Friday, April 5, 2019

From a WELS Member Kicked Out for Telling the Truth.
Response to the Post from 2009

David Valleskey's lopsided smile tells me he enjoyed taking WELS down, because of his hatred for Biblical, Lutheran doctrine.



GJ - When Valleskey tried to sell his "spoiling the Egyptians" to the Ohio Conference, I pointed out that the Israelites stole the jewels and gold, not the garbage. Valleskey denied to my face that he went to Fuller, looking very frightened.


as Lutheran Associations, and Synods were systematically destroyed primarily from within by indigenous  change agents active from 1960's forward to today.  

 Or better described as "backward to today".      Is the litany of events and words/actions of key players in the scenario and effects in today's Ichabod anywhere in published work?   Today's posting is titled:  Lutheran Apostasy - Has Anything Changed....?"   Did I miss something along the line re: the posting as a chapter of a book with further chapters? [GJ - Just an old blog post from 2009.]

In reading today's post, I was again reminded of the days my family and I living here in Santa Clara County in California where there were only three WELS congregations all relatively new.  LCMS had a long time presence.  The situation unfolded reflecting the agreement between LCMS and WELS being in fellowship for decades until the split in 1959-61, in which the country was sort of divided up. If there was already long time presence of either synod in states, the other wouldn't establish congregations appearing to be competing within the two synod Conference.  When the split came areas such as Northern California, WELS had no presence, so mission congregations were started.

In Santa Clara County the first was Peace Lutheran Church in the City of Santa Clara.  Then an established congregation in San Jose's east section of that city left LCMS and joined WELS.  A third congregation in South San Jose was begun by one or more families who had moved from Santa Clara to S. San Jose and the pastor from Peace congregation in Santa Clara began introductory services in S. San Jose.  WELS Mission Board chairman for CA was Pastor Robert Hochmuth who served Peace Lutheran Congregation in Santa Clara, and conducted services also at Calvary Lutheran in San Jose until Forrest Bivens was called and accepted to be pastor there.

David Valleskey was called to serve Apostles Lutheran Church in S. San Jose.  It wasn't long before Apostles became known among the WELS members in the area as the most liberal of the three congregations.  Peace Lutheran was known as the most conservative Lutheran Congregation and even among congregations of different denominations. Over time vicars were assigned and were sort of shared by Peace and Apostles congregations among whom were Paul Kelm, and Richard Stadler, and some summer vicars. I recall several of the summer vicars among which was Robert Koester.  The congregations' members invited them for dinners in our homes and had opportunity to ask questions and express our concerns, etc.   I recall Koester as one of the more serious and contemplative.    Kelm and Stadler "pushed the envelope" and a few people noted.  

I think one of the member's daughters married Rick Miller who was pastor of a congregation in Redding, CA near the Oregon border,  so I sort of followed what was transpiring there from afar.   

So apparently we were exposed to a concentration of change agents in training.  I have often wondered whether they were selected and concentrated in an area WELS in Wisconsin thought would be more susceptible to the marks of a new WELS way out here in California which may have been perceived as more "out there" and "open to changes".    

I also often wondered why God put me in secular position to learn about research and publicly oppose the change agents with similar objectives in the secular arena and especially schools.  So I recognized the very same Humanist methodologies I was battling in the public arena,  being assimilated  into my Synod.   

I provided documentation to my congregation's male officers.    Pastor Hochmuth was receptive.   The lay male leaders didn't want to know what I was providing them, and eventually when they'd see me walking to the door of the church with an envelope in my hand, they'd literally make efforts to avoid being handed more documentation.   I did send copies and more to officials in Synod, until I was informed to cease sending for I "didn't know what I was talking about".  There were a couple of responses by Joel Gerlach who was at Mequon, to information/letters of mine published in Christian News.  His admonition was similar in his responses.   

Eventually Pastor Hochmuth received and accepted a call to a congregation in Sacramento.  Peace Lutheran Church called many pastors who declined the call, so for 18 months it was served by other pastors and mostly Pastor Bivens.  During that time I questioned the LCMS workbooks he used for adult Bible Classes for "Group Discussion", one of the Humanist methods I and other parents were opposing in public schools.  We met  privately and I provided my material and objections, and he told me I probably had the " gift of discernment".   

I went away encouraged, but the LCMS Concordia workbooks weren't withdrawn, but a warning of sorts was given out re: some elements of them.    I tangled with Pastor Valleskey re: using large group, small group format for current topics during youth group gatherings...circle seating, the Humanist arrangement for the process.    I call circle seating for group discussion the Humanist Liturgical format.  

After 18 months a call was accepted by Pastor David Voss.   I am conjecturing but often thought that a lot of called pastors knew about dissenters in Peace Congregation.  I had the most documentation and the reputation of being a public resister re:
methods, etc. being perpetrated on public schools, but there were other members concerned as well especially re: the systems managed efforts to dump the KJV in favor of whatever flavor one chose.  No one wanted to take a call to a congregation with trouble makers.   I have also wondered whether Pastor Voss wasn't a managed decision to accept the call to get rid of the resisters.
The  visit between him and myself in my living room was four hours of disagreeing, and his telling me that everything I opposed WAS GOING TO HAPPEN WHETHER I LIKED IT OR NOT.   He needed to meet with my two children away at college to see whether they agreed with me or not.  That happened over Christmas break, they did, and all three of our names were presented to the January 1978 Voter's meeting to have our memberships terminated.   The voters' did as recommended and that's the end of that story.

 GJ - Though he never joined the ELS or WELS, Stolzenburg was supported and protected by both sects. This bi-sectsual Church Growther is still plying his trade in Columbus.

Reading Ichabod this morning brought back floods of memories from 40-to half century ago.   Midwest relatives and friends from my early years remained oblivious  assuming what happened was just something in "crazy California".  Nobody wanted to know or inquire, just so they had a nice church building with the traditional name in which to worship.   You know about that attitude in Columbus where there were a few voices in the wilderness, but if Synod said OK, it must be OK.   I knew through correspondence a lady whom you also knew there who recognized what was going on.  We'd become acquainted long distance through our mutual research and battle re: the government schools.  She died early.

Enough or maybe too much.    Thank you allowing me to  reminisce and wonder again why God allowed me to recognize what was happening when so many didn't.

***
GJ -



GJ - WELS pastors consider life and ministry to be one big GA game, amusing themselves by lying about everything. They are still - emotionally - in the dorms and bars of Watertown/New Ulm, boasting of their drunken pranks - the biggest one being WELS itself. The synod of Hoenecke and Gausewitz is now a subsidiary of Pete Wagner, Willow Creek, the NIV, and Rick Warren.

Some of the con artists not mentioned above, but deserving attention are: 
  • Naumann and all subsequent Synod Presidents, especially Mirthless Mark Schroeder;
  • Mark and Avoid Jeske, Don Patterson, John Lawrenz, and lesser lights of Church and Change;
  • Tiefel, whether sober or not;
  • Jay Webber, shouting into phones to get his next gig;
  • Paul Kuske, who managed to get himself voted off the district praesidium; 
  • Timid professors at Mordor, trembling lest they be caught leading instead of following.




Posted by Ichabod the Glory Has Departed at 8:20 PM
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