Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "St. Matthew in Appleton":
“the ignorant membership drives out the excellent confessional pastor by making his life miserable and constantly pressuring him to change (i.e. why can't we be like those nifty modern churches?), replaces him with a series of young, "hip," CG apostates, and then sits back and watches the church shrink.”
While this no doubt happened in some cases, it flows counter to church governance where ideas and initiatives are cascaded down from the pastor through the board of elders, to the church council, and to the members for ratification. CG apostates generally infect other pastors, churches, and members with their swill about being like other growing congregations. It spreads like cancer until it is removed or killed. Frequently ‘confessional pastors’ get pressure to alter direction. There is a lot of peer pressure amongst pastors to go along to get along. That is how survival works in the synod.
Then, are ignorant members really the root cause? No, it comes in from other hotbeds of CG advocates. They get to the pastor in one way or another to adopt CG claptrap. While at it, they infect the members, too.
A truly confessional pastor has the support of the elders and council, and he does not allow the apostasy to take root. The process is complicated and stealthy, certainly not simply the result of “ignorant membership.”
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GJ - I know of many cases where WELS Shrinker pastors have meddled in target congregations. It is true that the members should not cooperate with those who meddle, but the wolves know which members are vulnerable to flattery and manipulation. A few people can be used to make life miserable for the pastor. A case in point is The Love Shack, previously known as 2929. There the Gurgle-appointed Shrinkers fight against the duly elected Synod President.