ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the National Council of Churches.
Born in 1928, he attended the earlier version of the now-fading Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. He gave lectures at Notre Dame and helped get my dissertation published with a positive review. The family behind A. D. Mattson wanted to publish the book via Augustana College. LSTC claimed the money was all spent from the Mattson funds. Too bad. I told the daughter, "Say these words softly and politely - 'I already talked to my attorney about this.' She said, "But I don't have an attorney." She repeated the words and soon had all the Mattson money needed.
PS - I almost forgot. I went to the Mattson book meeting with Christina, but she forgot to pack my entire suit. She realized close to the dinner that I needed slacks, too. We raced to some place where the problem could be resolved. That left the seamstresses rocking with laughter. "Mr. Jackson, could you just stand behind the podium when speaking?" The story was shared, wherever and whenever possible, for some time after that.
19 The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.
20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
21 Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.
22 And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?
23 Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?
24 Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.
25 And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.
26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him?
27 Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.
28 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.
29 Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?
30 They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.
31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.
33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
1 CORINTHIANS 13. 1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; 6 rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; 7 beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; 10 but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known. 13 But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
PAUL’S PRAISE OF CHRISTIAN LOVE.
1 Paul’s purpose in this chapter is to silence and humble haughty Christians, particularly teachers and preachers. The Gospel gives much knowledge of God and of Christ, and conveys many wonderful gifts, as Paul recounts in Romans 12 and in 1 Corinthians 12. He tells us some have the gift of speaking, some of teaching, some of Scripture exposition; others of ruling; and so on. With Christians are great riches of spiritual knowledge, great treasures in the way of spiritual gifts. Manifest to all is the meaning of God, Christ, conscience, the present and the future life, and similar things. But there are to be found few indeed who make the right use of such gifts and knowledge; who humble themselves to serve others, according to the dictates of love. Each seeks his own honor and advantage, desiring to gain preferment and precedence over others.
2. We see today how the Gospel has given to men knowledge beyond anything known in the world before, and has bestowed upon them new capabilities. Various gifts have been showered upon and distributed among them which have redounded to their honor. But they go on unheeding. No one takes thought how he may in Christian love serve his fellow-men to their profit. Each seeks for himself glory and honor, advantage and wealth.
Could one bring about for himself the distinction of being the sole individual learned and powerful in the Gospel, all others to be insignificant and useless, he would willingly do it; he would be glad could he alone be regarded as Mister Smart. At the same time he affects deep humility, great self-abasement, and preaches of love and faith. But he would take it hard had he, in practice, to touch with his little finger what he preaches. This explains why the world is so filled with fanatics and schismatics, and why every man would master and outrank all others. Such as these are haughtier than those that taught them. Paul here attacks these vainglorious spirits, and judges them to be wholly insignificant, though their knowledge may be great and their gifts even greater, unless they should humble themselves and use their gifts in the service of others.
3. To these coarse and mean people he addresses himself with a multitude of words and a lengthy discourse, a subject he elsewhere disposes of in a few words; for instance, where he says (Philippians 2:3-4), “In lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.” By way of illustration, he would pass sentence upon himself should he be thus blameworthy; this more forcibly to warn others who fall far short of his standing. He says, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels.”
The Big Five Apostates - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) are so saturated with their errors and corruptions that even their Father Below is a bit choked up.
They deny Justification by Faith - so does he.
They love every Bible paraphrase except the King James Version - so does he.
They reject the efficacy of the Word - so does he.
They repudiate the Means of Grace - so does he.
They usurp authority - so does he.
"A Mighty Fortress is Our God"
by Dr. Martin Luther, 1483-1546
Composite Translation from the Pennsylvania Lutheran CHURCH BOOK of 1868
An ELCA male bishop decided to follow the number of female bishops in his local synod, starting with one - April Larson - in 1995. ELCA began on January 1, 1988. He stopped counting once they reached the 55% female mark in 2023. Partnership ratios seem to be obscured rather than promoted. "Scholars are divided."
The Big Five Apostates - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - might not want to emphasize the four Watherians, the sects who worship and adore Bishop Martin Stephan STD. The Tiny Two (ELS-CLC sic) are going away soon.
That leaves ELCA-LCMS-WELS cuddling in the arms of Thrivent Insurance and its Irrevocable Charitable Annuities. I dabbed my eyes just thinking how a wobbly business, no longer Lutheran in name, could work the synods in harmony with one another, almost as if ELCA absorbed Missouri and WELS.
The advantage of the Top Three (ELCA-LCMS-WELS) is sharing the same resources, the same mega-projects in Church Growth (big flops), the same female bishops and staff executives.
Will Missouri and WELS join the happy throng?
2023 – 36 of 66 ELCA bishops are female (55%)
Wilma Kucharek (2002)
Elizabeth Eaton (2007)
Shelley Wickstrom (2012)
Ann Svennungsen (2012)
Tracie Bartholomew (2013)
Suzanne Darcy Dillahunt (2013)
Patricia Lull (2014)
Katherine Finnegan (2017)
Deborah Hutterer (2018)
Patricia Davenport (2018)
Idalia Negrón (2018)
Laurie Skow-Anderson (2018)
Sue Briner (2018)
Lorna Halaas (2019)
Laurie Larson Caesar (2019)
Shelley Bryan Wee (2019)
Regina Hassanally (2019)
Constanze Hagmaier (2019)
Laurie Jungling (2019)
Susan Candea (2019)
Leila Ortiz (2019)
Ginny Aebischer (2020 SC)
Amy Current (2020 SE IA)
Tessa Moon Leiseth (2020 E ND)
Amy Odgren (2020 NE MN)
Joy Mortensen-Wiebe (2020 SC WI)
Laura Barbins (2020 NE Ohio)
Anne Edison-Albright (2020 E Central WI)
Brenda Bos (2021, SW CA)
Paula Schmitt (2021, Allegheny)
Dee Pederson (2021, SW MN)
Staci Fidlar (2022, Northern IL)
Clair Burkat (2022, Interim Bishop in the Sierra Pacific Synod)
Rauschenbusch is the litmus test in the Social Gospel Movement. Reading denominational literature can easily disclose the Rauschenbusch agenda, the leadership, and the goals. He delivered the Social Gospel lectures at Yale Divinity School in 1917.
I was offered a box of books at a small, worn out Lutheran university - Wittenberg in Ohio, once the home of Hamma Seminary. The librarian thought I could use them, because my doctoral dissertation was on the Social Gospel Movement and A. D. Mattson.
A major theme, even before the Great Depression, was using the Christian Church for changing the culture. Walther Rauschenbusch was the key figure, a litmus test about who was hugging up to Marxism.
Like Europe, America embraced rationalism to replace the divinity, miracles, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To this day, the Good Samaritan is not portrayed as the Savior but as the social activist earnestly trying to make the road to Jericho safe. Very few realize who the Good Samaritan is, which is sad if not pathetic.
Following the European impulses, the American theological leaders - influenced by the big, ancient universities - embraced what they learned at German universities and other centers of learning as well. The "best" American professors impressed their seminary students with a much more "scientific" and socialistic understanding of the Bible.
Brief pause - the 1881 Revision of the King James Version of the New Testament was dishonestly corrupted by Westcott, Hort, and other polecats. The Greek text was corrupted and the big Bible societies joyously - with the help of Rome - manufactured their brand new baby.
The fermentation was slow but steady in its growth. The 1960s in America were loaded with traditional congregations ordered to revive the poor areas, change the Bibles used, alter the hymns, and ravage the liturgy. The Biblical and liturgical liberals slowly leveraged the women pastors, and the feminist pastors soon insisted on female bishops.
Rev Doctor Osage Professor Guy Erwin was rushed into the pastoral office, raised to the bishop's chair, and promoted to president of Gettysburg-Philadelphia's seminary.
Linn Tonstad, Yale Divinity Professor
Biography
Professor Tonstad is a constructive theologian working at the intersection of Christian theology with feminist and queer theory. Her first book, God and Difference: The Trinity, Sexuality, and the Transformation of Finitude(link is external), was published by Routledge in 2016 and was named both as a best new book in ethics and a best new book in theology in Christian Century in the spring of 2017. Her second book, Queer Theology: Beyond Apologetics (link is external)was published by Cascade in 2018 and translated into French in 2022. She joined the Yale Divinity School faculty in 2012. Her teaching interests include Christian theology, queer theory, philosophy of religion, and theological method. Professor Tonstad has made contributions to various journals, including Modern Theology, International Journal of Systematic Theology, and Theology & Sexuality. She is co-chair of the Theology and Religious Reflection unit of the American Academy of Religion. She is currently working on her third book, tentatively titled The Impossible Other: Theology, Queer Theory, and the Politics of Redemption.
9. The second part of our Gospel treats of the blind man, in which we see beautifully and clearly illustrated both the love in Christ to the blind man and the faith of the blind man in Christ. At present we will briefly consider the faith of the blind man.
10. First, he hears that Christ was passing by, he had also heard of him before, that Jesus of Nazareth was a kind man, and that he helps every one who only calls upon him. His faith and confidence in Christ grew out of his hearing; so he did not doubt but that Christ would also help him. But such faith in his heart he would not have been able to possess had he not heard and known of Christ; for faith does not come except by hearing.
11. Secondly, he firmly believes and doubts not but that it was true what he heard of Christ, as the following proves. Although he does not yet see nor know Christ, and although he at once knew him, yet he is not able to see or know whether Christ had a heart and will to help him; but he immediately believed, when he heard of him; upon such a noise and report he founded his confidence, and therefore he did not make a mistake.
12. Thirdly, in harmony with his faith, he calls on Christ and prays, as St. Paul in Romans 10:13-14 wrote: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed.” Also, “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
13. Fourthly, he also freely confesses Christ and fears no one; his need constrains him to the point that he inquires for no one else. For it is the nature of true faith to confess Christ to be the only one who can and will help, while others are ashamed and afraid to do this before the world.
14. Fifthly, he struggles not only with his conscience, which doubtless moves him to think he is not worthy of such favor, but he also struggles, with those who threatened him and urged him to keep quiet. They wished thereby to terrify his conscience and make him bashful, so that he should see his own unworthiness, and then despair. For wherever faith begins, there begin also war and conflict.
15. Sixthly, the blind man stands firm, presses through all obstacles and triumphs, he would not let the whole world sever him from his confidence, and not even his own conscience to do it. Therefore he obtained the answer of his prayer and received Christ, so that Christ stood and commanded him to be brought unto him, and he offered to do for him whatever he wished. So it goes with all who hold firmly only to the Word of God, close their eyes and ears against the devil, the world and themselves, and act just as if they and God were the only ones in heaven and on earth.
16. Seventhly he follows Christ, that is he enters upon the road of love and of the cross, where Christ is walking, does righteous works, and is of a good character and calling, refrains from going about with foolish works as workrighteous persons do.
17. Eighthly, he thanks and praises God, and offers a true sacrifice that is pleasing to God, Psalm 50:23: “Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me; and to him that ordereth his way aright will I show the salvation of God.”
18. Ninthly, he was the occasion that many others praised God, in that they saw what he did, for every Christian is helpful and a blessing to everybody, and besides he praises and honors God upon earth.
19. Finally, we see here how Christ encourages us both by his works and words. In the first place by his works, in that he sympathizes so strongly with the blind man and makes it clear, how pleasing faith is to him, so that Christ is at once absorbed with interest in the man, stops and does what the blind man desires in his faith. In the second place, that Christ praises his faith in words, and says: “Thy faith hath made thee whole;” he casts the honor of the miracle from himself and attributes it to the faith of the blind man. The summary is: to faith is vouchsafed what it asks, and it is moreover our great honor before God.
20. This blind man represents the spiritually blind, the state of every man born of Adam, who neither sees nor knows the kingdom of God; but it is of grace that he feels and knows his blindness and would gladly be delivered from it. They are saintly sinners who feel their faults and sigh for grace. But he sits by the wayside and begs, that is, he sits among the teachers of the law and desires help; but it is begging, with works he must appear blue and help himself. The people pass him by and let him sit, that is the people of the law make a great noise and are heard among the teachers of good works, they go before Christ and Christ follows them. But when he heard Christ, that is, when a heart hears the Gospel of faith, it calls and cries, and has no rest until it comes to Christ. Those, however, who would silence and scold him are the teachers of works, who wish to quiet and suppress the doctrine and cry of faith; but they stir the heart the more. For the nature of the Gospel is, the more it is restrained the more progress it makes. Afterwards he received his sight, all his work and life are nothing but the praise and honor of God, and he follows Christ with joy, so that the whole world wonders and is thereby made better.
Mariann Budde could not contain the joy. The Lutheran Church in America and her Episcopalians once had 3 million members each. Budde now has half of that, according to Wiki. ELCA went from 5.3 million members in 1988 to half that amount (Wiki) in 2023. What would they have done without all the Church Growth books, lectures, and agitations? WELS and LCMS still envy the two - "Give us some of that what you have! Father Abraham, have mercy on us, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool our tongues; for we are tormented in this flame." (Luke 16, Waltherian paraphrase)
The Big Five Apostates - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - are sinking in the mire of corrupt Bibles, horrible hymns, and grinning proponents of Fuller Seminary. The Slough of Despond is filled with the moans and regrets of their foolishness.
"If this is how our journey begins, how much worse will it be in the end?" They burrow into the slime of their lust for success.
18 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.
2 And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. [often went there with]
3 Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?
5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. [I AM]
6 As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. [I AM]
7 Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
8 Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:
9 That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.
10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.
11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
12 Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,
13 And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
14 Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.
16 But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.
17 Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not.
18 And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.
19 The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.
5. From this it now follows how foolish they act who teach that people should patiently bear their sufferings and death in order to atone for their sins and obtain grace; and especially those who comfort such, who should be put out of the way by the civil law and the sentence of death, or who are to die in other ways; and pretend that if they suffer willingly all their sins will consequently be forgiven them. Such persons only mislead the people for they bury out of sight Christ and his death upon whom our comfort is founded, and bring the people to a false confidence in their own suffering and death. This is the worst of all things a man can experience at the end of his life, and by it he is led direct into perdition. But you learn and say.
Whose death! Whose patience! My death is nothing; will not have it nor hear of it for my consolation. Christ’s suffering and death are my consolation, upon it I rely for the forgiveness of my sins; but my own death I will suffer, to the praise and honor of my God, freely and gratuitously, and for the advantage and profit of my neighbor, and in no way whatever depend upon it to avail anything in my own behalf before God.
6. It is indeed one thing to die boldly and fearlessly, or to suffer death patiently, or to bear other pain willingly; and another thing to atone for sin by such death and sufferings, and thus obtain grace from God. The first the heathen have done, and many reckless villains and rough people still do; but the other is a poisonous addition, devised by Satan, like all other lies, by which he founds our trust and consolation upon our own doings, and works, against which we are to guard. For as firmly as I should resist one, who teaches me to enter a monastery, when I wish to be saved; so firmly should I also oppose any who would in my last hour point me to my own death and suffering for consolation and hope, as if they would help to wash away my sins. For both deny God and his Christ, blaspheme his grace and pervert his Gospel. They, however, do much better who hold a crucifix before the dying and admonish them of Christ’s death and sufferings.
7. I must relate an example and experience that is in point here and is not to be despised. There was once a good hermit, reared in this faith of human merit, who was called upon to comfort a man of prominence upon his death bed, and he approached the sick man dauntlessly and consoled him thus: My dear friend, only suffer death patiently and willingly and I will pledge you my soul you will be a child of eternal life. Well, he promised him he would do so, and he passed away by death with this comfort. But three days later the hermit himself became sick unto death, when the true teacher, Rev. Reuling, came and opened his eyes so that he saw what he had done and taught, and he lay until he died and lamented that he had given such counsel and consolation: O, woe is me, what have I advised!
Frivolous people laughed at him that he failed to do as he had taught others to do; he offered another the pledge of his own soul that he might die in peace and he himself now sinks in despair not only before death, but also at the advice he so confidently had given and now so publicly rebuked and recalled. But God surely said to him that which is written in Luke 4:23: “Physician, heal thyself;” and another passage, Luke 12:21; “So is he that layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God.” For here surely the blind led the blind and both fell into the ditch, and both were condemned. Luke 6:39. The first, because he died trusting in his own patient suffering and death, the other, because he despaired of God’s grace and had not acknowledged it, and besides he also thought, had he not committed sin, he would have departed this life saved; and in both Christ remained unknown and was denied. On this point some books are misleading, in which the sayings also of St. Augustine and others are sounded forth, how death is only a door to life and a medicine against sin; for they do not see that these words are to be understood as referring to Christ’s death and sufferings. But simple and plain as this example is, it teaches us in a masterly manner how no work, no human suffering, no death can help us or stand before God. For one cannot indeed deny here that the first did the highest work, namely, suffered death with patience, in which free will did its best; and yet he was lost as the other who confessed and clearly proved by his despair. And whoever will not believe these two examples must find it out by experience for himself.
Clergy and teachers of the Wisconsin Sect created the many examples they keeping hiding away. Their tiny synod high schools are limited to Michigan Lutheran Seminary and Northwestern. Their colleges combined by erasing the Dr. in Dr. Martin Lutheran College. Their shrinking seminary is Mequon.
The key is having the upper class men abuse and haze the youngest guys. As one WELS leader said solemnly, "That means they end up the same." Indeed. Verbal and physical abuse are considered therapeutic, but only on the receiving side. Anyone who objects to the abuse is guaranteed to get even more of it. If they quit - yippee! - they had it coming. They cannot tell their parents the truth and survive.
The parents are kept in the dark, unless they are synodical leaders.
Alcoholism is basic to being manly men. WELS clergy and teachers are noted for the volume used, the behavior noted. Cool. Since the synod educational leaders are so addicted, encouragement at all levels is a plus - and sobriety is scorned.
WELS is a culture of lying and abuse, keeping the secrets. WELSian clergy were furious that I published facts about their secret hazing ritual aimed at the new seminary students. They said "GA" hazing no longer existed. Others said "only a few" participated. They have their own precious Grapevine, where scandals are erased and the innocent scorned.
Note that WELS hazing - high school, college, seminary - is very much like secular university hazing: drink too much, pass out, force the youngest into dangerous situations. Pride and joy emanate from activities where lives are threatened and health permanently damaged. Yes, new studies show that drinking binges can wreck metabolism after only one unhinged bout.
Justin Liepert, age 35, attended Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Saginaw, one of two synodical high schools. Why is anyone shocked about MLS men dressed as women cheerleaders?
Why did Martin Luther College dorms compete with their obnoxious videos, including one wildly popular plagiarism - Party in the MLC - Fire Island Pines? Gay publications picked up on the Fire Island Pines theme... for some reason.
Police - A 16-year-old student reported to police that they had been talking with a man on social media. The student described the man as a "married, Lutheran school teacher with a young son."
A WELS District President played the role of - yes - GA Pope - as the climax of their drinking and hazing. GA introduces the new seminary students to Mequon, and the seniors start by lying about whether GA is going to continue. Hint for each year - it is an annual deception.
This is the Pope's Audience Hall with a hideous Jesus behind him, many thousands of fans in the audience, snake eyes as windows in their snake auditorium.
I can never read this text without thinking of the beautiful hymn by Anna Hoppe, "O'er Jerusalem Thou Weepest", TLH 419, wedded to an equally beautiful tune. Miss Hoppe was a life-long member of St. John's, Eighth & Vliet, Milwaukee, baptized and confirmed by Johannes Bading, buried 52 years later by John Brenner. She was a voluminous author and translator, having written at least one hymn for every Sunday and festival of the Church Year. Many more of her hymns appear in the Augustana Synod hymnal of 1925. All this with an office job and little more than an eighth grade education.
Short Name:Anna Hoppe
Full Name:Hoppe, Anna, 1889-1941
Birth Year:1889
Death Year:1941
Anna Hoppe was born on May 7, 1889 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She left school after the eighth grade and worked as a stenographer. She began writing patriotic verses when she was very young and by the age of 25 she was writing spiritual poetry. After some of her poems appeared in the Northwestern Lutheran, a periodical of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, they came to the attention of Dr. Adolf Hult of Augustana Seminary, Rock Island, Illinois. He influenced her to write her Songs for the Church Year (1928). Several hymnals include her work, which was usually set to traditional chorale melodies, although she also made a number of translations. She died on August 2, 1941 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
