The ELCA and its leaders love to push their liberal progressive political policies and condemn ones that do not live up to their point of view. Here is another case in point. Recently, four ELCA bishops (along with other religious leaders) signed a letter to United States Senators saying that the Republican “budget proposal passed by the House of Representatives, which the Senate will vote on this week, fails the basic tests of justice, compassion and a commitment to the common good.” They go on to say the “House budget turns its back on the most vulnerable at a time of grave economic uncertainty even as it endorses policies that gives tax breaks for the privileged few. This is morally indefensible.” (read here)
The ELCA puts forth very little effort to make disciples as Jesus told us to do, they are not bringing people to the saving knowledge of Christ and what He has done, but they are great at being a voice for progressive liberalism.
ELCA leaders who signed letter - Bishop James F. Mauney
Virginia Synod
Bishop David B. Zellmer
South Dakota Synod
Bishop Stephen S. Talmage
Grand Canyon Synod
Bishop Elizabeth Eaton
Northeastern Ohio Synod
I received this update from a friend.
Much is happening with the confessional Lutheran movement in Wisconsin. Here are some highlights - please pray God's guidance and glory be demonstrated in each of these circumstances: - Pastor Mark Richardson, service coordinator for the Augustana District of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, held an educational session about LCMC at Grace Lutheran Church in Eau Claire May 8. Nearly 90 people were in attendance. Another education session was held Thursday night as that congregation continues to move forward. You'll recall from earlier posts that Grace's council decided to affiliate the congregation with Lutheran Congregations in Missions for Christ two days after 56% of the congregation voted to extract itself from the ELCA (while an obvious majority, short of the 2/3 vote required to continue the disaffiliation process). At present, Grace is dual rostered for ELCA and LCMC. In the meantime, Grace has voted to withhold funding from ELCA, and continue to provide educational opportunities for the congregation about LCMC. Northwest Wisconsin ELCA Bishop Duane Pederson has established a new congregation (officially a Synodically Authorized Worshiping Community) two blocks away from Grace.
- Hope Lutheran Church of Ladysmith held its first vote to disaffiliate from the ELCA on Sunday, May 15. The vote resulted in more than 85% favoring to leave the ELCA, more than the two-thirds majority required to continue the process. The next step in the process will be a consultation with the Bishop Pederson. After at least 90 days and that consultation, the congregation may hold a second vote. If two-thirds or more again vote to leave and join another Lutheran organization at that time, the only ELCA congregation in Ladysmith will have removed itself from that organization. Despite the fact the Hope is early in its process, Bishop Pederson has already authorized another Synodically Authorized Worshiping Community in Ladysmith, called Walking in Grace. You may visit the website at http://walkingingraceelca.org/walkingingrace/.
- This Sunday is another big day at Hope in Ladysmith, as it will ordain a daughter of the congregation. Jody Becker invites anyone to attend her ordination at Hope at 3 p.m. on Sunday. The Bishop of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC) Paull Spring will preside over the service. Following the service, there will be a picnic in Hawkins, 20 miles east of Ladysmith. Rev. Becker, who received her Master of Divinity degree from Luther Northwestern Seminary earlier this month, has been called to serve Bethel Lutheran Church of Hawkins and Bethany Lutheran Church of Catawba, which are associated both with NALC and LCMC after leaving the ELCA last month. Rev. Becker has been serving both congregations while attending seminary for the past three years.
- Peter Rimmereid, another recent Luther grad, will be ordained on Sunday, June 5 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Bloomer (ELCA), his home congregation. Two weeks later, Peter will be installed as pastor at Bethesda Lutheran Church (LCMC) in Dresser at it’s 10 a.m. service. The ordination Sunday will be the last in the pulpit at St. John’s for its long time pastor, Peter’s father Bruce Rimmereid. Rev. Bruce Rimmereid announced his resignation from St. John’s after the congregation failed in its effort to extract itself from the ELCA in a vote last month.
- There are new beginnings in Bloomer, however. A new congregation is forming, initially from people who were members of St. Johns, but made the decision they could not stay with their congregation if it was staying in the ELCA. They have held several organizational meetings, and have a steering committee dealing with key details, including incorporation and naming. The as-yet-unnamed congregation will have its first worship at 6 p.m. Sunday, May 22 at the Bloomer Senior/Civic Center on Duncan Road. Pastor Jerry Hibbard of Stanfold Lutheran in Rice Lake will be leading that initial worship.
- Faith Lutheran Mission Church, the first LCMC church in Eau Claire which formed in January of 2010, votes tomorrow on issuing a letter of call to its first pastor.
- Please be in prayer for a conference coming up this weekend in Waupaca sponsored by Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal) of Wisconsin. The conference entitled “Strength for Today..Bright Hope for Tomorrow…the Journey of Discipleship” takes place Sunday 2-5:30 p.m. The conference is for inspiration, learning, and mutual encouragement for all orthodox Lutherans in Wisconsin.
- Our friends in the Twin Cities Area Chapter of WordAlone/Lutheran CORE are having an open meeting Thursday, May 26 featuring Dr. Hans Wiersma, Asst. Professor of Religion at Augsburg College. Dr. Wiersma will speak on the subject, “Feathers and All: Luther, Lutherans and the Holy Spirit,” dealing with such questions as how Lutheran understanding of the Holy Spirit lines up with the Biblical witness, and to the understanding of others. The event takes place at Roseville Lutheran Church, 1214 West Roselawn Avenue in Roseville. If you’d like to learn more, call 612-889-5709, or e-mail wordalonespas@aol.com.
If you haven’t seen this, Bishop Hanson released a statement saying that he "appreciated" President Obama's controversial Israel - Palestinian speech. Read this blog for more.
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If you have information, articles or blogs you would like Exposing the ELCA to consider posting, you can send them by using our new “Submit Information” page. (see here)
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Did you know that the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (ELCA) has a Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice (CCME)? The Center’s mission statement is “A Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice (CCME) at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) fosters and deepens relations between Christians and Muslims as a significant part of its larger purpose of building bridges of mutual understanding, respect and cooperation among people of all faiths.” (see here)
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The April issue of The Lutheran magazine (ELCA) recommends utilizing the teachings of noted pastor, Rob Bell. (see here)
Bell was recently featured in Time Magazine regarding his highly controversial new book, Love Wins, promoting the idea of universalism, that everyone will go to heaven. (see here)
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Below is a television report on St. James Lutheran Church in Greenfield, IN, which recently voted to leave the ELCA and join the NALC. Also included is a link to a radio interview with St. James’ pastor, Larry Gember.
Fox Network News in Indianapolis (watch here)
Radio WIBC in Indianapolis (listen here)
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America claims they believe the Bible is true, yet they continually deny factual accounts of Scripture and traditional church doctrine.
See articles about:
- 1500+ ELCA leaders who deny creation, Adam and Eve and Noah and the Ark
- ELCA support of Universal Salvation
- ELCA on Homosexuality
- ELCA on Hell
- ELCA and the Virgin Birth -------------
Cartoon by Matthew Silber
http://www.ganarus.wordpress.com
email: tridus@live.com
On May 6-7, 2011 a conference called “I Am My Brother's Keeper: Confronting Islamophobia” was held in Seattle, WA. (see here) One of the sponsors of this event was the Northwest Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. (see here)
If you had been at the conference you would have heard:
"Hatred of Islam was wrapped up in devotion to a far-right brand of nationalism."
"After 9-11, the Republican Party discovered there was gold in them there hills in Islamophobia."
“All of the major groups who are involved in promoting Islamophobia are interlinked in many cases; they are the same people in one group or another. . . They are Christian fundamentalists, Christian Zionists, Tea Partiers, Israeli supporters, and a lot of this Islamophobia comes from Israel but it also comes from Israeli supporters.”
“The Israel lobby is very important in policymaking. . . Who do you think it is who writes legislation having to do with Israel in Congress? Who is it who makes campaign contributions that prevent congressmen and senators from criticizing Israel?”
“The Christian right is awful, I agree with you. . .But the Israel lobby has been around longer than the Christian right.”
“The discourse in this country at the moment is very Islamophobic.”
“anti-Muslim discourse, (was driven by) pressure from the pro-Israel lobby and Islamophobia lobby.”
"What Muslims overseas see is that the U.S. is against Islam because we renounce shari'a."
“Politicians are all afraid of opposing Israel publicly for fear of losing campaign funds.”
“We enable all international law violations that Israel is committing.”
“The problem is that Israel has peace right now – there is very little terrorism and has been very little terrorism for several years. . .What we need to fight for is justice, not peace.”
This is what our denomination supports.
Quotes are from here and here.
In a previous blog we told you about Rev. Gember and St. James Lutheran church. (read here) Here is their latest update. - "Greenfield church splits from affiliation over gay clergy"
“Let's finally get out of the Old Testament and turn to what our Lord said and did,” says Klaus G.W. Molzahn, a retired ELCA pastor who lives in Hanover, PA. Pastor Molzahn authored an article entitled, “Let the Love of Christ Prevail” which was printed in the April 2011 issue of The Lutheran, (the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) Read here
This is just another example of the ELCA’s actual view of scripture.
The Resolution of Revenge
By Rev. Cary G. Larson
In spite of numerous scriptural support from the Old and New Testaments for Christians to not to seek vengeance or revenge, as this is a matter for God and God alone, members of the ELCA’s Southeastern Minnesota (SEMN) Synod apparently believe that God needs some assistance.
On May 7th, the SEMN Synod’s assembly, entertained and voted on a resolution benignly titled “Resolution 2011-01:
ELCA Health and Benefits Program”. This resolution of revenge sought to recommend to the ELCA Church Council to seriously consider and adopt a policy of “removing from the Health and Benefits Program of the ELCA, clergy who have left the ELCA or encouraged their congregations or laity to do so.”
In the original form the Resolution of Revenge was recorded as follows:
WHEREAS, both the North American Lutheran Church (NALC) and Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) are encouraging congregations, clergy, and laity to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA); and
WHEREAS, some clergy have violated the governing documents of the ELCA by encouraging their congregations to leave the ELCA;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the 2011 Southeastern Minnesota Synod in assembly request that the ELCA Church Council consider removing from the Health and Benefits Program of the ELCA, clergy who have left the ELCA or encouraged their congregations or laity to do so.
The “whereas” paragraphs seemed problematic as according to the Synod’s own report, “During the discussion, multiple amendments to the resolution were brought to the floor, ranging from modifying phrases to revising language to striking all of lines 1-11. As discussion continued, Bishop Usgaard brought the discussion to a close in order that parliamentarian study could take place.” Lines 1-11 are the words prior to the “Therefore”.
According to one source that was present, during the lengthy preliminary discussion Rev. Sandy Rothschiller of the ELCA Board of Pensions (BOP) was granted the floor and advised against such measures as it hurts the BOP in the long run. Apparently this wisdom was ignored.
“Later in the afternoon, Bishop Usgaard was seen at the podium holding a copy of Robert’s Rules for Dummies, helping to lighten the mood, and he made a promise to the assembly that “We’re going to finish this.” Each proposal to amend the resolution was discussed, voted, and defeated, bringing the assembly back to the resolution as a whole. The debate continued. The resolution eventually passed as amended with a vote of 239 for, 129 against.” continues the synod’s report.
The resolution of revenge passed significantly after striking the words, “or encouraged their congregations or laity to do so”, of the original resolution.
It is interesting to note that while the wellness of dependents of clergy, including infants and children, could be grossly affected by this resolution, Bishop Usgaard took it upon himself to “lighten the mood” as the assembled synod delegates addressed this most serious issue.
The resolution of revenge as passed by the SEMN Synod of the ELCA clearly demonstrates that the patience within the ELCA is waning towards those, especially clergy, who disagree with the apostasies voted into play at the CWA09. Instead of practicing tolerance and grace, which the ELCA boasts as their cherished virtues, the proposed and adopted resolution clearly illustrates intolerance towards clergy who stand on the authority of Holy Scripture alone.
The ELCA is attempting to change the rules, making it much more difficult for churches to leave the denomination. Read more about it here.------------- Cartoon by Matthew Silber
http://www.ganarus.wordpress.com
email: tridus@live.com
A reader sent this to me. For those that may be interested.
“MOVING FORWARD”
LCMC AREA WIDE WORKSHOP
Sunday, June 5th, 2011
Seward Ag. Pavilion
Seward, NE
For more information see here
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