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| Worship does not have to be Christ-centered, Means of Grace, and dignified, where we worship God in the beauty of His Holiness. DP Degner has freed Minnesota of all that boring stuff. |
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| Minnesota DP Charles Degner is one of the two DPs lined up for the Jeske Mystical Experience. Jon-Boy Buchholz bailed out. |
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| Starting at the extreme Left: Jon-Boy, then Degner, Pope John's get-along go-along brother, Mark-and-Avoid Jeske, Anti-Means of Grace Guy (Who Cares), and SON. |
http://pollutedwels.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-travesty-examined-part-nine.html
Mr. Douglas Lindee said...
Pilgrim Lutheran is the "St. Mark Church of DePere" of the Twin Cities. They have the full blessing of the DP. Always have. I recall, many years ago, a former pastor of mine returning from a service at Pilgrim, nearly livid. Not only was the band mounted in the front of the assembly area facing the audience -- in the location and orientation normally taken by Called Ministers of the Word as they address the congregation by the command and in the stead of Christ -- but members of that band would spontaneously preach their own mini-sermons to the congregation, or engage in impromptu "ex corde" prayer, on themes related to the subject of the music they were singing at the audience. Worse, the most dominant "worship minister" during his visit was one of the female vocalists... No problem with that sort of thing in the WELS anymore, though. Not in their district.
This "SON Band" looks pretty young. They must be new. Several years ago, it was the in-thing for older men to be leading these bands. At least there was some maturity present... HA! One woman from our congregation was mortified, however: "Look at these gray haired old men! With pony-tails and electric guitars!! In church!!! What a bunch of overgrown children!!!" Yeah, other guys that age just go out and buy a corvette... it's called mid-life crisis...
Anyway, the worship entertainment scene in the Twin Cities seems to be a fairly tight-knit. I have several evangelical friends and family members involved. Everyone seems to know everyone else, especially the groups that have been around awhile. I know that they often go places to hear each other play, will jam or practice together, will even flip gigs with each other and trade band members. I recall -- again, awhile back, now -- that there was a flap with one WELS band regarding this kind of involvement with Evangelical "worship ministers." Someone suggested that there might be a Fellowship issue involved by "worshiping" with, and "practicing for worship" with these other non-WELS, non-Lutheran "worship ministers", especially given that in many cases there was joint prayer and study of the Scriptures involved. The responses I heard were something like, "Na, we're just tradin' licks" or "Na, we're just bouncing musical ideas off one another" or "Don't you think they would benefit from the influence of a REAL Christian, I mean, like, you know, a WELS Lutheran?" or "It's our Evangelism ministry" or ... a whole host of excuses which made it very plain that (a) these musicians see very clearly that what they do is not worship, per se, it is entertainment in a worship venue, and that (b) these worship entertainers view themselves as Ministers of the Word. The only things that makes what they do "worship" is the venue (because if they did the same thing in a saloon they wouldn't see it as worship at all) and the fact that they have appointed themselves Ministers of the Word, and thus spiritual leaders of those they find themselves addressing through their entertainment efforts.
This "SON Band" looks pretty young. They must be new. Several years ago, it was the in-thing for older men to be leading these bands. At least there was some maturity present... HA! One woman from our congregation was mortified, however: "Look at these gray haired old men! With pony-tails and electric guitars!! In church!!! What a bunch of overgrown children!!!" Yeah, other guys that age just go out and buy a corvette... it's called mid-life crisis...
Anyway, the worship entertainment scene in the Twin Cities seems to be a fairly tight-knit. I have several evangelical friends and family members involved. Everyone seems to know everyone else, especially the groups that have been around awhile. I know that they often go places to hear each other play, will jam or practice together, will even flip gigs with each other and trade band members. I recall -- again, awhile back, now -- that there was a flap with one WELS band regarding this kind of involvement with Evangelical "worship ministers." Someone suggested that there might be a Fellowship issue involved by "worshiping" with, and "practicing for worship" with these other non-WELS, non-Lutheran "worship ministers", especially given that in many cases there was joint prayer and study of the Scriptures involved. The responses I heard were something like, "Na, we're just tradin' licks" or "Na, we're just bouncing musical ideas off one another" or "Don't you think they would benefit from the influence of a REAL Christian, I mean, like, you know, a WELS Lutheran?" or "It's our Evangelism ministry" or ... a whole host of excuses which made it very plain that (a) these musicians see very clearly that what they do is not worship, per se, it is entertainment in a worship venue, and that (b) these worship entertainers view themselves as Ministers of the Word. The only things that makes what they do "worship" is the venue (because if they did the same thing in a saloon they wouldn't see it as worship at all) and the fact that they have appointed themselves Ministers of the Word, and thus spiritual leaders of those they find themselves addressing through their entertainment efforts.
Conference of Presidents
The Conference of Presidents (COP) of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is composed of the presidents of each of the twelve districts, plus the synod president, the first vice president, and the second vice president. The WELS recording secretary serves as secretary and as an advisory member of the Conference of Presidents.
Members of the Conference of Presidents pictured:
Back row, from left: Rev. Charles Degner (MN District), Rev. John Seifert (MI District), Rev. Donald Patterson (SC District), Rev. Ted Lambert (PNW District), Rev. Jon Buchholz (AZ-CA District), Rev. John Guse (SA District), Rev. Douglas Engelbrecht (NW District) and Rev. David Rutschow (SEW District)
Back row, from left: Rev. Charles Degner (MN District), Rev. John Seifert (MI District), Rev. Donald Patterson (SC District), Rev. Ted Lambert (PNW District), Rev. Jon Buchholz (AZ-CA District), Rev. John Guse (SA District), Rev. Douglas Engelbrecht (NW District) and Rev. David Rutschow (SEW District)
Front row, from left: Rev. Peter Naumann (D-M District), Rev. Earle Treptow (NE District), Rev. James Huebner (First Vice President), Rev. Mark Schroeder (President), Rev. Joel Voss (Second Vice President), Rev Herbert Prahl (WW District), Rev. Donald Tollefson (NA District), and Rev. Robert Pasbrig (Recording Secretary)
Each of the district presidents also serves as a parish pastor and is responsible for supervision of doctrine and practice within his district. The district presidents authorize ordinations and installations in the district, record transfers, and report calls and service changes. They supervise circuit pastors and fill vacancies on district boards and committees. They chair their district conventions at least biennially. No one is in state prison at the moment.
The Conference of Presidents serves as the Assignment Committee, assigning first calls to graduates of Martin Luther College and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. They also assign vicars and tutors. The Conference of Presidents approves the solicitation of funds for support of synodical programs. They make necessary appointments as prescribed by the synod bylaws. The COP appoints the contributing editors of Forward in Christ magazine.
The group generally meets face-to-face four times per year. In addition, they hold monthly teleconferences and members keep each other informed of what is happening in the districts via regular e-mail contact.
