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| Astronomers wondered why the signals from space were not coming through. |
I wonder how people feel when they have have joined the mass movement to change everything - and realize they were wrong. Donald McGavran, the original guru of Church Growth, lived long enough to pass the torch to Lawrence Otto Olson, WELS, who earned his precious D.Min. at Fuller Seminary. "Our Staff Infection," as Larry is known in his sect, did his best to deny his Fuller degree, but insisted on students calling him Doctor Olson.
Many LCMS-WELS leaders marched to Fuller Seminary and its clones, glad to have found the key to success - sociology, sometimes called "anthropology for white people."
McGavran fell hard for sociology, so everything had to have a rationalistic explanation. He was Disciples of Christ, a little known radical Left-wing denomination. The combination of education and experience gave him a mission to convert everyone to his anti-Word, sociological methods and excuses. He merely got in touch with the inner Atheist in each denominational boss, the politicians who worked their way to the top, energized by coffee, danish, and malarkey.
Thrivent and its components (AAL and LB) loved to fund the Church Growth programs. They got ELCA-WELS-LCMS together - on ELCA's terms - and merged all their bases into one happy, unbelieving family.
McGavran died 30 years ago - too soon to see the destruction he facilitated. I do not blame him entirely. He was working with stooges who wanted a quick fix to make them look good in their denomination. Fads got them excited. They joined the inter-denominational cult and went down together.
Holy Moley is the best example. The LCA decided that earth-sheltered buildings were the wave of the future and built one in Michigan. Local residents could barely find the underground church and nicknamed it Holy Moley. I could report on it if I remembered the name and location.
Dr. Bruce Wenger used to say, "That is what happens when authority is divorced from responsibility."
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| "If the ushers are not friendly, the best Law and Gospel sermon will do no good." WELS favorite Church Growther, Floyd Luther Stolzenburg, uttered this epigram at a Michigan gathering. |
