Yesterday I was talking to someone with similar connections to mainline denominations, including my hometown. We had a name in common. I said, "He is the reason I became a Lutheran." The minister speaking had a chance at that man's library, when he retired. He could take any book he wanted. "The trouble was," he said, "all the books were as shallow as he was. But he was known for being a good speaker."
We outlined some individual skirmishes. The Disciples of Christ, who are big in a swath from Illinois to Texas, would not ordain homosexuals. So they partnered with the United Church of Christ, who ordained homosexuals far earlier than anyone else. Any Disciple candidate who wanted to out himself could get ordained in the UCC and serve in the Disciples, because ordination was mutually accepted, based on their agreement.
And the Disciples refused to entertain even a watered-down inerrancy statement ("an option") because "it was credal. We have no creeds but the bobble." Para-church groups formed to battle this and they finally said, "Why are we bothering?" They dissolved their group within the Disciples and loosely affiliated after that time, leaving the Disciples as a group.
That will obviously be the trend from now on. Before the 2009 ELCA meeting I kept holding up the Episcopal Church as an example where serving bishops were taking their dioceses out of the The Episcopalian Church (TEC) as a whole. I never expected ELCA bishops to do the same, and not one serving bishop ever tried. But the retired ELCA bishops did join the movement out of ELCA after 2009 (ordination of homosexuals approved). At last count, six retired ELCA bishops were organizing NALC, a group parallel to the older LCMC.
The local ELCA church lost 2/3rds of its Sunday attendance after 2009. An LCMC congregation formed from the exiles.
ELCA began shrinking by 20%. Naturally, the ELCA bishop Mark Hanson and TEC's bishop Katie Schori, went to work to ensure their dominance and control - at any cost.
My friends in blogging and writing - ChurchMouse, California, and Rogue Lutheran - have all dealt with this phenomenon - Diaprax. Every issue becomes a process, a way of resolving it so the leaders get their way.
The denominations do not fear political action - they welcome it. The ambush is already prepared for each and every attempt. "Sure let's have a meeting where this is discussed." They identify the dissenters and pick them off, one by one. Some are frightened away. Others are bribed - I have names. The persistent are targeted in various ways.
The persistent are going to be a minority. I noticed from a profile (Keirsey - free test) that Idealists are a minority. An Idealist is going to address issues according to principle rather than by what's-good-for-me. The persistent buckle and surrender - or they are driven away and shunned.
Look at the dullards and belly-servers who are SynCon DPs and SPs. And their history! No matter what the name of the man, the last 50 years have shown their eagerness to work with ELCA (or predecessors) for money and the warm glow of approval from apostates.
They are the apostasy enablers.
No one is more dangerous than the pastor or synodocat who pretends to oppose error and flips when it matters most.
Jon Buchholz is a good example of someone who agreed to sign the secret petition about Mark Jeske. He was known for being a DP "concerned" about the situation, stymied like poor helpless Mark Schroeder because the Gang of Four protected Jeske.
The only resolution at the convention, once the process took over, was one in favor of Jeske. And who spoke in support of that groveling, sycophantic motion? Jon Buchholz, California-Arizona DP, WELS, the Jedi Knight of Orthodoxy (in his mind).
As Henry of Navarre once said, "The kingdom of France is worth a Mass" when he was forced to abandon his Protestant faith.
Buchholz was UOJ all the way, so I am not going to credit him with any scruples or doctrinal knowledge. He is simply one more example of someone eager to posture for a time, and even more eager to switch sides when convenient.
SP Schroeder and DP Buchholz are now adoring members of JELS:
JELS - the Jeske Emergent Legalistic Sect.
Any questions? You are fired.
