Authors Exposed! - WELS Documented Blog

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Finally, Introducing the WELS Documenters

We're sure that Pastor Spencer welcomed us back a few days ago because he's convinced that we are Matthias, a WELS pastor, who gained quite the following for a few months this past summer with the Polluted WELS blog. Sorry, Pastor Spencer, we aren't Matthias. And no, we live nowhere near the Arizona-California District of WELS.

Fact is, there are two of us who are part of this blog. The one who controls most of the content of this blog is a former WELS member who still has family members in the WELS. WD1 is gifted with computers and internet searches. She's able to find much more that's documented about WELS than this old pastor ever could on his own.

Yes, WD2 is a pastor with a number of decades in the WELS ministry. I've appreciated the recent efforts of the Intrepid Lutherans editors and Matthias at Polluted WELS to sound the alarm on the dangerous territory some within our church body seem intent on stepping. Yet, as you can tell from our earliest posts, we don't intend WELS Documented to be a WELS-negative blog. We'd like this blog to simply be a place where you can information about what's going on in the WELS.

WD1 and WD2 work independently from one another. We don't have editorial meetings and we don't spend hours mapping out the direction of this blog. So from time to time you may even find the two of us disagreeing respectfully. What WD1 posts may not be what WD2 would post, but if it's about what's happening in WELS, then it's fair game to report and discuss.

WELS Documented, I'm sure, will evolve from day to day since we really don't have a business plan for it. That said, WD2 would love for this blog to be a grass roots blog. We welcome people from around the WELS to email us at welswatch@gmail.com. Tell us what's happening in your congregation, circuit, and conference. Whatever you tell us, though, you must be able to document. We can only discuss that which we know to be true.

We aren't trying to be a competitor of Forward in Christ. It is the official magazine of the WELS. Let's face it, FIC  would never consider publishing anything critical of the WELS. Though we don't want to only be negative here, constructive criticism is necessary for any organization, even the WELS.

For reasons of our own, neither of us intend to reveal our identities at this time. This may change, especially for me, but for now we simply wish to facilitate the exchange of information and discussion.

WD2

Shewell-Cooper Had It Right Decades Ago

I found Compost Gardening by W. E. Shewell-Cooper at a bargain price on Amazon (used). The book was printed in 1974, and I read it at the Grace Dow Library in the 1980s. The library was my education in all forms of gardening, organic and anti-organic.

Note:

When I first started gardening in the early 1970s, I discovered a fascinating book entitled The ABC of Soils, Humus and Health. The author, Dr Wilfred Edward Shewell-Cooper, was an early organic gardening campaigner and pioneer of what he called the ‘no-dig’ gardening system, which advocated growing vegetables directly into beds of compost spread over the lawn, without the need to dig the ground. 

In 1966, he founded The Good Gardeners Association, which survives to this day. Shewell-Cooper was a devout Christian and the original meaning of the word ‘good’ in the organisation was taken to mean that members of the association were good because they carried out God’s plan for the soil. The title for one of his many books was ‘God Planted a Garden’, in which every reference in the Bible that relates to the principles of organic gardening and good soil management has been extracted and made relevant. However, whilst many Christian gardeners were attracted to the GGA, today this theological emphasis is no longer relevant to the Association’s aims. 

Shewell-Cooper was born in 1900 at Waltham Abbey, where his father was a major in the Royal Artillery and assistant superintendent at the town’s Royal Mills gunpowder factory. The family later moved to Blackheath, then Penarth, where Shewell-Cooper’s father was stationed. Before the outbreak of WW1, the family moved to South Africa, later returning to Britain where he studied at Monkton Combe School, near Bath. 

Shewell-Cooper’s early interest in gardening took him to Wye College, where he achieved a Diploma in Horticulture. His long and illustrious career in horticulture included Principal of The Horticultural Training Centre at Thaxted, Command Horticultural Officer, S.E. and Eastern Command from 1940 to 1948, Director of the Horticultural, Educational and Advisory Bureau, Horticultural Superintendent at Swanley College, Horticultural Advisor to Warwickshire and Cheshire County Councils and Gardening Editor, BBC Northern Region. He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, although his greatest accomplishment was being awarded the MBE.

It was while managing the training centre at Thaxted that Shewell-Cooper, together with his Australian wife, Irene, and son, Ramsay, set up at a market garden to test his organic ‘no-dig’ theories. Ten years later, in 1960, the family moved to Arkley Manor, in Herfordshire, which became the headquarters of The Good Gardeners Association. The ten-acre garden was the research showcase for his ‘no dig’ system, being visited by thousands of keen gardeners interested to follow his organic gardening ideology. 

Shewell-Cooper brought out the British gardener in me -
quirky methods that work.

So it was fun to read the book again, and the book was just as I remembered it from 30 years ago, including his reference to humus as that substance from which God formed Adam. 

I was reading about organic gardening and earthworms at the time - and trying them out - so his argument about using compost as the ultimate mulch made perfect sense. Ruth Stout wrote about gardening in the midst of mulch, and that made even more sense. Mulch becomes compost, serving not only as an immediate weed barrier but also as compost as it weathers and rots.

Beastly Winter Not So Beastly in Springdale

We were told repeatedly about how awful winter was going to be. So far we have only had a snow that melted on impact. A hard freeze gave way to a thaw and this week - two days of rain.

I took the latest donation of newspapers and spread them out in the rain, so they would get soaked. It is a good time to add another row to the vegetable garden. I will line up the newspapers, wet and thick, and cover them with wet leaves, to hold them down. That will give me a new row to plant in the spring, reclaiming even more lawn for the garden.

Sow Abundantly, Reap Abundantly - So I Order Abundantly

Paul's advice to the Corinthians is related to good gardening practice, just the opposite of seed marketing, where they sell tiny packets for outrageous prices. They figured our the Keurig tactic (individual cups of coffee, based on $50 a pound costs) long ago. A little here, a little there. Soon the budget is gone and there are tiny little rows of this and that, a garden for ants.

I am sticking to some basic favorites and planting large amounts of them, so I will order pounds of giant sunflower seeds, for a green fence, pounds of edible pod pea seeds, for an early crop, plenty of Silver Queen corn. Since I will have large amounts seed, I can plant it all over instead of running out. And I am sure our helper would like some, and his children could create their own garden.

2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Congregations and denominations chase fads, using the Keurig approach, something for everyone, whatever seems popular at the moment. Lenski observed this, and he was active in the parish a century ago. "Fads come and go, but only the Word builds up the church."

Faddish ministers do not visit their members with the Word. They do not use the Word of God for evangelism, since marketing gimmicks seem so nifty. They avoid the Word of God in sermons, because someone will be offended. Moreover, why would a congregation or denomination use the Word when they are so far removed from it? The purpose of an apostate denomination is to advance the latest fads and flog the congregations for not cheering with loud Hosannas.

I Would Give It a a Five Ewwww Rating

WELS Pastor Richard Starr and WELS poster boy Scott Barefoot
jointly wrote this book,
Starr's second opus on gaiety.
Speaking the Unspeakable was Starr's first.

To Predict Lutheran Synod Losses - Look at the Episcopalian Church. Abominations Continue Unabated by Common Sense or the Scriptures

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
December 5, 2014

Before we end the year, it is important to tell the one single truth about the Episcopal Church that no one else will tell you: the pansexualists, who have driven the agenda over the past 40 years, have had just one goal -- the complete emancipation of the Episcopal Church from biblical morality and traditional sexual ethics. They don't care about what it costs, the damage they have caused, the consequences of their actions or the Church's ultimate demise. 

Beginning with Louie Clay (nee Crew), the one goal has been to destroy Christian marriage as we know it and usher in an age of (pan)sexual inclusivity that "broadens" marriage to make it mean whatever you want it to mean and thereby declare victory that God has spoken in and through General Convention resolutions (but not necessarily the Holy Spirit) and thus turn the Church upside down on sexuality.

By any standard, it has been an enormous success. They don't care if, in the course of pushing their sexual agenda, The Episcopal Church dies; they really don't care. They will have gotten what they wanted and to hell with anything else. Those parishioners still sitting in the pews will have been so dumbed down they won't know what has happened to them, even when the last geriatric is carried out of the last parish in a pine box, the final prayers said and the church doors are forever shuttered.

For pansexualists their identity is> their sexuality. It is not to be found in Christ. He has nothing to do with it. Their identity is totally caught up in what they think they are. They have become blinded by sex as the all-embracive issue; the future existence of the church be damned.

Most modern historians agree that within a generation there will be little that is left of The Episcopal Church. The deeper truth is that the pansexualists don't care if the Church dies; it is not their problem. Those gay and lesbian bishops and priests who have bought into and pushed the sodomist agenda will have either retired on fabulous pensions or died; it will be too late to repent. Spong's theological revolution will also die with him, never more to be remembered except as a footnote to an historian's bibliography. Future archaeologists will marvel that a Church could set out to destroy itself.

*****

Full time Church Positions in The Episcopal Church have dropped by 20%. Part-time clergy has risen by 10%, the Church Pension Group reports.

The combination of the two trends is changing the landscape of work and retirement for clergy. First, the proportion of part-time and bi-vocational clergy has been steadily increasing. CPG data indicates that the number of part-time clergy has increased by 10% in the last five years, while the number of full-time positions has fallen by 20%.

Second, the increase in late ordinands is even more marked. In 1980, 63% of those ordained to the priesthood were under 35, and fewer than 5% were over 55. By 2013, only 23% of those ordained were under 35, and nearly 40% were 55 or older.

From such little acorns at Northwestern College

do great big rotten oaks grow.

***

GJ - I link Virtue Online because it is well written and constantly updated. More importantly, all the trends David Virtue tracks in the Episcopal Church are visible in the Lutheran synods.

The WELS DPs are better friends with ELCA than they are with their own clergy and members. 

The Jeske mob has complete control of WELS, just as the equivalent bunch manages the LCMS. SP Mark Schroeder is just as useful and compliant as Gurgle was before him. 

The ELCA leaders - seated - American and Canadian,
are progressive and sensitive and all that,
so why is CLC associate Horst W. Gutsche working for them?

WELS Documented - DP Jon Buchholz Caves Again to the Jeske Mob - So Does the Coven of Presidents. But He Was Like Granite on UOJ

We trust that Koine will get their usual $3,000 fee to show up,
plus the chance to sell their dubious musical monstrosities.

Friday, December 5, 2014

DP Buchholz Responds to Christian Leadership Experience

District President Jon Buchholz responds to his involvement with the 2015 Christian Leadership Experience.

Arizona - California District WELS Report of the District President 
October  2014

2015  Christian  Leadership  Experience.
A  number  of  parasynodical  organizations  are  sponsoring  a  Christian  Leadership Experience  (CLE)  in  Scottsdale,  Arizona,  to  be  held  January  9-11,  2015.  I  was  asked  to  do  the  opening  worship  service  for  the conference,  and  initially  I  agreed  to  do  so.  When  the  web  site  was  published,  however,  and  some  of  the  initial  promotional material  for  the  conference  was  brought  to  my  attention  by  pastors  in  our  district,  I  asked  the  conference  organizers  to  be  permitted  to  withdraw  from  participation.  My  concerns  stemmed  primarily  from  the  teaching  roles  that  women  were  being placed  into,  in  which  it  appeared  that  they  would  be  teaching  scriptural  truths  to  men;  the  use  of  outside,  non-WELS speakers  to  address  the  assembled  church  on  leadership;  and  some  egregious  language  from  the  church  growth  movement.  

Since  withdrawing  from  participation  in  the  conference,  I  have  meet  with  representatives  of  the  conference  organizers  both by  phone  and  face to face  to  discuss  these  concerns,  and  two  conference  representatives  met  with  the  entire  COP.  Several  of the  promotional  abstracts  on  the  conference  website  have  been  rewritten.  I  am  completely  confident  that  the  conference  organizers  have  good  intentions  and  want  to  make  the  CLE  a  positive experience  to  help  with  leadership  development  in  the WELS.  I  was  asked  by  a  member  of  my  own  congregation  if  there  were  any  barriers  to  promoting  the  event  in  the congregations  of  the  Phoenix  Valley,  and  I  am  aware  of  none.  More  information  about  the  event  is  available  at ChristLead.org.

District Report: http://azcadistrict.com/sites/default/files/reports/2014-10%20AZ-CA%20District%20President%27s%20Report.pdf

--end of report--

2015 Christian Leadership Experience: Grow. Lead. Impact.
http://www.christlead.com/about.php

A Christian leadership event focused on: Organizational Leadership, Global Health Ministry and Mission Volunteerism.

ABOUT THE 2015 CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE:

Christian Leadership Experience

The 2015 Christian Leadership Experience is a gathering of Christ focused service organizations to exchange ideas on a variety of leadership topics. This joint effort of Grace In Action, Kingdom Workers, The Lutheran Home Association, Time of Grace and Truth in Love Ministry together with the Antioch Foundation will have something to offer everyone. The goal is to provide tangible, real world leadership tools which attendees could implement in their home congregations and communities immediately.

We are working with world class speakers, presenters and facilitators. This diverse group has extensive experience in cross-cultural ministry, using technology to spread the Gospel, health ministry, and much more. There will be workshops on transformational leadership of churches, public health initiatives and funding campaigns for building projects.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
    Heretics, Church and Changers. Women Ordination Advocates

    ELCA wannabees

    Unionists, Peculators,
    Young professionals, business & ministry leaders and aspiring leaders
    Health workers of all disciplines
    All interested in participation in mission work
    Congregation Presidents and leaders
    Those interested in cutting edge evangelism techniques
    Everyday Christians who want to learn about letting your light shine in a secural world
    Anyone working in a cross-cultural setting

    Anyone who will pay the fee

    Anyone who can fog a mirror - seriously

---

DP Buchholz sold his soul in 2005 when he gave his blasphemous conference paper on Justification to the WELS called workers and clergy attending the Convention.  In that paper he went to war with Christ and His chief article of one Justification solely by the gracious gift of faith in Christ alone.  He also presented the most blatantly contradictory statements promoting justification, the forgiveness of sins, without faith and then confirming Scripture doesn't teach what he was peddling.  Unsuccessful at completely dislodging faith in Christ from within his district he executed a flanking move on God's only Son by excommunicating faithful and Confessional Pastor Paul Rydecki from the WELS in 2012 - splitting his congregation in the process.  Buchholz has shown himself to be a hireling and goat herder.  No surprise that he continues to be the lick-spittle of the apostate crowd in the so-called Lutheran denominations and WELS in particular.

In Christ,

Brett Meyer

Maria Morgan's Children's Book - Louie's Big Day. Illustrated by Sherrie Molitor

Maria Morgan has published a great book for children -
Louie's Big Day.

Maria Morgan's smile may look familiar, because she is the daughter of Norma Boeckler, our artist-in-residence, who also publishes on Amazon.

I have always enjoyed children's literature - and that did not stop when I was all growed up. Those who enjoy reading have favorites they read again and again. Not surprisingly, famous authors often mention their favorite authors, such as Nesbit and Twain. The Wind in the Willows is the Moby Dick of children's literature, so full of insight, drama, and humor that it should be read annually.

Children's books are easier to read than to write. Anyone who accomplishes this task must be creative and yet convey ideas and images in simple, plain terms.

Maria Morgan's Louie-the-Lawnmower page.

I downloaded Louie's Big Day as a Kindle e-book. That may be a handy format for the techno-grandparent, especially one who travels. Reading books to children is the best way to give them a good start in education. The experience bonds parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren.

My mother read books to us children, and I still remember choking back tears when Lassie was struggling to come home. In grade school our teachers often read to us, although we could read the same books. The practice kept us all still and we thought about the story as we heard the words.

Reading imaginative books and biographies will fuel a child's interest, provide a large vocabulary, and establish a base for learning that will never be satisfied. Did our grade school teachers realize that three of us from the same class would earn graduate degrees at Yale, in music and theology? If not, they certainly helped us get started.

I read books and stories to our children, leading to many inside jokes that still make a 40 year old son laugh. "It rained bricks and mortar for two weeks" - Mark Twain. "Attercop" - a terrible insult to spiders in Tolkien's The Hobbit. And the great battle cry - "A mole! A mole!" - The Wind in the Willows.

Louie the Lawnmower's big day concerns his first day home as a lawnmower. The lawnmower is personified, which is great fun for children. I can picture a child looking at the book and getting involved from the start, with such beautiful and vivid illustrations by Sherrie Molitor.

Louie is nervous about his first day mowing the lawn. Would he like it? Would he be allergic?

This takes the reader to a flashback, his days at the hardware store, with a drawing of all his friends waving goodbye to him.

Naturally, Louie is nostalgic about all the pranks they played at night. What follows next is a lot of fun, especially since children love messes. Everything is cleaned up before opening time, so the secret is safe.

So Louie's first day begins with sadness about the good old days, but he gets into the job and enjoys it, doing it well. A number of pages describe his work and the satisfaction he feels. But he misses his friends.

I thought this was a good story with great illustrations at this point, great for discussions with a child. "Can you imagine all that grass being cut?"

But the story is not done. The trunk pops open, and there are his friends in the trunk, ready to create new memories.

The book ends with questions to use at home and in a Christian day school.

Parents and grandparents will love this book, and teachers will enjoy using it in school. I hope many more books like this will come out in a series.

Order Louie's Big Day here.

Hi! I'm Maria -

I guess you could say I was born with an active imagination. Combine that with a love for reading, and the possibilities are endless.

My Mom read all kinds of books to my brother and me when we were young. Some of our all-time favorites were by Dr. Seuss – Green Eggs & Ham, andSneetches on Beaches. 

Although my formal education is in Corporate Wellness and Nutrition, my real love is writing. I started out as an inspirational author and speaker for adults. Now I've widened my circle to include kids.

No matter what the age of my audience, my goal is the same:

 To share God's truths and make an eternal difference.

I live in the muggy South with my husband, two retrievers, and two Maine coon kitties – the perfect mix to fuel my creativity for years to come!

Fun Facts About Me:

 

*One of my favorite things to do as a kid was come up with adventures for our stuffed animals to act out.

 

*We couldn't have pets when I was growing up because my brother was allergic to them. I'm making up for that now!

 

*I won the Distinguished Student Science Award when I was in 9th grade.

*There are still several boxes in our basement I haven’t unpacked since moving to our house 15 years ago!

*Even though my degree is in the health field, I have the biggest sweet tooth ever!

*When I’m not writing I enjoy: reading, shopping (especially for shoes!), exercising, and baking.

 

 

(You can find my devotionals and download a free copy of my eBook, God Speaking, here.)

Connect with me:

Website 

Facebook 

Twitter

Pinterest  

---

What people are saying:

"Louie's Big Day! delighted me! I thought the idea was unique, the writing superb, and the illustrations professionally done. All through the book I kept thinking, 'I'd love to give this to my friends with young children.' Maria Morgan has a winner here, and I can't wait to see what she does with future Louie books." ~ SUSAN J. REINHARDT, author

"My grandkids loved the book Louie's BIG day! It is a book we will be reading often! After reading we all enjoyed the questions at the end of the book. It made for some great discussions about God making us for a special purpose and facing our fears. Also, how important friends are in our life. Five stars from our family!" ~ DARLENE KING, mom & grandmother

"Toy Story gave us the secret life of toys...now Louie's BIG day! gives us the secret life of yard tools! Small and big fry alike will get a chuckle out of Maria Morgan's charming little tale, with equally delightful illustrations by Sherrie Molitor, as Louie faces natural nerves over his first real job and the sadness of leaving his friends behind, only to revel in the joy of performing his designed calling. With a "Lesson Corner" and link to a free audiobook at the end." ~

L. M. WINBORNE, writer