“(P)ostmodern readers should strive to envision Christ as gender queer. . .” so says ordained Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor Megan Rohrer. Rev. Rohrer is “The first openly transgender Lutheran pastor ordained in the United States” (see here).
The pastor says this in an essay “she” authored titled “Male Brides of the Mother Christ.” Here are some of the “her” more egregious comments: “When queer readers name Christ as a gender queer mother/father it is not done out of fear of linking Christ to a queer sexual orientation. If Christ is both male and female, then it is impossible for a Christ to have an opposite-sex relationship. And if it is true as Paul writes in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ we too are no longer male or female, then it is also impossible for any Christians to have an opposite-sex relationship.”
“Bernard of Clairvaux uses female/mother imagery for Jesus, Moses, Peter, Paul, prelates and abbots when he writes extensively about how their wombs nurture, conceive and shelter while their breasts pour out instructions like breast milk.”
“Postmodern readers who strive to free themselves from dualistic and binary assumptions of male and female may relate to the language of Christ as mother/father. However, instead of believing that the physical and metaphoric motherhood/femaleness of Christ enhances the fatherhood/maleness of Christ, postmodern readers should strive to envision Christ as gender queer. If we were able to see Christ as truly gender queer then the femaleness of Christ would not negate her maleness of Christ, just as the maleness of Christ does not negate his femaleness.” (read here)
For the past three years Rev. Rohrer has been a contributing blogger for the ELCA website Living Lutheran (see here). Also, Rev. Rohrer “has been the Executive Director of The Welcome since June of 2002 and has been called to this ministry by a joint call from herchurch (Ebenezer Lutheran), Christ Church Lutheran, St. Fracis Lutheran and Sts. Mary and Martha Lutheran. Megan is rostered and overseen by both the local Lutheran and Episcopal bishops. Megan is also called to serve as an Associate Pastor at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church.” All churches are in the San Francisco Bay area. (see here)
Any God-fearing denomination should find these comments heretical and incompatible with their teaching and take action against the pastor who made them. But the ELCA will take no action. They have proven to be accepting of these kind of teachings in the past (just look around this website) and Rev. Rohrer's teachings are well known by her superiors.
The ELCA is responsible for the professors they hire. Today we are going to look at an ELCA professor who teaches at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Her name is Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney, and she is an Associate Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament. Dr. Gafney, in her blog about a young actress, posted a picture of Jesus as a woman and said this, “And the world that lynched a Jewish single mother's child simply can't handle God in black female body. (See Janet McKenzie's iconic image of Jesus using a black woman as Christ/a.)” (see image and quote here)
How many ways can an ELCA Seminary Professor be wrong in just one sentence? And, how is it okay to post a purposely false representation of God the Son? What kind of teacher would do that? Jesus was male and presenting Him as female is blaspheming Jesus and dishonoring God and the Truth. Not surprisingly the ELCA seems to be perfectly fine with this. It has been reported that Dr. Mary Streufert, the ELCA Director for Justice for Women, from the Office of the Presiding Bishop did the same thing. (see here)
Let's now go back and analyze what else Dr. Gafney said in the sentence quoted above. She said that Jesus was “lynched.” That is not true. She said Mary was “single.” That is false, Mary in all likelihood was a widow, not single at the time of Jesus crucifixion. Do I even need to address the Professor calling Jesus “Christa?” Someone wrote this comment to Dr. Gafney upon reading her article, “Thank you for an image of Jesus that will help me to continue in my studies to be a pastor in a church that still believes Jesus was white and God is a Father. Highly respected theologian Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. had this to say about seminaries, “Theological education is a deadly serious business. The stakes are so high. A theological seminary that serves faithfully will be a source of health and life for the church, but an unfaithful seminary will set loose a torrent of trouble, untruth, and sickness upon Christ’s people. Inevitably, the seminaries are the incubators of the church’s future. The teaching imparted to seminarians will shortly be inflicted upon congregations, where the result will be either fruitfulness or barrenness, vitality or lethargy, advance or decline, spiritual life, or spiritual death.” (read here)
Read these articles to see what other sickness and untruth the unfaithful ELCA seminaries are setting loose upon God's people. (here)
Inez Torres Davis, the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (WELCA) Director for Justice, is a regular writer for WELCA's website. She made this statement in her latest contribution to that website:
“I pray to discover Sofia’s guidance so that I may identify and then take actions that carry God’s promises.” (see here)
I don't know how Inez Davis defines “Sofia,” whether it is some gnostic, feminist feminizing of God or if it is the pagan deity. But neither is right and it should be rejected by Bible-believing Christians.
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The ELCA's North Carolina Synod had this announcement in their latest e-newsletter: LGBT Couples Retreat--Saturday, May 11
Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in Fairview, NC, will host an LGBT Couples Retreat on Saturday, May 11, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This one-day retreat offers a time apart for LGBT couples to work on their communication skills and meet other couples who value spirituality as an important part of their relationship. There will be time for worship, relationship building, Bible study, and fellowship. The cost of this retreat is $40 per couple which includes a light breakfast and lunch.
The retreat is made possible by a grant Abiding Savior received from Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. "This is an area of ministry with the LGBT community that our congregation thought was missing," says the Rev. David Eck, pastor of Abiding Savior. To download the brochure and register for this event, please go to the Abiding Savior website.
(see here) This is the ELCA. And Bible-believing members are having it forced upon them.
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The ELCA's Southwest California Synod recently wrote this on their Facebook page:
“If you and your spouse/partner are Portico Benefits members, please complete the survey before April 30 and save the synod’s congregations and ministries money!”
Notice “partner.”
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The ELCA 1991 Social Statement on the Death Penalty declared “we oppose the death penalty.” (see here)
The ELCA's Rocky Mountain Synod is publicly advocating the repeal of the death penalty. Their March e-newsletter said this: Abolition Sunday - Focusing on Repealing the Death Penalty
Lutheran Advocacy Ministry - CO has been involved with a coalition working to repeal the death penalty in Colorado for many years. This year is the year! We ask everyone to get involved to support the repeal of the death penalty. As Christians, we are called to be committed to justice and oppose the death penalty. "Executions harm society by mirroring and reinforcing existing injustice. The death penalty distracts us from our work toward a just society. It deforms our response to violence at the individual, familial, institutional, and systemic levels. It perpetuates cycles of violence" (ELCA Social Statement).
One way you can take part is participating in Abolition Sunday. During Abolition Sunday, you can host a guest speaker, watch a movie on the death penalty, gather facts sheets and petitions, and contact your Representative and Senator to support the repeal of the death penalty.
(See here) So the ELCA believes the Bible is supportive of homosexual relations and abortions but is against the death penalty? They must be living in a Bizzaro World where right is wrong, up is down and wisdom is foolishness.
People scoff when conservative Lutherans point to goddess worship happening in the ELCA. The scoffers either do not believe it or think it is very isolated. They are wrong. (see here)
Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney is Associate Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, an ELCA Seminary. She is an ordained Episcopal priest who teaches the future leaders and pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. (see her school bio here) In a Dr. Gafney blog dated February 11, 2013 the seminary professor compiled some questions she would like to ask the prophet Elijah. She said:
“When you killed the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal but not the four hundred prophets of Asherah was it because you really didn’t mind a little goddess worship on the side? Are we feminists right in saying that Asherah was just the Canaanite articulation of the Holy Spirit and not really another God?” (see here)
First, Dr. Gafney doesn't know if the prophets of Asherah were spared by Elijah that day or if they were even present at the referred to gathering. We do know that 1 Kings 19:1 says Elijah “had killed all the prophets with the sword.” So it seems more likely that they were killed with the prophets of Baal if they were there.
Secondly, and the reason for my blog, did you hear professor Gafney reveal that she believes: Asherah is the Holy Spirit, not another god? This is completely false. Yet that is what she publicly proclaims. I can not believe the ELCA would allow a professor who thinks this way to teach their future leaders.
The Bible says this about Asherah:
- Judges 3:7 - So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs.
- 2 Kings 21: 6, 7 – He (King Manasseh) did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;"
Here are just a few verses from God's Word speaking about Asherah poles (likely “a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religious locations to honor the Ugaritic mother-goddess Asherah.” (see here):
- 1 Kings 14:15 - And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused the Lord’s anger by making Asherah poles.
- 2 Chronicles 19:3 - There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God.
Clearly the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob wanted His people to have nothing to do with Asherah. It is plain to see from these verses that Asherah is not the Holy Spirit, as this ELCA seminary professor is trying to get us to believe. Worshiping Asherah is the worship of a false goddess.
So, if it's wrong (and it is) why isn't the ELCA leadership stopping it and why are they letting people who believe it be instructors in their seminaries?
Imagine driving down the road and passing by a beautiful old Christian church. Now imagine that church has a huge painting of a bare breasted women/goddess on it for all to see. Not only that, the mural also includes an eight armed goddess named Kali. Kali is a Hindu goddess. Hard to conceive of, but that is what you will find beginning this November if you drive passed the ELCA's Ebenezer Lutheran Church (also know as herchurch) in San Francisco, CA. The church plans on placing this mural on their church tower for everyone to see.
The ELCA church's website tells us about the mural saying,
“The Goddess mural will rise 64 feet high with four basic symbolic representations of the divine feminine: The Earth Mother, the Black Madonna, the Christ-Sophia, and an androgynous Kali-Kundalini figure whose chakras merge with the phases of the moon and the universe. They will be surrounded by colorful and playful animals, birds, plants and earth’s elements.” (see here)
Here is a link that shows what the mural will look like (on the left hand side of the page).
A fundraising page for herchurch's project has this to say about the mural, “Ebenezer/herchurch Lutheran (herchurch) refers to the Divine Presence through many names and metaphors. More than 50,000 years ago the sacred one was called mother. Breaking recent tradtion from male diety, this mural aims to herald the return of the feminine divine in modern Christian, interfaith and feminist spirituality.” (see here)
Ebenezer/herchurch Lutheran has been worshiping pagan gods for quite a while now, with the full knowledge and approval of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. I say this because it is a fact that ELCA leadership know what is being taught and what goes on at this church, and they allow it to continue. (see here, here and here) They have the power, authority and responsibility to stop it and they do not. A church leader from the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop even spoke at a herchurch feminism conference showing the audience pictures of a female Jesus. (see here)
The fundraising page goes on to say the painting will be, “Attached via panels to the East face of the purple herchurch tower, this mural promises to be a focal point in the world famous San Francisco mural collection. . .The dream is to share the beauty to all who pass and prophetically envision our mission of rebirthing the divine feminine in ourselves, the church and the world.”
A Hindu goddess (as well as the other pagan gods) lifted up and worshiped by a Christian church is pure wickedness. They are blatantly breaking the commandment set by God, "You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3) It is offensive, sinful, blasphemous and evil. ELCA members, know this: your leadership allows it!
What kind of God-honoring Christian denomination would do that? And what about the huge painting of a topless woman/goddess being placed on the church tower? Children will see it. Yet, many of you will still support the ELCA.
Think about it. Is this the kind of denomination you want to be part of? Sure it's no fun to leave your ELCA church, the one you have been going to for so long, the one that has so many of your friends attending. But remember, your church is part of the ELCA which allows goddess worship and openly stands against God's Word in so many areas. This is a denomination that has taught YOUR pastor.
So what is more important to you, going to your comfortable church or going to a church that believes the Bible and worships the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and His Son Jesus Christ? One day you may need to justify your decision to God Almighty.
A lenten blessing from the ELCA worship planning resource Sundays and Seasons includes this gem (monstrosity):
“God our Father bless you and shield you.
Christ our Mother shelter you and carry you.
God the Holy Spirit guide your journey
+ both now and forever.
Amen.”
Seriously? “Christ our Mother?” The publishing company for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Augsburg Fortess) is suggesting ELCA churches use this blessing? The track record for this denomination shows that this is not an anomaly. The ELCA Director for Justice for Women, from the Office of the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA showed pictures of a female Jesus to a conference in 2011 (see here) Additionally, the ELCA has embraced calling God “mother” and eliminating the use of male pronouns for God as well as Christ's favorite name for God “Father.” (see here and here)
As far as Sunday and Seasons goes check out what else they have said in their liturgical resources here and here.
Members of the ELCA, do you really want to be taught, led and discipled by this denomination?
The following information is from a speech called "Equipping the Saints for Ministry: ‘These are the times that try our souls’ - by Pastor Gary Jepson from Puyallup, Washington.
Last fall, I wrote an email to our ELCA Bishop, Mark Hanson, asking him if he was aware of the ELCA congregation in San Francisco, Ebenezer Lutheran Church. I was pretty sure that he was aware but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. If you are not aware of this congregation, look it up on the Internet – www.herchurch.org. In short, this is a congregation that has been taken over by a radical feminist element and pastor, and it practices “goddess worship.” It does not confess the Trinity as Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit. They confess Mother, Christ Sophia, and Holy Spirit. If you go to their website you will be able to buy a rosary (strange enough in a Lutheran context, but not necessarily bad), a rosary, not with a cross (because that’s a symbol not of divine love, sacrifice, and salvation but of divine child abuse), but a rosary with a goddess figure on it. The goddess is the likeness of a fertility goddess from ancient Baalism. Baalism, of course, isn’t a problem for the leaders of Ebenezer Lutheran Church because all that stuff in the Old Testament condemning the Baal cult and fertility worship is in their view merely patriarchal paranoia in an effort to repress the feminine.Now, I think all of us would agree that they have the right (as individuals and as a group) to believe whatever they want. They can even band together to start their own congregation, denomination, or religion. However, on the basis of their own posted statements, they claim to be an ELCA congregation. But they are in complete violation of the ELCA constitutional faith statement because they are completely at odds with the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions.And the pastor is completely at odds with the ELCA “Visions and Expectations” statement for clergy. How do they justify that? How do they justify hijacking a congregation founded and paid for by Lutherans?So, I wrote Bp. Hanson and asked him what he was going to do about it. He, of course, did not respond to my e-mail (and I did not expect that he would), but his executive secretary did. He wrote something to the effect: “Dear Rev. Jepsen, thank you for sharing your concerns with Bp. Hanson. You are aware, of course, that the ELCA is organized into synods (Duh – I didn’t know that! I’ve only been a pastor for over 30 years!) and that it is therefore the responsibility of the local synod bishop to deal with these sorts of issues in his synod. And, do remember, the ELCA is an inclusive church.”Of course I know the ELCA is organized in synods! What I wanted to know was whether or not Bp. Hanson was going to do anything about this situation to hold this congregation accountable, or to hold the synod bishop of the San Francisco area accountable for his failure to discipline the congregation and its pastor in terms of their violation of the ELCA faith statement and such.
You see, what we have here is a major violation of the fiduciary responsibility of the synod bishop and of Bp. Hanson to fulfill the responsibilities of their offices. And, if he’s going to do that, why on earth did we ever need bishops (overseers) in the first place? And why did we need the historic episcopate when one of the arguments for it was to strengthen the “magisterial” (teaching) office of the church in order to insure orthodoxy?!!?
Can you imagine the Apostle Paul allowing that? Or Martin Luther? Can you imagine Pope Benedict XVI allowing one of his bishops to deal so irresponsibly with a rogue congregation? And then just wash his hands of the matter!!! Frankly that’s not only a violation of Bp. Hanson’s fiduciary responsibility as Bishop, it’s also a violation of his ordination vows to preach and teach in accordance with the Scriptures and the Confessions of the Lutheran Church. Unfortunately, I was so disgusted with that e-mail that I deleted it so I cannot produce it as evidence. You have to trust my memory.
So, on this basis, we have a cynical commentary right out of ELCA headquarters on what ordination vows mean for our church. Little or nothing! What do the words of the ELCA faith statement mean? Little or nothing! Instead, in place of our ordination vows and faith statement we have some fuzzyheaded notion of “tolerance” and “inclusivity”! Because, if what I have described is accurate (and it is), then it appears that in the ELCA you can preach and teach heretical doctrine, thumb your nose at the Scriptures, the Lutheran Confessions, and so on (so long as you do liturgy correctly). Do all that and you will be welcomed in the ELCA with open arms because, after all “we are an inclusive church!” However, if you raise a question about heretical doctrine and improper procedure you will be virtually banished for “intolerance”, and treated as if you don’t exist!
At least the Roman Catholic Church of Luther’s day took him seriously enough to excommunicate him. The ELCA just banishes you, ignores you, and refuses to answer legitimate inquiry.
This is what happens when a church is seduced by the culture of death into cultural agendas and into cynical methods of interpretation when a church is not only in the world, but also too much of the world. Then it fails (by submitting itself to the heretical rubric of “tolerance”) to hold people accountable to its founding documents and statements of faith.
Whether intentionally or not, the very leaders we elected to lead and guide us in accordance with our founding documents have now, in effect, subverted those documents without any clear statement of why or where they are trying to take us.
Does this bewilder you as much as it does me? I am bewildered because I fail to understand the reason or the logic that enables them to justify their actions. In fact, there appears to be an abandonment of reason and rationality when it comes to these practices and trends. I suppose, in their thinking, logic and reason are just a vestige of patriarchy and its repression of the more holistic feminine embrace of feelings and intuition.Read the full speech here.
New video by Exposing the ELCA
Please share this with those you know.
_I just came across a recap of the happenings at the now famous ELCA and worshippers of Isis conference, officially called “The 5th Annual Faith and Feminism – Womanist – Mujerista Conference,” that was held at the ELCA’s Ebenezer Lutheran church (herchurch) in San Francisco. (See the previous blog here). The synopsis of the conference provided some extremely important information. Dr. Mary Streufert, the ELCA Director for Justice for Women, from the Office of the Presiding Bishop (see here) was a keynote speaker at the conference. During her teaching titled, "Jesus Christ Beyond the Divide: A Christian Feminist Proposal," she presented images of a female Jesus to the gathering. This comes from the account of Dr. Aldredge-Clanton, which was posted on Ebenezer Lutheran's website. I think it is reasonable to assume they are giving a truthful account of what happened. Here is what Dr. Aldredge-Clanton said exactly, “. . . I experience Dr. Mary Streufert’s erudite and engaging presentation that includes female images of Jesus Christ, providing a bridge for feminism to move into traditional Christianity.” (read here)
On an older Ebenezer Lutheran church webpage, which detailed the then upcoming conference, a preview is given of Dr. Streufert’s talk. At the end of the preview it says, “(y)ou can expect some interesting images!” (see here)
I find it very troubling that a leader in my denomination, straight from the headquarters of the ELCA and Office of the ELCA's Presiding Bishop, is mocking our Lord and Savior like this. How fitting that Dr. Streufert does this at a conference at which many of the teachers and speakers are priestesses of Isis or of other goddesses. Maybe even more troubling than Dr. Streufert’s blaspheme is the fact that the ELCA is allowing this.
I have to believe that showing images of a female Jesus is nothing new to Dr. Streufert. In Dr. Streufert’s book, Transformative Lutheran Theologies: Feminist, Womanist, and Mujerista Perspectives, she writes a chapter titled, “The Person of Christ from a Feminist Perspective: Human and Divine, Male and Female.” (see here)
Propagating a female Jesus is blasphemous. Changing Christ into a god of your own fashion and design, in opposition to the testimony of Scripture, is in reality, creating a new god. This female Jesus, which feminists in the denomination love to call “Sophia,” is not The Son, Jesus. It is a false god. The ELCA is promoting and involving itself in idolatry.
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