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| Popcorn and soda at the worship service. Snack munching during the prayers. Entertainment. And abuse of members. |
rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "List of Hyles Related Clergy Sex Abuse Cases « Blo...":
The WELS always seems to be a day late and a dollar short. This is especially true when it comes to the latest trends. Interestingly enough, the IFB appears to have been a trendsetter in some areas even when the Church Growth Movement was in its prenatal stage. From this article, here are some strange similarities between the IFB and the WELS:
"The people of First Baptist Church were taught that if they didn’t see something it didn’t happen. They were taught that unless an allegation could be confirmed by two or more people (Matthew 18) they were not to believe it."
"In general, the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) Church movement abhors scandal and they do everything they can to cover it up. More important than the sin or the victims is the church’s testimony. The church’s testimony must be protected at all costs, even if we ignore a pedophile in our midst."
".....backed into a corner without the option of covering it up or quietly making the “problem” go away. (calling in attorney David Gibbs to “manage” the crisis speaks volumes about depth of the scandal)"
"The bigger the church attendance the more authority you were granted and the more weight your words had."
win them
wet them
work them
waste them
"They know people are “attracted” (the attractional method) to the Church by the pastor, the programs, the building, etc"
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GJ - I saw doctrinal parallels right away, since JP Meyer called for making a decision for UOJ. The UOJ people are very shallow and have no concept of the Means of Grace.
Fundies often use adult baptism as a type of communion, repeating often for a definite cleansing. Multiple baptisms of adults among the Southern Babtists are a scandal they do not want to address.
The more legalistic the group, the more opaque the cover-ups. Calling in the bigshot lawyer reminded me of Joel Hochmuth getting a top lawyer right away, the facts about his previous crimes being obscured by a cloud of non responses. Who counseled him and his wife? - for example.
It also reminded me of VP Huebner's dad defending the murderer Al Just - people still insisting that good ol' Al was innocent, in spite of his conviction, his marriage to his children's baby-sitter, and her subsequent terrified escape from him.
Or DP Ed Werner, sitting the state prison, arranging for the adoption of illegitimate babies from his congregation. Everyone in his district knew about him for 20 years, but WELS had a cover story right away - another big, fat, lie. Keith Free, now at The Love Shack said about the story, "That is they told me. I hope it's true." No, it was not an arrest because DP Werner slapped two girls for being saucy. It was 20 years of sex abuse in his own congregation.
The CLC (sic) - more of the same.
LCMS - where to start?
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| How to become a Church Growth consultant in WELS, get recommended by WELS for a church, and work with the Little Sect on the Prairie as a legitimate pastor. Find the CG/UOJ experts - three hints. |
