Saturday, April 26, 2014

Classic Ichabod - Review of JP Meyer's Classic UOJ Textbook - The Fetid Womb of the Kokomo Statements

Monday, July 18, 2011

Review of J. P. Meyer - Ministers of Christ,
Revised Slightly and Re-Issued by NPH


Northwestern Publishing House
Ministers Of Christ-2 Corinthians
Author: Joh. P. Meyer

Ministers of Christ, Professor Joh. P. Meyer's commentary on Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, was first published in 1963 as part of the centennial celebration of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Almost fifty years later, Armin J. Panning, another professor of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and student of Meyer, has updated the commentary by incorporating the New International Version of the Bible where appropriate. This classic commentary continues to influence another generation of pastors and seminary students. The commentary features an exposition of the great thoughts of the divinely inspired writer, plus a study of the writing's emotional overtones. Size 6x9 inches. Hardcover. 313 pages. Published 2011. $42.50!

The publishing house blurb is correct about this being an influential book, so that would be one reason to buy it. The confusion and contradictions are the essence of the Synodical Conference segments still alive today. Except for working with Thrivent and ELCA, the ELS, Missouri, and WELS agree most of all on Universal Objective Justification, so neatly summarized above in the graphic.

Armin Panning, the retired seminary president and New Testament professor, supposed work on this revision, to smooth out the rough patches. He must have used the wrong side of the sandpaper.

I am trying to reconcile the Wisconsin slander against the two Kokomo families with this commentary. WELS has claimed that the Kokomo Statements are a parody of justification, but three of the four Kokomo statements are from this commentary, which WELS proudly reprinted.

No one can really understand the Wisconsin Sect until he realizes that they are willing to head-fake people about their own dogma, dogma so important that they excommunicate people just for asking questions about it, as they did with Joe and Lisa Krohn this year. I remember the Thought Police in the novel about Stalinism - 1984. WELS has Thought Police too.

UOJ from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
J. P. Koehler, John Schaller, and August Pieper earned their degrees at St. Louis, during the time Missouri and the Wisconsin Synod had a school sharing plan. Walther was an elder professor at the seminary when they were students, and Stoeckhardt was just starting to teach. Thus the Wauwatosa trio had their beginnings in Knapp-Walther UOJ dogma.


J. P. Meyer's Studies

J. P. Meyer studied at Northwestern College and the seminary in Wauwatosa. The seminary later moved to Thiensville, and moved again to Mequon, when the post office changed the Thiensville address to Mequon (an inexpensive move, but confusing to outsiders). The change to the new seminary was also significant for the Wisconsin Synod, because J. P. Koehler was fired as president of the school, during its construction. The Depression hit afterwards, so the synod was saddled with a large debt and a long stretch of bad economic news. John Brenner (Historic St. John Lutheran, Milwaukee) was president of the synod during those years.

Meyer was a parish pastor for six years, 1896-1902, spending the rest of his career teaching, except for one three-year spell at Oconomowoc.

His teaching career was long, ending in retirement and the writing of this book:
"1896-1902, pastor, St. Stephen, Beaver Dam, Wis.
1902-1903, professor and dean, Northwestern College
Nov. 26, 1903, married Lydia Reinke
1903-1915, professor, Dr. Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minn.
1915-1918, pastor, Oconomowoc, Wis.
1918-1920, president, DMLC
1920-1964, professor, Lutheran Seminary, first in Wauwatosa, then Thiensville (now Mequon), Wis.
1937-1953, president, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary
1963, published Ministers of Christ
Nov. 10, 1964, died at the age of 93."

Two Fatal Flaws
This book has two fatal flaws, which are overlooked, because he belongs to the unbroken line of UOJ promoters, from Knapp at Halle to Valleskey at Fuller.

Saint
One is the "status of saints." The Wauwatosa professors are supposed to be strictly exegetical, but this example, in the graphic, shows they were quite willing to write fiction and call it exegesis. The term "saint" in the New Testament is synonymous with "believer." Although this is widely known, NPH has chosen to footnote the problem as if it does not really matter.

The WELS spin on the term makes nonsense out of it, and this is no small matter. When the great Greek expert Panning is willing to be associated with such a farce, everything else is in doubt as well.

There are many hints, if not outright declarations, that the Wauwatosa men were willing to ignore all previous studies and declare their opinions to be derived from exegesis of the text. That is also another way of rejecting the Lutheran Confessions and Luther in favor of a tiny seminary that looked just like the Addams Family mansion - truly a cartoon version of Lutheran education.

I offer as additional proof, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the Sausage Factory attitude toward Lenski. The graduates sneer at Lenski without using his commentaries. They imagine the repetition of UOJ talking points will suffice for proclaiming the Gospel, but feel compelled to plagiarize from all kinds of false teachers. Apparently, their UOJ Gospel leaves them hungry - or just predatory.

The Scriptures were written to create and sustain faith, to provide God's own unchanging standard for truth. If their favorite dogmatics book cannot get a simple, obvious term right, the rest of the content is also suspect. That fact cannot be missed in the merging of atonement and justification.

Atonement and Justification - Not the Same
The second fatal flaw is impossible to miss. J. P. Meyer taught that the atoning death of Christ made everyone in the world free of sin. His parody of saint has this effect - every single person from that point on became a "guilt-free" saint...or sinner. Reading the statement in the graphic again will not straighten out the matter. The sinner is a saint, whether he ever believes or not, whether he even finds out about this mysterious status.

Worst of all - he has to make a decision. Will he accept or decline, once he hears this strange dogma?

Did the Three Kokomo Meyer Statements Survive Editing?
Yes, they did. One is in the graphic above. I created two more, so everyone has the information in graphical form.





Some Kokomo Narrative for the Newbies
The Kokomo episode began when Pastor Papenfuss began teaching UOJ in the congregation in Kokomo, Indiana. Thanks to some research from Name Withheld, we know that WELS used a Justification By Faith catechism for many decades, the Gausewitz, until it was replaced by the horrid UOJ Kuske catechism. Two families were upset by the new dogma being promoted by Papenfuss.

Look at the 1978 graduates with Papenfuss - Mark Jeske, Stroh, Starr, Schumann the Born-Again Atheist, Curia the UOJ Scribe, Jim Witte (DMin in CG), Marcus Manthey - Defender of Unfaith. And the faculty - no less than four UOJ fanatics: Gerlach (Fuller alumnus), Becker, Panning, and Kuske.

Although Papenfuss admitted to the families that he never heard of UOJ before The Sausage Factory (he may have said Mequon), he went ahead with excommunicating the two families who had questions. I was at the Hartmann farm talking to both men about this, and they copied the letters of excommunication for me.

The four Kokomo Statements came about this way. The families wrote down the three statements from Meyer's Ministers of Christ, which Papenfuss gave them to study. They added a fourth from their research. They said, "Is this what you are saying?" Papenfuss agreed with those statements. The letter of excommunication removed them for NOT agreeing with the statements.

The same Synod President who lied about the origin of the Kokomo statements also lied about the Tabor adultery and murder.

Either the families or someone else wrote around to WELS about this and it became a big deal inChristian News. The families appealed, which is always a waste of time in WELS, and Panning headed the board that backed UOJ. Sig Becker also gave papers defending and promoting UOJ.

The Kokomo Statements, 1979

J-580

I. "Objectively speaking, without any reference to an individual sinner's attitude toward Christ's sacrifice, purely on the basis of God's verdict, every sinner, whether he knows it or not, whether he believes it or not, has received the status of saint."

II. "After Christ's intervention and through Christ's intervention God regards all sinners as guilt-free saints."

III. "When God reconciled the world to Himself through Christ, He individually pronounced forgiveness to each individual sinner whether that sinner ever comes to faith or not."

IV. "At the time of the resurrection of Christ, God looked down in hell and declared Judas, the people destroyed in the flood, and all the ungodly, innocent, not guilty, and forgiven of all sin and gave unto them the status of saints."[34]
Footnote 34: "Every one of the statements can be understood correctly, even though one must swallow a little hard to accede to the fourth [Kokomo Statement]." Sigbert Becker, "Objective Justification," Chicago Pastoral Conference, WELS, Elgin, Illinois, November 9, 1982, unpaginated.
The letter sent to the two families quoted the statements and declared that the families were being expelled for denying those statements. Certain people have tried to confuse the issue by claiming the statements were made up by the expelled families to parody WELS doctrine. Three statements are almost verbatim from J. P. Meyer’s Ministers of Christ, now out of print. The fourth statement came from a controversy in the 19th century but was added by Pastor Papenfuss to the previous statements from J. P. Meyer. Although WELS has often backed away from the Kokomo statements, the synod continues to defend the content and reproduce the most obnoxious falsehoods found in them. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod teaches Kokomo justification in their seminary. After a layman wrote to Bethany Seminary professor John Moldstad Jr., the following statements appeared in the Evangelical Lutheran SynodLutheran Sentinel:

J-581
“When Paul uses the word ‘reconciling’ here, [2 Corinthians 5:19] he clearly means that forgiveness of sins is really imputed to ‘the world.’
            John Moldstad, Jr., “I have heard some Lutherans say they do not believe the Bible teaches objective justification. How can they assert this and still call themselves ‘Lutheran’?” Lutheran Sentinel, October, 1996, p. 11.[35] 
Footnote 35 says - "The alleged question sets a record for being prejudicial. The typical ELS member would never say something so idiotic, since most Lutherans react in shock and disbelief to the very concept Moldstad is trying to promote, that forgiveness comes without the Word, without repentance, without the Means of Grace, without faith. The article is a response to Dr. Peter Moeller questioning the validity of Objective Justification, enclosing articles on the topic from Pastor Vernon Harley. Moldstad sent a long, friendly letter to Moeller on August 6, 1996."
Using Orthodoxy To Merge Atonement and Justification
By using two justifications, object and subjective, Meyer confused the act of Christ in atoning for the sins of the world with God's declaration of innocence received in faith.

This double justification formula comes from the Halle Pietist Georg Christian Knapp, whose work was available in German and English before the American Luther Kidnapper landed in the Big Easy. SP Harrison loves to gush about Walther but cannot deal with Walther's many crimes. I dare say that Missouri would never let a criminal like that join their miniserium - unless he had a lot of money to offer. You know, like Thrivent and ELCA as ministry partners.

Ministers of Christ, starting on page 90, simply ignores the plain words of the Book of Concord, Luther, Calov, and Hoenecke to prove the assumption of two justifications. The argumentation is simply appalling.

Those who remain faithful to Justification by Faith, taught by Paul and Luther, should obtain this book to see the way in which plain statements are distorted to fit the UOJ agenda. I have discussed this with various people, including one who can speed read the dogmatics classics in Latin, translating into English faster than I can follow the original.

One explanation is mission creep. To express the atonement of Christ, some engage in exaggerations that compete with one another for absurdity. For example, Ed Preuss wrote that Hottentots are justified, that we are born already justified.

Another explanation came from Dr. Lito Cruz today. He mentioned being familiar with the UOJ categories and terms from Calvinism.
In contrast, I was not familiar with the fetishes of UOJ. The Augustana Synod opposed the Norwegians on UOJ, and the people I knew emphasized the efficacy of the Word rather than the glories of The Founder. (Only Missouri does that - to its shame and detriment.) Those who think and communicate in terms of Enthusiasm cannot maintain a Lutheran position. Nor can a sect or synod. The Enthusiasm spreads like cancer - to legalism, receptionism, Church Grow-ti-vation, and Pentecostalism.

Like bankers, we need to train people with sound doctrine - from the Book of Concord and the KJV, Luther and Chemnitz. Complaining about the counterfeit is not as effective as seeing the true Gospel and noticing how bizarre and stupid UOJ is, in comparison. Yes, UOJ is a fair copy of the Gospel, one that can fool just about any MDiv. But when UOJ is placed next to the Means of Grace, the efficacy of the Word, and justification by faith, Knapp's dogma is dull and toxic.

Deadly nightshade is closely related to tomato, which is another nightshade. The nightshade berries are delicate and attractive. Cows eat them and get sick. Nightshade berries are also black and ominous looking, especially when compared to the bright red and tomato cousin.

UOJ is especially toxic because it supplants rather than attacks. Atheists, like the former WELS CG experts, work by attacking the Christian faith. Far better to substitute a Gospel, when no one is looking, such as replacing Gausewitz with Kuske, or the KJV with the NIV, or Lenski with Meyer.

----

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Review of J. P. Meyer - Ministers of Christ, Revi...":

People should find it absolutely appalling that the (W)ELS and LCMS have established the false gospel of UOJ as their central and chief article, yet, they have no Confessional statement detailing this doctrine. Nothing. You cannot even get a common confession from 10 different (W)ELS pastors. Some will admit that it doesn't exist in the Lutheran Confessions. Seriously, where's the chapter on Universal (General) Justification in the Book of Concord where this doctrine is detailed in "this we confess" and "this we reject" statements?! They teach that without UOJ there is no gospel so how did the Lutheran Confessors miss this critical doctrine. They didn't because it isn't Scriptural.

Some will say it's in the BOC so ask your UOJ pastor to show you where it's at. They'll twist Confessional statements that are directed to believers and attributes the forgiveness of sins and justification to faith in Christ.

Quote the BOC in the following places and watch the smoke pour forth from the ears of those who've placed Synod above Christ, 6] Let any one of the adversaries come forth and tell us when remission of sins takes place. O good God, what darkness there is! They doubt whether it is in attrition or in contrition that remission of sins occurs. And if it occurs on account of contrition, what need is there of absolution, what does the power of the keys effect, if sins have been already remitted? Here, indeed, they also labor much more, and wickedly detract from the power of the keys. If the Keys, given by Christ to the Priesthood of believers, can forgive and retain sins - how then were they already forgiven without the Means of Grace, when Christ paid for the worlds sins - the true meaning of the Atonement.
http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_10_repentance.php

In desperation over the fact that the BOC doesn't contain the UOJ doctrine, they will tell you that the BOC was written to address the RCC's false teaching of works righteousness so the emphasis of the BOC was on "Subjective Justification" and not on "Objective Justification". Respond with the question, "Exactly when did the Roman Catholic Church accept the doctrine of UOJ which teaches the entire unbelieving world was declared forgiven, justified and righteous before and without faith or works?" Truth is that the introduction to the BOC states it contains all the chief articles of the Christian faith, even some like Election which were not under contention at the time.

Following those quotes, secure your excommunication from the (W)ELS and LCMS by quoting these BOC statements:
29. You cannot extricate yourself from unbelief, nor can the Law do it for you. All your works in intended fulfillment of the Law must remain works of the Law and powerless to justify in the sight of God, who regards as just only believing children.

74. But what is the process whereby Christ gives us such a spirit and redeems us from under the Law? The work is effected solely by faith. He who believes that Christ came to redeem us, and that he has accomplished it, is really redeemed. As he believes, so is it with him. Faith carries with it the child-making spirit. The apostle here explains by saying that Christ has redeemed us from under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons. As before stated, all must be effected through faith. Now we have discussed the five points of the verse.
http://www.trinitylutheranms.org/MartinLuther/MLSermons/Galatians4_1_7.html

If by the grace of God they turn in repentance to Christ and Scriptural Justification by faith alone, rejecting the false gospel of UOJ, apply the Key to absolve their sin and build them up in Christ alone, forsaking all others, including the Synod who taught them this false gospel in their grade school, high school, college and Seminary.

Classic Ichabod - Reason Enough To Post

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Reason Enough To Post




John has left a new comment on your post "Two Study Bibles, Almost Identical Titles":

Rev. Jackson,

I am not a learned person.

I am drawn to many of your posts, especially those on Justification. You back most posts up with thoughtful references that a reader can checkout for himself.

You speak of Justification in exactly the same terms as I was taught it in my youth.

You are, however totally missing the mark regarding THE LUTHERAN STUDY BIBLE.

Your posts on TLSB are simply digs at both the LCMS and the ELCA, and show that you have not cracked the cover of either The Lutheran Study Bible or Lutheran Study Bible.

The blog is, of course yours. You are free to post anything on it that you like and anyone who doesn't agree can take a hike. I get it.

What I am saying is that I respect your posts because you indicate your research and experience in most of them. That equals credibility.

Your comments on the two different Lutheran study Bibles, however show a total lack of any research into either of the books and give no insight to your readers who may be wondering about them.

We Lutherans have had to put up with reformed study Bibles forever, depending on our pastors to sort out the drek (sic - Dreck). Two 'Lutheran' study Bibles come out in the same year. I, for one was hoping for your usual, studied, informed comments. We get only sarcasm directed at ELCA and LCMS.

Again, this is your blog and you are certainly free to print anything you wish. In this instance, though I shall seek the counsel of one who has actually researched these two Bibles and is able to speak from that perspective.

I pray that you will bring your assessment of these two books up to the same level as your assessment of subjects such as Justfiication (sic).

God bless!!

Jack

***

GJ - I do not need to do any research on ELCA publications, especially Biblical ones. ELCA has a consistent Unitarian perspective on everything, so there is no need to do research there. They owned a number of copyrights they were glad to get rid of - Lenski, Sasse. The scholarly publications of Fortress used to make a big impact on the academic world, because they were well done (Barth, Tillich biographies) but that was decades ago. If John/Jack wants to buy the ELCA version and mail it to me, I will look it over and use it later for kindling.

I find the constant promotion of the Translation Du Jour wearisome. The English language does not change every week, so we hardly need 500 translations of the same Bible. How does anyone sort out the differences in text and language?

I linked a review to the CPH effort a few weeks ago. Paul McCain has not sent me my free review copy, so I have not seen his version. The blogger who had his own copy said the pages were so thin the print showed through - not good planning for someone "abolutely" crazy about fonts, etc (McCain). 

I brought up Missouri and ELCA working together because the issue is serious, not something to be overlooked by jaded moderns. I am afraid that Missouri now wants to be the LCA of the past - ordination of women, open communion, anything goes doctrine,  and welcoming Masons if they can find one under the age of 80, but none of that crazy stuff. Twenty years ago, the son of a pro-life LMCS activist was told never to bring up the abortion issue when he was a Missouri vicar. John Johnson, Otten's old pal at Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Louis, told vicars never to mention open communion, women leading worship, Pentecostalism, etc. Paul McCain did not want to hear that ELCA women seminarians were consecrating Holy Communion and baptizing babies at LCMS congregations. (How do I know? I stumbled upon the annual vicar boasts at Trinity Seminary, Columbus.)

In 1912, the captain of the Titanic wanted to earn a name for himself by crossing the Atlantic in record time, his last trip before retiring. He ignored all the warnings and ran full speed into an iceberg. Some think by reversing engines at the last minute he made matters worse. He did make a name for himself. People still talk about "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." That is precisely what most Lutheran leaders are doing at the moment.


Nils A. Dahl studied under Bultmann and defended his dissertation in Norway under Nazi occupation.

I had a great opportunity to study Biblical literature under Nils Dahl, Abraham Malherbe, and Robert Wilson at Yale. All three men emphasized the text of the Bible rather than the sterile Historical-Critical Method theories that still drive ELCA exegesis. HCM is a relic of the 19th century.

I would have more respect for CPH if Missouri had not published an NIV commentary where one of the editors (Hoerber) was not only anti-Lutheran but also HCM. I read his letters to Otten where he said, "Now that I am retired from the seminary, I can say anything I want." Another seminary professor, still active, told me when Johnson was the president, "Now we can teach anything we want."

Instead of demanding that I write a blog their way, some readers should start their own and use their real names. Ichabod is not required reading for anyone, but I hear it is read everywhere.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Thugs Rule WELS, So No Need For Masochists To Join The Episcopal Church


This law firm stole the property and endowment of Historic St. John in Milwaukee (former WELS)
so WELS could keep it empty, imitating the Episcopal Church in Milwaukee.
The abusive Wisconsin Sect tries so hard to prove me right. I recall warning Bishop Suffragen Steve Spencer that Gurgle was not necessarily the dream candidate for Synod President. After blowing through another windfall (The Schwan Indulgence), Gurgle had to be ushered out of office. 

The next dream candidate, Mark Schroeder, took even less time to make his predecessor look like Martin Chemnitz. Only Mark Schroeder could co-author a letter with future felon Joel Hochmuth condemning the homosexual libertines in ELCA, then publicly absolve Hochmuth for his hundreds of crimes against boys, who were raped so Joel could have his stash of photos and videos at WELS headquarters and at home.



The Edge of Edginess
I remember the WELS that denied being involved with the Church Growth Movement, of such there was none, according to WELS CG leader Wayne Mueller. At least they were ashamed of their vices in those golden years of Carl Mische, the Synod President who got away with covering up two murders - and God only knows what else.

Now the thugs are out of the closet, no longer hiding their evil desire to destroy Lutheran doctrine and worship. Compare and contrast - WELS Pastor Paul Rydecki wanted to discuss and debate justification by faith. Though promising to do so, Mark Schroeder's pal Jon-Boy Buchholz condemned Rydecki as a false teacher, kicked the congregation out of WELS, and foreclosed the property. The congregation stood behind sound doctrine and even took over the financing of the property.

The same Buchholz had been talked into signing a petition against Mark Jeske, but switched sides at the WELS convention and spoke in favor of Mark the Apostate. Birds of a feather. Likewise, Buchholz slowly pivoted from being a critic of Jeff Gunn and Rick Johnson to being an advocate who funded the false teachers and condemned their critics. Chameleons are normally found only in Africa, but clergy chameleons can be found everywhere.

Mark Schroeder changed from being a critic of the New NIV to endorsing all paraphrases as God-pleasing. Mark Jeske must have muttered at him, "Change or die!"

ELCA reduced its size by 20%
adopting the philosophy of Change or Die!


Change and Die!
Let us now consider the newest version of Change and Die! and harvest the wealth of hypocrisy in that event.

The first Change and Die conference was rather low-key, replacing the Church and Change conferences that Mark Jeske, Don Patterson, and John Parlow set up over the years. They even had registration set up for Church and Change conferences on the WELS website. Bishop Spencer told me the den of thieves had been dispersed, but I pointed out they were organizing via the official synod website. I kept reproducing the links until that went away - the link, but not the Changers. Later their public website went away, but their sub-groups multiplied faster than a malignant cancer.

I recall an early Change and Die! event - perhaps the first - being sponsored in an oblique way by Thrivent. Now it is  funded by the Siebert Foundation, which has $100 million to spend. From the beginning Change and Die! was ELCA plus WELS plus LCMS. The conference is always pan-Lutheran, with the ELS strangely missing. WELS does that with worship conferences, too. 

WELS is in fellowship with everyone except the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

"I wanna join Koine and earn $3,000 per gig."

Who speaks at these Change and Die conferences? First of all, ELCA clergy always do. Secondly, ELCA's female leaders also join the frolic. LCMS Church Growth gurus plan and speak. WELS Shrinkers always plan and speak.

Paul Kelm, WELS plagiarist of Fuller materials, has been fired and retired more than once. But he is back as a Visionary. He has more lives than Rasputin.

John Parlow was one of the original Church and Change organizers. Another was Steve Witte, now running the Asian porta-seminary. John Lawrenz, another Changer, headed the porta-seminary and stayed around to guide Witte during Steve's first year, lest Witte slip into Lutheran doctrine or some other bit of malpractice. 

Parlow used to post "his" sermons on his church websty. WELS clergy noticed they were almost verbatim from the sermons posted earlier by Babtists and others. Once I ran the comparison, with help from leakers, the sermons were taken down. Those who were interested had to pick them up at the office. No thanks, John, I will just Google "Babtist sermons."

For those who are geographically uninformed, Parlow and Witte are from the Anything Goes District, where Engelbrecht presided until his heart attack. Kelm was there, too. Fox Valley is where the foxes guard the henhouse. Fox Valley Lutheran High is where they invite an alcoholic and verbally abusive pastor to lecture the kiddies on sex education.



Engelbrecht praised clergy plagiarism in a formal paper, and backed Glende and Ski in excommunicating Rick Techlin for opposing plagiarism. So don't be so judgmental. In WELS, right is wrong, and wrong is right. Do this and you will live - in the synod - not necessarily in eternity.


Here is the irony - There are faithful pastors who could share their life-long experiences in being leaders in worship and doctrine. WELS and Missouri will have none of that. Instead, they glorify lifelong apostates who sit like Smaug on the synod treasury, to spend it on themselves, their luxuries and vices.

Therefore, the LCMS and WELS have devoted themselves to getting along with ELCA while training people to hate Lutheran doctrine and worship.

And they have the nerve to condemn a tiny little blog for speaking the truth about them. 



Episcopalian Thugs in Milwaukee

Virtue Online appreciates my Photoshop
of Presiding Bishop Jefferts-Schori.
They use it fairly often.


ELM GROVE, WISCONSIN: Three years later St. Edmund's still is empty
Thistles grow tall while vines wrap around the door

By Mary Ann Mueller 
VOL Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org 
April 24, 2014

In December 2011, the parishioners of St. Edmund's Anglican Church were preparing to joyfully celebrate the birth of their Saviour when a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge unceremoniously handed the sweeping church edifice and all surrounding buildings over to the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee as a Christmas present, giving the stunned congregation 24 hours to vacate the property. 

An immediate stay from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in Madison bought the congregants about 30 days, but by Jan. 31, 2012, they were tossed out into the winter snow along with their priest -- Fr. Samuel Scheibler -- and their preschool children.

Now another Easter has come and gone -- the third -- and St. Edmund's still stands empty. No one worships in the church. No one raises a voice in prayer, praise and song. The church is as silent as a tomb. The recently remodeled rectory is vacant, classrooms are gathering dust and the preschool has folded. Wild thistles are creeping towards the entrance and a vine enwraps the glass doors.

St. Edmund's is a classic example of a mid 20th Century modern church with a sweeping concrete hyperbolic paraboloid roof. The Elm Grove church was designed by noted Milwaukee architect William P. Wenzler and garnered much attention when it was completed in late 1957. The heavy swooping concrete roof extends 45 feet beyond the altar wall to draw the imagination heavenward. The unique roof was poured first; then the walls were built to complete the building.

Mid 20th Century modern architecture was heavy into exploring the aesthetic possibilities of reinforced concrete. Such modernistic churches dot not only the American landscape but are also architectural gems around the globe. 

There is more to St. Edmund's than a decaying awe-inspiring edifice. There is also a small, displaced congregation of loyal Anglicans who have been legally roughshod by the Diocese of Milwaukee in the name of protecting the "work and witness of The Episcopal Church."

In 1874, St. Edmund's Church was originally founded as an Episcopal congregation in Milwaukee. It eventually failed. In 1947 a new group of Christians formed in the Town of Brookfield, a western suburb of the City of Milwaukee. The Village of Elm Grove, with its tree-lined streets and manicured lawns, was carved out of the Town of Brookfield in 1955. 

Eventually, the growing Elm Grove congregation raised enough money to build a church of its own on land donated to them at 14625 Watertown Plank Road, Elm Grove's main thoroughfare, linking Milwaukee to Watertown. In 1957, the modern sweeping lines of what would become St. Edmund's took shape drawing the attention of many architectural publications and photo magazines.

Finally in 1962, the growing Elm Grove congregation voted to affiliate with the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee and was given charter by Bishop Donald Hallock (VIII Milwaukee) and revived the name of St. Edmund's Episcopal Church. 

In 1976, Fr. Wayne Carr Olmstead became St. Edmund's rector. For 30 years the beloved priest labored in Elm Grove. He preached the Word, celebrated the Sacraments and provided a shield between the increasing spiritual decline of The Episcopal Church and his southeastern Wisconsin parish. His church was closely connected with Nashotah House, just 20 miles away; Nashotah seminarians got of taste of the priestly parish life with Fr. Olmstead as their mentor.

In 2006 the congregation was shocked when Fr. Olmstead died. His ashes are buried at St. Edmund's ... but not for long.

Within two years, it became evident that the reality of the restyled Episcopal Church lead by Katharine Jefferts Schori was not the same as The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America under the leadership of theologically conservative native, Wisconsinite Arthur Lichtenberger, the presiding bishop in 1962 when St. Edmund's first joined Episcopal fold. By 2006, the Episcopal Church was in a theological freefall (both Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Vicky Gene Robinson [IX New Hampshire] were realities) and Anglicanism was fracturing over women's rights, sexual morality, and Biblical teaching. 

By 2008, the handwriting was on the wall. Membership was dwindling. In its heyday, the membership rolls topped 200. Later in that year, the membership of St. Edmund's voted to disaffiliate with The Episcopal Church and affiliate with CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America.) CANA’s Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns joyfully received them.

St. Edmund's vote to disaffiliate with The Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee and the larger Episcopal Church was 75 to nine -- clearly a super majority. The die was cast and St. Edmund's became the first Episcopal congregation in the State of Wisconsin to leave the mother church over theological differences and Biblical practice. 

On February 2009, Bishop Steven Miller (XI Milwaukee) swooped in and filed suit against the congregation demanding the property. Thus began a sad sorted saga of court battles that the Elm Grove congregation eventually lost. The Diocese filed against 15 members of the church -- priest, trustees, vestrymen, members -- as a part of The Episcopal Church's take no prisoners litigation style involving a dozen lawyers and more than 150 recorded court events including: motions, hearing, briefs, notices, various correspondence, responses, affidavits, dismissals, orders, stipulations, conferences, amendments, transcripts, and summary judgment stripping St. Edmund's parishioners of their property and holdings.

The Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee may have possession of St. Edmund's various buildings, its name and charter, but Bishop Miller doesn’t have the souls to keep the church open. In 2009, TEC's ASA graphs showed six members. At that time, St. Edmund's had the lowest ASA of the 57 Episcopal congregations in the Diocese of Milwaukee. TEC's latest 2012 membership graphs do not show any Episcopal presence in Elm Grove, the first in more than 65 years. St. Edmund's went from one of the largest and most vibrant churches in the Diocese of Milwaukee to the smallest. Sadly, it's on the verge of becoming just a footnote in Diocesan history. 

Since St. Edmund's Church members were forced out in January 2012, the building has remained empty. It was not a friendly parting. In addition to the unexpected ruling of Waukesha Country Circuit Court Judge J. Mac Davis evicting the parish, the Diocese, itself, was also rather harsh in their handling of the departure. It became a very messy spiritual divorce. 

One parishioner told VOL, "We ended up taking a lot of the contents that we had bought from the building and then they demanded we return everything to them ... that took a while ... they had a 15 or more page list of everything they wanted back ... including paper plates, paper cups, sugar, creamers and etc. (unbelievable!)," she recalled. "We had just redone (from top to bottom) the rectory ... our priest's office, the office for the secretary, the educational wing of the building for our day-care, added air conditioning, painted the kitchen, had all the floors professionally polished and redid the chapel in the basement."

After St. Edmund's parishioners were booted from their church, a local Missouri Synod school, Elm Grove Lutheran School, provided classroom space for the beleaguered and displaced Anglican congregation to settle while they licked their emotional and spiritual wounds and sought healing as they began their church-in-a-box experience. 

The displacement was devastating. Their priest was overwhelmed and ultimately moved on. One by one parishioners stopped coming -- they moved on, too. Eventually only about 20 souls remained as the Elm Grove Anglican Church struggled to regain spiritual footing. 

In early 2013, the Very Rev. Patrick Malone, an Anglican Benedictine priest, came to Wisconsin and took the struggling Elm Grove Anglicans under his wing. Slowly, the shell-shocked congregation and their new priest are re-establishing, stabilizing, painstakingly healing and gradually growing. 

On Easter Sunday, 52 souls attended worship at their new location at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregation, near the Milwaukee Zoo and Wisconsin Lutheran College, a liberal arts Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod school of higher learning. This time the Elm Grove Anglicans share the Lutheran worship space, not just use a parochial school classroom. This gives a big spiritual boost for the healing congregation to pray in a worship space. 

So far, Fr. Malone has been able to double the congregation's attendance figures and is working towards fostering the healing of the deep wounds that his parishioners received during the brutal litigation process. Eventually, he would like to see his congregants spiritually and emotionally healed and get beyond that into making disciples in the Milwaukee area.

"We want to get everybody healed and then we need to let the past go so we can fulfill the Great Commission," Fr. Malone explained. 

The small re-establishing Elm Grove Anglican group has adopted the name Holy Cross Anglican Church and remains a part of CANA. The new name was chosen after much prayer and discernment to reflect the fact that Christ's redemptive act took place on the Cross and that the displaced Anglicans, too, have experienced their own cross in dealing with the Diocese of Milwaukee and the litigation process. 

However, the Diocese of Milwaukee is not done inflicting pain on the former St. Edmund's group. Bishop Miller has announced that he has intensions of selling the vacant church on Watertown Plank Road -- all in the name of furthering Episcopal ministry within the Milwaukee diocese. 

In a form letter penned by the Canon to the Ordinary, Canon David Pfaff explains that the diocesan Executive Council recommends that St. Edmund's "be offered for sale, with the proceeds from any sale being used to support the future ministry of other congregations throughout the diocese." 

Therein lies a problem. St. Edmund's has a burial garden for cremated ashes and about 50 former parishioners are buried at their beloved church including their much-loved former rector Fr. Olmstead. 

The Diocese proposes to transfer the ashes to St. Alban's, another Episcopal church in nearby Sussex with a 2012 ASA of 30 hardy Episcopal souls. The church dates back to 1837 and has an attached churchyard in which to reinter St. Edmund's parishioners' ashes. 

The Diocese plans a Clergy Workday on May 22 in which the "priests and deacons from around the diocese will gather in the spirit of prayer and reverence to unearth the ashes as carefully as possible." 

This plan is not sitting well with former St. Edmund parishioners.

"The people are devastated," a former St. Edmund's parishioner lamented. "...that was their loved one's final resting place and they [the parishioners] have no choice ... now they [the Diocese] want to dig up all the graves and take them to a church in Sussex, Wisconsin that has a cemetery."

Canon Pfaff explained that the cost of transferring the ashes would be borne by the Diocese. Former St. Edmund's parishioners who had a spot reserved for their own ashes were assured there would be a place for them at St. Alban's.

"If, however, in light of these developments you would like to make alternative arrangements the Diocese will reimburse you whatever was paid to reserve the spot at St. Edmund's," Canon Pfaff wrote. "Unfortunately, the financial records that would indicate what was paid, and by whom, to reserve those spots, were lost in the course of legal proceedings ..." 

The Diocese of Milwaukee plans to have a re-internment ceremony on Trinity Sunday. It is to be lead by Bishop Miller.

"Please know that all those, living and dead, who have been a part of St. Edmund's Church over the years are kept in prayer," Canon Pfaff wrote.

Canon Pfaff did not return a call from VOL.


Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Jeske's Koine Band Charges Congregations $3,000 - Watch the Rest of the Edgy Christian Crowd To Follow Jars of Clay



Jars of Clay Frontman Comes Out in Support of Homosexual ‘Marriage’

 

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JarsofClayIn a series of assertive Tweets yesterday, Dan Haseltine of the popular band Jars of Clay took to his Twitter account and came out in support of homosexual ‘marriage,’ citing that he does not “particularly care about Scripture’s stance on what is ‘wrong.’”
Haseltine, who is the lead singer of Jars of Clay and whose band became famous for its Christian-themed music, posted to his Twitter account on Wednesday: “Not meaning to stir things up BUT… is there a non-speculative or non ‘slippery slope’ reason why gays shouldn’t marry? I don’t hear one.”
“I’m trying to make sense of the conservative argument. But it doesn’t hold up to basic scrutiny. Feels akin to women’s suffrage. I just don’t see a negative effect to allowing gay marriage. No societal breakdown, no war on traditional marriage. Anyone?” he went on to argue.
“I don’t think Scripture ‘clearly’ states much of anything regarding morality,” Haseltine stated.
According to Matthew 19:4-5, Jesus defined marriage in referring back to Genesis 2:24, ”…Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?’”
Scripture also addresses homosexual behavior in both the Old and New Testaments, warning that immoral sexual activity will lead to death and eternal damnation.
Haseltine argued in one post, however: “I think the vast interpretation [of Scripture] has left room for people to deal inhumanly and unlovingly toward others that don’t fit their guidelines.”
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“I don’t particularly care about Scriptures stance on what is ‘wrong,’” he stated in another Tweet. “I care more about how it says we should treat people.”
Jars of Clay was formed in Tennessee in the ’90s and is considered one of the most popular and acclaimed contemporary Christian bands today. In 1995, their self-titled debut album was a major success for the group, reaching beyond Christian radio play to secular audiences.
The group’s single Flood received heavy secular radio airplay and reached #12 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and #37 on the Hot 100 pop chart. It’s debut album has achieved double-platinum sales in the U.S. since its release, while the group has scored 20 top 10 singles on the contemporary Christian singles charts.
However, Haseltine says that some stations have now decided to stop playing the band’s music due to his recent statements, and some fans have erased Jars of Clay from their music library.
“Caught wind that some radio stations have pulled my music and people are deleting my music from their playlists,” he Tweeted on Thursday. “Why?”
“Because you have decided to support a lifestyle God calls an abomination,” one follower responded. “The fallout was inevitable.”