I am the author of the letter to WELS President Schroeder that you referenced in January under the heading, "Write a Letter". In that entry I shared my admonishment of the Synod for its involvement with Thrivent and for tolerating the antics of Ski and Glende. In my letter I enclosed photos from their Facebook pages of them posing with Katy Perry and Mariqueen, as well as nude photos of Mariqueen from Playboy. I cited the WELS fellowship policy and the appropriate scriptural passages referring to scandalous conduct of pastors respectively. As I stated in my post, Schroeder's response was prompt and sympathetic, assuring me of his own concerns over these matters. He would refer my concerns about Thrivent to the Council of Presidents and take up the Ski/Glende matter with their DP.
As the months went by I realized that nothing was going to be done about either of the issues I addressed. I read the highlights of all subsequent COP meetings, most of which were attended by the SP, and if Thrivent was talked about it wasn't in the minutes. And as far as telling the Northern Wisconsin DP to get tough on the 2 delinquents in Appleton...that would be Doug Englebrecht. Since my admonition Ski has celebrated one year at The CORE and has presented a "how-to" series of sermons on married sex. (Uh, first rule, Ski-lose the pretty MLC coeds on your Facebook page and you will cut your foreplay time in half). I live in Nebraska, and as I look back the letter Schroeder sent me had a lot in common with the e-mails I received from our Honorable Ben Nelson in response to my PLEAS to him NOT to cast the swing vote for Obamacare-right before he did.
So I wrote my "Mark and Avoid" letter, to which I did NOT receive a reply, and left the Synod. This was followed by a letter to my pastor, who I had deliberately left out of the loop. He called wanting to talk, so my wife and I went to see him. I took the letters I had written to Synod and the pictures I had sent the SP. I was surprised Schroeder had not talked to him. He said these things take time and how did I know Ski and Glende wouldn't be punished? (Yeah, I'm sure "Forward in Crisis" will cover it start to finish and it'll be the September lead story in the "WELS Connection" Infomercial).
Since the pictures were long gone from Ski and Glende's Facebook accounts, I had to "Kelm" them from Ichabod, and the first thing my former pastor noted was, "Well, I see you got these from Gregory Jackson." I told him Schroeder got the originals, and they WEREN'T from Ichabod. Pastor had warned me about Gregory Jackson a year ago when I quoted him on some WELS issues. He had cautioned me that Dr. Jackson was a malcontent who had never really fit in anywhere. He repeated those accusations to a member of the Church Council who went in a few weeks later to back me up. He said that rather than 'camping out' on Ichabod, I should find other things to spend my time reading-like the Bible. Somewhere in the conversation I let my former pastor know that I had contributed material to Ichabod several times.
Then he turned on ME. "Who ARE you, WHAT are you? Are you a Confessional Lutheran, or are you a Baptist?" "A Baptist?," I asked. "Well, I'm hearing rumors you've been going to a Baptist church." My wife said, "Yeah, some really good friends of ours' daughter was baptized a few weeks ago." (We had stopped attending our WELS church by then, which is more than I can say of Ski and Glende when they worshiped with Andy Stanley). "What do you WANT?", he demanded. "I want OUT of WELS." "Then why are you here?" "Uh, you invited me?" I told him I thought the Synod was fundamentally secretive and dishonest.
It got worse. My wife accidently called Glende 'Jeske' and he jumped all over her. I finally said, "Look, this is just turning into 'shoot the messenger.' You're attacking us for petty stuff and I'm never gonna win on your playing field, anyway. Instead of 'he said/she said', let's just say the chemistry wasn't right." He grabbed a notepad and wrote so hard I thought his pen was going to snap in half. "Chemistry.. not.. right." "What's up with that?," I said. "Well," he said mockingly, "when anybody in the congregation asks why you left, I'll tell them.....the CHEMISTRY wasn't right." I reminded him of the first rule of WELS: NEVER attack the Synod.
On the way out he kept shaking his head and saying, "If that's true about those guys in Appleton, that's not right....it's just not right."
Right before we left the Synod, my pastor was giving away the old hymnals down in the basement. I took 6. I'm glad I did. They come in handy at our new church, Bethany Lutheran Worship.
Jim Becker, (former) WELS
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You can publish verbatim if you have room.
Thanks, Jim
Jim Becker WELS has left a new comment on your post "Fruit of the Stealth Mission":
I wrote to President Schroeder on the Ski/Glende issue and received his personal reply within a week. I told him I was admonishing the Synod in advance if these men were not removed from their posts within a month.
He replied that he became aware of the situation a few days before I wrote him. He forwarded it to the president of the Northern Wisconsin District, whose job Schroeder said it is to deal with this initially, and is awaiting a report from him. While he desires to have matters like this addressed very quickly and decisively, there are times when the process of dealing with pastoral wrongdoing may take a little longer. He asked that I have some patience as they work through those who are called to carry out evangelical discipline.
I also addressed the Thrivent issue, and will deal with his response on a later post. I felt Pastor Schroeder really understood my concerns and that his response was immediate and thoughtful.
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GJ - This layman is responding appropriately. For the first time in 30 years, there are leaders who will listen and respond - in WELS.
I have linked with a lot of LCMS ministers lately. I am impressed with the number who are Triglotta Lutherans. (Father Neuhaus called himself a confessional Lutheran before he poped, so I have to use a better term.) I am somewhat optimistic about the Quiche-niks being replaced.
ELCA Lutherans have a weak background in apologetics, but the Episcopal/gay crisis has thrown them into study. That is also good.
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dk has left a new comment on your post "Write A Letter":
I agree that errors in doctrine and practice need to be dealt with swiftly. But I've heard that within the WELS structure it is very difficult to deal with problems swiftly and this leads me to ask:
If the WELS CAN'T take care of problems immediately does it have the right to exist, under its own self-definition? According to the WELS, Synod=Church, correct? We all know that the legitimacy of a church depends on its doctrinal integrity. Maintaining doctrinal integrity means dealing with problems quickly so they don't spread. So if the WELS is 1 church, as they claim, how legitimate are they?
SP Schroeder has a big job, partly because of the WELS structure and partly because these problems have been festering for two decades or more.
The office of WELS synod president is not a dictator--no
WELS synod president has the executive authority to make changes (termination of calls etc.) instantly and based on his judgment alone. There's a well ordered system in place for the purpose of preventing quick changes. One must recognize that this ties the hands of Triglotta Lutherans when error does arise in attempts to guard against liberals who might hold the same office.
SP Schroeder is no exception. I'm under the impression that he has to play "the game" because of the limitation on his authority. While it's a shame that he's hampered, I'd rather have a Conservative as SP than someone like Kelm. God uses faithful men for his purposes in whatever situation they find themselves. I imagine Schroeder has a full plate and he can use our prayers--wishing him swiftness.
Remember though, that if you're WELS you ARE in close fellowship with Ski, Glende, Jeske, Kelm, Hunter, Gunn, and all the rest. YOU belong to the same church and by your testimony you are one in faith with them! At what point should you contest the legitimacy of the WELS based on an absence of church discipline?
Sooner or later something has to happen and people will have to be held accountable.
My new years resolution is to write the District Presidents who have errant pastors under them. CC your emails to president Schroeder so that Schroeder has more to refer to when he talks to the DPs about the problems. I'll just bet that by respectful protest (a flood of emails) the Triglotta Lutherans could really aid in the process of church discipline!
