WELS laity do not understand that their clergy constantly deceive them - a legacy of the hazing system. The hazing does not simply begin at Mequon, but at the prep and college level. The future pastors are used to the brutal, obnoxious, and obscene tactics of hazing when they arrive at the holy grounds of Mequon.
If they complain, they will be hated out of WELS. One prospect objected to sexual assault when he got off the bus. A future pastor ran up to him and grabbed his... He was hated out - not the pervert, but the object of the attack - for complaining and being "thin-skinned." WELS definitely has a homosexual clergy problem, and it manifests itself early, with the aggression of those who should be somewhere else - and the support of the school's leaders.
The essence of GA is constant deception, such as claiming GA is gone when it is simply called HB now. I cannot count how many furious messages I received:
- Denouncing me for telling the secrets of GA.
- Denying that GA still exists.
Here is one founder of Church and Change anointing the next president of the Asian mini-seminary, another founder of Church and Change - a CG lobby funded by WELS offering money. |
The initial deception is pretending GA has been canceled. Students call home and tell their dads, and their dads laugh to themselves - "Junior bought the line." WELS considers this a mark of success, to have the sons of pastors fear that GA is no more, because it proves dad kept his mouth shut and the new stewards of the mysteries of abuse are doing a good job.
The second part is having one set of students (the softs) pretend they are helping the new students against the bad guys (the hards). They are really pumping up the fear and laughing to themselves about scaring the new students. If the students know what is going on, they really catch Hell from the hards.
Everyone who goes through GA becomes another gaslighter, and they revel in their deceptions and dirty tricks, even while complaining about WELS abuse. |
A lot of abuse builds up to the finale - pouring beer on the heads of students while they are doing pushups, knocking cigar ashes into the drinks of students, who are forced to drink the substance,
pushing a wagon, looking for the pope's bowling ball in the raw sewage of the pond. The final scary part is having the softs tell the students that the hards are on the other side of the doors, waiting to pounce of them. The new students run through the doors as fast as they can while upperclassmen, pastors, and synod officials are shouting and making noise. They catch the frightened student, give him a beer (appropriate for a drunken ministerium) and tell them. "It's OK. It's all over."
But of course, the abuse is just starting. If they graduate and get a call, the GA approach will never go away. Bullies continue to be bullies and victims learn how much fun it is to abuse others.
Needless to say, many of the hards are mean, nasty, verbally and physically abusive. The hards have a great advantage - they can do anything they please. If anyone objects, that person is marked for life.
No one - but no one - is allowed to criticize GA. Yes, they can go to Dean Brenner, but that is the first step of expulsion from the ministry. That is also why people are urged to "write a letter," which gives WELS physical proof of treacherous thoughts and deeds, which can be summarized as denying the infallibility of Holy Mother WELS.
Wayne Mueller claimed in print - "There is no Church Growth in WELS." Was he calling Robert Hartman, Paul Kelm, and Ron Roth liars? No, he was gaslighting (GA) the sect. |
A pastor, Circuit Pastor, or even a District Pope may act sympathetic toward a layman with a question or problem - but it is all a lie. Best of all, the liars compare notes and laugh about it, just like the good old days at The Sausage Factory.
If they arrange a meeting, it will be four against one, or even ten against one, including the sympathetic person, who will suddenly attack the person he was there to support. In the movie, "Remember, it's Chinatown."
In WELS - "Remember, it's GA."