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On September 17, 2023 Jeff Johnson was elected bishop of the ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod. Rev. Johnson is gay and is married to a man.
Below is a report by Pastor Tom Brock about the recent election of Jeff Johnson:
The following is some addition information about Bishop-elect Jeff Johnson: Rev. Jeff Johnson, and his church University Lutheran Chapel (ELCA) in Berkeley, CA were conducting a monthly "Goddess Rosary" service in 2010. (see here)
In 2017 Rev. Jeff Johnson signed a letter stating changes they want to see with the ELCA, among other things,
"Specific changes we would like to see include: - No longer privileging marriage as the only acceptable form of sexual relationality - Updating ELCA policies to reflect marriage equality in the United States - Editing out language that perpetuates heteronormativity and sexual oppression” (see here) It also said:
Rev. Jeff Johnson also signed a letter supporting evolution and rejecting truth of creation. (See here)
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Below are a few Facebook posts from ELCA Pastor Lura Groen:   
As you see in the post below, Augsburg Fortress is peddling books they published affirming LGBT lifestyles to ELCA youth workers at ELCA Youth Ministry Extravaganza 2023. Augsburg is the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. (See here)
Former ELCA head bishop: Jesus was hurtful and mean to Syrophoenician woman, but He changed His mind8/21/2023 (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 before on Elk River Lutheran Church in Elk River, Minnesota, and their gay pride worship services. It makes sense that they have twice invited former presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Mark Hanson, to speak since it was during his leadership in 2009 that the ELCA voted to perform gay weddings and ordain practicing homosexuals. In his sermon, Hanson defended “children who are transitioning” (to the opposite sex). Hanson then preached that Jesus was mean and hurtful in His response to the Syrophoenician woman. Gratefully, according to Hanson, Jesus changed His mind and showed mercy to the woman. Also, Hanson stated that the woman’s daughter was not really demon possessed in Matthew 15:21 but instead she had a mental illness. Hanson could have pointed out that Jesus was challenging and testing the Syrophoenician woman’s faith and then He rewarded her faith. Instead, Hanson stated that Jesus used despicable language to her. Hanson states that he was “flummoxed” by the way Jesus treated her (start about minute 35:24 below). But if Jesus sinned against this woman, then He would not be the innocent Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. If Jesus sinned, He would have to die for His own sins and could not die for ours. For this reason, the New Testament insists that Jesus was sinless (I Peter 1:18-19, 2:22, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, I John 3:5). Sadly, this former head bishop of the ELCA did not insist on that point. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock
Please read the first ELCA post below, including the segment on the bottom right on how to identify "Christian Nationalism."
Additional ELCA Facebook posts about "Christian Nationalism" are posted below. 
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Today I was out and about and followed signs to a church rummage sale, arriving at this church in a Minneapolis suburb. Walking around the church, I saw its “all gender bathroom” and it dawned on me that a couple years ago I had written an article about this congregation. Christ Lutheran wants you to announce your preferred pronouns in order to be sensitive to the LGBTQAI+ community. Christ Lutheran's staff wants to avoid calling God “He”. Below is their recent 2023 gay pride worship service. It featured a trans speaker and a communion table with rainbow decorations. The pastor encouraged children to attend their yoga class and the children’s sermon was all about inclusion. Of course, there was no mention of sin and repentance. The church's website recommends reading "A Kid's Book About Being Non-binary" and "A Kid's Book About Being Transgender." You may watch the entire service below, if you can endure it. Again I have to say, this ain’t my grandma’s Lutheran Church. How horribly far some American churches have fallen. A friend of mine said today “We are in the end times.” In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock 
This is St. Luke Lutheran Church, an ELCA church in Atlanta, GA.
This church and their activities were featured in the ELCA's magazine Living Lutheran here. 
From the article The Church's Desperate Need For A New Reformation. By David R. Barnhart. From The Vine and Branches magazine. Vol. 38. Summer 2023, Issue 2. "At the time the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was formed in 1988, the America Lutheran Church (ALC) had within its constitution an unalterable article of faith that affirmed the Bible as the 'inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God.' It was this unalterable article that require the ALC be dissolved and an entirely new church be created, rather than have a traditional merger. The ELCA deliberately set aside this foundational, historical, and confessional article of faith regarding Scripture. The ELCA not only denies the inerrancy of Scripture, they forbid it from being taught in their colleges and seminaries. Today there is not a teacher in any ELCA college or seminary who affirms the Bible as "the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God."  (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Many years ago, the below church had a godly, biblical pastor. He helped conservative pastors like myself stand against the pro-gay onslaught that has now overtaken the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. But this church stayed in the ELCA. Today this church has a transgender pastor. That is the danger of staying in an heretical denomination. Liberal bishops help direct you to your next pastor. And a pastoral candidate can sound very biblical during the interview phase, so you have to ask direct questions like: Do you believe there is a hell? Do you believe Jesus is the only way of salvation? Do you believe we should worship “God the Mother”? What do you believe about abortion, transgenderism and homosexuality? Those questions will help scout out whether you want that pastor or not. But even if you can still find a biblical pastor in an unbiblical denomination, I would still get out while you can. And please say a prayer for the United Methodists who are now splitting over homosexuality. Pray that many congregations will leave United Methodism and join the new, biblical Methodist group that is forming called the Global Methodist Church. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock PS. Just a reminder, Jesus said there are two sexes, male and female (Matthew 19:4). If you are a female and you think you are a male, you are still a female—even if you take hormones and now have a beard.  June is Pride month and every year the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) displays their support and encouragement of LGBT+ ideology and lifestyles. With very little effort I found the posts below, coming from all segments of the ELCA. I did not come across any segment of the denomination stating the Biblical position on homosexuality, that it is a sin.                                       
This is Edina Community Lutheran Church, an ELCA Church in Edina, MN. In the video below the congregation is confessing the Sparkle Creed:
The congregation was celebrating Pride Sunday.
During the children's message (starting at 6:00): - the children were given props and dress up clothes to help them celebrate. - the children were told Jesus says "'I love you just the way you are.' And sometimes we like to celebrate that." This is obviously gay pride related and that is confirmed by the children being told they can take their clothes/props and have their picture taken by the rainbow flag after the service.
At the beginning of the service the pastor acknowledged they worship on the traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota nation. And how they were complicit in injustices done to native people.
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) In yet another gay pride video produced by a bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the below bishop regrets the “harm” done by prior ELCA teaching that homosexual behavior is wrong. That teaching changed in 2009 (not 2012 as the bishop states) when the ELCA supposedly became enlightened and compassionate and started ordaining practicing homosexuals and performing gay weddings. I myself personally struggle with same-sex attraction but I abstain for the sake of Christ and my soul. I can tell you that the below video is not loving. It is not loving to condone a behavior that will exclude people from God’s Kingdom for eternity. The bishop needs to follow the Bible’s teaching in I Corinthians 6:9-11 and stop kowtowing to the culture. Back in 2009 when the ELCA approved homosexual behavior, conservatives were assured that their viewpoint would also be honored in the ELCA. I know of not one ELCA bishop who publicly upholds the traditional, biblical point of view. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock An ELCA pastor is publicly stating that he is going to preach "against" the Word of God at his church service. The only surprise here is that he is admitting it. ELCA pastor Clint Schnekloth writes, "this Sunday I plan to preach AGAINST the text. I do so in solidarity with the millions around the world who have been the targets of this non-reciprocal and colonial discipling." The Biblical text for Rev. Schnekloth's "speech" is from Matthew 28:16-20.  (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Living Lutheran magazine, the official magazine of the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has once again produced a glowing pro-transgender article. If you read it below, you’ll notice the good guys are those who believe “God made me transgender” and the bad guys are those who disagree with the LGBT movement. This, even though the ELCA claims to allow both conservative and liberal views on the subject. But you will never read a conservative viewpoint on LGBT matters in Living Lutheran, it has been banned. In the article’s last paragraph, you will see that the good guys are also those who support abortion rights, Roe v. Wade, and “gender affirming care“ for youth (which often means allowing hormone blockers and sex change operations on children). Most Americans are opposed to this destructive surgery on minors, but you can read Living Lutheran’s support of “gender affirming care” for youth below. In addition, the ELCA tragically pays for hormone blockers for children in its national healthcare plan, which is funded by offering dollars. May we always believe what Jesus taught: “He who made them in the beginning made them male and female” (Matthew 19:4). Jesus didn’t add “and bisexual and homosexual and transgender and two spirit and…”. And Jesus had very serious things to say about those who harm children (Luke 17:2). Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock (Read the ELCA article in Living Lutheran here)  What does the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America believe about the Bible? We can tell by what they say, by what they promote, by what they deny, by what they preach. (I document this throughout this website) This month the ELCA's magazine, Living Lutheran, published an article titled "The Story Behind the Story: Finding Greater Truths Behind Bible Tales". (Read here) As you read this article you will see the ELCA cast doubt on the Bible's account of historical events such as the Biblical six-day creation account, the miraculous parting the Red Sea, David fighting and killing Goliath, and Jesus walking on water. Here are some quotes from the ELCA article: - (Talking about the Biblical creation account and other culture's creation stories) "I can appreciate the beauty and poetry of these mythical details without taking them literally— and still worship the glorious Force that created the universe in ways I still don’t understand." - "Many ancient civilizations had flood stories similar to the Genesis story of Noah’s ark, but that doesn’t take away from the core message: God loves us and will not let us be extinguished. God’s word, God’s promise of protection, can be trusted. So in a profound way that story is true." - "Even the dramatic encounter between the little shepherd boy David and the giant Philistine Goliath may be misunderstood, says author Malcolm Gladwell. If it did actually occur..." - "Jesus turning water into wine and walking on the sea? Modern physicists hoping to prove or disprove the first story have written scholarly papers breaking down the chemical elements of both wine and H2O. Critics of the second posit that Jesus might have been treading on a thin sheet of ice. To me both miracles beautifully symbolize Jesus’ care for us, however they came to be." - "What Bible stories do you question? Which have strained credulity and even been stumbling blocks to belief? Why not let go of a desire to force these old, old stories into a rigid mold they may never have been meant to fit?" Pastor Tom Brock writes this about the ELCA article, "But in Living Lutheran magazine, a person’s subjective opinion about what may or may not have happened in the Bible trumps the Bible’s claim to historical accuracy." (See here) The Dean of Students and professor at an ELCA seminary told me personally that not one ELCA seminary professor believes Adam and Eve were real people. When the ELCA chose this article for publication, they validated it. This is a teaching that is embraced by the denomination. Denial of the Truth of God's Word is the root of the the problem, the source of evil, that has made the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America what it is today. It is a faux Christian church that embraces evil, that cast doubt on what God says, much like Satan did in Scripture.  |
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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