The 2024 ELCA National Youth Gathering has announced "nearly 16,000 youth, adult leaders and others from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will participate in the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans, La., July 16-20." (see here)
This is approximately half of the attendance numbers from 2018 (the last gathering) and 2015. Both of these previous National Youth Gathering attendance numbers where reported to be over 30,000. (see here and here) This is disastrous for the denomination but a reason to praise God for those that have seen the wickedness proclaimed from the stage and the assembly at the previous ELCA Youth Gatherings. (well documented on this website) Let's pray that even less attend and that it is completely shut down in the years to come.
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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.) I have reported earlier on a South Dakota Bible camp of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America called Outlaw Ranch. I attended many years ago as a teenager and it was biblical. In a week it is holding an LBGT Pride Camp for 14-18 year olds.
The camp states: "We are all created in the image of God and believe that all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions reflect God’s creative identity." What? God Himself (or Herself or Itself or Theyself) is LGBT? For pride week, the camp will revamp gendered bathrooms and cabins, use youth's "preferred pronouns", and help them be "their authentic selves". And if you are LGBT, you can opt out of Bible study. The camp states: "We recognize that church may not have been a welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ youth. With that in mind, we will offer our daily Bible study and worships, but it will not be required. Alternative activities will be provided. The goal of Outlaw’s Bible study is for our campers to understand that they are beautifully and wonderfully made and that God loves them no matter what." May I ask you to stop and say a prayer right now, that God would somehow intervene for the sake of these teenagers and put an end to the deception that this "Bible" camp is promoting? I can't help but think of the verse: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fashioned around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6). Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock Source: https://www.losd.org/pridecamp (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Beaming Books is a branch of 1517 Media, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It has published a book edited by trans activist Leigh Finke who helped pass legislation making Minnesota a “safe state" for sex change operations on children. Finke's book tells LBGT teens that Jesus was "totally fine" with queerness, don't listen to parents if they are not gay affirming, and porn can be useful (see article below for full story.)
Regarding parents, "If your parents do not accept you and your queerness, then they do not know what’s best for you. They just don’t. Even if they love you, even if they’re praying for you...Just because they love you does not mean they know what is best for you. Limit contact with any adult who tells you something is wrong with you...just know that you are the only authority on who you are.” Regarding pornography, “For starters, porn can be a safe way to explore your sexuality. You can learn about your body and pleasure and how to make the most of both. You can also take that information, when applicable, and put it to use on your partner’s body." The book recommends watching porn “with your partner, which can open up new conversations about sex and pleasure, stimulate our natural arousal systems, or it can just be a silly fun thing to experience together.” This is perhaps the worst heresy yet from the ELCA. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock (Article about the book here) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has elected it's third homosexual bishop this year. The ELCA has a total of six practicing homosexuals who currently are bishops. (likely to grow in number this summer) ELCA pastor Nathan Pipho was elected bishop of the New England Synod. He is gay, as he explains in an article he wrote, "It was the saints at Good Shepherd, North Quincy, who took a chance on a pastoral candidate who was gay. This was seven years before the 2009 Churchwide Assembly lifted prohibitions on partnered LGBT persons serving as ordained ministers. It also coincided with the height of the clergy sexual abuse crisis that was hitting the Archdiocese of Boston at the time. Some of my friends counseled me this was not the best time for me to be open with them about my sexuality, that it was none of their business, that I should stay in the closet …but I knew for the sake of authentic witness I needed to be open." (See here) Rev. Nathan Pipho is a "...past chair of the New England Synod Team for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Inclusion." (See here) Since we are talking about Bishop-Elect Pipho, here is his position on a controversial transgender topic: "Earlier this year, the Charlotte City Council passed an ordinance that affirmed the right of transgender individuals to use the bathroom of their gender identity. It was right and fair." (See here) See photo here - https://www.masslive.com/galleries/TDQWQH3E3BDT3MOAXKH4J34Z2U/ (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) For years, Living Lutheran, the official magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has printed articles promoting homosexuality and transgenderism, while forbidding the traditional, biblical viewpoint in its pages. As if to see how radical it can become, Living Lutheran magazine celebrates gay pride month in an interview with queer/bisexual ELCA activist pastor Elle Dowd, who calls for the overthrow of “heteronormality” and capitalism. It is the most radical Living Lutheran article to date.
Here are some highlights: The article begins: June is Pride Month, and we are excited to amplify the voices of our ELCA siblings who are proud to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community... Today we are speaking with pastor, author and activist Elle Dowd (she/they). Dowd states: I am currently...finish(ing) up my Ph.D. in queer theology, researching bisexual theology...I have a lot of religious trauma from growing up in the church...I received a lot of messages about the sinfulness of my identity (as a bisexual/quer pastor), which deeply harmed me... we can’t continue to affirm theology that is killing people. The ELCA needs to move toward a full-throated, wholehearted affirmation and even celebration of LGBTQIA+ people..What I want to know is: Are you lobbying your legislators to protect LGBTQIA+ people? Are you protesting and taking the streets when our rights are ripped away from us? ...Does your budget and your calendar reflect that we are a priority? Are we in your pulpits? In your liturgy? In your Sunday school illustrations? What kind of conversations are you having around reparations?...Does your congregation have education about the phenomenon of bisexual erasure? ...I pray for... the dismantling of white supremacy, for an end to cis-hetero patriarchy, for the fall of capitalism and empire, for #landback, for abolition, for reparations, for restoration... So ends the article Whew! The truth is that if I Corinthians 6:9-11 is true, that homosexuals will not inherit the Kingdom of God, then it is hateful to promote homosexuality, which the ELCA is doing in its national magazine. Living Lutheran is funded by ELCA offering dollars. That's right, your ELCA offering dollars at work, overthrowing “hetero-normality” and capitalism. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock PS. The article states that its author is Kelly Wilkerson who is in full-time ministry and “resides with her fiancée”, an unashamed plug for pre-marital cohabitation (Read Living Lutheran article here.)
We are just a couple days into what the woke have deemed "Pride month." Their "pride" is in being LGBT+ or supporters of the lifestyles.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (ELCA) has chosen to announce their support of people's sexual and gender twisting practices, as we see below:
This proclamation is from the national ELCA churchwide headquarters -
The next display is from the ELCA's Vice President - Additional "pride" posts that I've run across so far, (with little effort to find) include this from the ELCA's Susquehanna University - |
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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Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. - Ephesians 5:11
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