ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
Thrivent says: "we
have the market share that we're likely to get".
What should be said is
the Lutheran market share will continually diminish. So the mega-churches are
looking pretty good as sources for money they will need to continue to look
beneficial.
***
GJ - Church Growth has been a Trojan Horse, given by the apostates to their beloved synods. They do not care about the Gospel, in spite of their claims. They do not care about sharing the Gospel, not even their distorted view of it. They are lazy, greedy, and anti-Christian. They hide inside their gift-horse until the time is right. Then they jump out of the rear and take over.
Thrivent thinks they will do better by being generic and multi-cultural. The mainline churches (ELCA, WELS, LCMS, Episcopal, Babtist) are becoming one, so there is no need to cling to an outmoded cultural identity. Time of Grace has already announced they are non-denominational, but Lutherans still think Jeske is their Lutheran guy on TV. Do they listen to his New Age narcissism?
Waukesha - A former Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod official was placed on probation for 10 years Monday and ordered to serve one year in jail with work-release privileges as a condition of probation for possession of child pornography.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Kathryn W. Foster withheld imposing a prison term on Joel W. Hochmuth, 52, of Waukesha, who had faced up to 15 years behind bars followed by 10 years of extended supervision for the crime.
But she warned Hochmuth that if there was any hint of him "going back to any kind of behavior like this," his probation would be revoked and the full "25-year prison sentence will be staring you in the face."
Hochmuth used the Internet to download hundreds of images of boys engaged in sexual acts with other youths and men.
Hochmuth, who was the communications director for the synod, was charged in November with three counts of possession of child pornography. He was fired by the synod one day after the charges were filed against him in Waukesha County Circuit Court.
As part of a plea agreement that avoided a trial in the case, Hochmuth on March 9 pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. The two other counts were dismissed.
Before Foster made her determination, a tearful Hochmuth apologized for the double life he was leading. Just before he spoke, family and friends told Foster that Hochmuth was a warm and caring person, a hardworking father and husband, and someone who was worthy of a judge's mercy and a second chance even though what he did was detestable.
"I appear before you today guilty of an abhorrent and violent crime. I have offended my god, betrayed my wife, shamed our son and dishonored my church. To all of them I apologize. I also apologize to the victims portrayed in the images I viewed and downloaded. That I could have been so drawn to what I was looking at today disgusts me," Hochmuth told Foster.
He said he is in a treatment plan that he began after his arrest.
"For the first time I'm being equipped with the tools to fight my sinful habit," Hochmuth said.
"Finally, I'd like to express my hope that something good come out of all the evil I have done and the heartache I have caused. I pray that when I'm well I will be able to use whatever skills, talents and abilities I've been given to help eliminate this unspeakable form of abuse and to help men struggling with this or similar addictions take action before it destroys their lives and puts wives and their families through the hell I have."
According to the criminal complaint, investigators found several hundred images on his home computer and 310 photographs and 38 videos on a thumb drive at his WELS office in Wauwatosa. Hochmuth denied downloading any explicit material while at work, or creating his own pornography, the complaint states.
Hochmuth told investigators that he had been "struggling with an addiction to viewing pornographic photos and videos of young boys in sexually explicit poses," and that he had gone to counseling after his wife caught him viewing them, the complaint says.
He was investigated by the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force after an undercover agent identified a residence in Waukesha that was distributing child pornography, according to the complaint. Hochmuth was using a software program that allows individuals to connect to each other's computers and browse and download files as well as chat online, according to the complaint.
The complaint also states that the agent engaged Hochmuth in chats and that in one Hochmuth told the agent that he liked pictures of males who were 10 years old or older, the complaint states.
The FBI informed Waukesha police, who made the arrest.
***
GJ - Left unanswered - Who provided the earlier, failed counseling? Was it the WELS counseling agency? One WELS pastor asked SP Schroeder, who did not answer.
Why was this crime not reported by his wife and the counseling agency?
Notice that he had to go outside his Antinomian UOJ church for help with his addiction.
The former communications director for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod will spend one year in the work-release jail after he was sentenced Monday on one count of possessing child pornography.
Joel W. Hochmuth, 52, of Waukesha, was sentenced Monday to 10 years of probation the year of jail time is a condition of his probation. Other conditions of probation include sex offender treatment and registering on the state’s sex offender database, according to online court records.
Two additional felony charges of possessing child pornography were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea.
Hochmuth was charged in November after detectives from the Waukesha Police Department met with a special agent from the FBI, who told detectives that Hochmuth was using the Internet handle “Skiguy10101” had child pornography on his computer depicting “pre-pubescent and adolescent boys engaged in various sexual acts,” according to a criminal complaint.
Hochmuth told authorities that the number of images found on his computer in Waukesha “was nothing compared to what they would find in his office,” the complaint states. Hochmuth denied downloading pornographic images on his work computer but police located three thumb drives at the WELS office in Wauwatosa, 2929 N Mayfair Rd., that had nine images and videos of young boys engaged in sexual acts, the complaint states. Authorities believe boys shown in the graphic pictures ranged from 10 to 14 years old.
Hochmuth was terminated from his position when the allegations came to light.
Congratulations WELS - after complaining--sanctimoniously--about ELCA and the Roman Catholics, you are now listed by the prime lobbying group - Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests - SNAP. The Roman hierarchy hates SNAP because SNAP has networked the victims with great effect. The group uploaded the arrest video to YouTube, which combined the defense attorney's lie about adult pornography when the charge was swapping files showing man-boy rape.
SNAP Wisconsin is the state-wide group. If you have a problem with WELS, contact SNAP and an attorney, not the cover-up magicians of WELS.
Wisconsin Lutheran College (WELS when fund-raising) featured one of the worst archbishops, Weakland, as their speaker in a widely promoted series, which also included various priests. Weakland had an affair with a young man and used church funds to pay blackmail to his lover, claiming the funds came from his own account. WELS deceived everyone about the lectures, never explaining why an official of Rome was speaking on behalf of the Wisconsin Sect.
Years ago, Wisconsin Lutheran College featured Weakland as their speaker, along with some of his priests.
Weakland claimed that children invited sex with adults.
The Hochmuth story is full of holes. My vast intelligence-gathering network cannot find out where he got counseling, which is part of every news story. His wife caught him and they went into counseling. But counselors are supposed to report heinous crimes against children. Was it the WELS agency? Silence. Nobody knew this was going on? Silence.
This page used to link to the SP Schroeder/Hochmuth letter against ELCA for supporting homosexual clergy. Just as I expected, the page was removed. That is the WELS approach - hide the evidence, spin the story, and punish anyone who asks more than once about the corruption.
But relax. I found another copy on the Net, thanks to my extensive experience in tracking down synodical lies:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 21, 2009
Contact: Joel Hochmuth
Director of Communications
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
joel.hochmuth@wels.net
WELS president expresses regret at ELCA decision on gay clergy
Milwaukee, Wis.—Rev. Mark Schroeder, president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), is expressing regret at the vote of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) convention regarding homosexual clergy. Friday, delegates approved a resolution committing the church to find a way for “people in such publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships” to serve as professional leaders of the church. “To view same-sex relationships as acceptable to God is to place cultural viewpoint and human opinions above the clear Word of God,” says Schroeder. “The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, along with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and other smaller Lutheran synods, maintains and upholds the clear teaching of the Bible that homosexuality is not in keeping with God’s design and is sinful in God’s eyes.” At the same time, Schroeder says WELS congregations stand ready to support those struggling with same-sex attractions. “As with any sin, it is the church’s responsibility to show love and compassion to sinners, not by condoning or justifying the sin, but by calling the sinner to repent and by assuring the sinner that there is full forgiveness in Jesus Christ,” Schroeder says. WELS, with about 390,000 members and nearly 1,300 congregations nationwide, is the third largest Lutheran church body in the United States. In Wisconsin alone, there are more than 201,000 members and 417 congregations. “It’s unfortunate that many headlines have referred to the recent decisions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as something ‘Lutherans’ have decided,” Schroeder says. “In fact, the ELCA is only one of many Lutheran denominations. We are saddened that a group with the name Lutheran would take another decisive step away from the clear teaching of the Bible, which was the foundation of the Lutheran Reformation.” Schroeder says that WELS is firmly committed to upholding God’s design for marriage as outlined in Scripture—a design intended for one man and one woman. “We believe, and the Bible teaches, that God designed this relationship to be a blessing for men and women and for society. Any departure from what God himself has designed does two things: it denies the clear teachings of Scriptures and it undermines God’s desire that the man/woman relationship in marriage be a blessing.”
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On the WELS.net site I found a reaction to that news release, but not the news release itself.
Feedback to a WELS news release quoting Pres. Mark Schroeder's reaction to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) decision to allow homosexuals in "lifelong, monogamous" relationships to serve as pastors continues to flow in.
On Aug. 21, the day the ELCA churchwide assembly approved the resolution, Communication Services posted Pres. Schroeder's response expressing WELS opposition based on clear biblical principles on the synod's Web site. A news release was also sent to Religion News Service for worldwide distribution.
So far, the reaction has been almost universally positive, with statements of support coming from both WELS and non-WELS members. "I appreciate your statement and share your disappointment," writes one woman from Michigan. "Thank you for posting the statement with a clear Biblical viewpoint."
"As a member of an ELCA church, I applaud you standing up for the Word of God and having the backbone to speak up and put your 8/21 letter on your Web site," writes another woman from Minnesota.
While it is impossible to gauge precisely how widely published Schroeder's comments were, the news release was printed virtually verbatim on more than a dozen blogs. Schroeder's comments were quoted in an MSNBC.com article (link no longer available) on the reaction to the ELCA decision from both WELS and the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
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Hochmuth was not excommunicated, but Rick Techlin and the Krohns were.
SP Schroeder:
Christians are not immune to Satan’s temptations. David, Paul, and Peter all knew from personal experience that believers can and do commit terrible and unspeakable sin. But they also knew and experienced the restoring power of God’s grace. Joel Hochmuth knows this as well. Joel is receiving pastoral care from his pastors and others. We are confident that the powerful working of the Holy Spirit in God’s Word has brought him to recognize and repent of his sin, and we also know that he has sought and received the comfort of forgiveness in the redeeming sacrifice of our Savior. Please pray that Joel will continue to be assured of forgiveness at the foot of the cross and that God’s grace will restore him, renew him, and strengthen his faith.
Serving in Christ,
Rev. Mark Schroeder, WELS President
Thrivent considers expanding beyond Lutherans
Faith-based benefit society has limited room for growth
By Paul Gores of the Journal Sentinel June 3, 2012
EMAIL PRINT (2) COMMENTS
Looking for growth, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is considering expanding to markets beyond the nation's 18 million Lutherans.
The fraternal benefit organization and provider of such financial products as life insurance, annuities and mutual funds has been catering almost entirely to Lutherans and institutions affiliated with Lutherans since it was founded 110 years ago. But it might be time to offer membership outside of its one Christian denomination - a move that would take approval by the group's membership, said Chief Executive Brad Hewitt.
"It's like 99% Lutheran right now," Hewitt said. "We're in the process of looking at that and saying, 'Does it still make sense for the next 100 years?' "
Hewitt said Thrivent, which was formed by the 2002 merger of Aid Association for Lutherans in Appleton and Lutheran Brotherhood of Minneapolis, has to be careful about how widely it would open membership because its faith-based nature is one of the things that makes it special. Most members believe "their faith and finances are connected," he said.
"I don't think there's a big risk in going to a broader market, in one way," Hewitt said. "On the other hand, it is one of those things we have to be thoughtful about and do it in a right way, because you don't want to lose the affinity. That's part of the value."
Hewitt said having churchgoing Lutherans as its clear market is "a great blessing" for the organization.
"We know exactly who our customers are, and we know exactly where they are one day a week," Hewitt said. "We know where to find them. But we're probably at the stage where we have the market share that we're likely to get, and if we can't keep growing, we would likely want to expand. I don't think it's a 'need to.' I think it's a 'want to.' "
The most likely targets for expansion would be other churches, schools and even causes, such as certain nonprofit groups that provide social services.
"I think we probably would expand to a broader Christian or some subset of that," Hewitt said. "We're in the process of starting that discovery right now."
Hewitt said Thrivent has polled its membership informally about the idea of expanding beyond Lutherans, and about two-thirds have said they'd be in favor of it.
The expansion would require changes in Thrivent's articles of incorporation, so it's not imminent.
"We would have to run a campaign and we would have to ask them," Hewitt said.
With a membership of about 2.5 million, Thrivent already is the largest fraternal benefit society in the United States. The organization has reported three consecutive years of growth in sales, revenue, assets under management and total adjusted surplus, which is a measure of an insurer's financial strength.
At the end of 2011, it had $170.2 billion of life insurance protection in force, and paid out $310 million in dividends. Its adjusted surplus - excess funds above the reserves required to provide for future insurance benefits - stood at $5.4 billion.
It also reported giving $175.5 million in direct support to charitable causes, schools, congregations and needy individuals, and awarded $15.1 million in grants to Lutheran institutions nationwide and nonprofits in the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Fox Cities areas.
Although the headquarters of Thrivent located in Minneapolis after the merger 10 years ago, most of its operations are in Appleton. That includes information technology, claims, underwriting, a call center and some of its investment managers. Marketing and accounting are split between the two locations. Overall, Thrivent has about 3,000 corporate employees, the majority of them in Appleton.
Thrivent hires and trains its own field force of representatives to sell financial products, and stresses bringing on agents who believe in the faith-and-finances theme of the organization. That makes it more difficult to find people and limits growth, Hewitt said.
"We've been growing mainly by growing productivity of our existing folks, and we would love to grow even more if we could," Hewitt said. "But we're not willing to grow at the expense of losing that trustworthy brand, and so we pay a lot of attention to getting the right kind of character and competence in our sales folks and all of our field leaders."
Asked whether Thrivent Financial for Lutherans would need to change its name if it expands the market, Hewitt said, "We haven't figured that out yet." But he implied that issue might take care of itself.
"The reality is, the practical thing is, people call us 'Thrivent,' " he said.
Now if only they would give them quality products at a reasonable price, and not the crap that their agents have been shoving down their clients' throats for years.
WAUKESHA — Joel Hochmuth, a former Lutheran church official accused of possessing child pornography is scheduled to be sentenced Monday afternoon.
Hochmuth pleaded guilty earlier this year to possession of child pornography. In exchange for the guilty plea, the state dropped two of the three counts against him.
As Judge Kathryn Foster asked if Hochmuth understood the plea, he broke down.
Prosecutors say Hochmuth had pictures and videos of young boys in sex acts. He was fired from his post at the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, where he served as Director of Communications.
Hochmuth was charged after a sting operation by the FBI’s Cyber Crimes Task Force found child porn images and videos on Hochmuth’s personal and work computers, as well as thumb drives.
Hochmuth was arrested at his home in Waukesha.
According to the criminal complaint in the case, an undercover FBI agent used peer-to-peer software which allowed him to connect with Hochmuth’s computer and browse for files, and says Hochmuth was sharing child porn. The agent says he also chatted with Hochmuth online, and Hochmuth allegedly told him he likes pictures of males 10 years of age or older.
The criminal complaint states that during his arrest, Hochmuth stated he has been struggling with an addiction to viewing pornographic photos and videos of young boys in sexually explicit poses, but denies ever creating his own pornography. The complaint also says Hochmuth’s wife caught him looking at the images once, and says they went to counseling as a result.
Officials removed a desktop computer and a laptop computer from Hochmuth’s home, and the criminal complaint states Hochmuth said what would be found on his home computer was nothing compared to what they would find in his office. A search warrant was executed at Hochmuth’s office, and FBI agents found a thumb drive, containing 310 child porn images, and 38 videos. Agents say there were several hundred images found on Hochmuth’s home computer.
Hochmuth’s attorney Paul Bucher argues Hochmuth should avoid prison. He says immediate treatment is the best solution.
“Obviously he knows prison is a good possibility. We’re not asking for prison, but he knows that’s a possibility,” Bucher said.
Hochmuth will be sentenced on June 4th. He faces up to 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Until then, he’s not allowed to use the internet. He also cannot see anyone under the age of 18 without a supervisor. The only exception is for his child.
