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"There is no Church Growth in WELS..."
wrote Wayne Mueller. |
One person said to me that telling the truth about the Wisconsin Synod (WELS) "saved lives." If you want the short version, read George Orwell's 1984. After the hero has been tortured and humiliated to the point of death, he recognizes the ultimate truth - "I love Big Brother."
WELS does not mind parents having children, as long as the sect makes sure the children belong to them, submit to them, love them. That is carried out through a system of bullying where the victims - I mean students - are shown that they must all stick together in bullying the ones that "do not fit in." That includes telling the parents what is going on. Silence + lies = unity!
The sect only knows two classes - the Names and the victims. I looked over the current District President list. They are the sons of people who had positions before - Names. Being obnoxious toward others is no problem, because everyone knows the family tree. A common saying is, "He is a Name." The victim is automatically guilty for letting parents or anyone else know what is going on.
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| WELS/ELS members and pastors were cautioned to say "Marvin Schwan" with reverence and awe. He gave more money per capita to the ELS and a few million to the LCMS. |
I know of three examples of physical assault that would put clergy in prison, but "ratting out" the guilty parties means the person who told is guilty, excommunicated forever, and shunned forever.
WELS has a great school system. Just ask them. They are told they are the best, sticking to the true doctrine, considering Heaven somewhat disappointing, compared to their sect. They cover up for what the teachers do. At one prep school (expensive WELS-only high school) a teacher became an unperson instantly. Why? No one knew, no one told.
The WELS Grapevine is a source of great pride - and why not? - they use it to quash the truth and to slander those who question the doctrine, morals, and drinking habits of the Names. If the information comes from the Grapevine, remember - it is utterly false.
Responses from WELS leaders is exactly the same as the Ministry of Truth in 1984. A district president will say,
- "That never happened." or
- "I don't know anything about it." or
- "Who told you?!? That's a lie?!"
Asking for more details threatens to put the individual in the WELS Gulag Archipelago, a system for allowing someone to exist...barely.
If a hit is ordered on a pastor, the clergy will pull away all the members of that congregation. Then they will blame the victim and say, "He is bitter" to everyone as they wave goodbye, either to unemployment or to a parish small, remote, almost penniless. I was at a convention where someone said to me, "He is bitter," which meant no one listened to his question about changes in Holy Mother WELS.
On the other hand, if someone (a buddy) is caught in his sins, he gets a job driving a Schwan truck or chilling in Alaska, depending on his status. Higher level DNA gets him an instant new call, no matter the crime.
One WELS pastor was so bad that he did not have a first parish. No, that was erased from sect history somehow. Someone read this blog and saw a photo of him as a pastor from another, earlier parish. "What?! WELS said he came over from ___!" - never telling that he served another WELS parish but not admitting it. That made no sense, considering the way they regiment the calls.
WELS practices mushroom management for the laity. They keep them in the dark, cover them with horse manure, and harvest the loot years later.
I should add, "Being a Church Growth advocate - tattoo and all - means having a Get Out of Jail Free card." Drunk driving arrest? No problem. So drunk the seminary professor is found on the wrong side of the street? No problem. Give it time - conviction erased because it never happened! That is the genius of being born already forgiven and saved. The Names know this. Running a pedo business with free trips around the world? Give him instant absolution - without contrition - and obtain a laughable sentence so he can offend again. And he did.
I have covered three criminal cases where three different WELS synod presidents have exerted all their influence to make the guilty go free or get a super-light sentence. And - it never happened anyway.
WELS has a special hobby for their clergy, unlike anything I have experienced. Their GA initiation, which is carried out at their seminary, with versions at the college and other schools, dotes on lying. The whole idea of GA is to terrify the new students, shame them, insult them, assault them (but not if they are Names) and end the festive week with alcohol. As several professors told me, "Those are synod vitamins." Everything in GA is a lie, which binds "the brethren" as they call themselves.
WELS pastors pride themselves in lying and betraying confidences. They will act completely innocent of something, even a minor thing, to protect the Names - my best friend, my classmate, "I drank a lot of beer with him." If two seminarians are caught in the mattress room, ready to party, everyone will know it but not know it. They graduate, get married, have kids, etc.
Parents are much better off keeping their children from any WELS school. Anything whispered on the streets of their town will be shared in the Love Shack. The guilty will always be protected and rewarded. Supposed trusted and pastors will tell any lie they can to protect the guilty. Lawsuits cost money and they love money in Milwaukee. They lay treasures for themselves on earth, where Thrivent gets the elderly to sign Thrivent's irrevocable charity annuities over to WELS (not the parish). The drones at the Love Shack are the ones who bowed and scraped before Marvin Schwan - just like LCMS and ELS - never noticing his adultery, his divorce costing him almost nothing, and the death of his wife.
This is a good one to remember. I sent the Forbes article to Christian News about Marvin Schwan, a photo of him laughing and getting his divorce for $1 million and a Cadillac for his first wife. Otten printed it. I told Jay Webber and he told his handlers in the ELS. What nobody ever told me was that Mrs. Schwan saw the reprint in CN and ended her own life. Jay and the hierarchy blamed me (behind my back) and kept their secret to themselves for many years.
Marvin, who broke up his marriage and his manager's marriage, died fairly soon. WELS was scared to death that their honey-pot of funds was gone, but they still get some.
Given how Marvin betrayed and cheated his wife, with WELS/ELS/LCMS applauding and genuflecting, how much can any synod member or pastor respect the Love Shack (WELS), the Purple Palace (LCMS) and the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie (ELS)?
I don't love Big Brother or those who infest the glittering palaces of the Olde Synodical Conference. CFW Walther deliberately broke up the Conference by slinging his Calvinistic election without faith dogma. And he is revered today as the man who
- Covered for the flagrant promiscuity of his bishop, Martin Stephan, STD.
- Stole the gold and property from Stephan, and
- Promoted the Objective (Faithless) Justification of Pietism and Calvin.
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| Will sell to highest bidder. Don't you love the plastic Schwan floating by? |
