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(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America this July will hold its national Youth Gathering for teens. This month, ELCA youth directors and children’s directors will gather at a conference for them. Perhaps you read that back in 2018, the ELCA put an 11-year-old boy who thinks he is a girl on stage to promote transgenderism to 31,000 Lutheran teens. His—I can’t say “her”—mother is Jamie Bruesehoff, an activist for transgenderism. Bruesehoff will be a speaker this month at the ELCA Youth Ministry Extravaganza. The ELCA website says Bruesehoff is “rooted in her queer identity.” Many of the other Youth Extravaganza speakers appear to be very far left of center (click here, then hit “General Session Speakers” https://elca.memberclicks.net/extravaganza-2024). We have not been told yet who will be speaking at the Youth Gathering for teens in July, but if this month’s Youth Ministry Extravaganza speakers are any indication, it will not be good. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock PS. The ELCA prides itself on being inclusive and diverse, so why don’t they have a speaker like me who has same-sex attraction but abstains for the sake of Christ (see my story at pastorsstudy.org)? But, no, only the liberal position on the LGBT issue is now allowed in the ELCA’s national magazine and also apparently at its youth conferences. From ELCA website: Jamie Bruesehoff is an award-winning LGBTQ+ advocate, heartfelt writer, and mother of three, including a transgender teenager. Rooted in her queer identity, her experiences raising a transgender child, and two decades of youth and outdoor ministry experience, Jamie equips leaders to create more inclusive spaces for LGBTQIA youth. She is the author of Raising Kids beyond the Binary: Celebrating God’s Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children. 
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(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Their church sign is on a busy highway and states “God is proud of all Their children”. The word “proud” is in gay rainbow colors. Thus God is no longer a “He” but a “They” in order to make God non-binary and trans-friendly. The church is just a few minutes from my house and years ago it had a godly, Bible-preaching pastor, but that pastor left and I visited Prince of Peace a few years ago to see a rainbow sign in the church office. Today if you go to the Prince of Peace website, the pastors and staff all list their preferred pronouns, because if you are a “he” but identify as a “she” or a “they”, Prince of Peace wants to be sensitive. What would the real Prince of Peace say to all this? He already said it in Matthew 19:4, “He who made them in the beginning made them male and female”. Notice, Jesus calls God “He” not “They”, and says there are only two genders, male and female. I believe it is blasphemy to change God’s “preferred pronoun” (He) to make God fit the LGBT agenda. May God have mercy on Prince of Peace Lutheran and return it to sanity. In the meantime, this church will continue to be a horrible witness to the people driving by in Brooklyn Park. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock  (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) This coming summer in New Orleans the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will hold another Youth Gathering. The last time this happened was in 2018 when 31,000 Lutheran teens were told to support transgenderism by an 11 year-old-boy who thinks he is a girl. Also, ELCA pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber led the teens in a kind of mock baptismal vow, saying “I renounce the lie that queerness is anything other than beauty.” For 2024, the Teen Gathering theme will be “Created to Be”. “We are created to be free—to work for justice for all our siblings”. You will notice the ELCA now shies away from calling people “brothers and sisters” because that is too binary and excludes transgender people, so instead we get “siblings”. Teens are told to introduce themselves in this way, “Hi, my name is ________ and I use the pronouns __________.” Teens are told to “honor everyone by calling them by the name and pronouns they feel comfortable with…You might be surprised to learn that someone in your group has been longing to introduce themselves to you in this way!” Sessions of the Teen Assembly will begin with a “Land acknowledgement”, stating that the Assembly is being held on land stolen from Native Americans. A big theme of the Youth Gathering will be to teach teens to become “disruptive to injustice”. Teens are told to discuss “what injustices you have experienced” and are told “We are created to be disruptive, to work for justice for all our siblings”. Youth are taught “interrupting phrases” such as “We don’t say things like that here” to “help them disrupt an unjust situation”. In a nod I believe to the LGBT movement, teens are told to “be authentic and bring our whole selves”. Then comes this strange statement: “Our host city, New Orleans, has always been its true, authentic self…. New Orleans was built to host and be a city where all God’s children come together.” I’m not sure how the ELCA knows this. Teens are asked in small groups “What would it mean for you if your congregation became a Reconciling in Christ congregation?” Reconciling in Christ is the movement that promotes all things LGBT in the ELCA. It is no secret how the ELCA wants to influence teens here. Lastly, teens will be taught not to think of sin as “darkness” because this is racist. “One particularly harmful part of theology is associating sin with all things dark and black…(this creates) an implicit bias against things that are black…harmful intertwining of white supremacy and God’s love…”. Teens are asked “How does claiming the holiness of darkness reframe who God is for you?” This, of course, is nonsense—most black Christians have no problem at all agreeing with the Scriptures, “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5). Perhaps the most tragic thing in all of this is there is no mention of evangelism and bringing lost friends to Christ. The head bishop of the ELCA has stated that she believes Hell is empty. So if everyone is going to heaven and we don’t need to instruct in evangelism, what will the ELCA do with its teens at a teen gathering? Teach them liberal politics and how to “interrupt injustice.” And of course, the injustice being done to babies in the womb is nowhere mentioned. The ELCA is a strong supporter of abortion rights and even pays for abortion with offering dollars in the ELCA healthcare plan. If you know an ELCA Lutheran, please urge them to keep their teens away from the ELCA. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock https://www.elca.church/gathe.../about/promotional-materials  |
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 Dan Skogen
Former ELCA seminary student and former ELCA member who is fed up with the ELCA's consistent mockery of God's Word. If you have been helped and blessed by Exposing the ELCA's ministry, please help us continue to proclaim the truth of God's Word to ELCA members who need to hear it.
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