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"ELCA 2018 in Review" is a video made by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The video states, “2018 brought many blessings to this church and beyond…” and then they go on to list many things they seem to be proud of, things like “(t)hrough the AMMPARO program, 116 welcoming and sanctuary congregations in 30 synods.”  Sounds like sanctuary congregations are a source of pride for the ELCA. See video below:
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ELCA pastor Margarette Ouji.
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Bishop Deborah Hutterer of the Grand Canyon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is hosting a Fall Gathering to inspire her pastors. One speaker will share Native American spirituality and the other speaker is a pro-abortion rights, pro-transgender pastor who has used the “f” word when preaching. First, the Native American… “This year, our gathering is blessed to feature Elder Perci Ami, an esteemed Hopi/Tewa grandmother, author, and storyteller. Elder Perci Ami is renowned for her work in healing broken spirits and minds through her traditional beliefs and compelling storytelling…Her journey as a healer, educator, and earth protector brings a unique and enriching perspective.” I have a question. Is this speaker a Christian? Nowhere in the retreat’s description of her is Jesus or Christianity mentioned. To me, it sounds more like a New Age type message. The second speaker is ELCA Pastor Andrea Roske-Metcalfe. A few years ago Roske-Metcalfe preached that church members should refer to a woman who identifies as a man as "they". She also preached at the ELCA’s Augsburg University, using the f-word, and saying that Jesus screwed up and the Syrophoenician woman had to redeem Jesus. At a pro-choice gathering she held a sign proclaiming that the Virgin Mary is evidence that we should be pro-choice and the sign called her opponents “mother-f....ers". These are the people this Arizona bishop brings in to inspire her ELCA pastors. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock -- (See article here) As Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was beginning her first term as leader of the denomination, she gave a interview to the Toledo newspaper. In it she said,
"The decision we took in 2009 to say that if called by God and if having the gifts to serve, partnered gay people can serve, I think that was the right decision..." (see here) The ELCA officially took this position 15 years ago. People embracing sin and living in it unrepentantly, are ordained to be pastors in the ELCA. In addition, ELCA churches are allowed to have marriage ceremonies for gay persons. This decision in 2009 accelerated the downward spiral to depravity regarding sexuality within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Today the denomination also ordains bisexuals and transgenders.
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
The below two minute video is of a gay pride worship service of a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. During the prayer Jesus is referred to as God’s “Child” (“Son” would be sexist) and states: “You sent your Beloved Child to dissolve the binaries”. Really? Jesus said that God made us binary, male and female (see Matthew 19:4-6). The pastor reads from a children's book “’Twas the night before Pride…the drag queens all brushed their wigs with great care.” A youth tells his/her/their story of coming out as transgender. During communion the pastor tells everyone to “Bring your trans bodies, your bodies destined for metamorphosis, your scarred bodies, your pierced bodies…”
The good news is, as you can see from the video, almost nobody attends this church. In Jesus our Savior, 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.)
If you want evidence that teenagers are being indoctrinated with a liberal political viewpoint in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, look no further. The below video is from this month’s ELCA Youth Gathering. 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.) The national Teen Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in New Orleans has just concluded. The ELCA has produced the below five minute video of the week. I heard Jesus mentioned just once, when a liberal ELCA bishop says “Jesus calls us to challenge systems of oppression and power”. A transgender, non-binary, “they/them” pastor (minute 3:00) tells the youth not to be pressured into being who other people want them to be. Another speaker also tells the teens they need to be who they are, and Elizabeth Eaton, head bishop of the ELCA, tells the teens “You can be disruptive”. There is a good kind of disruption, such as rebelling against the evils of our culture like abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, etc. But that is not what the ELCA is talking about. The ELCA endorses abortion rights, homosexuality, and transgenderism. It is no wonder Jesus is just mentioned once. In some liberal circles, Jesus is no longer the Savior who saves us from sin, dead and Hell. According to some of them, Hell does not exist. Bishop Eaton told a Chicago newspaper that if Hell exists, she believes it is empty. So what does Jesus save us from? The liberal view of Jesus makes Him sound like a community organizer who saves us from oppressive systems of power (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia). But if that is true, why didn’t Jesus attempt to overthrow the oppressive Romans? The reason is that He is a much bigger Savior who saves us from our much bigger enemies: Sin, death, and Hell. I wonder if the ELCA teens heard that message. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock PS I hope the person hugging the teens at minute 2:00 is not a drag queen, but I am not sure In a prelude to the ELCA Youth Gathering this week, the ELCA held the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE). The ELCA describes it as "(a) pre-event of the Gathering and the largest gathering of people of color within the ELCA, the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE) empowers young people of color and those whose primary language is not English to claim their story as part of God’s story." (See here) As you can see in the pictures, a speaker at the event took the stage with Palestinian flags hanging from his neck. The speaker is Rev. Khader El-Yateem, the Executive Director for ELCA Service and Justice. The ELCA has a long history of advocacy against Israel and for "Palestine." (See here and here) The ELCA is representing it to youth attending their event, during a time of evil, carnage, violence and rape perpetrated against innocent Israelis by "Palestine" (on Oct 7, 2023 and continuing in many ways including launching rockets at civilians in Israel.)     See pictures on the ELCA synod's Facebook page here.
The ELCA Youth Gathering is happening this week and it runs till July 20, 2024.
16,000 youth and adults are expected to be in attendance. Here is one of the speakers they will be listening to: 
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, is affiliated with the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. On Luther College's official website we read: "Luther College supports LGBTQIA students, advocacy and programming, Luther PRIDE, partnerships and collaborations in education...Our goal is to... (create) an open and affirming environment void of homophobia, heterosexism, cissexism, transphobia, and gender bias. Through educational, social, and supportive programming, along with conducting training sessions and consultation, the Office of LGBTQ Services serves the entire campus community." Martin Luther believed the Bible's teaching that homosexual behavior is sin. One would doubt that--if alive today-- Luther would be allowed to teach at Luther College. To my knowledge there is not one ELCA college which has rejected LGBTQAI+ "theology" and which still affirms the Bible's teaching on this issue. If you want your child to receive a Christian education, I would steer clear of ELCA-related colleges: Luther, Augsburg, St. Olaf, Gustavus Adolphus, Concordia Moorhead, Wartburg, and Augustana colleges. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock Queer ELCA Lutheran pastor helps transgender people understand "God created them just as they are"7/2/2024 (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Dawn Bennett is a queer pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who works with transgender people. Pastor Dawn helps people see that if they are biological males but identify as females, God made them that way. In a glowing article in the ELCA's national magazine, Kathy Halbrooks of PFLAG, “Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays,” says this about queer Pastor Dawn's work: "I see so many LGBTQ+ people emotionally damaged by their experiences with negative organized religion. Pastor Dawn of The Table helps people understand that God loves them and created them just as they are." So if you believe what Jesus said, that "He who made them at the beginning made them male and female" (Matthew 19:4), you are part of "negative organized religion". You need to understand something that Jesus never said, namely, that God also makes people to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, asexual, pansexual, tri-spirit, etc. etc. This is the "brave new world" of the ELCA as it drifts further and further from Biblical truth and embraces the confusion and deception of modern American culture. Rather than help people out of sexual confusion, the ELCA confirms people in it. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock (See Living Lutheran article here)  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.  (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/ |
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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