Synod Statistics Belong in the Fiction Section of the Seminary Library

 

The synod statistics group has its own room at headquarters. Holbein painting.

I was reading over some synod statistics, filled with awe and wonder. No names, please. They will just adjust their tables and make up new fables.

The Jackson Method involves a sampling of who is there on Sunday, among a group of congregations. Percentages of age groups matter as well. For instance, we have great-grandmothers, grandparents, parents, children, and babies. We also have a very large group of daily readers. Even if half of them are booing and throwing popcorn at the screen, we still have an impressive audience.

The infamous ELCA Sparkle congregation said they were packed with all the new people - so many age groups too! Their own videos show only a few dozen, mostly white-haired members.

I also look around at recent worship services, which are incredibly sparse in terms of numbers there - and in their truncated worship. We began Ustream so long ago that we used Roman numerals and yet had 32,000 views. We have used Vimeo and will use Zoom soon. We are also trying to improve in various ways.

When a congregation simply posts a video camera at the back to record the sermon, that is mighty stingy in terms of the Means of Grace. It also emphasizes who is NOT there, since the lens usually takes in the entire group. 

Like David Valleskey and Waldo Werning, Kent Hunter was the guiding light of his generation of Fuller Seminary failures. His Church Doctor Ministries is selling its properties at the moment. When will their sects apologize for the damage?

The Fear and the Rainstorm

One seminary student was about to graduate. He was filled with dread about all the things he was supposed to do. He listed them all. I went through my mental check list as I read it. Only one thing was missing - preaching and teaching faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

The farmer at the dinner table said, "We need rain." I was aching to say, "I'm in sales, not management." It reminded me of the installation of an ELS pastor. The air was so heavy with thunderstorm implications that I said to Christina before the service, "Lightning and rains during the sermon." 

During the sermon, lightning began flashing with thunder breaking loose, sometimes far, sometimes directly over our heads. I was up front, robed, so I had a chance to look at her for every thunderclap. How many husbands have a chance to say, "I was right! I was right! I was right! I was right!" I did not miss a boom, crash, or explosion of energy.

One person said afterwards, during the reception, "That is a million-dollar storm."

On the way home from Minnesota, rain began to fall in stingy amounts, then more and more until the traffic added its own fog of tossed rain into the air. A McDonalds worker said, "We need that rain. The lawns are burning up." I added, "Not to mention the crops." 

Did anyone say, "The rain will not have any results at all"? No. Nor did anyone suggest buying something that really worked in Hoboken and that gimmick would surely work everywhere if used the right way. They knew in Minnesota and Iowa that they needed rain, not a sprinkle, not a cloud-burst, but a good old-fashioned gulley washer.

 "Please do not ask me about Gasoline - or anything else."

When someone quotes "Lord, Liar, Lunatic," I know he favors two out of three.

God is so patient with us that He established the parable (to stretch the term) of the snow and rain coming down, always having a three-fold effect, attaching that fact of Creation to the Word of God. Like the rain and snow, God's Word will

1. Never return to Him void;
2. Always accomplish His purpose;
3. Prosper His will.

Isaiah 53:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as (1) the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but (2) watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that (3) it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: (1) it shall not return unto me void, but (2) it shall accomplish that which I please, and (3) it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

The entire Bible is filled with references and paraphrases about the effectiveness of the Word, the work of the Holy Spirit always effective through the Word. Remember that nitwit teaching Universalism to the LCMS youth? "Everyone! Everyone!" He put his adverb - always - in the wrong place. The Word of God is always effective, and nothing else is. Nothing! Nothing!

Nothing makes me more suspicious than a Universalist videotaping himself in front of 300 unread theology books. Borgwart is not the only one.

So put down your worn Fuller-Willow Creek-Church Growth manuals.

HERE I STAND SOCKS. Clearance price, CPH. Is this when you knew it was all over for Matt the Fatt?

The manuals are why the LCMS-ELCA-ELS-WELS-CLC-ELDONA fail so spectacularly. They would likely buy expensive umbrellas to jump out of airplanes, because they heard that works.

So I came home from my 1,400 mile round-trip north, finding the gardens at home watered but still wilting in the 105 degree days. Rain is coming soon, and I know exactly what will happen. 

Is this not a bonk-on-head reminder for all Gospel churches, all faithful congregations? We have a self-imposed drought - NOT RELYING ON GOD'S WORD - purchased for millions of dollars, cleverly exploited by apostates waving their magic wands and pocketing their commissions:

• Waldo Werning
• David Valleskey
• Paul Calvin Kelm
• Lawrence Otto-B Retired Olson
• And many more.

 When David Valleskey, Fuller student (depending on the audience) said we should use the treasures of Fuller Seminary, much like the Exodus escape, I said to the Ohio Conference group - "They stole the gold and precious gems, not the garbage." Valleskey became visibly angry. The entire (tiny and shrinking) conference shunned me from that moment on. The Word is indeed effective. 

Matt the Fatt's Sect Is Growing Very Lean - This From 2017. Where Have All the Church Growths Gone? Long Time Passing...

 

 Waldo Werning ran around the LCMS, WELS, and ELS selling Church Growth potions. He admitted going to Fuller Seminary, then denied it, went nuts when I challenged him and quoted his admission and the date he told me. 

In 1971, the LCMS had a membership of 2,772,648. By 2010, that number was about 2,270,921, a drop of about 500,000 people. Since their peak in the late 1950s, child baptisms are down 70 percent and adult converts are down 47 percent. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

By Joe Isenhower Jr. (joe.isenhower@lcms.org)

Athough LCMS congregation members having more children might be one factor in reversing the 45-plus-years membership decline in the Synod, it’s certainly not the only one.

LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison makes that clear in his message for readers of the Synod’s March Journal of Lutheran Mission after a December special edition of that electronic magazine included two independent studies about the Synod and the demographics behind the Synodwide membership declines. The March issue will be available by mid-March at lcms.org/journal-of-lutheran-mission.

Noting that he is “amazed” by the “Synod rumor mill” to the effect that he finds “the answer to our decline of numbers in the LCMS is to have more babies,” Harrison responds in the March Journal.

 “As I have repeatedly stated,” Harrison writes for that edition, “I doubt very much that any significant change in the childrearing habits of LCMS members will occur or greatly affect future numbers.

“That said,” he continues, “let me be clear that the Bible does say a lot about families and children, and it’s high time we open our Bibles and have a fresh look at it.”

Harrison begins his latest Journal message with a word of thanks “that so many of you” decided to access the December online edition — with more than 10,000 views, as of Feb. 9.

The two extensive demographic reports covered in the December issue were conducted by Dr. George Hawley, assistant professor of political science at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and Dr. Ryan MacPherson, professor of History at Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, Minn.

About the findings

In that December issue, Harrison provides six bulleted points concerning Hawley’s and MacPherson’s reports.  They are summarized as follows:

• “This demographic decline is not only an LCMS problem.”
• “The retention of baptized and confirmed youth is a key area on which to focus.”
• “The [Synod’s] persistent, long-term decline manifests itself both in a massive decrease in child baptisms … and a smaller but still significant decrease in adult converts.”
• “The number of child baptisms and adult converts have decreased together in a remarkably similar pattern.”
• “Thus, there is no wedge that can be driven between openness to life (family size) and sharing life (evangelism).
• “These reports don’t only share difficult data; they also point out what the Synod does well and what strengths we can build on. … The key here is to build a strong Lutheran self-identity among the membership.”

Synod’s response

For the March edition, Harrison notes six “important foci that must be taken seriously and acted upon by our pastors, laity, congregations, districts and the Synod.” He adds that many in those groups “are deeply involved in this kind of work already.”

Those points of focus — with comments about them from Harrison — are:

• Evangelism and outreach. “Synod’s new personal witnessing program, Every One His Witness, is heating up. Our evangelism expert, the Rev. Mark Wood, is coming and going, training people all across the Synod!” Since January 2016, 18 Every One His Witness workshops have been conducted, with 10 others scheduled through mid-April. (For more information, visit lcms.org/witness-outreach.)
• Re-invigorating congregations. “We’ve produced re:Vitality for congregations to have a good look at themselves and move to a better strategic position for outreach to the community.” Since January 2016, 30 “Connect to Disciple” workshops — the first module in the re:Viality program — have been conducted (lcms.org/revitalization).
• Healthy workers. “We must all concentrate on making sure our pastors and church workers are forgiven, healthy, supported and engaged in the work of their vocations.”
• Intentional outreach to immigrant populations. “The LCMS may be overwhelmingly Anglo, but that is changing. It’s changing slowly, but it is changing. The nations are at our doors. It’s time to help them find a way in. Our schools and universities are gems in this regard.”
• Church planting. “Synod’s Mission Field: USA church-planting manual and other resources are now available for districts and congregations to use in reaching out to the diverse communities of our nation” (lcms.org/churchplanting). Printed copies of the manual are available for $14.99 from Amazon.com.
• Resolution of internal issues that cause conflict. “We’ve come a long, long way. The 2016 [LCMS] convention was unbelievably calm. Resolutions on controverted issues passed overwhelmingly. We’ve got a long way to go. God grant us repentance, patience and fidelity.”

Why the studies?

The Rev. Heath Curtis, coordinator for Stewardship Ministry with the LCMS Office of National Mission (ONM), told Reporter via email that the ONM commissioned the demographic studies “to try to understand what’s going on” after listening to “oft-repeated” comments about “a decline in membership and an aging of the church’s membership” as his office was “helping Synod congregations with their stewardship needs.”

Curtis laid out “some of the insights … and questions raised” in the reports.

“The facts are stark,” he explained. “Christians make up a smaller and smaller proportion of the American population every year (down to just 71 percent this year). Every district of the LCMS has experienced numerical decline in the past decade — from a 4 percent decline in some places to over 25 percent in others. The counties where the Synod is strongest across the country also tend to be the counties where population is decreasing. The Synod is growing in membership in counties that are growing in population, but more slowly than the overall population increase. What’s going on? Will it get better? What does the future hold?”

Curtis — like Harrison — points out that many of these challenges facing the Synod are also true for other large church bodies in the nation.

And Curtis notes that “the reports also highlight the many strengths of the Synod in education, community building and outreach.”

Curtis offers a workshop — primarily for professional church workers and lay leaders — aimed at making the “large amount of informative and interesting data [in the reports] useful at the district, circuit and parish level.” 

For more information about the workshops, contact Curtis at heath.curtis@lcms.org.

Posted February 28, 2017

Herman Otten sold the Marquart critique of Church Growth and the editor promoted David Valleskey's adoration of Church Growth. 

***

What Did the Church Growth Experts Say? - "It's All about the Numbers!"

 Waldo Werning, Fuller Alumnus, Self-Proclaimed Church Growth Expert, David Valleskey Pal

I knew the late Waldo Werning. I hesitate to say "sainted Waldo Werning." When I rebuked him for lying about his Fuller attendance, he went ballistic on me. An ELS pastor asked me, "What did you do to Werning?" I said - "I pointed out his lies."

When I asked Werning earlier if he went to Fuller, he said he did. I wrote that in my Day-Timer and quoted it to him. When someone starts a hog farm, one does not wonder where the smell comes from. He plagiarized Fuller and the WELS/LCMS mission bosses ate that up. We were still FB friends when he died. He said before he died, "Are you staying out of trouble?" I said, "No."

Werning said, echoing Kent Hunter (Fuller DMin! - like Larry Olson) - "You must measure the numbers and let growth be growth and non-growth be non-growth."

Google says we averaged 2,000 views per day in December, a lifetime total of almost 9.5 million. No ads. No monetization. So much from "a spare room in a rented house," to quote a Matt the Fatt staffer who had to erase his plagiarized blog.

 "Downplaying?" Yuk, yuk, yuk. That is how one gets to be president of Mordor. He was in a class all by itself - Church Growth and state prison.

Obituary and Commentary - Paul T. McCain, LCMS

Paul McCain, awards dinner, 2019

The Rev. Paul Timothy McCain, publisher and executive editor at Concordia Publishing House (CPH), died in Ballwin, Mo., on Nov. 25. He was 58.

McCain was born on Feb. 12, 1962, in Pensacola, Fla., to the Rev. Paul B. and Jean (Geipel) McCain and received the Sacrament of Holy Baptism on Feb. 25, 1962. He married Lynn Grunow in 1983. He graduated from Concordia University, River Forest, Ill., with a Bachelor of Arts (1984) in Biblical Languages and from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTSFW), with a Master of Divinity (1988) in Systematic Theology.

McCain served as assistant to Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) President Rev. Dr. A.L. Barry from 1992 until Barry’s death in March 2001, and as assistant to Interim Synod President Rev. Robert Kuhn until the Rev. Dr. Gerald Kieschnick’s installation as president in September 2001. Prior to becoming Barry’s assistant, McCain served as communications director for Iowa District East; pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (Artesian) in Waverly, Iowa; and guest instructor at CTSFW.

After his years assisting two Synod presidents, McCain served briefly as interim director of Concordia Historical Institute in St. Louis. In January 2002, following the retirement of the Rev. Dr. Stephen J. Carter as CPH president and CEO, McCain began serving as interim CPH president and CEO, a position he held until the installation of Dr. Bruce Kintz on Oct. 31, 2006. In a statement released after McCain’s death, Kintz said the CPH family was “deeply saddened by the news of Rev. Paul T. McCain’s passing. He was a close friend and co-worker and will be sorely missed.”  

During his time at CPH, McCain was general editor of Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, A Reader’s Edition and also played pivotal roles in the publication of Lutheran Service Book, The Lutheran Study Bible and Treasury of Daily Prayer. He was a frequent guest on KFUO and other programs and podcasts and the author of numerous articles. As word of his death spread across the Synod on Thanksgiving Day, the Rev. Todd Wilken, host of the radio program “Issues, Etc.,” credited McCain for putting the Book of Concord “back into the hands of the laity. For that, and for all the other gifts God gave through Paul, every confessional Lutheran should give thanks today.”

The Rev. Robert Bugbee, former president of Lutheran Church—Canada, said, “My beloved friend, Paul McCain, was a source of support, not only to Missouri Synod people, but also to us within the Synod’s wider family. I will always treasure the brotherly encouragement he provided in my early days as the leader of a partner church. I trust God to use the many publications Paul made possible like seeds going into the ground … to bring forth a harvest to life everlasting! The sharp pain we feel at losing him is just the measure of how much he came to mean during the years the Lord shared him with us.”

In a statement shared widely on social media, LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison wrote, “Our Lord Jesus has called to Himself our brother and fellow servant in Christ … to await the blessed resurrection unto life everlasting. … The Lord blessed Paul with a passionate zeal for the Gospel as taught in the Scriptures and confessed in the Book of Concord. Join us in prayer for Paul’s wife and children, and his CPH family. Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!”

McCain is survived by his mother, Jean; his wife, Lynn; his children Paul Jerome (Kirsten) McCain, John Augustine McCain and Mary Ann McCain; and his granddaughter, Anna Jean McCain.

A funeral service is set for 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus on the campus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, where he is lying in state, with a private burial following the service. The service will be livestreamed. Viewing will begin one hour before the service at 12 p.m. in the chapel narthex. Clergy are invited to process.

In order to comply with COVID guidelines, anyone who plans to attend the funeral or to participate in the procession will be asked to sign up. Additional details about the service sign-up and livestream are forthcoming and will be provided here when available. Please check back for more information. 

Posted Nov. 27, 2020

***

GJ

Commentary

Paul McCain introduced himself to me in 1989, when he and Jay Webber were graduating from Concordia, Ft. Wayne. Soon he was writing letters to me about how much he enjoyed my articles against Church Growth, published in Christian News. Webber said the same thing, though neither one published anything (as far as I know) against that passion and addiction in LCMS and WELS.

Soon I was in St. Louis - and so was McCain. He and Otten worked together to get DP Al Barry's materials in Christian News before anyone else got them. He was working at the Purple Palace for Al Barry (!) and I was tent-making. He and Otten both told me how they worked together on the project to elect Al Barry. I imagine something similar happened with Matt Harrison, since Harrison sang an ode to Otten in New Haven and became Synod President. When Otten was dying, Harrison sang a song (to others) about Otten being crazy.

Otten and McCain denied working together secretly. McCain gave me a tour of the Purple Palace and said he would be fired if anyone knew he was talking to Otten (who called while we were in the palatial office of the Synod President).

McCain earned the nickname "McNasty" and demanded that anyone who offended him had to apologize. I remember Wilken saying he would not apologize to McCain and then apologizing to him - both times on Facebook. I do not think McCain was one bit nastier than Bohlmann, Barry, Harrison, Mischke, Gurgle, or Mirthless Mark Schroeder, DP Robert Mueller, DP John Seifert, Paul Kuske, Floyd Luther Stolzenburg, and a few dozen Church Growth experts.

I was Facebook friends with Who's Who in Church Growth Waldo Werning. His last message to me was, "Are you staying out of trouble?" I wrote back, "No."

The litmus test must be one about doctrine, not popularity. What does he believe, teach, and confess?

Plagiarism of Roman Catholic Propaganda

McCain betrayed his office by dishonestly promoting the Roman Catholic Church, through his own blog, Cyberbrethren, and also with the help of clueless Jack Cascione, yet another Ft. Wayne graduate.

As I revealed time after time, McCain copied and pasted verbatim the various saint fantasies of The Catholic Encyclopedia on his blog, omitting the dead give-aways like "nilhil obstat" and "imprimatur" with Catholic officials' names. His less-than-discerning readers thanked him for his great posts. He modestly published their comments and responded favorably to their praise. He also copied the material of his friends' blogs and barely hinted at their origins.

Jack Cascione, guardian of the galaxy, kept publishing McCain's posts by letting him write something like "Today is St. Hoodwink's Day. We pray..." and there followed a link to McCain's plagiarism from The Catholic Encyclopedia. His CPH boss unfriended me and refused to do anything for a long time. Cascione kept publishing McCain until repeated posts from me seemed to reach his gallery.

One plagiarism example is posted here. The man who demanded apologies never apologized for his plagiarism of Catholic and Lutheran sources, but we all know the LCMS is infallible.

Forgiveness without Faith - Objective Justification

Even worse - if that is possible - was McCain's posturing about Lutheran doctrine while repudiating Justification by Faith.

As one LCMS couple wrote, and I paraphrase, "How can someone go through seminary and not know we are justified by faith? OJ is a tangle of contradictions."

 Is it ironic or logical that Edward Preuss, a Concordia professor, became a Roman Catholic editor after publishing his essay, which LCMS OJists adore? And also - Robert Preus repudiated OJ in his last book, Justification and Rome.

Did David Scaer Confess To Being Another Waldo Werning?

I read David Scaer's book on Kindle - Surviving the Storms, a rather brave title for someone who had tenure soon after being hired at Concordia Seminary Ft. Wayne (nee Springfield).

My review of the book is here. Do not worry - negative reviews sell, too, so he should be happy, giving the $35 Lulu price.

I was thinking about the situation, when Waldo Werning - several fries short of a Happy Meal - spent countless hours pursuing Scaer on false doctrine charges. How could anyone take Waldo seriously?

But today, a light went on. Scaer and the Righteous Brothers (Jack and Bob Preus) did the same thing to Dr. Walter A. Maier II.

The parallel to Werning is perfect. Waldo was a false teacher with a fake doctorate - and a popinjay. But he was treated with great respect as he continued to attack Scaer through letters, meetings, and faculty trials.

Scaer revealed a similar obsession with WAM II, never dreaming that his own Objective Justification was - and is - a joke and a half, sillier and far more dangerous than Werning's Church Growth obsessions.

I was reading  Albrecht Ritschl (1822-1889). A Critical History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation (Kindle Locations 2-6). Unknown. Kindle Edition. The famous author identified Objective Justification with Calvinism, Justification by Faith with the Lutherans.

Scaer definitely knows the Stephan-Walther teaching of Objective Justification is peculiar, but seems unaware that it can be found in so many other places, even among the Adventists.

See these links.

Analysis of the Doctrine ofUniversal "Legal" Justification
Larry J. KaneIntroduction
According to the 1888 Message Study Committee ("1888 MSC"), the 1888 message reveals many "fresh, beautiful truths . . . that are not usually understood today."[1] One such "truth" is the concept that Christ's death at the cross accomplished a legal or objective justification which is universally and unconditionally applied to all men.[2]

Obsession -

• 129 mentions of WAM II in Scaer's book
• 275 for Werning

 Waldo Werning was known for friending people and turning on them if he felt they dishonored him(told the truth).

While biblical inspiration and authority was foundational for Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics, Franz Pieper was absorbed with the doctrine of objective justification throughout his three volumes. Also known as universal justification, it distinguished the Missouri Synod from other synods as no other doctrine in the second half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century did.

Scaer, David P.. Surviving the Storms: Memoirs of David P. Scaer (Kindle Locations 5541-5544). Luther Academy. Kindle Edition. 

--

Support for Walter A. Maier II as synod president cannot be ruled out as a reason for Jack Preus asking his brother Robert to handle Maier II’s doctrine of justification. Relations between the Preus brothers were not without their rough spots.

Scaer, David P.. Surviving the Storms: Memoirs of David P. Scaer (Kindle Locations 5645-5646). Luther Academy. Kindle Edition. 

--

Justification by Faith translated as Denial of OJ!

Yet both Robert Preus and Jack Preus could not accept what they saw as the denial of objective justification by both Walter Maier I and his son Walter Maier II. His views also became an issue in September 1989 with the calling of Walter Maier III, whose views were seen by some faculty members as virtually identical with his father’s view. Neither understood this doctrine according to traditional Missouri Synod definitions. For the Preus brothers, this was not a minor issue.

Scaer, David P.. Surviving the Storms: Memoirs of David P. Scaer (Kindle Locations 5646-5650). Luther Academy. Kindle Edition. 

--

So Robert Preus worked out a compromise with WAM II that satisfied people for the moment - but not Scaer!

Equally tragic was that in the matter of justification, John Saleska stood with Robert Preus to the point of his being angry for not solving the question of objective justification once and for all. Saleska was reported to be upset with Robert Preus because he did not “go all out to get Walter A. Maier II.”

Scaer, David P.. Surviving the Storms: Memoirs of David P. Scaer (Kindle Locations 5679-5682). Luther Academy. Kindle Edition.

--

So the Righteous Brothers, who transferred into the LCMS from the OJistic ELS, were as obsessed as David Scaer about the Maier family not being true to the LCMS tradition of Halle Pietism.

But a little bit of research will show that the Stephan-Walther-Pieper infatuation with Objective Justification was never the official doctrine of the LCMS and was excluded from such guideposts as the

1. 1905 German catechism, 
2. the Gausewitz Synodical Conference catechism, and 
3. the KJV catechism. 

One LCMS DP said to a candidate - a few years ago, "We cannot exclude you for teaching Justification by Faith, because we have never had an official statement on OJ."

David Scaer's Inadvertent Confessions - Surviving the Storms - Lulu and Kindle

Surviving the Storms. Get the Kindle, which is only $10.
Lulu for $35? An Amazon author's price would be about $5. Did Amazon refuse to print it? Just kidding.
Logia sells the PDF for $20! Schwan got them started, one of many indulgences he purchased in exchange for forgiveness. Team Ichabod gives everything away, including all of Lenski.

Did David Scaer shop his autobiography around? LCMS or WELS could have published it - both denominations are equally corrupt in doctrine, especially concerning the Chief Article.

An editor is listed, but this book defies careful reading. Scaer's use of pronouns is so sloppy that one can hardly figure out the antecedent. Some historical anchors could be used because few today lived through those events.

His description of graduate study suggests the basis for his obnoxious behavior in the classroom. He is the son of a Missouri pastor and related to two more Scaer's in higher education. That comprises most of the requirements for teaching in Missouri. He was planning on being a simple parish pastor, but he traveled to Germany for a doctorate. In those days, that meant almost certain teaching assignments in the LCMS. However, he failed his dissertation (not uncommon). Robert Marshall the LCA President, hinted to me in a letter that he also failed his dissertation (which can happen for a variety of reasons). Scaer came home to get a rescue ThD at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, using his German dissertation.

John F. Johnson, who helped ruin Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, told me a ThD from St. Louis was useless for any career outside of the LCMS. He earned a second doctorate from St. Louis University (Jesuit, so fitting). Johnson loved the Swiss Karl Barth and began raving about him - until he noticed my reaction, which was probably like unto one who has opened a bottle of spoiled buttermilk. Johnson quickly changed the subject. One faculty member said, "He lets us teach whatever we want. We had to be very careful when Barth was president." Bohlmann drove the LCMS Barth out of the presidency so Johnson could Seminexify the school, picking 40 of the 45 professors there.

Mr. Rude

The extraordinary rudeness of Scaer in the classroom comes from his massive insecurities. His lack of parish experience, with an eye on the prize, is only slightly better than Paul McCain's. Missouri and WELS seem to favor teachers who enjoy sticking their thumbs in people's eyes. Kurt Marquart was an exception, in his grasp of the material and his parish experience.

As I showed in great detail, Scaer's discussion of Justification is wrong, befuddled, dishonest, and anti-Lutheran. 

As bad as the autobiography is, the discussion of events is valuable. The historical-critical movement (HCM), which sprang from Halle University (home of the OJ Burger), peaked after WWII and led to  the Society of Biblical Literature meetings being "an exercise in creative writing," as Scaer said in class. The text no longer mattered, but Scaer got into that and even had Willie Marxen (redaction criticism) as a professor in Germany.

Fiorenza thought redaction criticism was a hoot.

I was exposed to a lot of HCM, from my home parish (JEDP) on - college, seminary, Yale, Notre Dame. My New Testament professor, Nils Dahl, studied under the celebrity scholars of the time - Bultmann, Mowinkel,etc. Elisabeth Schuessler-Fiorenza went from Notre Dame to a feminist seminary to Harvard, teaching HCM.

That is the big break in doctrinal and Biblical work. While the old scholars - like Lenski, Keil-Delitzsch - sought to explain the content of God's Word faithfully, the new ones are rationalists/Calvinists who seek to establish their theories in order to enhance their careers. "The most daring volume on 3 John - ever! Everyone is reading this book!!"

Scaer - A Basket of His Favorite Ideas

Most people have not read hundreds of books of modern theology. Bless your hearts - you have been spared. All of the moderns, including Scaer, are individually invested in their own hobby-horses.

What bothers me most is Scaer's treatment of "his theology," which is exactly what plagues all of modern theology. Everyone picks a position, a favorite theologian, and proceeds to knit a new cathedral of thought out of the used and worn-out rationalism of the last two centuries - especially Schleiermacher and Barth. Just as Barth-Kirschbaum taught their thinly disguised apostasy and Marxism, Scaer teaches Scaer. Rate My Professors has some interesting comments about him. "His schtick gets old quick."

If someone dares to disagree with a professor in graduate school or seminary, he or she may be doomed. I disagreed with Elizabeth Schuessler-Fiorenza in class (Apocalyptic literature) and one student said, "Nice knowing you, Greg." He assumed I was finished at Notre Dame. She later commended me for standing up for myself. She said, and I paraphrase, "Most of these people have never left school, so they do not think on their own."

Therefore, an insecure and tenured professor is very dangerous in delivering his lectures - or rambles - ex cathedra, with a host of hangers-on listening to every word. Moreover, his theological journal becomes a vanity press that publishes every word. If this book is any clue, the rest of Scaer's work is unreadable and unedifying.

 Waldo Werning fashioned himself as a Doctor. He was listed in the Who's Who in Church Growth, as Valleskey noted, glaring at me. Both clowns denied going to Fuller, though they admitted they did. Bivens is another one in this class.

Let's Talk about Waldo Werning - 

The Mouse That Squeaked and Sqawked

Scaer's book has a long section on Werning's war against him. Kincaid Smith (LCA, charismatic, LCMS, ELS) took me down to Ft. Wayne to meet Waldo Werning, Robert Preus, Kurt Marquart, and others, about 1986. Smith's DMin program at Ft. Wayne was all Church Growth, as he told me. He was offended at first that I criticized CG in Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure.

Werning stayed in contact with me, from that time on, with some gaps, until his death in 2013. I pay attention to the way people communicate, and I noticed he went from anti-Bohlmann to pro-Bohlmann. I told Otten, who disbelieved me. Sure enough, Werning targeted Otten for a time.

Werning went after a student I knew. As a pastor, he was driven out of LCMS, WELS, and ELS by Werning. Bishop James Rodham Heiser told me he was afraid to criticize Werning, warned that Werning would never stop pursuing him in the LCMS or elsewhere.

When I was in WELS, I asked Werning if he went to Fuller Seminary. He said he did and I copied that down on the date in my Daytimer. I began doing that with WELS clergy since they lied so often. When Werning later denied what he had confessed, I read my note and gave him the date. An ELS pastor told me soon after that Werning was going bonkers, running me down.

I was shocked that anyone took Werning seriously. His behavior was simply atrocious toward Scaer. I posted Werning's ridiculous false doctrine in Christian News in the midst of Waldo's Scaer war. The professor walked by me and said thanks.

I fault the LCMS that a lot of these kidney punching peewees like Werning are allowed to do the work of the leaders. Bohlmann doubtless gave Werning the flattery the man craved and aimed him at Ft. Wayne, Scaer, Otten, anyone. Remember - Bohlmann was one of many disasters promoted by Otten.

There were plenty of reasons to laugh Werning out of the seminary, but they let him file charge after charge. But Werning is just as much a product of rancid Pietism as Scaer is. The quote below is worth memorizing:

"Justification by Faith in Christ together with its twin truth, the inerrancy of Holy Scripture, are the keystone and the cornerstone of Protestantism. Neglect one or both and the whole structure will fall into ruin." 
Dr. Walter A. Maier, Maier Still Speaks, Back Cover

 The quote above is from the back cover of Otten's book on Maier.

Scaer seemed to fashion himself as a modern Biblical scholar, and he definitely rejects Justification by Faith. Why should we wonder that all the mainline seminaries are emptying just as the feminist-gay liberation people are taking over?

The spineless leaders keep doing whatever will appease the radicals of the moment - or in many cases - simply living out their own preferences. The era of creative destruction is upon us. Little will remain in a few years - with special thanks to the "conservatives" who fished for the Church Growth Kraken and found themselves devoured by it.

How about Robert Preus, Church Growth, and OJ?

Scaer repeatedly refers to the late Robert Preus as a great theologian but fickle administrator.

How did this collection of "confessional, conservative Lutheran" professors mange to create a Church Growth program, 100% CG as Kincaid Smith said?

Clearly Preus and Scaer were not watching the store while it was being robbed of its credibility. Preus liked to be a hero among the non-Lutheran Protestants, who admired someone who stood up for inerrancy. They were a mixed bag of stray cats about Justification, so that was no scandal for them. Preus went to Calvinists for help on Objective Justification.

At the time of the faculty’s conversations with Maier II, Robert Preus looked for support and found it among conservative friends in the Evangelical movement who admired him for his defense of biblical inspiration and inerrancy, including several faculty members of Westminster Seminary—Escondido, California, with its renowned Reformed [Calvinist] scholar Michael Horton (b. 1964). Preus must have been aware, but chose to ignore that the Reformed see objective justification as a component of their doctrine of election, but it was hardly universal in scope as Lutherans have historically held it.

Scaer, David P.. Surviving the Storms: Memoirs of David P. Scaer (Kindle Locations 5655-5659). Luther Academy. Kindle Edition.

That is like going to Fuller Seminary for help with evangelism!

 Ur rite, Pete. LOL. Where's my DMin?

Why was Neuhaus invited to speak to Ft. Wayners on "Becoming the Roman Catholic I Always Was"?

One dogmatic point is sure - because I invented it - The non-reciprocity of the false teachers. The Shrinkers want to draw everyone into their sect and buy their stinking books and programs, but they will never budge an inch toward the genuine, Reformation, Bible-centered, Means of Grace honoring Gospel. Therefore, they flatter and seduce insecure Lutherans into poking their toes into the Church Growth swamp, so easy when no one - and I mean no one - is teaching the efficacy of the Word.

Confidentially - you do not need to send me an email or leave an anonymous voice-mail - do you think this metastatic cancer of Church Growth was ever intended to increase the number of believing Christians? No, they were advancing their anti-inerrancy views from the start. Fuller Seminary began with a weak view of inerrancy (docrine only - not history or geography!) They repudiated that when hiring NCC-WCC spokes-radical  start their Church Shrinkage program, which they diplomatically called Church Growth. He was Disciples of Christ. WELS Pastor Jon Balge said to me, a bit irritated, "Weren't you Disciples of Christ, Greg?" when I made that point. Yes, I left that sect for the Lutherans. That does not count. One must be born in a WELS parsonage in Wisconsin to be truly and fatally WELS.

The only growth from Fuller was their growth in revenue, and even they - with their supposed marketing savvy - had to cancel expansion plans. Haha.

Where were the genius leaders during all this? They protected and paid Bunkowski, Werning, and the rest.

On Preus and OJ.
Robert was OJ all the way - until his last book, never mentioned by Scaer in his Confessions. Given the LCMS hagiographies of Herman A. Preus and Walther, we could expect that. But Preus clearly repudiated OJ in Justification and Rome - never mentioned by Scaer, who also forgets Luther almost entirely.

Tietjen the Destroyer

I lived through the Tietjen era, which made me skeptical about the LCMS being much different from the LCA. Scaer has interesting historical observations about the Concordia St. Louis president who created Seminex and facilitated ELCA, aka the Extended LCA.

Only four electors chose Tietjen. As I have said, the battle is for control of those little committees and commissions that make the decisions. Tietjen did not have to leave with his liberal professors, but he did impulsively. Jack Preus read him like a cheap tabloid, and Otten sold a lot of papers.

Tietjen next failed as Seminex president, though he did include the gays training for lavender career in the Metropolitan Community Church, with help from Jungkuntz - WELS OJ Professor - as chairman of the board. Deppe was the St. Louis professor who came out in the exodus from the seminary. He was arrested for soliciting a male police officer in a park in St. Louis. Deppe went on to teach at Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. Married with children, he joined Metropolitan Community Church as a pastor.

Seminex's AELC got a special deal on the merger commission because they were so small. Y'all could see where this was going. They pushed for gay and female quotas, which was like building a skyscraper on top of garbage and effluent. Who needs bedrock?

Seminex failed and the faculty largely moved to LSTC (LCA, then ELCA). I am not sure when Tietjen gave up his position, but he was voted in as Bishop of the the Metro Chicago District.

Tietjen insisted on a lady assistant who was part of the Seminex crowd. I am not sure whether she was ordained or not. The people who elected him said "No!" and the big guys at headquarters had to intervene. Tietjen would not budge, so after one month of His Holiness, ELCA gave him a parish call to Texas. He actually led a revolt against ELCA forming an expensive Church Growth start nearby. Tietjen was better at forming boycotts than enduring them. ELCA gave up and moved the "experiment" - as they and WELS called these things - to Yorba Linda, where it flopped faster than the snowshoe store in Yuma, Arizona.

Richard John Neuhaus was like many LCMS pastors, raised in the Missouri flavor of Ecclesia Immaculata. They decided Rome was the fulfillment of all they had been taught - anti-Creation, anti-Justification by Faith, and in favor of philosophy and the historical-critical method of bending the Scriptures to fit one's mood and agenda.

May They Live a Hundred Years and Look Upon Their Accomplishments: The Cutting Edge Bled the Synodical Conference to Death

The class portraits of the seminary in Mordor are useful for identifying who drank beer together. Fortunately, the worst of them published their wisdom and gloried in taking over the Wisconsin sect. Their Church and Change organization was out in the open, on the Internet, and they had conferences not attended by Kudu Don Patterson.

There were many others, like Valleskey and his pal Bivens, all the leaders in American and world missions. Missouri and the Little Sect on the Prairie have their counterparts. C. Peter Wagner listed five LCMS leaders in his Who's Who in Church Growth. The Little Sect always wags its chihuahua tail when WELS speaks or offers a treat.

I hope they all live 100 years and look upon the wreckage of their doctrinal and pastoral felonies. Waldo Werning was named in the Who's Who list of Church Growth heroes, and they all worked with him too - and Otten. The typical Shrinker bragged about going to Fuller Summer - as Valleskey, Bivens, and Werning did - and denied it when convenient.

The one thing they prize is money and visible, measurable success - not the Gospel. They hate the Gospel and glory in teaching against the Chief Article of Christianity - Justification by Faith. For that reason, God has taken away their previous success - when they actually taught the Chief Article - and handed them over to their Father Below.

Matt the Fatt, Mirthless Mark, and Pope John the Malefactor are not leaders - but followers. They protect the apostates, who reward them with undeserved salaries and benefits, chiefly the benefit of the doubt. They could not possibly be shielding felons among their church workers, could they? Let's hope they stay in office another 20 years, so people pay a fortune for their maladministrations, their promotion of Church Growth and ELCA dogma - UOJ.

Fancy this - the LCMS-ELS-WELS have sent their leaders to Fuller and Willow Creek for decades, just like ELCA. And now they are all Barthians, because Fuller is Barthian. Has any synod broken the news that Fuller is pulling back, canceling building plans and ending their local cancer nodes? They are going down together, with ELCA just a little bit in the lead.

 Barth's children had two mommies, because Barth moved his mistress, Charlotte Kirschbaum, into his home and lived with her alone in the summers. Everyone knew, just like the Walther circle and their promiscuous Bishop Stephan. Barth/Kirschbaum are the two most prominent theologians for Protestants, Catholics, and Fuller Seminary.

 Hybels is another favorite among the apostates - the founder of Willow Creek, the trainer of Lutheran pastors of all stripes, and the target of many women whom he pursued. As Lenski noted, spiritual adultery and similar problems go together.