The famous Black Sox scandal has been remembered with a boy running up to Shoeless Jackson, saying tearfully, "Say it ain't so, Joe."
Now I hear from my vast network of informants that Joe Krohn's Rock N Roll group has been dumped from Rock N Roll Church. Why? His good buddy Kudu Don Patterson told Doebler to get better results. In spite of all the insights from Church and Change, plagiarized sermons, and grants from various places, Rock N Roll has only 30 attending church.
The Church from Scratch, now known as Rock and Roll, has obtained the services of Dave Bauer, Martin Luther College, to make the contemporary services even more contemptuous, or is that contemporary?
Bauer has been working with Pastor Rick in Corona, California. Pastor Rick is very big on Church and Change, Leonard Sweet. Not so big on Ichabod.
They still use the URL of http://www.churchfromscratch.net. Put that in your browser and you will get Christ the Rock. Old Scratch is a nickname for Satan. In modern lingo, scratch is money. Both are fitting, because this latest experiment is dependent on scratch - synod subsidies and foundation grants. They wanted $200,000 from the Antioch Foundation this year and got a measly $20,000.
Check out the Rock N Roll websty. Here are some clues:
Vision, Purpose, Process, and Values - "Centered on Christ, Living with Purpose." Doebler is probably influenced by Rick Warren and Purpose-Driven Pietism. The Pietists are always anxious to produce results in people through their cell groups.
Old Scratch has cell groups. The vision is pure Pietism. There is a little tilt toward Lutheran doctrine, but Doebler uses Word, Baptism, and "Holy Supper." The Reformed can tolerate the word baptism but they are allergic to Holy Communion. Best not offend those who deny the Real Presence.
The Conference of Pussycats met at Patterson's church to confirm the value and orthodoxy of Rock N Roll. That is like the Federal Reserve folks meeting at Goldman Sachs to make sure everything is honest and above board.
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JR has left a new comment on your post "Say It Ain't So, Joe - Krohn Rock Group Dumped at ...":
Allow me to speak in C&C terms: the product offered by Pastor Doebler is not selling. The same message of self-improvement can be had at any number of other mega-churches in the area that have bigger buildings, better music, and more programs. There needs to be a differentiating factor that compels people to go to CTR instead of Hyde Park or Shoreline.
Here's an idea: try preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments. It's so crazy it just might work!
