WELS Wasting Money by the Millions

WELS stewardship principles -
No, that is not Tiefel's car.

Benjamin Wink has left a new comment on your post "Benjamin Wink Schools Fox Valley Pastor Joel Lillo...":

Just as a follow up, I am sorry if I implied that the CORE was shutting down after these events. It wasn't my intent. Actually if they did shut it down, it would go even further to prove the point of this being a titanic waste of funds.

My main point was about the frittering of money away and there is no accountability. I just think about established congregations that have real need that could have used a portion of that half a million dollars. Or perhaps a foreign mission. Or perhaps a home mission in an area that isn't saturated with WELS churches as much as the Fox Valley is of course. You can't swing a dead cat from Outagamie county to Winnebago county to Fond du Lac county without hitting a synod church and/or school and this was determined to be a great mission field?

Perhaps synod leadership loves that they don't have to answer to anyone about distribution of funds because they were tired of dealing with pesky church councils in their own congregations for years. Places where lay leaders would (hopefully) be realistic with budgets and would restrict flights of fancy that require elaborate funding.

I recall a synod employee's attitude to offerings as well and it might give some insight as to how things operate. When asked about whether or not there was more funding for a project, they replied "No, not enough old ladies have died yet." And then he chuckled, stopping only when he saw my reaction.

So when you see that kind of mercenary attitude to someone's best intended and faith motivated monetary gifts, it sticks in your craw a bit. And seeing this dog and pony light show in the middle of an area teeming with churches is just completely grating.

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GJ - I wondered why the Schwan money seemed so effective in making the Synodical Conference insolvent, especially WELS.

It was only recently that I learned about their fury that I sent the Forbes magazine article to Christian News to be printed. But the SynCons recovered fast and mined Marvin Schwan's guilt over the death of  his first wife.

Don't tell me that indulgences are dead. WELS/ELS will sell them over and over.

But nothing good comes from unfaith. A corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.

Ten Talents For Christ / Change Or Die Conference, 2013. Don't Fail To Miss It

Jeske made the PDF impossible to copy this year.
Ichabod effect? I think so.
Whachall afraid of, Shrinkers?

Ten Talents For Christ / Change Or Die Conference:


April 18th, 2013  :   Change or Die IV

Rumble at The Harley-Davidson Museum  ®
400 W. Canal St.  Milwaukee, WI
1:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Tickets are free, but you must register here in advance
Email any questions to Deb at: deb@siebertfoundation.org
Click on the links for our Inspirational Speakers and Agenda




'via Blog this'

The previous story has lots of detail about this circus and the clowns therein:

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-change-or-die-gathering-for-2012.html

Classic Ichabod:

http://tentalentsforchrist.com/#/change-or-die-conference

Change or Die 2012

Stories from Lutheran Ministries that Are Growing

Thursday, February 23

The Harley Davidson Museum Conference Facility

Agenda

1:00 p.m.               Registration

1:30                       Welcome, Introductions, Thanks, Instructions                       ….Rev. Mark Jeske

1:45                       The Story of St. Andrew’s, Middleton and Waunakee    ….Rev. Randy Hunter

2:15                       Discussion

3:30                       The Story of Hephatha, Milwaukee                  ..…..Rev. Mary Martha Kannass

3:00                       Discussion

3:15                       Break

3:30                       The Story of Faith, Milwaukee   …Revs. Richard Peterson and Richard Suerro

4:00                       Discussion

4:15                       The Story of Risen Savior, Milwaukee                                     .…Rev. Ken Fisher

4:45                       Discussion

5:00                       Roundtable Reflections (Cocktails)

5:30                       Dinner

6:30                       The Story of LINC Twin Cities                                                …..Mrs. Sue Hewitt

7:00                       Discussion

7:15                       The Story of Shepherd of the Hills, Pewaukee                       …..Rev. Tom Wink

7:45                       Discussion                                                                                   

8:00                       Wrap-Up

***

GJ - Hephatha, Milwaukee is ELCA. Here is one link from their ELCA partner.

Here is an ELCA news story mentioning Hephatha.

Randy Hunter is well known in WELS for the Latte Church - with the woman pastor "administering the Means of Grace."

Ken Fisher is the WELS expert on getting grant money, not that Jeske is slack on using Other People's Money.

LINC seems to be a front for ABCD, whatever that is or does.

Shepherd of the Hills is a Missouri Synod cell group congregation.

Faith, Milwaukee is another ELCA parish:

"Richard Suero student at Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, and member of our Mission partner congregation, Faith/Santa Fe Lutheran Church in Milwaukee  (The pastor at Faith/Santa Fe is a “son of Augustana,*” Richard Peterson) the Grow-Hanson family ELCA missionaries in Senegal."

*Augustana is a Reconciled in Christ congregation.
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Febreeze has left a new comment on your post "New Change or Die! Gathering for 2012":

I wonder if any of these are growing liturgical churches.

***

GJ - I remember when WELS had a gathering of mission congregations. One pastor was truly confessional and put up a cartoon about someone saying on a couch, "I can't stop going to Church Growth conferences." He got a severe dressing down soon after. His congregation was growing from LCMS defections. He said to me, "I hope my members all die before they find out how WELS is lying to them."

I am guessing the latest Jeske extravaganza is Thrivent-funded. It has that aroma: WELS, LCMS, ELCA.

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David Becker has left a new comment on your post "New Change or Die! Gathering for 2012":

When I first saw this, I thought it was a parody or something that was made up, but I checked the link and it is indeed an actual event. Intrepid Lutherans reported it too.

***

GJ - David, you laugh out loud when you read Ichabod? All I need to do is report the WELS and Missouri news for LOLs and ROTFLs. They denounce ELCA for abortion and homosexual pastors while working with ELCA congregations. And I am the bad guy. LOL.

PS - This conference is connected with Ten Talents for Christ. Intrepid research and spelling:


The address of "Ten Talents for Christ" listed on their website is:

2323 N. Mayfair Rd., Suite 104

Coincidentally, that's right down the road from the synod office, and it's in the very same building as WELS Kingdom Workers:

2323 N. Mayfair Rd., Suite 400.


The Registered Agent with the State of Wisconsin of Ten Talents for Christ Inc is one -

Danae S Oldenberg, who it appears is an agent for Thrivent and who's (sic) office appears to be 2323 N Mayfair Road Suite 104.

Ten Talents for Christ Inc has not filed paper work with the state of Wisconsin to be recognized as a Charitable 501(c)3 Organization yet, but is a NonStock, Non-Profit Corporation.

Was not able to find out Board of Directors.

The above is all from Public Records available in Wisconsin.

***

GJ - I tolja it smelled like Thrivent. Big grant for the schwaermerpalooza, I promise.

Busta Rhyme Shares His Secrets in Church Growth

Bare URL for Mequon graduates - 

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/afewgrownmen/2013/04/why-traditional-churches-should-stick-with-traditional-worship/

Why traditional churches should stick with traditional worship

April 17, 2013 By David Murrow Leave a Comment

I’m a member of Alaska’s largest church. It’s a lot like every other megachurch. We meet in a cavernous, windowless room with stage lighting and two huge projection screens. We’re led by a rock band and a casually dressed pastor. The service lasts exactly 75 minutes. Our church draws a large crowd that attends sporadically. There’s a relatively small, highly committed core of members that keeps the machine going.

I like my church. But it’s in Anchorage, 26 miles from my house. So my wife and I occasionally worship at a small traditional church in our little town of Chugiak. (Let’s call it St. Mark’s)

We’ve been enjoying our Sundays at St. Mark’s. The richness and rigor of the liturgy is refreshing after years of seeker-sensitive services. It’s an eight-course meal, carefully measured out for us by church fathers – confession, forgiveness, praise, instruction, communion, giving, fellowship and benediction. It’s like a spiritual multivitamin in an easy-to-swallow, hour-long pill.

St. Mark’s has a lot going for it. The people are friendly, but not overly so. There is a healthy number of kids and young adults. The facility is well kept. The sermons are insightful. We love the depth of the hymns – and the people sing robustly (as opposed to most megachurches where very few people sing). It takes my wife back to the 100-member churches of her youth.

But last Sunday was different. Once a month, this little church does a contemporary service. Gina and I were surprised – unpleasantly so.

We arrived to find the pastor without his clerical robe. A projection screen had been lowered in front of the organ pipes. We sang praise choruses instead of hymns, led by a solo guitarist who had trouble keeping the beat. The congregation did not seem to know the songs, so they sang tentatively. On a positive note, the sermon was good as usual, and the pastor skillfully used PowerPoint slides to reinforce his message.

But on balance, the overall quality of the service was not up to par. Had this been our first Sunday at St. Mark’s it’s unlikely we would have returned.

So what went wrong? This little church was trying to be something it’s not.

St. Mark’s is a traditional church. And it’s very good at being a traditional church. But it’s a lousy contemporary church.

It’s an article of faith these days that contemporary worship is the way to go if you want your church to grow. Thousands of churches will be planted this year – and every one will offer contemporary worship. Hymns are out – love songs to Jesus are in.

Traditional churches have seen young believers flocking to megachurches, so naturally they want to get in on the growth. But this is foolish. Traditional churches lack the musical depth, computer controlled lighting and sound equipment that are needed to generate the “praise-gasm” that young believers associate with God. Rock music seems out of place in a brightly lit chapel a communion table and stained glass.

People come to church to encounter God. A good worship service is transcendent; it helps people detach from this present world to connect with the divine. But when traditional churches try to be contemporary it usually comes across as forced, stilted or artificial. This dissonance jerks people back into the mundane world. Worshippers focus on the distraction instead of the Lord.

So here’s my advice to every church: be who you are. Do what you do well – and do it over and over. If you want to innovate, do so within the bounds of your culture.

Radio stations understand this princple. You won’t find the local pop music station playing the occasional Beethoven concerto. Nor will the country music station spin Lil’ Wayne’s latest rap record. Our local “Mix” radio station plays a variety of songs – but they’re all within the same genre – familiar pop/rock hits of the past 30 years.

If your church is big enough to offer two services, it might make sense to designate one a “traditional service” and the other a “contemporary one.” But if you offer just one service, stick with what you do best.

What has this got to do with men? Guys appreciate a quality worship service — but they are not very forgiving of anything hokey or half-baked. If guys want contemporary worship, they’ll go to a megachurch. Meanwhile, I firmly believe there’s still a market for traditional worship — even among the young — if it’s done in Spirit and in Truth.

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