The Right Hand Knoweth Not What the Left Hand Doeth - LCMC Congregation

 

Joliet church ordered to pay back donations from local businessman convicted in Ponzi scheme

LCMC Congregations

JOLIET, Ill. (WLS) -- A church in Joliet is scrambling to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from the founder of a local business who was convicted of defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme.

Messiah Lutheran Church leaders say they fear financial ruin for their place of worship.

In August, the congregation learned it would have to pay back over $780,000 in donations to the federal government, even though the church said it has done nothing wrong.

The church was thrust into a financial crisis after authorities said it received donations from a local company accused for fraudulent financial practices.

Kenneth Courtright, founder of Today's Growth Consultant Inc., has been convicted of wire fraud connected to a $75 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 500 investors. Courtright could not be reached for comment.

In 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a federal lawsuit demanding that the church pay back to the SEC over $780,000 in donations given to them by Courtright.

The majority of the donations date back to 2010, meaning the money the church received in good faith has already been used for its ministry over the last decade. In August a judge ordered the church to pay the reduced amount of $487,000 in just over 60 days. If they don't, a $100,000 penalty will be added.

His Holiness, Rolf the Regurgitator, Has Spoken

Any UOJist who accuses someone of false doctrine
is just like Paul the Plagiarist on his cardboard tank:
Otten's best friend during the elections of Barry and Matt the Fatt.

Pastor Rolf David Preus (Rolf) Senior Member Username: Rolf Post Number: 9578 Registered: 5-2001

Posted on Saturday, September 09, 2017 - 11:26 am:      As to whether the ELCA is a Christian church body, I would say yes if by that we are saying that one can be brought to faith and sustained in the Christian faith within the ELCA. On the other hand, the ELCA, corporately, that is, in its official teaching, has denied the Christian religion in critical areas. The most widespread and damaging error promoted within the ELCA is the denial of the vicarious atonement. ELCA theologians who deny the heart of the gospel are promoted within the LCMS. This is a scandal. Pastor Rolf David Preus

GJ - The Stormtroopers of UOJ are just like the ones in the orginal Star Wars - they never hit their targets, no matter how many times they fire. Read Rolf the Regurgitator's prior remark:

The problem with this answer is that it evades the critical point of the question: "who adhere to Roman dogma." Can one reject justification by faith alone without rejecting the gospel? Is our doctrine of justification only our doctrine? Is it not the gospel itself? Can one trust in his own good deeds for salvation and be a Christian? These are the questions that should be addressed. They were not. Why not?
Pastor Rolf David Preus

Rolf has loudly and publicly rejected Justification by Faith in favor of the rationalistic dogma of Pietism. In this regard, he is one with ELCA.

ELCA is a Christian Church, according to this hot-air merchant! The ELCA was constituted by the radicals of Seminex, who dominated the commission, so it was clearly begun as anti-Trinitarian - far ahead of its time in establishing the quota system that led to the disastrous 2009 decision. Even some bishops were disgusted - and left, after pocketing their retirement money. NALC already has 400,000 members. The older break-off group has about as many - the LCMC.

The UOJ tribe, which is pan-Lutheran, likes to claim Justification by Faith - from time to time. But they are cloaking their evil dogma. Their Subjective Justification is nothing more than trust in God's universal absolution and salvation of the entire world - a startling decree which remains unrecorded in the Scriptures, the Confessions, Luther's sermons, and Chemnitz' writing.

The UOJ Stormtroopers hate Justification by Faith so much that they hardly ever use the term. I have ready many of their sacred documents, now preserved in the musty Misthaufen of the Essay Files, WELS. The typical sleight of hand is to use the term Justification by itself, without writing Justification by Faith. Next they define their UOJ as the "Chief Article of the Christian Faith, the Master and Prince, the judge of all articles of faith, on which the Church stands or falls." Thus Bivens - another Fulleroid tool - not only leads his readers astray, but plagiarizes Zarling as a bonus.

Did Rolf Preus switch sides again? Read this post.

If so, he needs to repudiate UOJ and his posts promoting UOJ. There is no middle ground.

This Pastor Visits Homes All the Time! Wisconsin LCMC pastor accused of stealing parishioners' meds

 Jon Mark Paquette, LCMC.
"A house-going pastor means a church-going congregation."
His sermons are still posted on YouTube.
Below is one featuring the livery of the 
Green Bay Packers quarterback.

Wisconsin pastor accused of stealing parishioners' meds:

"A Wisconsin pastor is accused of stealing prescription medications from members of his parish.

Jon Mark Paquette, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Birchwood, Wis., was arrested on suspicion of burglary Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, after a search warrant was executed at the church parsonage. (Photo courtesy Barron County sheriff’s office)
Jon Mark Paquette, 56, is pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Birchwood, Wis. He was arrested Thursday after a search warrant was executed at the church parsonage, according to the Barron County sheriff’s office.

Investigators believe Paquette was targeting his own parishioners."


'via Blog this'

This is serious stuff in Wisconsin.

Jay Webber and Rev. Becky Hand Prepared for Their Big Moments at ELCA's Online Seminary

Rev Becky Hand prepared for the ministry
at ELCA's online seminary -
Institute of Lutheran Theology,
UOJ guru Jay Webber (ELS) earned his STM there.

Science leads pastor into ministry

Hand: Paul’s writings are down to earth to post-resurrection people

The Rev. Rebecca Lynn “Becky” Hand had long been certain her destiny was to be a veterinarian when she graduated from Odessa High School in 1983, but a serious illness during her first year at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences ended that ambition.

After recovering from mononucleosis, Hand got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science and genetics from Tarleton State and Texas Tech and taught the subjects for 14 years at Odessa College; however, the ministry’s call changed her course again when in 2007 she became the founding pastor of Life in Grace Lutheran Church at 1009 N. Tom Green Ave.

Asked if she sees a conflict between science and religion, Hand said, “No, we study the signs and how things were made, but that doesn’t mean God didn’t make them.

“I marvel at the intricate details life has. There are things we still don’t know, but God knows all the secrets because He did it. I worried about aliens when I was young, but it dawned on me that if there are other life forms, God created them, too, and He is still in charge.”

Hand leads services at 11 a.m. Sunday, where an average of 30 people attend, and at 9 a.m. Sunday at Hope Lutheran Church in Midland.

She earned a master’s of divinity degree from the Institute of Lutheran Theology in Brooking, S.D., in 2014. Hand and her husband Robert have three children and three grandchildren. Her maiden name was Hennig.

“The sermon always has to be about Jesus, His love for us and His grace and forgiveness,” she said. “The entire Word is inspired by God, and through the whole scripture the thread that ties it all together is Christ.

“I love the books of Romans and Ephesians because Paul is down to earth in his writings to post-resurrection people. He tells us to live like it is our last day, and we have to take that to heart.

“We can’t see the whole ocean from any one viewpoint, and God’s love is bigger than that with more depth and breadth than we can imagine. We can try to see others the way God sees them, but sooner or later our innate selfishness is going to get in the way.”

Tammy Brown of Albany, who attended Tarleton State University with Hand in Stephenville, said the minister “was very grounded even as a young person.

“You could talk with Becky about anything, and she always had an answer,” Brown said. “You could see God was in her with the way her eyes twinkled.

“She has the biggest heart and a real cute sense of humor. She’s a genuine, good, Godly person who cares about people.”

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BlogView All Articles >>

Ordination & Installation of Pr. Becky Hand

Sherita Reno - August 22, 2014
Life in Grace Lutheran Church

The long awaited day of Rebecca Lynn (Becky) Hand to graduate with a Master of Divinity arrived on August 17, 2014. Along with her ordination as an LCMC pastor and installation as pastor of Life in Grace Lutheran Church, Odessa, TX, and Hope Lutheran Church, Midland, TX. 

Pastors in ceremony attendance were as follows: Rev. Alsen Wenzel, St. John's Lutheran of Winters, TX, Rev. John Rasmussen and Rev. Timothy J. Swenson of the Institute of Lutheran Theology, Brookings, SD, Rev. Mark Schimmel, Zion Lutheran of Priddy, TX, and retired Lutheran pastor Jerry Kaskela of Lubbock, TX.

The Grace of our Lord was overflowing from early morning church service to Pastor Becky's special afternoon service with family, friends and other Lutheran churches of the community! We all know and believe that she will spread the Gospel of the "Good News" to everyone, for God has called her to do so and she will deliver his Word!

Jay Webber's ILT graduation ceremony was held
in the corner of a restaurant.

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Thanks to all who contributed and participated in the District convention April 25. Pr. Becky Hand from Gardendale, Texas preached on the theme “Hope for the Long Haul.” Keynoter Pr. Steve Lien, LCMC Coordinator of Pastoral Ministry, discussed sobering challenges facing pastors and congregations, but also reminded the convention of the good and the hopeful. Pr. Julie Smith, LCMC Board of Trustees updated the convention on LCMC activities. Pr. Becky Hand, Odessa, TX was elected to complete the District Council term of Pr. Randy Freund. Loren Brekke, Hanska, MN; Pr. Craig Nehring, Caroline, WI; Jane Evers, Comfrey, MN and Lou Weeks, Marshall, MN were elected to three year terms. Emilie Wildey, Stewart, MN and Gaylen Lerohl, Alexandria, MN were reelected to three year terms on the District Council. 

The NALC Met in August. They Are the Bishops' Synod - Departing from ELCA with Six Retired Bishops

Ken Sauer was the LCA Bishop in Ohio when I was ordained.
I left the LCA about 22 years before he left ELCA.

Here are the NALC resolutions.

Publish en clar for the Mequon graduates -
http://thenalc.org/wp-content/uploads/News/2013-Convo-bulletin-insert.pdf

As you can see from the PDF, the NALC and LCMC ordain women. They like the Church Growth Movement and look forward to working with ELCA in the LWF.

They also feel comfortable with non-Lutheran cell group material.

It's another scam! Run for the hills. These guys and girls are just retro ELCA.

The Church Day-Care Business:Read and Weep

Mrs. Ichabod said, "Send this to 29A." It describes a LCMC congregation.

http://www.alpb.org/forum/index.php?topic=2616.9585

7.  Opening a Christian Daycare is a large part of Grace's vision for its turnaround and future prosperity.  This is similar to what we have done at Christ Lutheran in Belmont.  While this does not necessarily enlarge the congregation (it hasn't much at Christ despite 8 years of such ministry), if successful it does provide Christian nurture for children ages 1 month to 5 years, full-time employment for a number of persons (i.e., job creation, much needed in their area as in many), and strong finances to perpetuate the congregation's ministries of Word and Sacrament, and a full-time pastoral presence with the means to help many locally and strong mission support beyond local to others.

***

Learning to say, "Tanks"
at the Patton Museum.

GJ - I copied this because it represents the non-thinking in many WELS congregations, as subsidized day-care absorbs more and more money from the parish.

It also fits the corporate model described below by Mr. Randall Schultz.

This paragraph reminds me of the letter written to a journalist about all the things the congregation had tried to raise money. All of them were gimmicks and selling efforts. "What should we try next?" they asked.

Horace Greeley replied, "Try religion."

Lutherans should trust the Word, but they do not. Broadcasting the Word (in the old fashioned sense) is possible in a dozen ways, from mailings to blogging, from podcasts to video services.

Instead of looking for a man faithful to the Word, congregations look for an MBA who pleases everyone. That is a devil's bargain. If he or she fools enough people long enough, the parish becomes a synagogue of Satan. If the minister finds out the magic formula does not work, he is thrown into despair.

Holy Mother WELS will help a family borrow $80,000 so their child can learn diaper-changing as a credentialed profession. Martin Luther College (WELS) is spending millions to establish a training center, to pump life into their dying school.

Mrs. I did not take any didie changing courses, but she managed to take care of three special children. Nor did I, and I managed such skills as feeding the unwilling, bathing the rebellious, and teaching Greek.

My young charge agreed to demonstrate how he escaped his crib.

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quercuscontramalum (http://quercuscontramalum.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "The Church Day-Care Business:Read and Weep":

Area Lutheran High Schools have AP/college track curricula and career placement programs for young women, but guidance department materials never mention "Mother," let alone praise it as the highest vocation for her.

ALHS's are not only subsidized, they are their own calling bodies within WELS. (Churchception: church within a church within a church) What if a pastor stood at the pulpit (or the middle of the stage) listing forty wonderful career choices a teenage girl could do with her life, but never mentioned 'stay at home and raise Christian babies'?

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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "The Church Day-Care Business:Read and Weep":

Another important point is that church daycare centers and also four-year-old kindergarten (or preschool) usually require a number of volunteers from the church to make them operate smoothly. In some parishes, it is hard to get willing volunteers for sporadic events, much less for something as often and as sustained as a daycare or preschool requires.

Our church was considering a daycare, and also a 4-year-old kindergarten. A daycare is subsidized by the state or feds only for mothers with low income who need to work, while the 4-year-old kindergarten has been subsidized by the state for nearly a decade now for children regardless of the income of the parents (at least in our state).

Subsidized four-year-old kindergarten is new and is not available in every area. It depends on local interest, and whether private entities or the public school system are willing to set it up. Also, with unemployment high and states looking to trim budgets, the state might pull funding at any time. The main rational for subsidized four year old kindergarten is not there when there's already high unemployment, since who needs more mothers able and willing to work, further driving up the unemployment rate?

***

GJ - The church or school that lives by taxes will die by taxes.

The Age of Hypocrisy in Lutherdom And Other Dark Places

"We do what we say, Brett.
Give us that much...
And stop taking notes."

The Age of Apostasy, predicted in the pastoral epistles, could also be named the Age of Hypocrisy.

KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away [apostasy] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

I was reading about a large ELCA congregation voting to leave, so I asked Mrs. Ichabod about it. Her instant recall and photographic memory relayed some details immediately, since she grew up in Indiana. The congregation has 1300 baptized members, so I looked up the website. In the news section I found that 22 youth were coughing up $1,000 each to attend a youth rally in New Orleans. I thought, "No, it cannot be. They are leaving ELCA and sending 22 youth to the ELCA youth rally, where they promote homosexuality as a gift from God?

Every Lutheran synod leader is a sock puppet.
Don't get too close.

As far as I can tell, since the parish article is not specific, that gathering is the ELCA youth rally. I can find no other youth rally in New Orleans on that date.

Why would a congregation leave ELCA over its gaity while organizing and funding an ELCA youth extravaganza?

Let's say that $22,000 youth trip is a terrible mistake, made by the parish or by me.

At the same time, the alternative denomination, LCMC, is crying  "FOUL!" over being kicked out of the ELCA Board of Pensions benefit plans - which cover abortion for any reason. I imagine ELCA also included domestic partners health coverage as well, after the 2009 convention.

The two alternative denominations leaving ELCA--the LCMC and NALC--are stuck like dog-fur on Velcro to ELCA.

Besides that, all the Lutheran sects are owned and managed by Thrivent as marketing centers. Thrivent is the pimp and they are the crack whores, weeping about their poor lot in life while counting on Big Daddy in Appleton to fund their addictions.

SP Harrison admitted to $50-60 million a year from Thrivent funds. ELCA must get far more than that.  WELS, the ELS, the LCMC, and the NALC all get their portions from the bowl of lentil soup. All the groups work together at various levels and attend the same religious functions.

The non-ELCA groups would have more credibility if they actually distanced themselves from the obvious apostates. Not doing so makes the rest hypocritical apostates - hardly a title fitting "confessional" Lutherans.

---

 LCMC, is crying  "FOUL!" over being kicked out of the ELCA Board of Pensions 

It's the NALC not LCMC that is being dropped because they are breaking a part of the agreement with BOP to only use their health plan. If NALC can use two plans then they could send all their high risk pastors to BOP and cherry pick others at a lower cost.

If my sarcasm is juvenile, what adjective do you use for this statement?

Thrivent is the pimp and they are the crack whores.

Bruce Foster

***

GJ - I didn't go to the first gay Lutheran seminary - Seminex - your bailiwick, Bruce. I try to use language that Seminexers can grasp.

WELS and Missouri Paving the Way for LCMC, NALC, and the Church of Rome

The sinuflecting blogs of Lutherdom do not feature this quotation.

Someone disgusted with WELS asked, "Why do you think we would be interested in the LCMC? They have women's ordination and open communion?" I thought, "And WELS does not have both?"

Most WELS members do not realize how much the real WELS, Missouri, and Little Sect are like the LCMC, a group which began as soon as the ELCA merger took place, 1987. The LCMC remained in the background until the 2009 ELCA convention, when the wraps came off the hidden agenda. ELCA voted for homosexual ordination and marriage. The retired ELCA bishops soon started the NALC, quickly adding about 200 congregations to the 700 parishes from NALC, most of them exits from ELCA. The Barnhardt website has regular updates.

The websites of the LCMC and NALC suggest they promote:

• Open communion.
• Vague confessionalism.
• Women's ordination.
• A flexible attitude about the Scriptures.
• Backdoor Pentecostalism.

In other words, the new groups are just like the LCMS, WELS, and ELS. The micro-minis are similar too, just more hypocritical about it.

The Emmaus Synod Presidents--Hopeless, Helpless, and Hapless--do not want their members thinking about being in bed with ELCA. The Syn Conference leaders have far more affinity for ELCA attitudes than they do for their own historic standards.

Exhibit A - The First VP of WELS is a Fuller Seminary alumnus. I do not know if he actually bought a drive-by degree there, as MLC Professor Larry Olson did. But Huebner did study at Fuller, making him one of many WELS leaders to do so. And Jim Huebner is a walking-talking Ken Doll for Fuller, mouthing the Fuller doctrine and livin' the Fuller dream, Soul Cafe and all.

SP Mark Schroeder thinks that getting people to stop posting on Ichabod will change the public image of WELS. Hardly. He should look at his own posts, if he wants to spin the image of the Wisconsin sect. Who endorsed and promoted the feminazi women's conference from Church and Change? SP Schroeder. Who elevated a founder of Church and Change to President of the Portable Asian Seminary? SP Schroeder. Who first quietly and now loudly supports the porno-mytho translation called the NNIV? SP Schroeder. He is always Helpless when it comes to dealing with Church and Changers, but most Helpful in promoting them and their causes.

I was 25 years early in publishing about the ELCA. Northwestern Publishing House printed that book--Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure--and it sold well.

So here is my prediction about the Syn Conference - Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect will formalize the de facto merger they have enjoyed the last few decades, perhaps staying as geographical entities within one legal corporation. To save face and legal complications, this may be a paper unity rather than one where they share each other's scandals and lawsuits on a formal basis. They have to close plenty of schools but keep something open, for fund-raising purposes if nothing else. They will be like ELCA, claiming ministries all over the world that are really token participation in ecumenical storefronts.

For instance, all three can be in Peru if they chip in for one ELS missionary. All three can be dealing with sin in Rio if Missouri alone stays in Brazil. But all three will continue to abuse their members and pastors, so people will look for similar doctrinal laxity without the baggage. The LCMC and NALC will suit all those people looking for a fresh but familiar alternative.

The Syn Conference is financially bankrupt because they were doctrinally bankrupt long ago. Hopeless, Helpless, and Hapless cannot even teach justification by faith. They are blood-brothers for Enthusiasm, as exemplified by J. P. Meyer.

ELCA Departures Continue Full Speed

ALPB Online

May 22--Our Saviour's, Ackley, Iowa passed its 2nd vote to leave the ELCA 28-8 (82%).  They have voted to go NALC.   It's a small congregation, formed in 1964 as an ALC congregation.  They were my first calll (1987-1994).  Their present pastor has also been received into the NALC. 

In addition to Our Saviour's, in May three other ELCA congregations in Iowa went NALC (Trinity, Avoca; St. Paul's, Sheldon; and Waterloo Ridge, Dorchester), bringing the NALC in Iowa to 21 congregations.  Trinity and St. Paul's were Western Iowa Synod; Waterloo Ridge was Northeast Iowa Synod.  There are more congregations in the pipeline.  I think we could be at 30 NALC congregations in Iowa by fall.  The NALC total is now past 230 (hard for the website to keep up).  Over the last few weeks, it's been 9 congregations and 9 pastors per week.

Ken

***

GJ - The NALC is the bishops' synod. The older (and more like the ALC) LCMC has around 700 congregations. The two new groups are working together and seem to be similar in their doctrine, which includes women's ordination.

There are several other groups gaining from the exits, including the AALC and the LMS-USA.

Look for more ELCA seminaries to fail, a combination of reduced financial support and failing endowment funds. Those on death row already are: Chicago, Dubuque, Southern, and Berkeley.

Chicago and Dubuque could combine with Trinity in Columbus. Southern could be added to save face.

The two Pennsylvania seminaries, which were to merged in 1962, could combine eventually.

Africa Boycotts ELCA

ELCA's armored division will enforce doctrinal discipline.

Tanzania Lutherans Reject Aid From 'ELCA' Churches

By Fredrick Nzwili and Kevin Eckstrom Religion News Service

NAIROBI (RNS/ENI) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania says it will not accept money or help from groups that allow or support the legalization of same-sex marriages.

"Those in same-sex marriages, and those who support the legitimacy of such marriage, shall not be invited to work in the ELCT," says a statement posted to the church's Web site on April 29. "We further reject their influence in any form, as well as their money and their support."

Church officials referred Ecumenical News International to the presiding bishop of the church, the Rev. Alex Malasusa, but neither he nor the ELCT general secretary Brighton Kilewa could be reached.

The statement comes in advance of the 70-million strong Lutheran World Federation assembly in Stuttgart, Germany, from July 20-27, where homosexuality is expected to be a divisive issue.

"This church affirms that love is the essence of a relationship between two people who live, or who want to live, together in marriage," the church statement said. "But, with regard to married spouses, this is the love between two people of the opposite sex." The Tanzanian church is the world's second-largest Lutheran body after the Church of Sweden, which last October deeply angered Lutherans in Africa by allowing the celebration of same-sex marriages.

Last summer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America lifted restrictions on non-celibate gay clergy, and approved a broad local option for congregations that want to bless same-sex relationships.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, said he expects to have "honest and open conversations" when he hosts Malasusa at ELCA headquarters in Chicago on May 18. Hanson said the "the ELCA's shared commitment ... to be engaged in God's mission for the sake of the world" remains unchanged.

The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director of the ELCA's Global Mission department, told ELCA News Service that the ELCA has promised sister churches that it will "continue to be respectful of local policies and practices" when assigning U.S. missionaries overseas.

Martin Luther College students - answering the call.
Over 1340 people want to bring back the Party-in-the-MLC video.

ELCA Does Have Doctrinal Discipline - Never Forget That - Just Like WELS Church and Changers

Do not boycott the bishop, neither may you deny him his purse.

Bishop warns four congregations violate church law

By Mary Garrigan Journal staff | Posted: Friday, May 7, 2010 9:00 pm

A Lutheran pastor from Philip and the four Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations she leads have been told by their bishop that they are in violation of church law for affiliating with another Lutheran association and withholding funds from the South Dakota synod.

The Rev. Frezil Westerlund said Friday that she was notified of ELCA Bishop David Zellmer's "censure" on May 5. The four congregations she serves -- Philip, Long Valley, Midland and a rural church -- each voted to join the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ. The LCMC opposes the new ELCA policies for homosexual clergy and same-sex marriage that were adopted last year. The LCMC churches also voted to withhold parish support from the synod and national church headquarters because of that decision and redirect it to charitable agencies of their choice.

The national church headquarters announced in January that the ELCA will not allow congregations to be members of more than one church body. Bishop Zellmer could choose to discipline a congregation for affiliating with an additional church body, and Zellmer announced in April that he would do so.

Nearly 200 ELCA congregations have joined LCMC since the ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted in August 2009 to change ELCA teaching and policy to permit pastors to be in same-sex sexual relationships. The significant number of congregations joining LCMC may explain the ELCA's new tough stance against dual church body affiliations, said the Rev. David Baer of Whitewood. Baer estimated that 11 congregations in South Dakota have joined LCMC.

Zellmer is traveling outside of the country, but his assistant, the Rev. Bill Tesch, said Friday that estimate is high. Similar letters went out to a few other churches, in addition to Westerlund's, he said.

Tesch said the letter was not a censure of Westerlund or the churches, but rather a letter informing them that their dual membership puts them in violation of ELCA church constitution. He said the LCMC is defined as a denomination, not an association. The bishop will consult with the synod council in the near future to determine any further action against ELCA congregations that continue their LCMC affiliation.

"It's not a censure. It's not a threat. It's a letter of information," he said.

ELCA Exiles Like Fuller Too - Fuller Is Clearly the Seminary for All Alleged Lutherans

http://www.lcmc.net/seminary_info.htm

SEMINARY INFORMATION

The following seminaries are in a working relationship with LCMC. This is not an exhaustive list of seminaries, nor is it an endorsement of any of these seminaries.

Many of these seminaries have made special provision to meet LCMC’s expectations for Lutheran historical and theological training. Individuals are encouraged to contact these seminaries and find out which can meet all, or some, of our general expectations.

Individuals interested in preparing for ministry in the LCMC are encouraged to approach a district’s ministry committee for guidance and fulfillment of the candidacy process.

(It is important to individuals and ministry committees to remember the list of general academic expectations serves as a guideline. Remember also that the wording, “or its equivalent”, may be considered by ministry committees when assessing academic or other expectations of a candidate for ministry.)


---------------------------------------

Bethel Seminary
Joseph Valentine Dworak, M.A.
Director of Admissions and Recruitment
Bethel Seminary
3949 Bethel Drive
St. Paul, MN 55112
work: 651-638-6288
fax: 651-635-2479

www.Bethel.edu
____________________

ILTEP (The Independent Lutheran Theological Education Project)
The Claus Harms House
429 N. Sawyer Ave.
Oshkosh, WI 54902
(920) 231-1287

www.iltep.org
____________________

The Master's Institute Seminary
2700 Rice St.
St. Paul, MN 55113
(651) 765-9756
info@themastersinstitute.org
Seminary Coordinator: Wanda Newgren
President: Rev. Michael Bradley

www.themastersinstitute.org

_____________________

North American Baptist Seminary

Admissions Office
1525 S. Grange Avenue
Sioux Falls, SD 57105

info@nabs.edu
1.800.440.6227

___________________

Salt Lake Theological Seminary
Dr. James L. Wakefield
Salt Lake Theological Seminary
PO Box 2096
Salt Lake City, UT 84110-2096

Street address:
Dr. James L. Wakefield
Salt Lake Theological Seminary
699 East South Temple, Suite 324
Salt Lake City, UT 84102-1142

jlw@slts.edu
801-581-1900

www.slts.edu


--------------------------------------------

LCMC also has (or has had) students attending the following seminaries: (District Ministry Committees will assist the student in how to fulfill the LCMC Lutheran educational requirements.)

Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio
Fuller Seminary, Pasadena, California
Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota
Trinity Seminary, Newburg, Indiana
Trinity Southwest University, Albuquerque, New Mexico

(ELCA seminaries may accept students as ecumenical students – further conversation with the seminary can clarify these options).


--------------------------------------------------

Other theological and ministry training options are available for those interested in contract calls, for lay theological training, and for continuing education for pastors. District ministry committees may have more information than noted here.

Beyond the River Academy

(Training for Rural Ministry)
Pr. Keith Mentor
4313 Main St.
Elkhorn, IA 51334
712-764-5678

http://beyondtheriveracademy.org

***

A. Nony Mouse has left a new comment on your post "ELCA Exiles Like Fuller Too - Fuller Is Clearly th...":

Have you ever discussed the LCMC beforeon your blog? By not explaining what this group is all about, I'm sure you're thinking your readers will pass over the initials and think you're talking about the LCMS. I know what the LCMC is, so don't berate me for writing this--but I'm sure many of your readers are totally unfamiliar with it. Why don't you enlighten them?

GJ - I assume a high level of literacy and motivation among my readers, two qualities sadly lacking in you, Mouse.

1. I have discussed the LCMC before.
2. I provided a link, so even the dyslexic could unravel the mysteries of LCMS versus LCMC.
3. The headline gives away the topic - ELCA exiles. Missouri Synod Lutherans are ELCA wannabees, not ELCA exiles.
4. People can look up more on the topic by using the label list. As most people can see, the LCMC has already appeared before.

However, I could see how people might think this post was about WELS. One WELS pastor suggested his members join a Baptist church if they moved to a place where WELS was not (most of the US). WELS leaders and pastors have people reading non-Lutheran material all the time. The way to get ahead in the WELS ministery is to be as non-Lutheran and anti-Lutheran as possible, drinking in wisdom from Trinity (Deerfield), Willow Creek, Fuller Seminary, and that Moses of the Twenty-first Century - Leonard Sweet.

WordAlone - LCMC

WordAlone/LCMC
We are rapidly running out of names for Lutheran groups. I cannot remember exactly what LCMS is, but I know they are congregations from the ELCA. Some congregations within LCMS are completely out of ELCA. Others have a dual-membership. Apparently, WordAlone/LCMC had two main groups, charismatic and non-charismatic. The two factions have parted ways.

No one (except Ichabod) wanted to leave ELCA when it began in 1987. Now the exits are being stampeded. During the last 20 years, WELS and Missouri have done their best to identify with and work with ELCA. No wonder people are not rushing to join either WELS or Missouri.

Augustana Ministerium
One Lutheran name has already been recycled. The Augustana Synod was a group of Swedish-American Lutheran churches. They chose their name to distinguish them from the generic, non-confessional Lutherans of the time. My wife, my mother, and I all graduated from Augustana College. Conrad Bergendoff wrote a book about the ministers of the denomination, called The Augustana Ministerium. Now a group within the LCMS has called itself The Augustana Ministerium.