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MLS Veteran has left a new comment on your post "Paul Kuske the "Ultra-Conservative"":
But didn't Kuske support keeping MLS open? Wouldn't that go against the grain of the Church Growth movement which were not strong supporters of the 2 remaining prep schools?
Also, wasn't Kuske a founding member of "Issues in WELS", which is supposed to be the conservative vanguard in the WELS?
It is all very confusing...
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GJ - First of all the whole world is righteous, whether anyone believes or not. That is WELS official doctrine - really, their quirky opinion, unrelated to Christian doctrine. Discussing the criminal element in WELS is part of being faithful to the Book of Concord, which is barely glanced at in the WELS system. I will be glad to supply the citation - again. Read the Large Catechism, Eighth Commandment. The Eighth comes right after the one on murder.
Secondly, Al Just did not murder his wife, according to an email from one of his relatives. Note the odd pun here. Al Just justified by his family. Just was justly convicted, went to state prison, and got out. He married his children's babysitter while he was in the hoosegow, but they are divorced. Just was spotted as a leader in a WELS youth group.
I should have a list of WELS church worker ex-cons for their prison ministry program. District Pope Ed Werner is probably out of the clink now too. If the WELS ex-cons would write more often, I could keep track.
WELS secrecy about church worker crimes only feeds the problem. The bigger the scandal, the more the hierarchy will cover it up. But lo, if anyone dares mention the truth about WELS, the mud will fly.
Here is a good example - A retired pastor wrote a fine essay on the true Church being built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. He included some very mild criticism of WELS trends and how the trends were damaging the ministry. When I was in John Lawrenz' MLS office, he lit into this pastor, saying, "Have you seen his congregation? It is dead!" Note the focus of John's criticism. The retired pastor "Named names" and "did not allow people to defend their good names." John could name names behind the pastor's back, and that pastor had no chance to defend his good name. The retired pastor was dealing with doctrinal issues, no better way to get a Church Growther angry, petty, and vindictive.
I have never seen a dead congregation. Anyone who says that is absolutely anti-Lutheran, but I found anti-Lutheran was the dominant theme of WELS leadership. The only thing they defend is Holy Mother Synod. Christian doctrine - no interest.
Supporting prep schools is not a test of orthodoxy. Issues in WELS is so feeble and timid that no one should brag about being part of it.
I remember warning District Pope Robert Mueller and Vice Pope Paul Kuske that covering up for Floyd Stolzenburg and pastors like him would lead to major lawsuits. That only made them angry. Perhaps the lawsuit against Adrian and his congregation was already in the works.
