Try To Imagine - They Video Endless Shouts of "MLC Day!". And They Include This on the Tape. The Video Is Posted on the MLC Page on Facebook

Tutor Caleb Schulz (Fide) previews
candidates for Martin Luther College, New Ulm:
MLC Day at Luther Prep.

Does anyone mull over these questions at that degenerate college -

1. Is this a smart thing to do?
2. Is it wise to post this on Facebook?
3. Is this a warning for recruits?

I highly recommend books on cult behavior and abusive churches before sending a child or relative to Martin Luther College and on to Mordor in Mequon. The culture of alcoholism, abuse, and sanctimony is embedded, so no WELS leader is going to object. They only get angry that they have been found out...again.

 My old graphic was prophetic.

When Will This Happen to WELS - Given Their Contempt for Women?Click on the Link for This National Story

St. Paul’s Before and After the Owen Labrie Rape Trial

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/03/st-pauls-owen-labrie-rape-trial?mbid=nl_030116_Daily&CNDID=38873364&spMailingID=8607879&spUserID=MTEwMzU0MDc3MjM1S0&spJobID=880123380&spReportId=ODgwMTIzMzgwS0

Owen Labrie's topnotch defense team made it seem
like Owen was a victim.
He was 18 - she was 15.

I mentioned this case before. The private high school has a history of score reports and competitions to see who can "slay" the greatest number of young girls. They even wrote a chart  on the walls, which was painted over by the school, and then filled out again by the male students.

Alcoholism is why the men in the WELS system never grow up. They act like perpetual adolescents because

• they were born forgiven, according to UOJ,  
• know how to protect one another and 
• use mutual blackmail to thwart any real discipline.

Like the young teen girl in this story, which is really a case of statutory rape, the WELS victims and their families who speak out are shunned by the synod, the abuser, and even the congregation.

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."
Unless one is enjoying the benefits of the superb WELS educational system.

Going through college and seminary drunk makes a difference too. Alcoholics do not grow up. They use their addiction as a way to avoid adult decisions, adult responsibility. When their abuse is confronted, they react like four-year-olds, throw tantrums, and take their victims to court.

In the Ski-Glende-Appleton case, the woman's husband was sued in court by Ski, Glende, and two staff members. Synod President Mark Schroeder, the old DP Engelbrecht, and the new DP Zach all supported Ski and Glende. In WELS,  it is OK to drink on the job, make obscene comments to a staffer, and show an x-rated photo to a staffer.

DP Steinbrenner reversed the unanimous firing of a pastor, for cause - and denied anything had happened. The Circuit Pastor, who did not attend the firing meeting or the DP's display of verbal abuse and manipulation, phoned me to say nothing happened. He even admitted not seeing the key piece of evidence. He kept saying, "Did you? Did you?"

Synod President Mark Schroeder violated Alaskan law. DP Steinbrenner violated Alaskan law.  CP Rob Guenther violated Alaskan law. All three leaders had a duty to report suspicious activity. Nothing in Alaskan law allows clergy to cover up suspicious behavior by claiming "There was nothing there."

This case, the Appleton case, and many others should warn responsible adults never go to WELS, LCMS, or any other synod first. Instead, get an experienced lawyer, give that person all the facts and proof, and let the attorney take action. The corrupt synods will start a slander campaign against the victim and the family. They will make sure the victim is slandered, from the top down. That will save them millions of dollars, which is nice for them, because they are already spending millions to settle lawsuits and pay their attorneys.

CP Rob Guenther and his bear.

Shockeroo from James Radloff, Classmate of David Valleskey: Close Both Preps

MLS, before it had Harvard tuition (thanks to Gurgel and Wayne Mueller).

The Shrinkers have closed two preps out of four, but that is not enough. James Radloff, classmate of David Valleskey, has memorialized the synod to close the surviving preps.

You could have knocked me over with a pixel - that's how surprised I was.

Radloff edited the official mission counselors' newsletter for WELS, which always featured the worst false teachers and the most obnoxious false doctrine. I connected him with Valleskey because David did the same thing, a little more secretly - like a freight train going through a convent. But no one noticed.

Radloff is connected to the Patterson network. No surprise, again.

When I was first looking at WELS, John Lawrenz was president of MLS. He told me that the LCMS deliberately de-funded their preps until they were gone, in the name of missions.

Only a few years later, when WELS was trying hard to close MLS, Lawrenz said on the floor of the Michigan District convention, "We are willing to accept any role the synod gives us." People were shocked that the head of a school would be so willing to pull the rug, but DP Mueller did the same about closing NWC.

The Shrinkers have a demonic hatred for schools and an inordinate love for missions that promote Fuller doctrine.

Radloff's memorial makes sense, for those who know the players.



Lawrenz surfaced in a recent Church and Chicanery discussion. After he delivered his delphic comments, Patterson chimed in: "Pure gold, John. Thanks."

Gayla Tropical Event

When one church could not raise enough money from all their commercial activities, they asked Horace Greeley what to do. He answered, "When all else fails, try religion." Part of your sacrificial albeit self-indulgent spending will go to ReadySetAuction.

An Evening at the Tropics

April 18, 2009

The Gala is an evening of Giving Thanks to our Savior for all He has done for us and that Luther Prep exists to train workers to tell that Good News to others.

THEME: An Evening in the Tropics

COST: $65 per person
(of which $40 is a tax deductible donation to LPS)
$125 per couple
(of which $75 is a tax deductible donation to LPS)
$500 per table of 8
(of which $300 is a tax deductible donation to LPS)

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

DINNER SPONSORSHIPS (3 available) $2000 each includes 8 seats, 3 bottles of wine for you table, half page program ad, 1 year LPS website recognition, signage at the gala, 2 season passes to all home sporting events
PRINT SPONSORSHIPS (2 available) $1500 each includes 4 seats, 2 bottles of wine for your table, quarter page program ad, 1 year LPS website recognition, signage at the gala, 1 season pass to all home sporting events
SOCIAL HOUR SPONSORSHIPS (2 available) $1000 each includes 2 seats, 1 bottle of wine for your table, quarter page program ad, 1 year LPS website recognition, signage at the gala, 4 event passes
LIVE AUCTION/BARBERSHOP QUARTET SPONSORSHIPS (2 available) $500 each includes 2 seats, signage at the Gala, 1 year LPS website recognition, business card size program ad
DECORATION SPONSORSHIPS (4 available) $300 each includes 2 seats and signage at the gala
PLACE AN ADVERTISEMENT IN OUR GALA PROGRAM
business card size ad $15
quarter page size ad $25
half page size ad $50
full page size ad $100
For Sponsorship details please contact Steve Cantwell, Procurement Chairman or Debbie Rothe, Associate Director of Mission Advancement at LPS


SCHEDULE:

4:30 pm Passed Hors d' oeuvres and BRAND NEW "BLIND SILENT AUCTION"
7:00 pm Prayer and Welcome
7:15 pm Catered Dinner served by our students
8:15 pm Program/Live Auction/Entertainment: NEW M.C.: WELS Member Chuck Garbedian and NEW "EASY DAYS" Barbershop Quartet entertainment!!!
ENTERTAINMENT: Again, the LPS Strings, Guitars, Piano, Jazz, and more......... are preparing to WOW you with amazing entertainment during your "Evening in the Tropics"!

"EASY DAYS" Barbershop Quartet: While the quartet was formed to compete and has placed 11th in Sacramento, CA and in the Top Ten in Illinois, their focus is and always has been on entertaining their audiences. They have established a reputation as a fun quartet to see and hear featuring a fast paced show filled with interesting arrangements of familiar songs in a breezy style of communicating with the audience that sets them apart from other barbershop quartets!


Q. 1. What is the annual "Gala"? This is the first I've heard of it.
A. The Gala is an evening of: Christian fellowship, hors d'oeuvres, silent auction, elegant dinner, live auction, and live entertainment. Included in the price of a ticket is a small donation to support the mission of LPS! The event will be held at Luther Prep on April 18, 2009, from 4:30 -9:00 pm.

BUT... This event is not limited to one physical location! It is an event in which literally thousands of people can participate. It will not only include those who attend the event, but those who cannot attend have the opportunity of donating items for auctioning, sending financial gifts, and joining in the fun of the auction online!


Q. 2. What is the MISSION of Mission Advancement?
A. Mission Advancement Offices were established at each of the four synodical ministerial education schools, as directed by the synod in convention in the summer of 2005. The four ministerial education schools are: Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon (training pastors), WI; Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN (training pastors and teachers, staff ministers); Michigan Lutheran Seminary in Saginaw, MI; and Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, WI (college prep education for future pastors, teachers, staff, and lay ministers). The goal of these offices is to advance the mission of the schools. This goal is achieved by supporting past alumni of the school, sharing the story of LPS through publications and presentations, and creating opportunities for people to worship God through the joyful stewardship of direct financial support.


Q. 3. Why a Gala and Auction?
A. The Gala presents a unique opportunity for anyone who wants to support the mission of ministerial education and gives them the window to do so with whatever God-given talents they have. Finally NOT ONLY with money!

For example: we have a WELS food specialist assisting in making appetizers, WELS businesses donating their consumer goods and gift certificates to be liquidated into a cash gift for LPS, WELS parents using their wood working and handcrafting gifts to create a gift for the auction (quilts, cards, furniture and much more!), WELS ladies and men with organization skills working on the planning, WELS owners of cabins and boats and vacation homes willing to lend out a week to another WELS friend and donate the value of that to LPS, WELS World Missionaries giving us a "taste of their country in mission baskets" or decorations, and on and on and on!

The time, talents and treasures these folks have are going to financially benefit Luther Prep's mission in a way they never could without the Gala and it's silent and live auctions. And those who can give financially now have a specific opportunity to do so as well.

Powered by ReadySetAuction® Online Auction Software

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Gayla Tropical Event":

I do not see the efficacy of the Word in this Gayla Tropical Event.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Gayla Tropical Event":

This is truly disgusting.
This is NOT RIGHT.
WELS is no longer WELS.
Where is the leadership?
How has it come to this point?
This is offensive to both members and non-members.
WELS has gone the way of the world.
I am embarrassed and ashamed.
WELS = WI$CON$IN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN $YNOD
:(
Please repent.

What Happened to Christian Giving?

Planned Giving Counselors Meeting

I left the my family's Disciples of Christ congregation for various reasons. One was the constant drum-beat for money through commerical activities. The annual youth trip was funded with car washes, slave days, and all kinds of hooey. The congregation had ice cream socials and bakery sales. The Disciples minister arrived for one worship service wearing his white chaplain's hat, in a fire truck. He was cool.

Gimmicks, tricks, and monetary manipulations have always been the strong suit of Baptists and Pentecostals. One Assemblies of God minister said they had "kite day," where every child bringing a friend earned a kite. It is not exaggeration to say that the Fuller Seminary crowd feels comfortable with stunts and performances.

The Luther Prep and WELS Lutherans for Life (Christian Life Resources) commercial enterprises are just plain tacky. They lack dignity. How can people respect Christian good works when people are selling trinkets, meals, and Bossy the cow to the public - in the Name of Christ? Too bad Paul dealt with meat sacrificed to idols instead of steak offered to alumni.

I served a congregation where we had various funds. Fortunately one person got a Junk For Jesus sale organized just in time to alienate the more sober members. The laity agreed among themselves to stop asking for money for coffee and cookies, to banish all hints of commercialism, and to rely on God's Word for giving. Ending the extra petty offerings and the commercialism gave a huge boost to Christian giving. A stewardship program built on God's Word doubled the giving in three years.

A WELS pastor I know used to work in a grocery story. The chain tried all kinds of gimmicks to make extra money, such as selling clothes. One day he said, "Why are we ashamed of being a grocery store?"

I wonder why congregations and synods do not ask the same question. "Why are we ashamed of being a church?" A church quietly raises its down money.

A Christian school does not ask students to roll in the mud to make even more money, in addition to their extortionate tuition bills. Martin Luther College admitted to overbilling its own students, then said, "And we are keeping the extra, too."

As Luther said, when people demand something from God, that is the very thing He will keep from them.

Beef for Bling Benefits Bulging Prep Coffers

Wayne's Bossy: "I gave until it hurt."

Wayne Mueller, President-in-Waiting, Wisconsin Sect, donated beef for the Luther Prep auction, after boosting tuition 30% in one year. The exploding cost of tuition effectively reduced enrollment at both preps.

If some well-heeled donor asked, "Where's the beef?" and purchased Bossy from Wayne (with a prime cut sliced off by the auction company), then Luther Prep probably bought their scrim curtain and other essentials for their high school. Anxious participants want to know how much loot was hauled in, how much Luther Prep kept, and how soon the next garage sale will be scheduled.

Lutheran Notes wrote about the scandalous cost of tuition in preparation for the ministry. Two things need to be added:

1. Extortion in the name of tuition began during the Schwan Foundation's biggest charitable donation ever - an avalanche of dough for Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect on the Prairie. Synod officials kept the money for themselves and their pet projects while crushing their students with ever-increasing tuition bills.
2. In the past, WELS gave back all prep, college, and seminary tuition paid when the student graduated from seminary. That was the nest egg used so the shepherd could buy his new shepherdess a few sticks of furniture and a double-wide cradle for the expected brood.(Perhaps teachers got the same tuition refund. I am not sure.) Ending that policy was an effective, gigantic boost in the real cost of pastoral education. Those who benefited from truly free synod education took this benefit away from the current generation while talking about "recruiting more men," etc. etc.

***

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Beef for Bling Benefits Bulging Prep Coffers":

From the website of Luther Prep:

GALA UPDATE



Lights! Camera! Auction! - Saturday Night - April 19

About 320 guests joined in for the third annual gala event. Over 150 students were involved in setting up, serving, entertaining with musical talents, and cleaning up. We are thankful for the enjoyable evening of Christian fellowship and the opportunity for many friends of LPS to show their support for our school.

This year's event resulted in about $44,000 in gifts to LPS. $31,000 will directly support our operating budget, with another $8,100 directed to financial aid and $5,000 provided to replace and enhance the stage curtains in the auditorium.

***

GJ - The alleged news lacks a certain amount of honesty (not blaming the innocent poster). The summary accounts for $44,000 in gifts, but how much went to the for-profit website auction company? Did they host the Junk for Jesus sale for free or is Luther Prep reporting the net results rather than the gross receipts? Anxious minds want to know.

When a charity goes into business in a big way, competing with local merchants, the stake-holders deserve an accounting.

Did they pay sales tax on Wayne's beef? Mattek's $350 dinner? Various trinkets?

***

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Beef for Bling Benefits Bulging Prep Coffers":

Looks like they are still counting the "re$ult$" of the 2008 GALA (results not yet posted) - -
From their website:


Q. What were the results of past Galas?

A. April 22, 2006 Gala "A Starry Night", after expenses were paid, raised $46,134.00!

April 21, 2007 Gala "A Knight to Remember", after expenses were paid, raised over $65,000!

April 19, 2008 Gala "Lights! Camera! Auction! - A Night on the Red Carpet", after expenses were paid, raised ___________!

***

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Beef for Bling Benefits Bulging Prep Coffers":

Looks like the GALA at Luther Prep was not enough - - - -

Fear Factor - Messed for Success

4/26/2008
Students, faculty and staff at LPS in Watertown celebrate the arrival of spring while generating substantial donations for the school during the second annual Phoenix Fear Factor event on Wednesday.
More than $60,000 has been donated over the past two years by an anonymous alumni couple through the event, which challenges voluntary participants to navigate a series of messy obstacles. The donors make a gift to the school of $100 per student and $200 per faculty or staff member that brave the course of slime, goo, and grit. The goal of the event is to generate an atmosphere of giving that is joyful and fun, but also demands a bit of sacrifice as well.
Ten stations were offered, each featuring a distinct challenge to the participant's pride and outward appearance.
Students and faculty explored buckets of earthworms looking for pennies, endured slip and slides of lard and oil, and made their way through tubs of corn meal, soy bean hulls, lard and eggs. A T-shirt commemorating the event was also sponsored by the donors and will be presented to each person taking part.
Thje event is part of a daylong series of activities which include a grounds beautification effort, the planting of the senior tree, and an outdoor picnic with students, staff, and families.

Does Anyone Say, "Halt"?

Junk for Jesus Auction at Luther Prep,
Powered by Ready, Set, Auction

Description: Enjoy the warmth of Jim and Sue Mattek's Victorian home as you and your guests savor an elegant meal prepared and served by your hosts. Date will be determined by the package winner and the Matteks. Can you say "classy"? This meal will be a delectable meal consisting of five courses served elegantly to you and up to 7 more friends!

Donated By: Jim & Sue Mattek
Est. Value: $350.00


***
Fred Miller House

600 S Third

The Mattek home was built in 1898 by Fred Miller. At the time Miller was vice president of the Watertown Gas Company; Jesse Stone was president of the company.

The home was purchased by the Rev. Jim and Sue Mattek in 1990 from Professor Hollawood who taught at Maranatha Baptist Bible College.

When the Matteks purchased the home, they classified it as a very sad lady who at one time had been very dignified. The maintenance of the home had been neglected for many years. It had been Sue Mattek's lifelong dream to own and refurbish an old home, but she did not envision the months and years that it would take to make this home the showcase piece it is today. Sue Mattek was attracted to the home because of its great interior woodwork and its stained glass windows. In the years after their purchase the woodwork was refinished, the ceilings and wiring replaced, and layers of wallpaper and linoleum removed.

The home won a house beautiful award.

***

GJ - I am sure Jim and Sue Mattek have the best of intentions, but pimping one's home to prop up a prep seems inappropriate.

The evil Lutheran Church in America (d., 1987) was against all commercialism in the church. Their reasoning was sound.

1. First of all, commercialism demeans and supplants Gospel-centered giving. "Trust God, give, but sell trinkets on the side" is a mixed message.
   
2. Secondly, commercialism competes unfairly with legitimate businesses that pay taxes and fees. The old standby was the church dinner designed to raise money. The church became a restaurant whenever necessary.
   
3. Thirdly, commercialism tells the public, "We cannot or will not support our own causes, so we expect you to share the burden we will not accept."
   

MLS and Luther Prep tuition are $8,000+ a year. When tuition was reasonable, the families were not expected to humiliate themselves with slave sales and other notable attributes of Reformed and Pentecostal sects.

Where did all the Schwan loot go?

Why are future pastors and teachers expected to bankrupt themselves while WELS dabbles in foreign missions?

Lutheran Notes - good post on comparing tuition costs. Believe it or not, LCMS is even worse.

Worst of all - the poor suckers burdened with educational debt are scared to question Holy Mother Synod for fear of the Left Foot of Fellowship. They have a a fine education that prepares them for almost nothing in the business world.

Has Wayne Mueller's Cow Been Tested?

Supporters of Luther Prep expect to get their beef from reasonably sane cows.

Luther Prep

Wayne's Bull Will Help Fund Arsetta, Inc.

Luther Prep, Watertown, Wisconsin
Tuition - 5,250
Room - 950
Board - 2,110

TOTAL - $8,310

GALA Junk for Jesus Sale - Priceless

Description: In our live auction we'll begin a bid that many many folks can join in. You get to raise your paddle at any amount from the cost of training one student's full tuition ($8310.00) down to $100 a bidder. Plan now to be a part of raising the amount of financial aid available to Prep students and their families. When we all work together on a goal, the near results are more students enrolled in your synod prep school at a more affordable cost. The long lasting result: more full time WELS pastors and teachers working through out the world to proclaim the Gospel!

***

GJ - I have to hand it to this sect. First they stick the parents with a high school tuition bill that equals a state university's. Second, they organize a meretricious auction to raise even more money. Years ago they did not have a paid recruiter to try to make up for the loss of students caused by price-gouging for tuition. Paying for a recruiter and all fund-raising costs - ultimately part of tuition.

This auction is managed by a professional group. Here is what they say:

About Us
Founded in 2003, Arsetta’s mission is to provide affordable, enterprise-class software solutions to non-profit organizations of all sizes. ReadySetAuction®, Arsetta’s flagship product, was developed around a simple vision: to make it easier for non-profit organizations to raise the funds they need to fulfill their missions.

Since ReadySetAuction’s launch, hundreds of non-profit organizations across the United States — including schools, religious organizations, charitable organizations, youth sports leagues, and other community groups — have used ReadySetAuction to streamline their auction processes and raise millions of dollars.

Arsetta, Inc. is located near Seattle, Washington.

The lucky winner of Wayne Mueller's holy cow will pay $500 or more, but Arsetta will get a piece of bossy, too.

Denominations used to avoid competing in the market place for obvious reasons. In spite of the invocation of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 on the prep website, the school is asking for retail business, not for gifts for the poor. Paul asked the Corinthians to support the poor in Jerusalem through giving. He did not ask them to sell trinkets to support their own institutions.

Luther Prep has a bevy of provisions to help it thrive as a charity. People get tax deductions for giving. The school is spared payment of many taxes and fees. A business must pay those taxes and fees, so Luther Prep is taking advantage of its status to make a few bucks.

Luther Prep is saying, "We cannot support ourselves, so we expect the retail establishment to donate things they cannot sell and write those gifts off. We expect our families and friends to buy these items and give a cut to Arsetta. We will run a business but not obey the laws that regulate a business."

The genius money managers of the Mueller-Gurgel administration forced the preps into groveling for a few more bucks. They jacked tuition up by 30%, which caused a decline in enrollment. (Economics 101) Mueller-Gurgel encouraged the preps to find more money on their own. Death threats are wonderfully motivating.

The irony is that people will give far more money than they would relinquish by supporting a Junk For Jesus Gala Event. The Gospel moves people to good works because they are thankful to God for His blessings. Gospel giving is maximum giving. When people buy stuff, they look for bargains and trinkets they like.

The posts about this auction were prompted by an active member of WELS. I would name him, but I do not want to visit his grave.

A Load of Bull From WELS President-in-Waiting Wayne Mueller

Donated By: Wayne Mueller
Est. Value: $500.00

Description: Jack-of-all-trades Wayne Mueller offers a quarter of a locally "grown" Black Angus steer to the selective carnivores among us. Lovingly tended and masterfully groomed (okay, that's stretching it) by Pastor Wayne, these prime cuts will eliminate the need to ask, "Where's the beef?"

***

GJ - This is from the Junk for Jesus sale at Luther Prep. If the Wisconsin sect keeps writing self-parodies, I will not have to write my own parodies. I can just copy their material and leave the readers rolling in the aisles.

***

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Load of Bull From WELS President-in-Waiting Wayn...":

That auction is absolutely appalling. I am just floored that WELS people support this. Auctioning off parking spaces for sporting events and sacred concerts and services of a personal attendant for the live auction? I need to go vomit.

Junk for Jesus Sale at Luther Prep

Actual graphic from Luther Prep Website, quoted below:

Welcome to Luther Prep's 3rd Annual Gala and ONLINE Auction!

LIGHTS! CAMERA! AUCTION! – Gala Event is Saturday, April 19, 2008 from 4:30-9:30.

We still have room for guests – but purchase seats soon.
We’re still taking donations – but let us know soon.

Join in the fun by looking over the items that have been donated. Just click on “VIEW AUCTION CATALOG”. More items added daily.

Bid at the Gala, via proxy bidder [rothedk@lps.wels.net to secure this], or in our Online Auction.

ONLINE AUCTION: April 5-9

All the donated items are in the online catalog – some are VIEW ONLY, some are ONLINE BIDDING ONLY.

This ONLINE BIDDING opens at 6am CST on Saturday, April 5 and stays open for bidding through 8pm Wednesday, April 9 CST.

You’ll have to register to bid online. This secures we know who won the item with the highest bid. A few items have a “reserve” of a certain amount that must be met or the item can not be sold per the bidder’s wishes.

Bidding follows the online established rules like an ebay bidding: Ready Set Auction will automatically bid up at $1.00 increments to your maximum bid you entered. Someone else becomes high bidder when they surpass the maximum amount you entered. Check back often – email rothedk@lps.wels.net should you have trouble or any questions.

Thank You

As we read in II Corinthians 9:12 “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.”

WE THANK YOU for THANKING GOD through your joyful gifts to Luther Prep!

Questions: Call Debbie at 920.262.8104 or email rothedk@lps.wels.net

The entire catalogue is available by clicking this link.

Luther on Resurrection and Faith

“The resurrection and life of Jesus Christ is a cause, that is, an efficacious means of our spiritual resurrection and spiritual life; for it causes us to believe and to rise (from sin), as we read in 10:9: ‘If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.’ In Christ’s death we die unto spiritual life, as we read in 6:3-4: ‘So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death (that) we also should walk in newness of life.’”
Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans, trans. J. Theodore Mueller, Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1954, p. 93. Romans 5:10.

Tuition and Fees, WELS

About $8,000 per year at Michigan Lutheran Seminary (WELS prep).

http://mlsem.org/administration/finances/tuition-fees/

Roughly the same for Luther Prep - both totals are for dorm students.

http://www.lps.wels.net/podium/default.aspx?t=45990

Martin Luther College - about $13,000 per year.

http://www.mlc-wels.edu/home/newsworthy/feeanounce2007/?searchterm=tuition

Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary is about $12,000 per year.

http://www.wls.wels.net/sections/students/costs/32.php

Let's add that up, math students:

$32,000 for high school.

$52,000 for college.

$48,000 for seminary.

$132,000 for all three, but if a boy starts school this fall, the total will be much higher by the time he graduates. This total does not include scholarships or grants. I think loans to be forgiven for service would be a great plan.

Here is what I paid:

Augustana College, almost nothing - Illinois State Scholarship.

Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary - $150 per year for tuition, $80 per month for a furnished apartment. I could make tuition payments in two, $75 installments.

Yale - $2,000 for the year's tuition, furnished apartment - about $120 or so. Can't remember.

Notre Dame - free tution, thanks to a scholarship. A fellowship paid me $300 a month for a period of time.

I have given my figures to show that the current Lutheran leaders (all synods) went to school for almost nothing. Now they grab salaries and benefits for themselves while denying their members the same tuition subsidies they enjoyed. Plus - WELS pastors got all their tuition back upon graduation (a perk these guys took away).

LemKeel Again - On MLS

Lemkeel said...
I can't believe it (though I'm not surprised) that Mark Schroeder LPS president is going to be WELS new president. He, in my opinion, is a large part of the problem, not the solution. His job was in jeopardy (president of prep) and so he started campaigning for new presidency, this time of the synod, and he put together a bunch of nonsense to make it look like he knew what he was talking about, and the people who don't use their brains said, "Hey, he's made a bunch of points, he's obviously thought about it and we haven't so let's elect him president!" These same people don't want to lose MLS, but have no idea why it should stay open and don't know how to think, and they're the majority in the WELS so... The Wisconsin Synod is about to downward spiral into self-destruction more so than it is. With Wayne Mueller elected Pres., there was hope because he actually knew what was going on and had a vision for the future of WELS. Mark Schroeder is going to put the synod in a worse condition than it already is. I can't wait.

August 1, 2007 1:08 PM
Anonymous said...
I would assume that this indicates that MLS will definitely receive enough votes to stay open? Wasn't Schroeder a huge proponent of keep MLS open?

I thought LPS was in much better shape financially than MLS. Is this not the case (lemkeel, I assume you are an alumni of LPS ?)

August 1, 2007 7:58 PM
Lemkeel said...
Yes, I graduated from LPS. My thinking was that if MLS closes, LPS would eventually follow. If people are willing to lose one prep school, the other one is likely to follow shortly thereafter. LPS is in about the same financial shape as MLS, except there's slightly more students enrolled at LPS. However, there currently aren't enough students enrolled at LPS to meet the financial needs to maintain the school, hence the tuition increases. Both schools take funding from the synod budget each year, but because enrollment is down in both schools, the schools themselves are hurting due to lack of tuition funds. Additionally, because the synod is in debt they're looking for ways to make cuts, and prep schools should be the first to go. Mark Schroeder for the past few years has been involved in fund raising activities at LPS, a bad sign. He realized that his role as president of Prep was in jeopardy simply because he knows that his job in a prep school is dispensable (able to lose synod functioning and/or close) much more so than the college or seminary. That's what I was implying...

Brug Action Confirms Ichabod Predictions

Seminary professor John Brug's material, posted at the Michigan Lutheran Seminary website, confirms an earlier Ichabodian prediction.

The traditionalists are lining up against the proposal to close Sem. The odd name (Sem, or Michigan Lutheran Seminary) reflects its origin as the pastoral training school for the Michigan Synod that eventually joined the Joint Synod of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Other States (Nebraska).

There has been talk about the Michigan District, WELS, taking over MLS and funding the school. That was supposed to be an action blessed by The Love Shack, 2929 N. Mayfield Road. MLS recognizes that this action would be doomed to failure. Far fewer people would support an aging campus during a time when the auto industry in Michigan is in worse shape than WELS.

Millions have been spent on three campuses (MLS, Luther Prep, MLC) and all are destined to close, due to the leadership genius of President-in-Waiting Wayne Mueller. The answer so far has been - Have Another Fund-Raising Campaign!

It would have been better to take all the Schwan money and name the school system after his business, with various buildings having his name or his relatives' names on them. A marketing theme could have tied the frozen food business with the Wisconsin Synod:
The Marvin Schwan Frozen Food Schools. Many are cold, but few are frozen.

The Betrayers Betrayed - MLS

Closing the schools in WELS is clearly a Church Growth program. Not that the Church Growth leaders cause any real growth in the Kingdom. They just yak about it all the time. Church Growth is an ideology, a set of shallow doctrines, and an agenda.

President-in-waiting Wayne Mueller has always been a Church Growth advocate, even while denying it. How delicious it must be to deny Church Growth in The Northwestern Lutheran while promoting Church Growth in the synod.

I remember John Brug covering for David Valleskey on the subject of Church Growth. Now he wants the preps to stay open.

Paul Kuske started a Church Growth operation in Columbus, Ohio, in his capacity as VP of the district. To run this destructive cause he had Floyd Luther Stolzenburg, recently forced to resign from the LCMS ministerium (and never a member of WELS, by the way).

Now Brug and Kuske want to snatch MLS from the jaws of the Church Growth gurus!

WELS is a genius at management, I must say. They have been Management-By-Objective-zombies for at least 20 years, but Drucker wanted to encourage leadership wisdom, not synodical stupidity. The Brug report listed the large sums of money recently borrowed for MLS and Luther Prep. Wayne Mueller would close both schools, making them worthless, while still owing for such things as new boilers, science rooms, and dorms. The college would close, too, so that would make all the money spent on Martin Luther College another rat-hole. They recently reworked the heating system, perhaps in conjunction with New Ulm's steam tunnel project.

Now everyone is tongue-clucking. WELS wanted to move from small potatoes to the Big Time with Church Growth. All those who studied at Fuller, who bowed their heads at Willow Creek, who agreed by being silent, who shunned pastors that knew better - all those betrayers of the Gospel are being betrayed now. WELS will not be small potatoes. WELS will be tater tots.

Michigan Lutheran Seminary Brochure

A layman mailed me the Michigan Lutheran Seminary brochure. I found it sad, touching, and disturbing as well. Doubtless the Luther Prep situation is almost the same, but I have direct connections to MLS through our son. Besides, MLS will be closed immediately if Wayne Mueller still has the last word on the subject. Luther Prep is slated to go as well, but that will take a few more months.

Whenever MLS students wear their logo around Saginaw, residents ask them, "Are they really closing your school?" A residential school develops quite a spirit among its students, faculty, parents, and alumni. Each question must be painful to hear. Naturally, this funereal atmosphere keeps enrollments depressed and gifts on hold. Why would someone give to a school that is closing?

I was still in the Michigan District, WELS, when the DP and his loyal robots provided the district meeting with four different ways to close Northwestern College. All four were soundly defeated, even though they were presented as if an angel from heaven wrote them. Nevertheless, the same DP, Robert Mueller, showed up at the WELS convention and spoke in favor of closing NWC.

MLS anticipated the budget pressures against the school. This is clearly a case of Wayne Mueller and Company funding their missionaries all over the world, a huge budget for technology, needless magazines, and other frills, while saying, "We cannot afford two preps, or even one." The Church Growth people will turn Luther Prep into Marty's Live Bait Shop as soon as they can get the sign painted.

MLS had a plan to create self-support for their school, but the synod leaders aborted that by announcing the closing. According to the brochure, members of the synodical council were kept ignorant of these plans when the closing was being discussed and approved. I sense personal animosity and vindictiveness behind the plans to close MLS.

I wrote this before: Church Growth people hate schools. This is the fruit of Church Growth tolerated and supported. More than one Lutheran pastor has been mugged while opposing Church Growth. Too bad so many fellow pastors stood by and watched. Now no one is left with any fight.

From a distance, I interpret the sudden drop in national giving to a complete rejection of the Mueller/Gurgel regime. The closings I interpret as retaliation by Mueller, the way school boards threaten communities with the loss of their favorite programs if the millage is voted down. As Wayne wrote on his gaseous blog, "Does it hurt enough yet?"

Wayne's World, Wayne's World Party Line, Party Line

If you want to know what is going on in the bowels of The Love Shack, 2929 N. Mayfield Road, read Wayne Mueller's blog. Ichabod costs nothing, by the way, but WELS spends over $1 million a year on technology. The technology is not impressive.

The party line is clear. President-in-Waiting Mueller is saying, "We will tell you what we will do with your money. If you do not improve, we will close Michigan Lutheran Seminary. If you do improve, we will close MLS and probaly Luther Prep, too." (I almost added And your little dog Toto.) The two preps will take down Martin Luther College.

Here are the facts. About 300,000 communicants give $1,000 per year per communicant. That includes all giving through the congregation. The math is easy. WELS has $300 million in giving, give or take a few dollars. I did not install $250,000 in software on my computer, so I may be a little off. At least I haven't spent $8 million twice and blamed it on my wife!

The communicants are saying, "We won't fund the party line." The pastors are sitting on their hands instead of applauding the synod. Some ministers actually formed a mild protesting group, Issues in WELS.

Can anyone imagine what the brilliant minds at The Love Shack have conceived in the Last few decades?

1. Let's have a new feminazi hymnal, and get rid of that Lutheran name. That will bring in hordes of new members. Charismatic Worship! No, too obvious. Christian Worship.
   
2. Let's get rid of Lutheran on the name of our magazine. And Northwestern as well. Too regional. That will bring in hordes of new members. Forward in Christ!
   
3. Let's work with ELCA on evangelism and worship. They are so cool.
   
4. Let's pay pastors to study at Willow Creek. One day all our congregations will be as big as Willow Creek Community Church.
   
5. Those Michiganders need a spanking. They did not want Martin Marty speaking at our college. Let's close their prep school.
   
6. The treasurer said we couldn't spend all our reserves and then some. Let's fire him and hang him out to dry.
   
7. Fuller Seminary hates Lutheran doctrine just as much as we do. Let's get all our leadership through Fuller and use Church Growth methods to rock the planet. I can see it now - World Evangelical Lutheran Synod. No, dump the Lutheran label, and add some personality:

   Wayne's World Evangelical Cell Group Association!

   
   

Languages and Prep Schools

Americans are anti-language training.

A pastor needs to know various languages: Hebrew, Latin, Greek, German. A number of WELS pastors said, "You know German!?" I said, "You graduated from seminary and didn't learn it?!"

Latin can be taught in the sixth grade, using the Gospel of John. Translate without a pony. Learn the words and grammar by reading. Translate the words known and guess the rest. Reading the Gospel of John in Latin will be a good start for all Latin training. It is a good father-son activity.

One language start per year is plenty.

Greek should follow Latin. The grammar is quite similar. The Gospel of John in Greek is perfect for learning New Testament Greek. The idea should be read the New Testament like a newspaper, not "translate" while reading. The pony has to be chucked. No one can learn a language with a pony or with an interlinear crutch.

German is heavily reliant on Latin. The Gospel of John provides the vocabulary and basic grammar. By the way, grammar is derived from literature, not literature from grammar. Show me a grammar expert and I will show you a non-writer.

My prize student was asked, "How do you know it's subjunctive?"

He responded, "Because it looks funny." Try that in Greek, Latin, and German. Subjunctives do look funny.

A good translator looks at groups of words to make sense. A grammar weenie parses one word at a time. Grammar weenies get good grades, become language teachers trying to produce more weenies, a good example of making disciples.

Language immersion is the only way to really learn a living language. The Army does that very well. Eat, sleep, talk, read the same new language. The brain switches over so that the new language is no longer really translated. It is just known and understood. That would put the weenies out of a job, so they keep on slaughtering the innocent, making them hate all language training.

Hebrew is not tough but can be turned into a difficult language. Hebrew is absolutely essential for understanding the Old Testament. I asked to study Hebrew at my LCA seminary. The dean said, "Why?" Jonah or another simple book is a good start for Hebrew. The best teacher is one who knows and loves Hebrew. Watertown had an excellent professor of Hebrew. The men left college with a solid knowledge of Hebrew. They knew Greek and probably some Latin. Our son could speed-translate Latin, German, Greek out loud, faster than I could follow the text. He could follow Spanish TV and translate back and forth in Mexico. He knew Hebrew quite well.

I did what I could for his language training. MLS and Watertown (now Luther Prep) contributed their share. His mother contributed a rare genius for language and a photographic memory, which he inherited. Then he got involved in computer languages, which were easy compared to human language.

Synodical Schools Good and Bad

The Good
Prep schools are synod supported high schools designed to give a classical, European style education to future teachers and pastors. Religion is almost completely banned from public schools (except for Islam and Hinduism) but the Christian faith remains an integral part of prep school education. They do not need committee approval to sing a Christmas carol in December. Chapel services are a normal part of the day and an excellent potential for Lutheran worship education.

Money should never be an issue with a prep school student. Those who have less money should feel no more burden than the children of wealthy parents. A fair system attracts the broadest spectrum of students while a cash-hungry school will tend towards selecting only those who can afford it.

No one is ever going to replace a prep school. A private school is not the same. Many started out with a religious background, but that receded when the school became a proving ground for high society. Chapel, yes. Taken seriously, no. The public high schools are now so low in academic content that most should be shut down.

Church Growth = School Shrinkage
Church Growth leaders hate the schools because a traditional Lutheran educational system assumes the efficacy of the Word. Church Growth gurus are self-loathing snobs. They want to evangelize the fashionably foreign, flitting about from one exotic country to another. They do not want their own children educated to spread the Word. Anyone with an IQ above room temperature can see the anti-Christian roots of Church Growth, so the Enthusiasts hate intellectual rigor. Prep schools offer the potential of creating genuine Lutherans while the Fuller fans want Baptists and Pentecostals.

The Bad
The WELSian tendency to keep making the same mistakes has led to a culture of hazing.
The sadistic hazing is tolerated, even welcomed by the prep school staff. After all, they were hazed and hazed others. One seminary professor laughed when he told about the boy suspended from the window by his legs. They let go by mistake and he plunged head-first to the ground - from the second floor. Some hazing can be harmless and fun - make my bed, carry my books. Other hazing is insanely evil. The trouble is - dealing with the problem is called ratting. They have punishments for anyone who tells. That is why the typical WELS pastor is so timid. The preps and upper level schools (especially the seminary) have promoted a culture of conformity through intimidation. That is now working against the prep schools and college. SP Gurgel only needed to show up at Issues in WELS to suppress the attendance by 150%. He scowled when he should have been listening, but he got his agenda across: "Do not offend the Great and Terrible Oz!" That works better with money coming in.

Needless to say, some people remember painful experiences with hazing. They are not allowed to say it, and they are not going to go all out to fund the sadists they remember so well.

The Ugly
The area high schools have grown in number and have drained off resources and students from the preps. New Ulm once had a prep. Now they have an area high school. Phoenix has a fair number of congregations, but the nearest prep is in Wisconsin. So Phoenix has an area high school. The experts in demographics might have anticipated treating all regions equally instead of putting two preps in Wisconsin and then closing one. Regionalism is stronger in WELS than any other synod. Virtually all the leaders and professors are from the Watertown prep. That sounds like an exclusive sorority, doesn't it.