A WELS layman wondered why his congregation needed to ape the Pentecostals with a praise band.
Some may recall from the 1970s that the Assemblies of God was the place to find the praise band up in the chancel area, every Sunday an amateur hour.
In the 70s, the typical Pentecostal church style of music was closer to Lawrence Welk than Twisted Sister. That is anachronistic - hard rock became popular only through MTV's constant promotion of the genre.
The Assemblies of God church was just about the only place in town to find this nonsense. The ministers were unlikely to be college graduates - like Stephan, the founder of Missouri. But it spread to the Babtist churches and then into the mainline denominations.
Fuller Seminary was clever in recruiting the denominational executives first. Once brain-washed, they urged their underlings to study at Fuller too. No problem, we will just put in proposals to pay your tuition.
WELS sent all their mission people through Fuller, and I suspect their world missionaries always go there first. Trinity in Deerfield and Willowcreek are other options, equally obnoxious.
Church and Change, thriving in WELS, has always promoted Pentecostal methods.
Did the Apostles Start Day-Care Centers?
WELS is dying fast, and Martin Luther College is in deep yogurt. Their solution is to promote their day-care centers as Christian academies!
Their parochial schools had a purpose, which was apparently not to teach grammar, writing, or Lutheran doctrine. But they did actually teach something, as long as the bigshots' kids got all As, no matter what.
These Christian academies never go beyond Kindergarten, which is not school either. Kindergarten was invented by the Germans to get children ready for school, so they could be docile servants of the state.
The big laugh is promoting these day-care businesses as evangelism centers. That excuses the fact that enormous amounts of money are skimmed to provide day-care for mothers who will never join the congregation.
Please recall - the parochial school was designed for the members and for those who wanted to join.
One WELS observer said nothing is more destructive to a congregation than day-care. He has seen many congregations fold while propping up the kiddie business with church funds.
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