Mollie Ziegler Hemingway: Twenty-First Century Excommunication - WSJ.com

Mollie Ziegler, LCMS

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway: Twenty-First Century Excommunication - WSJ.com:

"When the Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, N.Y., left the Episcopal Church over disagreements about what the Bible says about sexuality, the congregation offered to pay for the building in which it worshiped. In return the Episcopal Church sued to seize the building, then sold it for a fraction of the price to someone who turned it into a mosque."

'via Blog this'

The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church
is suing every parish and bishop who opposes her reign of terror.

Bishop Jefferts Schori says this new Anglican group is encroaching on her church's jurisdiction, and she has authorized dozens of lawsuits "to protect the assets of the Episcopal Church for the mission of the Episcopal Church." The Episcopal Church has dedicated $22 million to legal actions against departing clergy, congregations and dioceses, according to Allan Haley, a canon lawyer who has represented a diocese in one such case.

Now the Episcopal Church has upped the ante: It has declared that if congregations break away and buy their sanctuaries, they must disaffiliate from any group that professes to be Anglican.

Identifying the Signs of Apostasy: Grade Your Congregation and Synod

I published a few articles about the Episcopalians recently, causing me to think about how close they are to the Lutheran situation. A number of fatal characteristics are at work in those Lutheran groups that still congratulating themselves on how faithful they are. The following list fits any denomination, including the Lutheran franchises:

• The most prominent theologians of the past are largely ignored, dusted off only for anniversaries.
• The true leaders of the denomination are widely known as heretics, and they glory in their ability to teach against whatever their group claims to believe and practice.
• The schools have been turned over to incompetents whose only virtue is their fidelity to the new thinking.
• Serious doctrinal issues are ignored at all costs, but even the slightest criticism of false doctrine is addressed with voices quaking with rage, "You are destroying the love and unity of our fellowship."
• The periodicals and journals are so bland that no one pays attention to them.
• The leaders, at various levels, are helpless to do anything about false doctrine and practice, but they assassinate anyone who dares to raise a question about their poor leadership.
• Women are in authority over men and teaching men, with women's ordination a fact or already de facto in place.
• Clergy think of their careers first, fearing the synodical leaders, who step in and get rid of them at the drop of a hat.
• A divine call may be discussed, but it is really a position in the franchise. The leaders feel justified in meddling with any congregation that threatens to become conservative, but they defend and protect those on the other side.
• The real leaders are part of overlapping lobbies that push the denomination according to their agenda.
• Open communion is either considered a right for anyone who happens to drop in, or portrayed as a way to include more people as members.
• Respectful worship is despised while entertainment is promoted as "the way to grow," an absolute necessity.
• Sermons are replaced with coaching sessions, bad imitations of pep talks from business meetings.

Luther Rocks: “Playing the Pharisee Card” - Issues, Etc.

Luther Rocks: “Playing the Pharisee Card” - Issues, Etc.: "Nicely done! It is a couple years old...but relevant still.

Sample Article: “Playing the Pharisee Card” - Issues, Etc.

The Real Pharisees?"

'via Blog this'

WELS Meditations Agrees with ELCA: Everyone Is Already Forgiven

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Does Born Lutheran Count? How Is Steve Jobs Diffe...":

Here's a current example of how UOJ is used in the WELS. In the Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011 devotion from the WELS Meditations booklet, the author explains Matthew 18:18 "...whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.":

The author correctly quotes Luther from the Small Catechism: "The use of the keys is that special power and right which Christ gave to his church on earth: to forgive the sins of penitent sinners but refuse forgiveness to the impenitent as long as they do not repent." The author even quotes Jesus in John 20:22,23, "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Got that? All very good. But then the author says (I will highlight the UOJ subterfuge): "Lutherans are very familiar with the keys. After all, they are used in worship every Sunday. In the Confession and Absolution, we confess our sins and, upon this confession, the pastor forgives our sins just as Jesus told his disciples to do." All very good so far, but then he goes on: "That's the loosing key - the guilt of our sin is removed." See how only the "guilt" is removed? Why? The author goes on: "The pastor assures us that, for Christ's sake, God has already forgiven us all our sins...That's how the called worker uses the keys on a regular basis."

But what about the binding key? The author goes on: "But when a member refuses to repent of his sin, the body of Christ is authorized by Jesus to declare that the person has locked himself out of heaven." So, the binding key is given to the impenitent to "lock himself out" of heaven? Where does it say that in the Bible?

It all fits hand in glove in with the teaching of UOJ. You are forgiven whether you know it or not, whether you believe it or not. You are not actually forgiven of your sins by Word and Sacrament, you are only assured that your sins were forgiven on the cross 2000 years ago. You can't actually be refused forgiveness and therefore be in your sins. Forgiveness is already yours. You can only reject its benefits.

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David R. Barnhart: ELCA MEMBERSHIP FROM 1987 THROUGH 2010

Changer John Lawrenz, WELS,
anointed Changer Steve Witte, to keep the WELS Asian porta-sem apostate.
ELCA started its decline the same way, with the buddy system.
It only takes one generation.

David R. Barnhart: ELCA MEMBERSHIP FROM 1987 THROUGH 2010:

'via Blog this'

Geoerge Erdner summarized the statistics this way:

Pastor Barnhart posted some stats on the number of members and congregations for each year of the ELCA's existence, obtained from ELCA Office of the Secretary. If anyone disputes the data, let him kvetch to the Office of the Secretary, not those who repeat that information.

In 2010, based only on reported losses of membership, the ELCA lost 268,182 members. That's 6% of the membership from the prior year. The two preceding years only saw losses of 2%. (All percentages rounded to whole numbers.)

From 1988 to 1998, the ELCA's losses were less than 1 single percent. Those small losses added up, but it was still a rather slow rate. From 2000 onward, it was at least 1% for most of the first years of the decade, then 2% a year for the latter half of the decade, then the dam burst.

One can only imagine how much worse the losses would be if congregations didn't usually wait a few years to consider people who just stopped showing up as gone.

When it comes to congregation losses, there were only two years when the losses came to more than 1%. Then, in 2010, it jumped to three percent. There was a net loss of congregations in 2010 of 353. There are already 309 congregations gone this year, and it's only October.


Also from George Erdner, same thread:


Here's what the totals are up to, as of today:

Left ELCA = 583
Leaving ELCA = 57
Total Left & Leaving = 640


New Non-ELCA Start = 218


ELCA New Wine = 22 [apparently new ELCA parishes where the old one left ELCA and took the property with it]