Another Layman Responds to the Post about WELS Shrinkage

 Ski and Glende were trained at Michigan Lutheran Seminary, a WELS prep school with some unusual traits - only a few miles from the parish of Michigan District President John Seifert. Glende Cousin Paul Brug just turned down a call to MLS.

The previous post from another WELS layman.

Greg,

"Article in the May issue of FIC. Just what we have been discussing. At current trends in another 40 yrs WELS will have just a little over 200,000 members . I think that is a very conservative number. With Boomers dying out I think much more decline. The article goes on to say 300 churches will be closed by then. Once again I think that is too low a number. Just let you know what the Synod is printing in its own magazine."

The WELS knows what they are doing, after a decade of attending conferences and sitting on councils, I have a good idea too.  You have to understand that this is a business.  Their actions are driven self-preservation for self-preservation's sake (in whole or in part by various leaders).  They will, indeed they are in the process of reinventing themselves.  Oh, they say they are doing it for Christ, but make no mistake they're looking out for #1.  At the lowest levels they have good intentions, but they are misled.  They just don't know any better.  Christ the Tool is used to move them along the plan. 

The WELS will be around 100 years from now (if things maintain the status quo).  But, it won't resemble anything like the WELS we knew of the 20th century.  Right now, the synod is being transformed and guided along business principles.  "What's marketable guys?"  "How can we involve every warm body?"  These guys aren't stupid.  They're in it to win it.  Observe the consolidation of church school campuses; this seems indicate the route they are taking because it's a sustainable business model.  The thing is, what will it look like after 100 years?  I suspect it will have a new logo or two along the way, and a new name.  It could very well be possible that what the WELS becomes is nothing more than a Charter School organization rather than a church.

I am dead serious about this.  This is what happens when your mindset becomes focused on self preservation and an elevated sense of self importance for the Gospel ( We're doing is for Christ!!!!  We've got to!)  This will offend pastors who are engaged in this activity now, because they believe in their cause.  BUT...the real measure by which they will be judged is their legacy...which we'll never live long enough see-- thank God.  I believe the sight of it would break our hearts and make us weep.

Pie in sky?  Look at the ELCA.

 WELS soft-pedals its affinity for ELCA Universalism here,
but makes it obvious in JP Meyer.

 Here is the sand upon which the House of WELS is built.

***

GJ - I agree to some extent. WELS has a lot of money left to spend. Their endowment was $100 million, the last time I looked. They have the Jeske coven of millionaires, who are the real controlling element of the sect.

I have trouble believing people will patiently tolerate WELS. The abusive sect treats women and faithful pastors like dirt but they protect the worst pastors, teachers, and staff.

Time will take a toll on the cost of maintaining all their buildings, plus the reality that they cannot keep so many redundant colleges and schools going.

Anonymous answered:

I read your reply, and this is a good point:

"I agree to some extent. WELS has a lot of money left to spend. Their endowment was $100 million, the last time I looked. They have the Jeske coven of millionaires, who are the real controlling element of the sect."

But, the point I was driving at is they may not go the way of the ELCA necessarily, they may just reinvent themselves by way of their parochial school system.  They may be willing to let the churches go with a ready made sustainable strategy to keep the corporation alive.  My thinking is doctrine will come off in layers until the organization isn't recognizable anymore.  It would take a lot of time for this occur.  They could become an apostate church, but I think they may just go the corporate route.  Remember Blackberry?  Used to make phones, now they are a security company.  Or....the Salvation Army would be a great example as well.  That sort of thing.  The WELS may end up a charter school system with little salt and light left to offer, but they would continue to exist a business entity....if not a church.  This theory would no doubt draw howls of protest from the WELS of today, but when you look at what Jeske has been doing and the CORE....they layers are already lifting away.

 Glende and Ski sued the husband of the female staffer who objected to Ski's alcoholism, foul language, and display of Favre's .... on his phone.  SP Mark Schroeder arranged a new call via Kudu Don Patterson and the Anything Goes DP.

"There is nothing I can do about Ski."
We all know Schroeder moved heaven and earth, and consulted with his Father Below, to get Ski a fourth call in his fourth district.

Lay Commentator -

I woke up Saturday morning with it on my mind, and I just started writing, but wish I would have developed it more.  I kept thinking, this is what happens with this Objective Justification thing takes root.  Real justification becomes so impersonal.  With no emphasis on faith, the only thing left if sanctification.  The whole core site seems to be about sanctification:

"The CORE exists to transform lives for Christ through faith that is Real, Relevant, and Relational."

The core exists to transform?  Who's doing the work here?  ...and for whom?  This doesn't sound like any Lutheran doctrine, Methodist more like.  What kind of faith is real , relevant, and relational?  Sanctifying faith?

We deal with life's issues through the lens of God's Word. We come face to face with sin and the havoc it creates in our lives. We celebrate the forgiving, undeserved love of God "and how that changes our lives."

It's all about these guys; real big of them to give God some props at the end of the statement.  Whatever happened to: 

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." - Galatians 6:14

I am so weary of mission statements at church; a big reason I walked a way from the WELS.  Fortunately, I haven't seen any mission statements around OSL since I've been there.