 |
| This obscure but prescient meme illustrates how the Kudzu Vine of Church Growth has engulfed WELS, LCMS, and all the denominations. Staff Infection implies the self-anointed work of Larry Olson, WELS Fuller DMin, nicknamed Staff Infection by his peers, loathed by his students. |
http://www.thearda.com/denoms/Families/F_90.asp
-----------2017-------------2002---
ELCA -- 3,458,839 -- 5,038,006
LCMS -- 1,968,641 -- 2,512,714
LCMC -- 300,000
NALC -- 142,000
 |
| "Just think how tiny WELS would be without decades of Church Growth training forced on everyone dumb enough to bow down to Baal!" |
Don't Hesitate - Regurgitate!
My wife and I went to various events in the LCA. Sometimes I went alone, but I remember the one at Thiel College in 1978 where the national leaders did their Evangelical Outreach presentations.
Like the smaller sessions, everyone had to learn Management by Objectives, pick goals and strategies, everything that I heard all over again from the WELS Church Growth gurus. The common themes were:
- Peter Drucker's (MBO) parasitic attachment to Fuller Seminary;
- The LCA-ALC-WELS-ELS-LCMS executives attending Fuller and forcing it on all their underlings;
- Scary statistics.
Years later I had a letter from an ELS pastor who went to Fuller, served in Naples, Florida, and thought everyone should attend Fuller. He was on the Examination Committee!
In 1987, WELS-ELS acted like they had discovered Church Growth on their own. One person promoted the sanctified and sanctifying work of Paul Y. Cho. The required training that kept coming up in WELS was always Church Growth:
- Valleskey,
- Kelm,
- Olson,
- Huebner, and
- Others even denser.
ELCA leaders adored Church Growth because it quantified their problems and gave them Calvinistic programs to follow. They naturally worked with WELS and LCMS executives in various insurance funded programs - all gigantic and expensive flops. But they were joined-at-the-wallet in promoting even more of the toxins.
ELCA is now at the final stage of Pietism - rationalism, Universalism, and social justice warrior campaigns. They have no thoughts of faith, so they find meaning in making society gay rather than somber.
The Synodical Conference leaders may have a little faith, but they are so ecumenical that they love every doctrine except their own. That leads them into turning their future pastors into little Church Growth/Missional executives. Instead of giving them the pastor guidance and Scriptural content of parish work, they provide gimmicks, slogans, and packaged answers. The seminaries pay a fortune and give up full-time income to be trained the same way they train salesmen on commission.
 |
| Is anything more symbolic of WELS than this? |
Core Incompetence
The most significant cause in Lutheran failure is the lust for papal-style control. I keep up with the Roman Catholic scandals because they have reached the levels of Cardinal and Pope. There has been a winnowing of anyone normal in the priesthood, so the entire Roman structure aims at promoting evil, incompetent, greedy, power-hungry devils. Predator Cardinals like Spellman (RIP) made sure he had predator bishops, the bishops priests and seminaries full of idealistic young men. When asked about people finding their cardinal in NYC was having his limo pick up male prostitutes to bring to the residence, Spellman said, "No one would ever believe it." Until recently, few realized or believed it.
The LCMS, WELS, ELS, and CLC (sic) have a knack for elevating the least competent, most conflicted, dumbest clucks in the ministerium. Because they have established a structure of anti-Biblical, anti-Lutheran dogma, everyone is either numb, scared, or hoping for advancement. The scandals are covered up, because, as Spellman said, "No one would ever believe it."
