I attended an LCA gathering where a synod staff member had us go through a Peter Drucker exercise about goals and objectives. Another staff member at a national gathering spoke about the inevitable decline in members - "Most of the children baptized in your parish now will not be in confirmation classes. The figure used to be 50%."
In WELS, the same truths were being uttered as if they came from Mt. Sinai rather than the crumbling Love Shack they called headquarters, 2929 Mayfair Road, Milwaukee. The same Management by Objectives were spoken reverently, as if echoing the LCA. The common thread - or virus - was the LCA-LCMS-WELS staffers studying together at Fuller Seminary, where Drucker is still honored as a saint.
Bad currency drives out good currency, as we have seen in silver coins replaced by those which sound like plastic buttons bouncing on the counter. Silver certificates have been set aside for Federal Reserve Notes.
Number 1 Cause of Decline - Nastiness
The denominations have declined because the Words of Faith in Jesus Christ have been replaced with the tinny squawks of secular wisdom. The Fruits of the Spirit begin with love, joy, and peace (Galatians 5).
Love is not something we conjure up to attract people to a parish, but the result of teaching and practicing forgiveness through the Savior. Every sect brags in its history about 50 or 100 or 300 years of grace, but grace is only accessed through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1-2).
 |
| "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." KJV Romans 5:1-2. How does one enjoy grace? only through faith. WELS-LCMS-ELS-ELCA denies this truth and skips along to perdition. |
Let's look at the WELS sect, starting with the victims of their schools. If someone is not rigidly obedient to bullies (physical, sexual, and mental abuse), they are shunned at first and driven away formally by the Left Foot of Fellowship.
How can a tiny sect grow when they take so much delight in excluding people? Readers - do not quote this blog, mention my name, or imply that I might be correct. The hammer will come down. The WELS Grapevine exists to spread falsehoods about dissenters and to protect the official synod families, who can do no wrong.
Think about this - how can a synod grow when they favor inbreeding and insist on anti-Biblical, anti-Lutheran doctrine? The collective IQ is going to decline.
I have met many WELS people who were kind, generous, and faithful to the Scriptures. However, many more enjoyed playing Top Dog and Do You Know Who My Grandfather Is?
This is never going to change as long as people ignore the universal and divine standard of the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace. The Reformation made that clear, and the Book of Concord clarified issues growing from false teachers.
