Update on Fake Luther Days Conference. Learn All the Four Letter Words on One Twitter Account Liked by LD. ELCA Seminaries, World Council of Churches, Andy Stanley Gay Activist, and Tony Robbins

Sample of Twitter accounts linked by Luther Days:

1. Three on porn addiction.
2. Uncrappy Theology.
3. Northpoint - Andy Stanley, gay activist.
4. Craig Groeschel.
5. Obscene title (c___) foul language, etc. Supposedly Christian account.
6. Pastor Rick - WELS.
7. Thrivent salesman.
8. Wartburg ELCA Seminary - celebrating the inauguration of Louise Johnson, president
9. World Council of Churches.
10. Gettysburg ELCA Seminary.
11. Plenty of ELCA congregations.
12. Tony Robbins.

"So much good stuff to read!
And distinctively Lutheran!"

She has "generous donors"?  The biggest in North America - or the biggest scam?

Tony Robbins, Church and Change, and ELCA - distinctly Lutheran?

More on the Effectiveness of Rain - Rugosa Roses

I posted about Purple Splash roses being revived by rain, which is always effective.

Several events got me interested in rugosa roses. One was the mother of Almost Eden talking about old roses and hips, using them for wreaths. However, my initial investigation found them being offered for a princely sum on the Net, about $30 each.

Every rose flower tries to turn into a a rose hip - seed pod -
packed with Vitamin C. Some roses have very large hips.
Chewable Vitamin C tablets taste just like rose hips.

But I also heard about this group of roses being large and shade tolerant. I was thinking about which dominant plants could be featured in the semi-shaded Wild Garden, and I had my answer. They would block the back alley view, provide hips for birds and wreaths, and shelter for birds.

I checked out Direct Gardening, which has various roses and plants for deeply discounted prices.

Rugosa bushes are fragrant, tolerant of shade and salt spray.

Textured leaves make them rugosa wrinkled.

Rose growers are a bit wary of such low prices, but I read they replace roses that do not grow, just as the big commercial sites do - Edmunds, Jackson and Perkins. So - what about the price?

Six for $10! They threw in some bonus plants, too.

When they arrived, the bare root roses were little sticks with roots on them. The other plants were a bit stronger and more vital looking.

I put everything into the rain-barrel and made sure they were immersed. They remained soaking almost 24 hours. The hosta starts began to sprout. The balloon flowers also began to grow.

I looked closely at each rose stick - they were covered with buds!

Mrs. Ichabod was struck by how they revived overnight in rainwater. "Do people know about this?"

I said, "Roses are often soaked before planting. After I received some bad-looking roses from California, I soaked them in rainwater for a long time and pruned the canes and roots. They leafed out faster than any roses I planted before that time."

I went on to say, "Some people add bleach to water they use for soaking." Mrs. I - "Oh no!"

"And others add fertilizer, in another attempt to kill all soil microbes." Mrs. I - "Pathetic."

The cardboard collar is handy for protecting small plants
from weeds, clover, and foot-traffic.

Small Plant Protection
Nobody beats me in stepping on plants, so I have learned to set them off when they are in high traffic areas. I open up a cardboard food package - empty of course. Each one is a single piece, almost square, often with scoring to make the central hole easy to fashion with fingernails or scissors.

I make a ruffled clergy collar, without the ruffle, to pass over the plant and block most of the weed growth. The Elephant Ears were trying to grow in the front yard, and the clover were ready to take over completely - one example. The location was out in the sun where anyone might walk and injure the new plant rising up from its bulb.

In the Wild Garden I had brown sticks among brown leaves in the semi-shade. I made the collar weed-blockers and kept them in place with small logs on each side. On our walk today Sassy and I saw a familiar pile of logs. I picked out a light, rotten log and took it home for one of the collars.

To make a reasonably straight line, I tied twine between two screw hooks and stuck them in the soil.

I was about to dig into clay. "Oh, clay is so heavy and hard to dig, especially when the soil dries out."

But this clay was covered with cardboard in the fall and garnished with 60+ bags of leaves. This cardboard and leaves mulch proved so effective that hardly anything grew through the layer.

Underneath the mulch, in spite of the dry weather and no watering in the Wild Garden, the clay soil was soft, damp, and filled with red wiggler earthworms. I did not have to deal with digging through a tangle of grass roots - the sod was composted by the lack of sunlight, the abundance of soil creatures, the engineering and management of the Creator.

Covering the Wild Garden in the fall was a matter of getting cardboard boxes from Goodwill, laying them down on 1/2 of the backyard, and weighing down the cardboard with various logs, weights, garbage pails, boards from an old desk. Caution - autumn winds will try to recycle the cardboard into neighboring yards until it is wet and soggy from rain.

Rugosa roses are simple but aromatic.
Many prefer the old roses.

How the LCMS Handles Sex Abuse of Minor by Church Workers - Erase It. Ichabod Copied the Facts, Predicting They Would Be Erased. And They Were by the Steadfast - Ha! - Editor. From April 5, 2012

Minnesota LCMS officials encouraged Darwin Schauer, a convicted sex offender,
to become a lay pastor, so he abused another victim.
All the "conservative" Lutheran synods and ELCA are guilty of this kind of behavior.
More information and better formatting later.
This is another Steadfast article with comments.

From Steadfast Lutherans - Accounts by Pastor Don Kirchner - In Case They Are Kilcreased  - Erased - Later

And they were erased, as ordered by SP Matt Harrison's!

It’s time…

I went down to Park Rapids two weeks ago, to the Hubbard County Detention Center, and spoke with Darwin Schauer for about an hour. (I had tried to see him a week earlier but was unable to see him due to an ongoing shift change of jail personnel at the time.) On March 4, 2012, I met with Minnesota North District President Donald Fondow (Fondow), Bemidji Circuit Counselor Allan Wierschke, and the congregational president of Trinity, Lake George to discuss what I had learned as laid out in Schauer’s current criminal charges and to discuss further action on our part. It was determined that Rev. Wierschke would render pastoral care to Schauer since I had a clear conflict of interest. Still, it was necessary for various reasons for me to talk to Schauer about what had transpired. When I met with him, I immediately advised Schauer that I was not there as his pastor or as a lawyer, lest he be given any expectation of confidentiality.

I now know from that conversation that The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), particularly on the district level, was well aware of Darwin Schauer’s 1983 conviction for the sexual abuse of his 13 year old step-daughter and, in spite of it, assisted him in becoming a lay minister and chose to place him as a lay minister in Immanuel Lutheran Church of Cass Lake and Trinity Lutheran Church of Lake George without warning or advising the congregations that a sexual predator was being placed in their midst to render them pastoral care, to teach confirmation classes to 12 to 14 year olds, etc.

Fondow recently told me that when he was convicted in 1983, Schauer was told to resign his Synodically rostered position as a school teacher or he would be removed. He had resigned. I was upfront with Schauer and told him that we now knew about the 1983 conviction. We discussed that. I then asked Schauer how he got into the lay ministry program at Concordia College in Mequon,WI (now Concordia University-Wisconsin.)

http://locator.lcms.org/nworkers_frm/w_detail.asp?W28381

He stated that, after his probation on the 1983 conviction was completed, he went to Rev. O. H. Cloeter, who was District President of Minnesota South District of the LCMS 1978–91. Darwin laid out everything about his conviction and asked if there was any way that he could still serve the church. Cloeter stated that being an ordained minister was out of the question, but that there were other ways around that. The answer was the lay ministry program that led to being commissioned as a lay minister in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. I do not know how involved Cloeter was in getting Darwin into the program, but he certainly had no objection to it and encouraged Schauer. Darwin stated that President Cloeter was a very nice, understanding man. No one has been able to explain to me how it is out of the question for a sexual predator to become an ordained minister but perfectly okay to be a lay minister, performing nearly all of the same functions as an ordained minister!

It seems that, given his previous undergraduate degree, Schauer spent only 6 months at Mequon to complete the lay ministry program in 1989 and was commissioned as a lay minister and was assigned to Immanuel, Cass Lake. His supervisor was a Rev. Rudder of Blackduck. Rudder knew all about Darwin’s conviction. Later on, there was some friction between Darwin and a pastor of the LCMS- sponsored Indian Ministry in Cass Lake. Rev. Richard L. Guehna, District President of Minnesota North District of the LCMS 1986-96, came up from Brainerd to personally meet with Darwin about the issue. He also brought with him the newspaper clipping that had been sent to him, the article in Darwin’s District file, and asked Darwin about it. Darwin again laid it all out on the table, explaining everything about what had happened, Darwin stated that President Guehna was a very forgiving man. Guehna took no action and, it seems, told no one in the congregation.

Later, Darwin was allowed to serve Trinity, Lake George with no objection and with no one at the congregation being told that their minister had a 1983 conviction for ongoing sexual abuse of his 13 year old step-daughter. As I now know from emails between Fondow and me in late 2007 – early 2008, and from what he has now confirmed, is that Fondow knew about the 1983 conviction at least as early as 2008, at that time discussing Schauer’s history and situation with MNS DP Seitz, Synodical Secretary Hartwig, and then Synodical 1st VP Diekelman, had possession of the 1983 newspaper article, and continued the District apathy toward the situation. He did nothing.

I thank everyone for their prayers and words of support to the congregation and me and especially to the victim and the victim’s family. Through these weeks we have learned that the glorious Gospel is indeed the Word of life. As we enter the Paschal Triduum let us remember that the Lord indeed has made all things new.

Thanks be to God.
Don Kirchner

---

Rev. Don Kirchner
April 5th, 2012 at 07:33 | #55 Reply | Quote

On March 4, 2012, at a meeting at the Lake George Café with Minnesota North District President Donald Fondow (Fondow), Bemidji Circuit Counselor Allan Wierschke, and the congregational president of Trinity, Lake George, we discussed what had happened and the fact that Darwin Schauer was being arrested even as we met. At one point, the congregational president excused himself to use the restroom. Fondow then advised Allan and me that he had looked through Darwin’s file when he retired (which would have been May or June of 2008, I believe) and that there was a newspaper article in the file about a similar sort of incident. The next day Fondow emailed me a scanned copy of the article which detailed Schauer’s 1983 plea of guilty to sexual abuse of a minor.

This seemed somewhat odd. I recalled a series of emails between us some years ago when Fondow had done some extensive checking of Darwin Schauer’s history. I had previously written to Fondow , inquiring about why the Minnesota South District had blocked Darwin Schauer’s path to ordination, which Schauer had told me happened, though Schauer did not tell me why. Fondow had responded with a non-answer, that Minnesota South had determined that he should not be allowed to complete such a path, confirming what we already knew.

On 10-08-07 I emailed Fondow, advising him that, given our membership at Immanuel, Cass Lake, (Darwin Schauer was serving that congregation and the congregation of Trinity, Lake George), my wife and I “would certainly would like the minister at our congregation to be an ordained pastor so that we can actually receive an indicative-operative absolution, etc. How do we go about getting Darwin Schauer ordained?”
I heard nothing back from Fondow. On 10-22-07 I sent him the exact same email. I heard nothing. On 10-26-07 I sent him the exact same email. On 10-30-07 Fondow responded, advising me that he had been checking on Schauer’s situation. He stated, “I apologize for the delay in responding to your e-mails regarding Darwin. I am doing some more checking into this and will communicate with you as soon as I receive some more information and clarification.”

I waited a month and heard nothing further. On 11-30-07 I decided to get his attention. I emailed: “Having not heard back from you on this matter may I propose an action before Darwin retires? Is it okay if a few of us pastors go ahead and ordain Darwin Schauer, thereby formally establishing what already is in place- i.e., his call as a pastor to Immanuel, Cass Lake and Trinity, Lake George?”

That got a response. Within less than two hours, Fondow responded: “In my last e-mail to you I indicated that I would look into this matter. I have had conversation with President Seitz and Secretary Hartwig and asked them to find out information for me and I will be checking back with them.

In answer to your question and in keeping with the agreed upon protocol of our church-body it would not be in order for an Ordination such as you are proposing. I would ask you to be patient as I seek answers and clarification as to the reasons for past decisions in an effort to see that all things be done ‘decently and in order’.”

I replied, “Thanks for your reply and your response to my proposal. That’s why I asked, although to formalize or ‘ordain’ what already has taken place- Darwin’s placement as a pastor- would seem to be decent and in good order. As we all know a lay minister, in this context, is an oxymoron. but I understand your position. I’ll await to hear from you.”

Nearly three weeks later, having not heard anything, I wrote: “We’re coming up on the end of the year. What have you found out about Pastor Schauer’s situation?”

I heard nothing. A week later, I decided to press the situation again. I wrote, “We are now nearly into the new year, about a half-year from Darwin’s retirement. I still would like my pastor to be a legitimate pastor. A few of us were looking at possibly [of ordaining him.]” Fondow responded, “I understand your intention, however, I strongly advise against this course of action… I will be speaking once again with Secretary Hartwig about this matter as well as President Seitz…The fact that his Ordination was not approved sometime ago is what I am asking to have looked at now. We do need to things decently and in order and that is the way in which I am proceeding.”

I couldn’t understand the delay. On 12-31-07, I wrote, “I simply can’t understand why you are putting this off. The appearance, even though I’m not saying that it is the case, is that you simply are waiting for Darwin to retire so that the issue is moot. Meanwhile, my wife and I, along with the other members, cannot even receive an indicative-operative absolution from our pastor who is somewhat placed in the office but is not allowed the rite of the Office.”

On 01-02-08 (it was now nearly three months since my initial inquiry), Fondow responded: “I’m sorry if it seems that I am putting this off, it is not my intention to do so…I have spoken today with President Seitz and he is calling me back tomorrow. Also, tomorrow I will be in communication with Secretary Hartwig.”

I waited a week and on 01-09-08, having heard nothing further, I asked for an update. Fondow replied later that day: “I have spoken to both President Seitz and Secretary Hartwig. At the present time I am waiting to hear back from First Vice-President Bill Diekelman. So, I am following through as previously indicated and I will be in contact with you.”

I waited a week and, having heard nothing back, again inquired. Later that day, Fondow replied: “This morning I spoke once again to President Seitz and this afternoon First Vice-President Diekelman called me back. They have shared with me information pertaining to Darwin and his situation (past and present). To the end that, according to the Handbook of Synod, Darwin may apply for admission to the Pastoral Ministry (Ordained) Roster of the Synod…I would ask that if he is seeking to pursue this that he would contact me to schedule a meeting to discuss this and to request the necessary application forms and to schedule a meeting with the District Interview Committee (cf. 2007 LCMS Handbook)

Once again, I apologize for the delay in answering your initial straight forward question. Due to the fact that there was some previous history involved and with a desire to learn of the background and information pertaining to this matter and wanting everything to be done according to our agreed upon procedures, it has taken me longer than it should have.”

I was frustrated. I replied, “We’ve spent months and months, and you’ve needed to make numerous calls to a district president, a Synodical Secretary, and a Synodical VP so that you could tell me that Darwin is eligible to do what we already knew he could do- apply for admission to the Pastoral Ministry (Ordained) Roster of the Synod by colloquy according to Bylaw 3.8.2.4.2, (a) or (b)?”

I wrote to a friend that day, “There’s something going on here. At any time Fondow could have picked up the phone and said, “Sorry. Darwin would have to go through the regular colloquy process to be ordained. Nothing else can be done.’ But everything has been done quite formally, including Fondow’s stiff, formal, non-conversational tone which is quite unlike him, except in cases where he’s being wary and treading lightly.

So, the reason that Darwin was blocked from being allowed to do this back in the ’70s was…?
Something stinks…”

The next day, 01-17-08, Fondow snapped back, “Since you inquired, I felt that it would be well to check on the past history of his situation to see if there was anything that would prevent him from applying! If you already knew what he could do, then why did you ask me?”

Later that day, I replied, “I’m not sure why you are being this way, President Fondow. As I previously stated, normally you would pick up the phone and call me. Instead, you’ve been quite formal, cool, and careful with your statements. There was no phone call stating, ‘I checked it out, Don, and it looks like Darwin is going to have to go the regular route under the Synodical Bylaws. I realize that the chances of anything being done before his retirement are virtually nil, but it appears that there is no other way.’
No, it was a formal statement that Darwin ‘may’ pursue this under such and such rule, something that you and I both know he always could have done. Please go back and look below at your statement, President Fondow. It is a caricature of lawyerspeak.

And now you respond with a testy attempt to play word games. Of course I knew the Bylaw. You know quite well why I asked. I asked if there was a way that we could get him ordained given the time constraints. And by the way, after waiting months you now suggest that he take action similar to what he did years ago and which was denied him at that time. What has changed that you suggest that he should try again? Can you give any assurance that he would not simply be going through the motions (as if this could be done in 4 months) in order to again receive a denial? Bottom line- why not simply state, ‘Sorry, it looks like Synodical approval to ordain Darwin is not going to happen, given his probable retirement in May’?”
Schauer retired a few months later.

---


Now, before we see the usual “circle the wagons” mode with suggestions such as that putting forth Schauer’s conversations with District personnel is hearsay (it is not), information is from a secular reporter and we know what they’re like (a classic argumentum ad hominem), and other such fallacies and irrelevancies, let me state the main reason why I make these things public and why I am not doing so.

With the events of the past month I have become beyond cynical with District interaction. I have virtually no trust left. The continued verbal dancing and passing of the buck continues. Our DP met with the congregation on March 7th and claimed little or no knowledge about the newspaper clipping of the 1983 incident, claiming that all knowledge rested with a man who is now in heaven (former DP Guehna).

On March 13th, our DP emailed me, now even suggesting that he showed me the newspaper clipping on February 7, 2008. He did not. But it is a classic red herring, intended to divert. For the sake of argument, even if he had shown me the article, I was covering a vacancy in Duluth at the time. Our DP was the ecclesiastical supervisor and it was he who bore responsibility to Trinity Lutheran Church of Lake George, a congregation with which I had no relationship at the time. Most importantly, our DP’s suggestion that he showed me the article confirms that HE had knowledge of it at least in early February of 2008, while Darwin Schauer was still serving Trinity of Lake George and Immanuel of Cass Lake.

Keep in mind that Schauer also continued on the Synodical roster after his retirement, filled in for me at Trinity the last several years when I was out-of-town, filled in for at least one other Circuit pastor/congregation, attended winkels, etc. until March 4th when the horror began for the congregation. Thankfully, and that is what we look to, that is the day that the horror for the young victim ended. Somewhat, for the victim will never be the same. What was taken can never be replaced. Only the Gospel can give that peace that passes all understanding, the victim knowing that he or she is a lamb safe in the Good Shepherd’s arms.

It goes on. Our DP attended Schauer’s arraignment on March 19th. One of our congregational elders is a court bailiff for Hubbard County and also was at the hearing. Afterwards, our DP approached the elder and told him that he had been trying to contact “Pastor Kirchner” and that he wanted to meet with me and congregational leadership. My response to the elder was that this simply was baloney! Our DP has my email address. He has my cell phone number. He had used both to communicate with me until recently when, suddenly, there is silence. He hasn’t been trying to contact me!

I expect that the silence is due to my announcement to our DP, on March 15, 2012, that our congregational delegate and I will not be attending the District Convention later this month. We simply see it as a waste of time for us. Our view is not only that there is nothing beneficial in doing so but that we trusted District and District leadership allowed a child predator in our midst without telling the congregation. The congregation asks me why, and I have no answer for them. I do not know why church leadership does this– past, present, and regrettably probably into the future.

I also have no expectation that anything will be done at the District level to hold anyone accountable. The time when the integrity of leadership– The buck stops here, this happened on my watch and, therefore, I must step down– is long past the present day. Leaders don’t do that anymore. Thankfully, the secular entities that some disdain will hold Schauer accountable. Our DP will be re-elected, probably on a unanimous ballot, and Synodical life on the District level will go on. The only change I foresee is that I will become an outcast in District circles, maybe even disciplined.

Brothers and sisters, I hope that I am wrong about much of this. Perhaps I will be surprised. I realize my cynicism is great, spiritually unhealthy, and sinful. Tomorrow, at a Circuit Treore service, I will preach on the words of our Lord, “Father forgive them.” Do we forgive those who have wronged us? Of course! For this Christ died! Because of the forgiveness won for us on the cross we get to forgive others. That is the joy this Holy Week.
Trust? That takes time.

SP Matt Harrison ordered Steadfast editor Pastor Joshua Scheer
to erase the entire thread. Scheer obeyed.
Scheer went from junior pastor and junior editor to senior in both areas.
That was his home congregation, but what's child rape when money is on the table?

***

GJ - There is some discussion about what rules would keep these things from happening.

I can list exact parallels with the Episcopal Church (Bishop Bennison) or WELS (Tabor, Just, Stolzenburg, Werner, Adrian, Zerbe).

Or the Roman Catholic Church, which the Protestants deride but emulate to perfection.

The problem is not with the rules but with the men involved. Denominational leaders are spineless, ruthless, unethical, and shameless. They shift from one deception to another, whenever caught in a lie. They have no concern about the victims or the congregations, only about their careers, perks, and reputations.

Two stories on Schauer -

http://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/event/article/id/32090/

http://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/event/article/id/32132/publisher_ID/15/

The great Saxon migration was part of a sex cult where
Martin Stephan controlled a group of young women
and the CFW Walther circle looked the other way.

The Otten crowd continues telling the Walther myth
while despising Loehe who invited the Perryville cult
to join his group. Walther later asked Loehe for
the Ft. Wayne seminary - for free - with continued Loehe support.

WELS Pastor Mark Jeske Tried to Spin the Dave Wendt Rape Threat. April of 2015

Jeske covers for a fellow WELS pastor
in the most bizarre smokescreen ever -
the Internet did it.

TIME OF GRACE BLOG STRAIGHT TALK. REAL HOPE.

By Pastor Mark Jeske

Posted Yesterday

April 8th, 2015 7:04AM

U Will Eat What U Tweet

Nothing on the Internet ever dies.

There is apparently enough server capacity on earth to preserve every word and picture that ever went into cyberspace. Good news for researchers and history nerds. Bad news if you assumed that you have any kind of “personal privacy” once you post or send something. A Lutheran pastor in Wisconsin just lost his job because the screen name, behind which he hid as he crudely and obscenely tried to flame somebody with whom he disagreed, turned out to be porous. He was outed, and then he was out of a job...

http://www.timeofgrace.org/index.php/blog/UWillEatWhatUTweet - April 9, 2015, 8 AM Central Daylight Time.

***

GJ -

Mark Jeske's spin-machine portrays him as smart, but I have never seen evidence of it. A small-time Robert Schuller, a would-be Joel Osteen, he repeats the bromides of the success gurus. 

This Jeske post is a crude attempt to put the WELS Pastor Dave Wendt scandal  to rest by publishing a series of excuses and falsehoods.

This link contains the actual message Dave Wendt sent to blogger Claire Van Fossen. 

Wendt denied sending the message, but it came from his account, he admitted. Is he trying to blame a family member, a pet, the NSA?

Oddly, Jeske tells the truth by saying Wendt sent the email.

Claire Van Fossen found out who sent the
abusive and threatening email.

Let's Parse the Post

1. Jeske omitted the fact that Wendt is a WELS pastor, who immediately resigned. Why resign while denying sending it?
2. Wendt "tried to flame" Claire Van Fossen. Is that not strange, coming from a sect where the slightest imagined insult is portrayed as slander and an apology and retraction is demanded? Wendt used a series of vulgar terms, not unlike the language Ski and Glende (both Jeske veterans) used in front of women. That is not "trying to flame," as Jeske must know in his hip coolness. Flaming is an online argument with personal insults. Wendt's email went far beyond that.
3. Worst of all, Wendt called the blogger "hot" and threatened to bring friends over to gang rape her.
4. So Jeske has this down as "trying to flame" while omitting the crime of threatening to gang-rape the young woman with his friends. One mobster was put in prison simply for making a threat to an  FBI agent.
5. "He was outed and then he was out of a job." Not exactly, hipster guru Jeske. The young woman investigated who sent the email, and her associates discovered it was Pastor Dave Wendt, staff member at a $1 million a year budget WELS congregation in LaCrosse.
6. I have been reading the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, LaCrosse website and the WELS website. I have not seen an admission of the crime committed, not a word of remorse, regret, or apology.
   

WELS Attitude Toward Women

I have no contact with the blogger, but I hope she soon finds out this is normal behavior for WELS clergy and leaders. Claire can find out how Ski behaved and how SP Mark Schroeder, DP Doug Engelbrecht, and the future DP Zank protected Ski. Did anyone apologize to the lady staffer? Why did the previous staffer quite suddenly while working with Ski?

Claire can easily discover that Ski and Glende sued the husband of Ski's victim for telling the truth, as Glende had to admit in court. DP Patterson gave Ski an insta-call to Texas, and Ski escaped his own follies once again.

WELS clergy are notorious for their alcoholism and adultery.

When they are in training, they have "score reports," where the manly men get together and brag about how far they have gone with their current girlfriends. In other words, they humiliate their potential brides in front of their fellow students. When one wife complained about this, her husband howled with laughter.

WELS does not admit anything and expects everyone will soon forget:

• Pastor William Tabor's wife murdered in the parsonage.
• Teacher Al Just's wife stabbed to death in her bed.
• District President Ed Werner sent to state prison for molesting young girls in his congregation, sent there by the girls' mothers who were previously molested and said "No more!"

 

Normally, married men post photos with their wives on Facebook.
Glende and Ski were thrilled to be  with Katy Perry for a moment,
and kept these photos up for a long time.

From the Church of the Twisted Smile. Diversity Is the Path to Heaven - From 2011

Mark Jeske's smile is down on one side - suggesting a deeply unhappy parson. He lists to the Left. Diversity is the code name for gay activism.

Kevin Hastings

WELS "Time Of Grace" broadcast, "Celebrate the Diversity of Heaven" - When did our Lord Jesus Christ replace Faith with Diversity as the entrance to heaven? Romans 1:16, "I am quite ashamed of the Gospel of Christ" as it is broadcast now.

If you also a fan of Andy Stanley, son of Charles the son of Perdition,
you recognize his perpetual sadness.
Why Andy? You have WELS eating out of your hand.

Robert Schuller's Occult-Based Church Growth Movment. Family Skimmed the Money for Themselves - Like WELS. From 2011

"Dad, if you are tossed, am I next?"


GARDEN GROVE – The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, who started his ministry in an Orange drive-in theater more than five decades ago, has been voted off the board of Crystal Cathedral Ministries, which has been torn apart by debt and familial disharmony for the last several years.

The church has not released information about the board meeting where Schuller, 84, was ousted, but his son Robert A. Schuller, who was himself forced out of the cathedral by his sisters and brothers-in-law three years ago, confirmed it Sunday.

"Dad, I have a news bulletin for you at the bottom of this post."


Robert A. Schuller left the ministry in 2007 after a bitter feud within the family. He says his father, Crystal Cathedral founder Robert H. Schuller (left), being removed from the board is just one more step toward the church's demise.

FILE PHOTO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

MORE PHOTOS »

Rifts, debt tear at Crystal Cathedral
Crystal Cathedral files for bankruptcy
Family dynamics at heart of Schuller resignation
Younger Schuller says his removal was 'surreal'

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He said his father wanted to enlarge the board, which was not received well by the others.
"A majority of that board consists of paid employees of the church and that's a serious conflict of interest," Robert A. Schuller said.

None of the board members or church officials could be reached for comment Sunday.
Schuller said his mother, a board member, voted against it, but was in the minority.
"It's a very sad day and unfortunately, I know how that feels," the younger Schuller said.
The church's financial travails, including a significant drop in donations and dwindling membership, culminated in its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The church still owes about $7.5 million to unsecured creditors, many of whom are vendors for the cathedral's "Glory of Christmas" pageant. According to a reorganization plan filed by church last month, they have an offer from Irvine developer, Greenlaw Partners LLC, to buy the core buildings for $46 million.

Under the proposal, the church would have a 15-year leaseback agreement with the developer and the option to buy the properties back for $30 million in four years. In exchange the developer will be able to build hundreds of apartment units in a portion of the 30-acre campus.

In 2008, two years after he received his father's gold medallion, a symbol of the church's leadership, Robert A. Schuller quit as senior pastor and his sister, Sheila Schuller Coleman, took control of the ministry. The younger Schuller says his departure was spurred by a vote on July 9, 2008 by the board. That vote, too, shot down Robert A. Schuller's proposal to bring in new board members and end conflict of interest issues, he said.

Robert H. Schuller has been at odds with his daughters over how they have chosen to run the church. The cathedral recently switched over from a traditional worship format to a Gospel-style choir – much to the chagrin of many long-time members. Coleman also required choir members to sign a covenant acknowledging Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and the belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

The older Schuller publicly lashed out at the contract saying everyone is welcome in the church. Phillip Johnson, the architect who constructed the cathedral's iconic glass sanctuary, was an openly gay man.
At the time, Schuller's daughter, Carol Schuller Milner, said her father's time in a leadership role was over and that her sister, Coleman, was in control. She said her father was having a tough time relinquishing control of a church he had built from the ground up.

Dory Bauler, a member of the cathedral since 1972, said she was shocked and saddened to hear about Schuller's removal from the church board.

Bauler said she and her husband met Schuller when he came to Philadelphia in the 1960s, when he was still preaching from the drive-in theater.

"Both Bob and Arvella Schuller were so sincere," she said.

Robert A. Schuller said the issue is no longer about his father being able to relinquish control. The question, he says, is who is running the church?

"Anyone with a brain knows it takes income and expenses to get a balanced sheet," he said. "You cannot run a church by slashing and burning."

He said his mother, although still on the board, will not go to the board meetings.

"It's absolutely horrible what has happened to the church," he said. "I know that my father is disappointed, but he is detached. I have also emotionally disconnected from that place a long time ago."

He called his father's dismissal from the board "one more step in (the church's) demise."

Bauler says she believes entrusting the ministry to his children who had no experience with running a church is the mistake the older Schuller made, which led to his ministry's downfall, Bauler said.

"The children were not qualified to run it, they've abused it," she said. "We, as members, are heartbroken."

"Dad, buck up. Mom voted to keep you on the board. But I didn't. Payback is fun."