I am sure the fading WELS sect cannot argue with me about their fondness for Calvinism. Their newest hymnal debacle will include 25 pop Calvinist songs from the same, very wealthy couple. They are attached at the hip to to Calvinist clergy hipsters.
The WELS leadership for the last few decades has been dedicated to training their dullest and most conforming clergy and teachers in Calvinism at Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek, and those special conferences like Catalyst, Soil, and Andy Stanley's rainbow worship series.
Lutherans have funded the Calvinists faster than the US has financed China, with similar results.
The public domain hymns of The Lutheran Hymnal (and some other sources) are worth using and preserving. I have noticed that the copyright hymns - which I leave alone - are also the most obscure ones. I wonder if that was done to make it tough to steal the last decent work of the Olde Synodical Conference. Now they plot together to destroy Justification by Faith (as if they could). They are better as eliminating their membership and devouring steaks and ale.
Here are some non-profit, tentative plans for The Bethany Lutheran Blog - all honor to TLH, etc etc:
- Hymn lyrics and graphics will have their own pages, with the melodies linked.
- Extra pages for honoring the great hymn authors, with their lyrics linked together.
- Ditto for the great translators like Winkworth, Loy, and Neale.
- As time allows, each hymn will be tagged for the section it is in, to make it easier to plan worship. That way I can line up pages of links for Advent, Christmas, Pentecost, and some topics too.
- People have already volunteered to help edit and enhance the blog. Just by checking over a few hymns I found some mistakes in planning and those pesky but sometimes funny typos.
People should ask, "If The Lutheran Hymnal of 1941 was so bad, why has no one created a better one in 80 years?"
Why are the synods so anxious to charge annual fees for the dubious effect of computerizing their Seeker Services?
If they are so good at this, why are their membership losses catastrophic?
