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| LCMS/WELS Pastor Mark and Avoid Jeske sits on the Thrivent Board. |
Thrivent Choice Controversy – An Overview
On or about December 17th, 2013, it was discovered that Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota had appeared in the Thrivent Choice database. Thrivent Choice is a member-directed grant program funded by Thrivent Financial, “a faith-based, not-for-profit membership organization nearly 2.5 million members strong.”
Much controversy erupted, with large protests online directed against Thrivent and asking them to immediately remove Planned Parenthood from the list of approved Thrivent Choice organizations, and to setup a moral criteria for organizations allowed in the Thrivent Choice program.
This page is intended to provide an overview of the events and related links pertaining to the controversy. Please provide any additional links that should be included.
December 17th, 2013
- Thrivent’s Dangerous Game is published, outlining initial conversations on Twitter with Thrivent surrounding the issue.
December 18th, 2013
- My article is republished by LifeNews.com and SteadfastLutherans.org.
- After more investigation, it’s discovered that Thrivent Choice dollars, if given to Planned Parenthood, would be undesignated and therefore directly fund abortions. (Thrivent Does Not Have the Komen “Out”)
December 19th, 2013
- The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod issues a statement on the matter.
- The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod Reporter published a more detailed news story.
- The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod also issues a statement.
December 20th, 2013
- Thrivent issues a statement officially responding to the controversy. In their response, they remove Planned Parenthood from the list of eligible Thrivent Choice organizations.
- At the same time, Thrivent also temporarily removes all pro-life organizations from the program. (Thrivent’s Statement)
- My article “Thrivent’s Statement” is republished at LifeNews.com.
- The LCMS responds to Thrivent statement with a statement of their own.
- The LCMS Reporter publishes a follow-up news story.
- A list of the “temporarily suspended” organizations is published. (Download PDF)
- Christianity Today publishes a short story on the controversy.
- Christian Life Resources issues a statement on the controversy.
Ongoing
- Issues, Etc. has a half-hour open-lines discussion of the controversy. (12/20/13)
- Rev. Todd Wilken posts some thoughts about Thrivent’s resolution. (12/21/13)
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