend together and that our unity in Him will be strengthened as we meet over the truths of His Word.
In the Savior’s Service,
On behalf of the District Officers
D. J. Engelbrecht
President of the Northern Wisconsin District – WELS
CC: Mr. Tony Kubek
Mr. Frederick Techlin Jr.
Rev. Jeffrey Berg
Rev. Samuel Degner
Rev. John Dorn
Rev. Kenneth Frey
Rev. Mark Gass
Rev. Timothy Glende
Rev. Mark Henke
Rev. Paul Jenkins
Rev. Paul Lidtke
Rev. Robert Raasch
Rev. Dustin Sievert
Rev. James Skorzewski
Rev. Jeffrey Suhr
Rev. Ronald Szep
Rev. Joel Zank
***
GJ - The Intrepids have learned that "write a letter" is just a joke to the WELS leadership. In fact, so is "have a meeting, face to face," because Dougout Doug did not even show up for the one so carefully arranged. Instead, he wrote a letter blaming me and my little blog that no one reads. I was honored, but he was dissing his own pastors and laity, telling them (contrary to the facts) that I was the cause of the conflict. He was telling them that they did not have minds of their own.
That is especially revealing about his dirty tactics, because I am in a position to know how little they needed or wanted my blog. Ski's bragging about the Babtist Drive conference is still on the Net. So are all his dumb posts from The CORE and Twitter. Glende hid some of his from the net and chose to publish two blogs anonymousely, but plenty of eye-witnesses have been at both churches.
Glende's position is that 11 years of being a mediocre student at unaccredited schools makes him an expert in theology, one who cannot be questioned by a mere attorney, who has two accredited degrees and a law license. Glende is such an expert in Lutheran theology that he has to copy all his sermons and related material from Pietist Craig Groeschel, lying about it. Glende has attended worship conferences with false teachers leading them, but lying about it.
Like all bullies, Glende cowardly uses his gang of thugs, the elders, to beat up on anyone who annoys him in the least. WELS calls it reaching out in love with the Gospel. I call it criminal abuse of the pastoral office.
So how does District Pope Englebrecht face the conflict he has created with his incompetence?
- Stage One was avoidance of the meeting and lobbing a secretive letter.
- Stage Two was avoidance of the laity, a foolish gesture in the light of who supports the Wisconsin Synod. The Changers drain and cheat the synod, but the laity fund it.
- Stage Three is this delightful letter. I will parse it below.
Ominously, the District Pope writes about himself in the third person. This strikes most people as daft or arrogant. I believe he is trying to protect himself by puffing himself up, like those toads who scare people with self-inflation. Note that he does not even use his name in the third person, but his office. Hoo boy.
The DP will do this and that. The outcome is already announced in the letter. Everyone is going to agree that there may be some differences..." Note just a waffle, but a double-waffle: "there may be some differences." Has Englebrecht lost contact with reality? In the last two years, one circuit has garnered the most attention because he has let them get away with everything and then some.
When the previous circuit pastor dealt with Glende's plagiarism, the CP was fired by Tim Do you know who my uncle is? Glende. When the DP turns discipline upside-down, conflict will grow. The second part of the divine revelation is also interesting: "The goal of our meeting is to affirm that, while there may be some differences among us regarding our approaches to ministry, we are all united in doctrine and practice." The goal is to agree upon their unity? That is the District Pope's stated goal. Apparently he has not listened to many people that he has divided his district by supporting the position of false teachers, plagiarists, and liars.
Englebrecht supports plagiarism by saying that many WELS pastors do the same thing. WELS workers also murder their wives and commit adultery with their members, even with their students. Should the group also agree that such sins are good pastoral practice?
Englebrecht, like all bullies, will try to turn the meeting into a trial, with various accusations. Notice how far in advance it will be? He will be getting the script ready with various participants. They will be meeting on their own, before the stated meeting. Divide and conquer. I feel sorry for anyone propping up this paper tiger.
