Parlow Son, Fox Valley Lutheran Student, To Attend ELCA College

By Mark Miller
WisSports.net Editor

Fox Valley Lutheran senior Micah Parlow has decided to attend Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and play basketball at the NCAA Division II school.

Parlow, who selected Augustana over Division II South Minnesota State, averaged 12.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game as a senior while leading Fox Valley Lutheran to an 18-6 record under coach Matt Koepsell.

The 6-foot-7 Parlow earned first-team all-league honors in the Eastern Valley Conference and is a three-year varsity letter winner for the Foxes.

“Micah chose Augustana because it is a very good academic fit as there are and have been others on the basketball team who are in the pre-med program, which is Micah’s field of study,” said Parlow’s father, John Parlow. “The city is also very similar in feel and size to the Green Bay area, and the (sic) he had a very positive experience with the coaches and other guys on the team when he did his official visit.”

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GJ - St. Mark is good training for going to an ELCA college. Fox Valley Lutheran is a WELS area high school.

This would make an excellent feature story for FIC - "Son of Church and Change Founder Picks ELCA College over WLC, MLC, and BLC."

Anticonfessionals Growl: Missouri Is Not Allowed To Criticize ELCA, But ELCA Is Obliged To Criticize Conservatives

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 5, 2010

ELCA, LCMS Leaders Discuss Theological Implications of '09 Assembly Actions
10-134-JB/MRC

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Top leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) discussed in depth the theological implications of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly decisions on human sexuality.

The church leaders met here April 12-13 as the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation (CLC), which meets twice a year. They also heard from the leaders of three cooperative agencies and provided updates about current happenings in each others' church bodies.

The assembly directed that ELCA policy documents be revised to make it possible for eligible Lutherans in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA clergy and professional lay leaders. The assembly directed that revised policies recognize the convictions of those who believe the ELCA should not allow such service. The assembly also adopted a social statement on human sexuality.

The ELCA Church Council adopted final revisions to the policy documents April 10, putting them into effect.

The leaders began their discussion by reviewing "Theological Implications of the 2009 ELCA Decisions," a 10-page document commissioned by the Rev. Gerald B. Kieschnick, LCMS president. The document was prepared by a task force appointed by Kieschnick. Keischnick explained that the document was intended for use by LCMS pastors and members in their own study and in dialogue with ELCA members.

Key provisions of the document are:
+ The LCMS believes and teaches "that same-gender sexual activity -- in every situation -- violates the will of our Creator and must be recognized as sin." The LCMS affirms the biblical view of marriage as a lifelong union of a man and a woman, and that unmarried men and women are to "live in sexual chastity and celibacy."
+ There is "legitimate concern" over the ways people who are gay or lesbian have been "excluded and even vilified by Christians."
+ The LCMS does not believe that the ELCA's decisions on sexuality should necessarily or summarily end cooperative work in human care since this work is "based on the sharing of a common goal, not doctrinal unity." The LCMS document continued, "However, we hope and expect that the leadership of such entities will respect the theological position of the Synod (including its position on same-gender sexual activity) and avoid any policies or decisions which would require us to cease our support and involvement in their activities."
+ The LCMS believes that disagreements about the sinfulness of homosexual behavior "impact the gospel itself," since the gospel is "the heart, center and ultimate message of the Bible," and that "a church body's acceptance of homosexual activity promotes a false security about behavior and conduct which God has forbidden and from which He longs to redeem us."
+ A prayer that the ELCA would reconsider its actions.
Kieschnick explained that the LCMS document was intended to help members "walk through this, while not compromising our own point of view."

"We received it in the understanding that you were speaking to your own church, but also to us," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop. "We also hope that you understand, and we understand, that our actions put stress on relationships, but not stress to the point that we believe that they should sever the relationships rather than call us to deeper conversation."
Following the LCMS presentation, responses were provided by the Rev. Marcus R. Kunz, executive for discernment of contextual and theological issues, ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop, and the Rev. Rebecca S. Larson, executive director, ELCA Church in Society.

Kunz outlined several points including:
+ The central message of the Scriptures is the Good News of God's love and saving work in Jesus Christ, and the Scriptures are properly used in proclaiming this message of faith.
+ It is not true "as some are claiming, that the ELCA has abandoned or ignored the authority of Scripture. Rather, we seek to be faithful to the evangelical purpose that God intends with the Scriptures," Kunz said.
+ The ELCA asks "respectfully that the LCMS not silently allow or tacitly encourage misrepresentations of the ELCA's commitment to the evangelical use of the Scriptures, a misrepresentation that subverts the evangelical witness we share," Kunz said.

Larson presented several responses, including:
+ That "integrity of the positions of the ELCA be honored" and that neither church try to speak for or interpret the positions of the other.
+ The position of the ELCA "as summarized in your document does not fairly or accurately represent the actual position of the ELCA in relation to the matters of concern, nor the foundations upon which those decisions rest," she said.
+ The social statement "strongly, very strongly supports marriage," she said. "It recognizes and affirms the central place of marriage between a man and a woman in the historic Christian tradition and the Lutheran Confessions," Larson said.
+ The greatest concern Larson mentioned was about the LCMS paper's discussion of lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships. She said the LCMS has not fully or accurately interpreted the assembly's decisions because it points to only one part of the 2009 actions.

Without full and accurate disclosure of the language of the social statement and ministry policies, she said, the LCMS document leaves the impression that recognition of people in lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships, and placing such people on official church rosters, "constitutes the agreed and sole position of the whole church." That is not true, Larson said. "What the ELCA did decide is that we are not in agreement, including theological agreement, regarding partnered same-gender relationships, and that, because these matters are not central to determining our salvation, we can and will continue to live together with different practices, bearing the burdens of one another, and respecting the bound consciences of each other," she said.
+ The ELCA does not anticipate the need for any changes in cooperative ministries with the LCMS, she said.
+ On sexuality matters, the ELCA "will respect bound consciences ... and that would include the LCMS," Larson said.

ELCA and LCMS leaders discuss position paper, responses
During the two-hour follow-up discussion, the Rev. Joel Lehenbauer, executive director, LCMS Theology and Church Relations, told Kunz that the LCMS did not say in its paper that the ELCA has "abandoned" Scripture as a source of authority, but it does assert that our two churches "have fundamentally different understandings of the nature of Scripture's authority, not just differing opinions about how to interpret certain passages of Scripture."

"This is not a new issue," he added, citing previous documents and discussions centering on the question of the authority of Scripture and its relationship to Scripture's central message of the gospel.

The Rev. Samuel H. Nafzger, spineless director of LCMS church relations and assistant to the president, asked the ELCA participants if, in their opinions, there were "any positions of a bound conscience that should divide brothers and sisters in Christ at the altar."

"Our two churches are bound together by many things," he said, "and there's no place for Christians to misrepresent the position of our two churches on the issues we are debating."
"But that's not what the LCMS is doing in this statement," he said. "The ELCA wants to respect the 'bound consciences' of both sides in this debate, but in our opinion it cannot do this without having a different understanding of the authority of Scripture than that held by the LCMS. The Missouri Synod regards consciences bound to positions that contradict the simple and plain meaning of Scripture as erring consciences in need of confession and absolution."

Continuing conversation between ELCA and LCMS leaders is important, said the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, executive for administration, ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop. "In our own church we continue to have those conversations, (and) we don't have consensus. I am grateful that we can see that there's a place where we can talk." [GJ - Missouri has to accept women's ordination to work with ELCA, and now the ELCA staff will all come out of the closet, if they have not already, because ELCA began in 1987 with gay quotas.]

While he does not see much immediate change in the ELCA-LCMS relationship as a result of the ELCA sexuality decisions, the Rev. Raymond L. Hartwig, LCMS secretary, said the decisions create "a special challenge" because the ELCA actions were "imposed" on the LCMS with its constant biblical view of marriage and related issues.

Hartwig said a key question being asked in the LCMS is, "Do cooperative efforts imply doctrinal unity with the ELCA?"

"I think we have a special challenge with this particular issue that is different than (any) we've faced before," he added.

Kieschnick added that the LCMS convention in July will likely address the ELCA sexuality decisions because they are a significant topic of discussion in the church.
Hanson noted that leaders of both churches have come a long way in the past nine years of CLC discussions.

"I think we have deep respect for one another," he said. "We have deep commitment to the gospel we proclaim through one another's voices, and we have a deep resolve to respond to the hurts of the world together … We will pray for your convention, and pray for our shared work together in the world."

Lutheran church leaders meet cooperative ministry leaders, hear updates
On a semiannual basis, the Lutheran church leaders meet with the leaders of Baltimore-based cooperative ministry organizations. At this meeting the leaders heard updates from Linda Hartke, president and chief executive officer, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service; the Rev. John A. Nunes, president and chief executive officer, and Jeff Whisenat, executive president, Lutheran World Relief (LWR); and Jill A. Schumann, president and chief executive officer, Lutheran Services in America.

The Rev. Kevin A. Massey, director, Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) and ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, and Michael Nevergall, assistant director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, also attended. Massey provided LDR updates.

LCMS leaders told of recent happenings in their church body. The LCMS convention will be held July 10-17 in Houston. Significant business will include a series of restructuring recommendations, including discussion of possible restructuring of districts, the national church body and a possible new name for the LCMS.

In addition, the LCMS Fan into Flame campaign to support the Synod's comprehensive evangelism effort, Ablaze!, has raised $56 million in gifts and pledges. The campaign goal is to raise $100 million. The LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations recently adopted a report of Christian stewardship of the environment, "Together With All Creatures: Caring for God's Living Earth." The report is intended for use by small groups and as a teaching tool.
Requests for conversation with LCMS leaders have come from some African churches, including the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, the Malagasy Lutheran Church (Madagascar) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Nafzger said.

Hanson said the ELCA has been focusing on mission, tending its relationships, discerning who wants to be part of the church body and planning for the church's future. The ELCA approved 41 new mission starts this year, 23 of them in immigrant communities.

For the immediate future, the ELCA is focused on its two strategic priorities: serving congregations, and increasing capacity for service to fight poverty and seek justice and peace. The churchwide organization and its unit directors are working on contingency planning stemming from possible declines in mission support funds from congregations through synods.
Representing the ELCA leadership in the meeting were Hanson, the Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, bishop, Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver, and chair, ELCA Conference of Bishops; Bullock; Kunz; Larson; the Rev. Donald J. McCoid, executive, Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations; Carlos Peña, Galveston, Texas, vice president; David D. Swartling, secretary.

Representing the LCMS leadership were Kieschnick; the Rev. William R. Diekelman, first vice president; Hartwig; Lehenbauer; Nafzger; Ronald Schulz, chief administrative officer; and the Rev. Larry Stoterau, president, Pacific Southwest District, Irvine, Calif.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
Twitter: http://twitter.com/elcanews

Anniversary of Anti-Confessionalism:Twenty Years of Progress

Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Offers a Superior Brainwashing Education

Gurgle and Ski, from 1940 to 1998: the tradition continues.

Ex-Synod President Gurgle sent out an email with four obvious spelling errors in it.

Ski, who offers Satan's Sex Education sermons at The CORE, copied Groeschel, who cannot spell, and added his own spelling error.

Perhaps it is time for WELS to stop thanking God for having such a great educational system. Sure, they know how to teach Fuller dogma in the colleges and seminary, but along they way they might want to study spelling on the side.

Most people who read a lot can also spell. That may be the problem.

Not Part-Time in Labor

Freddy Finkelstein, one of many friendly readers, described my current work as "departure from WELS and eventually from full-time ministry."

I wondered later, "Was Paul a part-time apostle when he was making tents?" I am responding just to let people know a little more. I am not comparing myself to Paul, except for when people fall asleep. Acts 20:9-12.

Many pastors work part-time but receive pay for a full-time vocation. The Sausage Factory professors are done at noon each day, and few if any preach on Sundays and during Advent and Lent. Their publishing is extremely limited, but that is for the best anyway.

I preach almost every Sunday of the year, plus Advent and Lent. We had 39 households tuning in during Holy Week, which would be a respectable number for any congregation, except ours comes from all over the world. We do not soak up synod subsidies and ladies' aid funds to finance rock and roll equipment. "How Firm a Foundation" is a hymn at our church, not a funding source.

I teach up to five religion classes at a time, plus various other courses, such as critical thinking, MA courses in education, and technology. For those who want to wag their Reformed fingers at me for teaching religion, I can only say, "You had your chance." I looked at one prof's schedule at Mequon. He taught two courses at a time. Others probably teach a little more. It's exhausting lecturing from the yellowed dog notes of J. P. Meyer and the newly published works of Fuller Seminary.

Besides, I get to teach orthodox Lutheran doctrine without a barrage of personal insults and false accusations. I quote Luther and Gerhardt with abandon and teach the efficacy of the Word. I have the liberty of linking all my published work.

The biggest response I receive in my religion classes is from quoting an entire Gerhardt hymn. Some say, "I have never heard of him before." I could respond, "Neither have many synodical conference Lutherans."

I may be wasting my time on this, but it is worth noting. A denominational school exists to promote the sect's reputation and opinions. There is a reason that "parochial" is not considered a compliment. Babtist seminaries produce Babtists, as they should. Unfortunately, Lutheran seminaries are now producing Babtists too, along with future Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox priests. Parochial schools often work at the bottom layer of Bloom's taxonomy - the repeat-after-me layer. That is why we know there are rats in the cornbin when a Lutheran seminary produces everything except a Lutheran pastor.

Academic religion is aimed at providing an education about certain topics. I have atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Protestants, and even some Lutherans in class. They have to show academic ability rather than denominational loyalty.

Because of my experience in synods, I never sought to teach religion. Now I do all the time, and I work a lot of hours. Like Tom Sawyer, I have discovered that non-required work is fun, no matter how much work it is. So blogging and writing about justification is quite enjoyable. Fortunately, I like everything else, too.

Full-time parish jobs I do not miss: meetings, worrying about the flower chart, etc.

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Not Part-Time in Labor":

Last week, I had a discussion with my engineering manager about church attendance. He has been a somewhat traditional Roman Catholic his whole life. He made the observation that a generation ago, those who attended mass only on major church holidays were looked down upon. My theory was that the lack of regular home visitation by clergy contributes to sparse, irregular attendance by the laity. My conclusion being that the absence of member visitation was caused by a combination of clergy laziness and meeting burnout.
Those of us in the real world work full time, have families and property to take care of. If we neglect our jobs and other responsibilities, it comes back to bite us rather quickly.

Because of a Reformed, faulty teaching on vocation, we are told that we are truly not doing the Lord's work unless we are busy in congregational activities.

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GJ - I went to a Fuller Seminary forum. Their idea is to keep people busy to keep them happy. As the leader said, "Do this and you will have happy campers." I heard that term happy campers a lot. WELS Pastor Robert Schumann brought members to this debacle, while another St. Paul member paid my tuition so I could report on it.

Fuller has a ratio of how many activities are needed to keep a given number of members as happy campers. There are no spiritual reasons for making campers happy, any more than there is a Biblical injunction to make disciples.

Mr. Schultz is right that a lack of home visitation has led to lower attendance and general lethargy. Of course, it is much harder to find people at home and to see them at a good time, but churches always seem to do that to raise funds. In the very liberal LCA we were told, "If you visit only for stewardship, you are only going to alienate people."

Another solution is to be devoted to hospital and shut-in visits. Heaven knows there are enough of them to do. Plus funeral follow-ups. Grief is not over the day after the funeral.

A WELS DP says there is very little visitation done by any pastor in his district. Perhaps the Sausage Factory needs to re-tool and hire some Lutheran professors. After all, it's a changin' world out there and some things need changing.

Just note what The CORE does and do the opposite. That is sound doctrine.

They Keep Posting about Their Precious Gay Video - But Nobody Cares

Baby Bee discovered something
about himself when he started laughing at the wrong videos
and volunteering for the altar guild.

KFax has left a new comment on your post "WELS Still Defending Their Gay, Illegal Video":

Nobody cares anymore.

***

GJ - That is why people stop to get an OpenID and post, because they do not care anymore.

Diablo emailed me, "Keep reminding them."

Keep clucking your tongues at ELCA, WELS, and go on telling the members, "Thank God we are not like them."

The Aroma of an Empty Theologian

Ja, they are both German.
The guy in the middle is not.

Braaten was one of the neo-theos of the LCA. He was one of the frauds behind the Christian Dogmatics book used at all the seminaries. The two-volume work rejected all the articles of the Christian faith, and it was seen as a confessional bulwark against the inroads of the radicals. I am not kidding.

Now he is angry and perplexed that ELCA has taken his work to the next logical level, downward.

He wrote about it here. Read it if you are bored, lonely, and reruns of Wheel of Fortune are canceled.

WELS-ELS-LCMS neos - that is your future. As you rot away in retirement, you will see all your work go down the drain as you watch even worse radicals throw it all away. God does indeed grant Hell on earth, and you will experience it. So mote it be.

Another Triumph for the Compromisers:Cuban Health Care

The socialists passed their dream package, Cuban Health Care with abortion funding and death panels.

I have no idea what will happen. Some people, whose history knowledge is limited to "classics from the 1960s pop list," are saying nothing is ever repealed. Prohibition was repealed. All the pro-life protections of the past were nullified by the US Supreme Court. The Congress passed a protection of marriage act and gay marriage spread faster than ever. The Supremes even repealed natural law concepts in Webster. The Supreme Court thus reversed its own position in the Georgia case, although people act as if stare decisis is absolute.

Anything can be repealed. The US Constitution began to be repealed under FDR, with the groundwork done by his cousin, Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy grabbed land from various states, all for a good cause. That is why we are short on oil today - the feds can grab oil and coal fields simply by fiat. Everyone accepts it.

I give all the credit and the glory to the compromisers, the people who want to appear as nice guys by giving in to each bad idea, resisting a little, and then caving and justifying. No political leader fought against the Medicare D drug plan, which was the largest unfunded socialist plan since the New Deal of FDR. Medicare D simply grew into ObamaCare. The GOP laid the egg that hatched into a Democrat vulture.

The radicals need these useful idiots because the bare program itself is always so unappealing.

National trends in politics are foreshadowed in denominational trends. For instance, the willingness of WELS and the LCMS to work with ELCA meant that American Lutherans had lost their horror of abortion and homosexual ordination. ELCA pays for abortions in its health plan. The Lutheran's editor, wrote, about 20 years ago, "We have been ordaining homosexuals for years."

The Surrendered Fort used to make me laugh when they acted so snooty about their school while lavishing praise on any ELCA leader who condescended to speak at their shrinking academy. When an ELCA bishop spoke against the radical takeover of ELCA, Ft. Wayne acted as if they had just discovered the Fifth Gospel. And yet that same bishop was one of the worst ones just before the ELCA merger, calling inerrancy advocates "bat-brained cowards who don't have the guts to lean on Jesus Christ." He was just miffed that the new crop of radicals despised him for being old school.

The vast majority of "conservative" Lutheran clergy today are no more than ELCA enablers. They will not do anything that would make them lose out on a free trip to Europe or even a committee assignment. Their supine attitude toward apostasy is obvious enough. The only thing that arouses their wrath is being reminded of their timidity.

ELCA Benefits Reflect ELCA Policy

Dress Episcopalian, act Episcopalian - ELCA Presiding Bishop Hanson lit the fuse to destroy his synod, pretending to be neutral.

Meanwhile, the Episcopalians have a real man for their PB.

ELCA's new health plan policies will reflect the doctrine of the apostates. They have been paying for abortions under the plan, showing the real nature of their compassion. Now they will add same-sex clergy spouses. They have invented a lot of new church worker categories, so those spouses will be covered too. Nobody told ELCA that same-sex health coverage is an exception in the big corporations - not for lack of coverage. The rules make it difficult for people to qualify. They have to show they are together for more than a brief fling and they have to apply for it.

Nevertheless, ELCA is hastening to remind its fleeing congregations why they are hitting the exit doors as fast as they can. The new rules and health plan are a matter of pure justice, in synodical minds, so there is no reason to listen to any other position.

Ralph Bohlmann's daughter must be rejoicing, because she is now a UCC minister and living with her female partner and adopted children. Bohlmann was the Otten choice for LCMS Synod President.

We should judge synods by their policies and actions, not by their claims. The late Father Richard J. Neuhaus labeled himself "confessional Lutheran" until the moment he became a Roman Catholic priest.

In spite of what WELS claims about its doctrinal stance, this is what its practice and policies show:

1. Women pastors are legitimate and there is nothing in the New Testament against this trend, which is routinely accepted by members, pastors, and Doctrinal Pussycats.
2. Open communion is good, but should be "Don't ask, don't tell" open communion.
3. The liturgy is bad. So is the name Lutheran. And "church."
   
4. Rock music and entertainment are much better than the liturgy and hymns.
5. The Book of Concord is obsolete and irrelevant.
6. Synod leaders should attend as many non-Lutheran worship gatherings as possible, because those people know how to do real evangelism.
7. The worst false teachers make the best leaders at the synodical schools.
8. Doctrinal discipline is for those who appeal to the Scriptures and the Confessions.


9. Pastors should be divorced and remarried, because they make better ministers, just as they claim. But the facts should be hidden, lest the weak in faith be offended.
   
10. When a rich man divorces and marries his mistress, it is a "Scriptural divorce."

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Former LCA Bishop James Crumley on his disagreement with ELCA and PB Hanson. Interestingly, I had lunch with Crumley after I left the LCA, at the Ad Fontes conference where I met Neuhaus. Crumley glanced at my nametag and knew I was in WELS already.

Remember how rad I was for saying things like this about the LCA? Now Crumley is saying as much. Remember that, WELSians and ELsians, when you trash-talk this blog. I was 22 years ahead of the boss then, too. I still am, and people are catching up.

ELCA Bishop Explains Why They Are the Best, Most Loving, Most Compassionate

He says the Eighth Commandment has been broken in defense of another commandment. But ELCA violates the First Table all the time.

Notice the manipulative use of photos to guilt people into giving money. ELCA's waste of money would shame Church and Change into doing more subversion and skimming. Really.

Estimate on ELCA Exits - From ALPB Forum

LCA Presiding Bishop Crumley posed with Mrs. Ichabod, many years ago.

ALPB

I would George, but it is plainly ugly, and bishop behavior is not always exemplary. So in our case, there is a delicate walk with, yet not influencing the walk. It is a decision the ELCA congregations have to make on their own. So I am not going to post names and such in a forum like this.

I will say that in the ministries I'm in, it is clear that on average with my samples there are about 3-4 congregations per synod, on the way out right away. There is probably on average 1 large congregation taking a "we are big enough to stay and create meaningful resistance." One note: these large congregations continue to have task forces evaluating an exit. Others are similarly engaged. I am not reporting their names beyond posting news articles or fait acompli, because they are already experiencing enough trial and anguish with the process without speculating here. So you have seen one report in California and one news report link in Colorado from me, no more.

So a, take it for what it is, estimate is 3.5 *65 = 230ish on the way out. 100 large churches readying for protest or exit. at least that many 230+100=330-500 engaged at the council level on assessing the question. Numbers of members? = 90,000 in small churches, 100,000 in large ones = 200,000 in a 1000 congregations with national presence. Some synods like NE Iowa and SC seem to be trying to make a inside protest response, with more or less Bishop support. (in three days many will meet with former Bishop Crumley for worship and conversation) I see at least 1000 separating in one way or another soon. Your mileage may vary, The question is not really on those numbers, but whether such an exodus will create a cascading implosion. If not, I'm sure ELCA will feel quite comfortable with 9000 congregations and 4 Million members, and a slow trickle of bleeding out. If there is an implosion, Lutheranism in America will be in a total restructure, and that would effect me, and probably is something I should know about, even if its "none of my business."

But we apparently won't hear about it officially until 2012? when the official publication gets printed? You know those AF presses still have to have the type set by hand. Grin. By then Missouri will have posted monthly data on the hundreds coming in and going out in her membership, some of those being ex-ELCA congregations that ELCA hasn't reported from their secret data yet Smiley Let's pray for some repentance, rethinking, and more order than that. The implosion is not the best scenario.

***

GJ - I read the necrology to my wife yesterday. We discussed the fact that she knows every single one of those theological leaders. We went to conferences together, with her costs paid by me.

I read these stats to her this morning, and she said, "Where were these people 22 years ago?"

I said, "Someone had to be first. Besides, if we had stayed for the benefits, everyone would be in rehab today. There is a price to be paid."

I wrote an entire book about this, which was published in a special edition of Christian News. The ELS, Missouri, and WELS were too busy snuggling with their new partner in ministry, ELCA, to rock the boat. Too much Thrivent money was going to joint religious projects. As one of the "conservative" WELS DPs explained, "We can't give up that money."

The homosexual vote at the last ELCA convention is the final, last straw for many congregations. The last straw was forcing Lutheran congregations to have an Episcopal bishop present for any confirmations to be valid. The cobbled-together merger was ready to come apart, then, when this latest vote passed to hurrah and rainbow-colored stoles. I hear the parade of activists was especially revolting to some.

If Missouri, WELS, and the ELS want to help, they can expel the Roman Catholic and Fuller influences among them and return to the Book of Concord. Many ELCA members are so poorly trained that they are more like newborn kittens, blind and helpless. The "conservative" Lutheran clergy will need to upgrade their training too, after 30 years of aping Fuller.
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Quote from: Chuck Sampson on Yesterday at 07:21:53 PM

... an article by one Leah Shaeffer which contended that the Virgin Mary was actually raped by a Roman soldier. When our Church Council wrote to Bp. Chilstrom asking him to disavow this blasphemy he wrote back to say "Charles, I cannot be the keeper of a thousand doors."

I think she's currently serving a congregation in Ohio if that helps affirm your decision. I remember her from when we were both in DC. Ironically, I think her doctorate was from Catholic U.

ELCA Churches Finding Good in Doctrinal Chaos

I attended several LCA conventions (Chicago, Toronto) and one ELCA convention (Minneapolis) with Mrs. Ichabod. I heard many examples of synod worship. No one dared dissent from the infallible, inerrant leaders. The bishops, as they came to be called, were told what to do and say. In ELCA, the bishops were stripped of their power on the national level, reducing them to an advisory panel. Imagine my surprise when one of the bishops, Ken Sauer, began urging everyone to leave ELCA and join his new denomination.

The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau has always been an outfit somewhat to the right of ELCA and to the left of Missouri. Many soon-to-be Roman priests comment on the site as well. That is often a topic, but the current debate concerns leaving ELCA. Two great points have been made.

One. The doctrinal debates are making people look at the Scriptures and the Confessions. They are no longer relying on the seminary intellectuals to tell them what to think. Wide open ordination of pan-sexual couples was the final straw about the integrity of ELCA leadership.

Two. The previous crisis in forcing a doctrinal union with the Episcopal Church made one thing clear. There is no possibility of reconciling the Reformed view of the Lord's Supper with the Biblical Lutheran view. They are incompatible. Hence, no legitimate fellowship is possible. (Hear that - WELS, ELS, LCMS?) That claim was based on the Formula of Concord, argued by an ELCA pastor.

If things get worse in WELS and the ELS, their pastors and laity may be moved to study the Formula of Concord, too. Beware, the ELCA members are not looking to join another Emerging Church circus with Whoopie Worship. They had plenty of that, done better, in ELCA. They are leaving ELCA informed and aware. Synod worship will not impress them.

Beauty and Value of the Wedge Issue

Someone congratulated me for dealing with ELCA instead of the Chicaneries in WELS. They belong to the same tribe. ELCA is just a few months ahead of the Church and Change agenda. Those who get on the Pietism-Enthusiasm-CGM bandwagon are most likely to stop at Atheist Alley for a long stay.

ELCA was born in Pietism, fermented with political activism, and calcified with the quota system. Only radicals can have a say in ELCA today.

Wedge issues work well in dividing and destroying churches. First there is a little tolerance requested humbly, as Augustine noted. Next, the wedge issue asks for an equal say, as a matter of justice. Once established, the wedge issue assumes total dominance as the only possible answer to the situation. Any other position is ridiculed. Any person representing the traditional viewpoint is pilloried.

No matter how absurd and anti-Biblical the wedge issue, it will divide families, friendships, congregations, and synods. Bureaucrats dodge topics that may divide, so the wedge issue always wins.

Denominations Explained

1. The micro-minis loathe the bigger micros and long to be like them and have their money.
   
   
2. The Little Sect on the Prairie loathes the WELS and longs to be like them and have their money.
   
   
3. The Wisconsin Sect loathes the Missouri Synod and longs to be like them and have their money.
   
   
4. The ELCA only loathes the conservative Lutherans, while longing to be like the Church of Rome and have their money.

Killer Tiller Thriller Filler: No Word About the Babies - Silence about Partnership with LCMS/WELS/ELS/CLC

Governor Sibelius protected Tiller, who gave her tons of money. All the Lutheran synods (LCMS, WELS, ELS, CLC) working with ELCA through Thrivent are Tiller enablers. If you are in bed with ELCA, do not call out from the sheets, "But we are pro-life, unlike ELCA."

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 4, 2009

ELCA Congregation Grieves after Member Shot in Church
09-127-FI

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The funeral for Dr. George Tiller will be June 6 at College Hill United Methodist Church, Wichita, Kan. Tiller was shot and killed May 31 while serving as an usher for Sunday worship at nearby Reformation Lutheran Church, where he was a member. Tiller was 67.

The funeral will begin at 10 a.m. Tiller's family requested College Hill because it offers more available seating than Reformation. "All the different stages and symptoms of grief are happening here," said the Rev. Lowell R. Michelson, senior pastor for Reformation, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He said many began their "journey of healing" by gathering the evening of the shooting for a vigil with the Rev. Gerald L. Mansholt, bishop, ELCA Central States Synod, Kansas City, Kan.

This week a team of crisis intervention specialists is meeting with members of Reformation in groups and individually, Michelson said. The specialists "helped us name some of those things that we haven't been able to put a name to in our anger, sadness, confusion and disbelief." They will continue counseling the congregation through weekend worship services. The Rev. Kristin M. Neitzel, associate pastor, is working with parish nurses and lay ministers to care for "those folks who are noticeably absent," Michelson said. They will be mobilizing all congregation members to support each other in the days ahead.

Michelson is preparing to preach the funeral sermon. He said the family selected verses from the Gospel of John, in which Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live." Others at the funeral will reflect on Tiller's life, and Michelson said he plans to "talk about the promises of God and the hope that we have in the one who loved us first."

Tiller was one of a few doctors in the United States who provided abortions after the 21st week of pregnancy. Scott P. Roeder, 51, was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the shooting.

According to KAKE television, Wichita, the family's lawyer, Dan Monnat issued a statement: "While the funeral of Dr. George Tiller will be open to the public, Dr. Tiller's family has requested that no video or audio recording be allowed during any portion of the funeral service Saturday.

The family respectfully asks that all media honor their wish to preserve the privacy of the occasion, both inside the church and in any overflow areas."

The family's lawyers issued a statement earlier at the request of Jeanne Tiller, the Tillers' four children and 10 grandchildren:
"We would like to express the family's thanks for the many messages of sympathy from our friends and from all across the nation. We also want to thank the law enforcement officers who are investigating this crime.

"Our loss is also a loss for the city of Wichita and women across America. George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality health care despite frequent threats and violence."
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The full text of a statement by the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, is at http://tinyurl.com/p8y69r on the ELCA Web site.

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 1, 2009

Lutheran Leaders Respond to Slaying in Wichita Church
09-126-FI

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), issued a statement in response to the May 31 murder of Dr. George Tiller at Reformation Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Wichita, Kan. Tiller was serving as an usher for Sunday morning worship when he was shot and killed. A suspect was arrested later in connection with the killing.

"Dr. George Tiller and his wife, Jeanne, were gathering with the people of Reformation Lutheran Church to worship and to celebrate Pentecost -- the coming of the Holy Spirit to God's people," Hanson said. "In the wake of his death we pray that the Holy Spirit will comfort his family and all who mourn."

"We pray for the courage to be peacemakers, rejecting violence as a means of resolving differences. We trust God's promise that neither death nor life nor anything in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord," Hanson said.

The Rev. Lowell R. Michelson and the Rev. Kristin M. Neitzel are pastors of Reformation Lutheran Church. The congregation is part of the ELCA Central States Synod, led by Bishop Gerald L. Mansholt. Michelson and Neitzel posted a public statement on the congregation's Web site, noting that Tiller had been a longtime member of the congregation.

"In the wake of this tragic event, our deepest concern is for the family of George Tiller. We ask the community to join us in prayer for them as they face the difficult days ahead. Our hearts ache with them. We also ask that the family's privacy be respected," the pastors said.
They added that counselors were helping members of the congregation. "We pray for healing and peace to be restored. We offer our thanks for the many prayers of support from across the country," Michelson and Neitzel wrote.

In a letter to the ELCA Central States Synod, Mansholt wrote: "In this time of tragedy and sorrow we give thanks to God who comforts us in times of need and loss. In the midst of things we are unable to understand ... we continue to trust in the communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection to life eternal. In that promise of God there is healing and hope for the whole world."
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Bishop Hanson's full statement is at http://tinyurl.com/m2gq82 on the ELCA Web site.

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Dr. George Tiller Admits to Performing Abortions the Day Before Delivery


Abortionist Tiller Admits to Performing Abortions the Day Before DeliveryHis Speech at National Education Association

By John-Henry Westen

ARLINGTON, VA, March 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Notorious partial-birth abortion specialist Dr. George Tiller of Wichita, KS, was caught on hidden video admitting to aborting babies a day before the mother's due date. Students for Life of America (SFLA) today released the video which was made at the Feminist Majority Foundation's annual Women's Leadership Conference held at the National Education Association (NEA) on March 9.

The video reveals Dr. Tiller showcasing massive and graphic pictures of children with fetal abnormalities that he had aborted, so as to make the case for late-term abortions as necessary medical procedure. SFLA's Executive Director Kristan Hawkins, who videotaped the conference and interviewed Tiller clandestinely, commented on the gruesome pictures of aborted children Tiller showed, saying, "One had an extra arm: could not that child had survived and received corrective surgery? Was violently killing the child the only way to go?"

"Pro-lifers are regularly condemned for displaying pictures of aborted babies, but here the pro-abortion crowd and the NEA are more than happy to showcase these graphic images, and even gave Dr. Tiller's presentation a standing ovation," added Hawkins.

Tiller, who currently faces 19 criminal charges for illegal late-term abortions in the state of Kansas, at first feigned ignorance of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, a federal bill signed into law in 2002 that protects born children from murder and illegalizes infanticide. However when questioned further about the measure he spoke of his ideological objection to the legislation, saying, "Let's say you have 15 or 16, you had 1 slip out with a heartbeat; that is not a viable fetus, but that is born alive or has a heartbeat. Then you have to take that non-viable fetus and rush it directly to the hospital against the woman's wishes."

Given that the conference featuring Tiller was held at the National Education Association, it is probable that a good number of the more than three million members of the NEA would be voicing opposition if they were made aware of the situation.

"As a pro-life teacher, I can say this illustrates why I am no longer a member of the NEA," said Marla Mercer, a West Virginia teacher and former member of the National Education Association. "The NEA should not be involved in this issue; here they are hosting this controversial abortionist and his slideshow of babies he has aborted. There is no way any of my money will ever be used to advance the radical pro-abortion agenda of Planned Parenthood and the NEA."

Full video available online at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=wpr_sN04j_0 [18 or older]

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GJ - Believe it or not, the LCA passed a resolution against abortion at its 1978 convention in Chicago. Mrs. Ichabod and I were there. The resolution condemned abortion as a means of birth control. The conservative element who piloted this statement found itself ousted from the LCA.

My mother once attended one of the largest LCA congregations in America, about 5,000 baptized members. The pastor had to have a lot of clout and respect, right? One day he casually mentioned at a meeting that abortion was wrong. He found himself retiring a few weeks later. He was healthy, active, successful...and extended the Left Foot of Fellowship.

The death camp exhibits no signs of tolerance about their opposition. However, the nominally pro-life synods have no trouble being in bed with those who mourn a self-proclaimed criminal who made the Nazis look good in comparison. Ducking under the covers is not a convincing pro-life statement - WELS, Missouri, ELS, and CLC.

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Bruce Church has left a new comment on your post "Killer Tiller Thriller Filler: No Word About the B...":

Late-Term Abortionist, 'Faithful Lutheran' Martyr Like MLK?

Over at Get Religion, Mollie Z. Hemingway lamented how reporters are trying to use the murder of late-term abortionist George Tiller at church to challenge "popular perceptions" that abortionists can’t be a "faithful member of the Lutheran church" and love Jesus. Take this vomit-inducing introduction to a Religion News Service article by Lindsay Perna and Tiffany Stanley: [snip]

Read the rest here:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2009/06/08/late-term-abortionist-faithful-lutheran-martyr-mlk