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The Strange New World of the ELCA: A Lutheran Pastor Who Wants To Be Called "They"

6/20/2019

(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)

The following excerpts describe a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on his (? I'm not sure if this person is biologically male or female) church's website:

"The Rev. Mark David Johnson (they/them) grew up in Cranston RI. They were drawn to the church by their love of music... They were graduated from Cranston High School East in 2001...They applied to the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia... Their thesis presented a theological approach to food... Mark is passionate about gun violence prevention, interfaith and ecumenical relationships, urban theory and ministry, and queer theology. Mark currently lives in Bordentown NJ with their spouse, the Rev Ian Hill, who serves as pastor of St Mark Lutheran Church in Hamilton NJ....Pastor Mark uses gender neutral pronouns. This is an important part of their identity, and is also a commitment to creating a more gender-friendly world.."

This is the strange teaching that results when one rejects the words of Jesus who taught the world indeed is binary, made up of only two sexes ("He who created them in the beginning made them male and female" Matthew 19:4).

The further the ELCA gets from Scripture, the stranger and stranger it becomes.

In Jesus our Savior,

Pastor Tom Brock

(See here)

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Naming God in the ELCA

8/19/2018

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Some ELCA pastors go out of their way to avoid using male pronouns and words for God. Some decide they will address God using female pronouns and words:

ELCA Bishop Guy Erwin tweets this:

In an article in the ELCA's Living Lutheran magazine titled, "God or mother? Both"
we read, “The metaphor of God the Father is not enough for me now. I now see God as the Mother.” (see here and see the end of this article for a response from Rev. Tom Brock)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America seminary, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, posted an article that says this, “So we decided to appeal directly to the Holy Spirit and the power of God and wait to see what She did.” (see here)

A God who is known by her handiwork… her creative genius… her wisdom and skill that gave birth to a complex and... https://t.co/PHxElKU2c0
— First Lutheran, Lynn (@flclynnma) May 26, 2016

The above tweet by First Lutheran in Lynn, Massachusetts, posts a quote from their pastor Pr. Jon Niketh's sermon (at the 7 minute mark):

“A God who is known by her handiwork… her creative genius… her wisdom and skill that gave birth to a complex and beautiful universe..." (see here)

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John chapter 14: God the Father: 23 times, God the Mother: 0, God the Parent: 0

7/1/2018

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(The following article was written a few weeks ago by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)

Today in my morning devotions I read the beautiful chapter John 14, famous for "In my Father's house are many mansions." I noticed God is called "Father" 23 times. Jesus not once here nor anywhere calls God "Mother" or "Parent". Contrast Jesus' words with the liturgist who opened chapel at Luther Seminary, a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with the words "We open our service in the name of the Parent..." A transgender pastor at Luther chapel told the congregation to pray the Lord's Prayer "the way you are comfortable with" and then led "Our Mother in heaven." Another Luther Seminary chapel service had a male quartet sing the 23rd Psalm which was changed to read "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want, She makes me lie down in green pastures, She leads me beside still waters, She restoreth my soul..." And all the Psalms of the official hymnal of the ELCA have been de-sexed to get rid of masculine pronouns for God.

Does it not strike as arrogant that the ELCA thinks it has the right to change the Bible's language for God? Do they know better than Jesus Christ? Can they improve upon His words?

It is a beautiful teaching, especially for those who had an unloving, earthly father, that we have a loving, Heavenly Father. Jesus Himself gave us this teaching, and, no, we are not free to change it, nor should we want to.

In Christ,

Pastor Tom Brock

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Latest Living Lutheran magazine: Prayer can include coloring mandalas…and how to be a gay-friendly church

6/11/2018

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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 most recent edition of Living Lutheran, the national magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has an article about “Seeking the Spirit Within”. It states “Prayer can include coloring mandalas, using beads, meditating over a piece of Scripture, walking a labyrinth or repeating a name or phrase.” A mandala is a ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe, which is used for the purpose of meditation and trance induction. So why is the ELCA promoting this? Repeating a name or phrase over and over is also part of Buddhist meditation (think “Om”), but where does Jesus ever teach us to say a word over and over in order to meditate?

This is called syncretism, taking non-Christian practices and beliefs and mixing them together with Christianity. It is what got the ancient Jews in trouble when they tried to mix Baal worship with the worship of Jehovah. The ELCA needs to remember the words of the First Commandment regarding syncretism: Thou shalt have no other gods.

June is gay pride month and Living Lutheran devotes a whole article to ways your church can be gay-friendly. Don’t talk in Sunday school materials about mom and dad since we need to “remember your same-gendered-married couples.” Get a gender-neutral bathroom in your church. Celebrate gender identity and transition (changing one's sex) in your fellow Christians. Don’t say Christian “brothers and sisters” since this excludes non-binary and transgender people.

It appears the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has swallowed the GLBT agenda whole. Living Lutheran no longer allows the conservative view on homosexuality to be even heard.

Sincerely in Christ,

Pastor Tom Brock

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Pro-transgender advice from ELCA Lutheran magazine

6/7/2018

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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.)

Pro-transgender advice from ELCA Lutheran magazine: Say "siblings in Christ, instead of brothers and sisters in Christ; parents and guardians, instead of mom and dad; and all genders, instead of both genders"

These pro-transgender articles from Living Lutheran keep coming, without a hint that there is another side to the issue, namely, that rejecting one's appointed sex is a rejection of God's plan for one's life. No one is ever allowed to say that in this official magazine of the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The church I attended as a teenager in Omaha used to support the camp referred to below. My old pastors would weep to see what the ELCA has become.

In Christ,

Pastor Tom Brock

(See article here)

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ELCA Seminary Website Calls God 'Ze'

5/1/2018

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Luther Seminary has a website that provides advice and help for pastors writing sermons. An article on the ELCA seminary website shows you how far the denomination has departed from Scripture and how the secular world mindset has taken over the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The article's authors edited the following Bible verse to say: “They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and Ze delivered them from their distress; Ze brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart” - Psalm 107:13-14.

An article footnote says "Gender-inclusive terms for God are used by the authors; translation is adapted from the English Standard Version of the Bible." (see here)

The article's ELCA affiliated authors replaced two pronouns for "He," used to refer to God in the verses, with the recently invented word "Ze." According to the Cambridge Dictionary, 'ze' is "a pronoun sometimes used instead of 'he' or 'she' because it does not show a particular gender." (see here)

This is all part of the gender fluidity lie, transgenderism embrace, rejection of calling God "Father" and rewriting of God's Word that is dominating the culture.

Again, this is an article for pastors posted by a website of Luther Seminary, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America institution. (see here)

The article was co-authored by Rev. Jennifer Chrien and Jessica Davis.
Jennifer Chrien is the senior pastor at the ELCA's Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Simi Valley, CA. Jessica Davis is a chaplain for #decolonizeLutheranism, an organization formed of mostly ELCA leaders, and a signer of the "Naked & Unashamed Statement" which was also written by ELCA leaders. Interestingly, last year Jessica Davis was part of a discussion panel that included the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and is obviously in a position of influence in the ELCA.

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Sacrificing Our Youth to the ELCA

2/5/2018

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The apostate church, the world and ultimately the devil want to destroy the life, faith and souls of our youth. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is part of this: injecting sexual perversion and evil into the hearts and minds of young people. They are justifying and encouraging sexual sin and denying the clear reading of scripture against it.

Take a look at some of what the the ELCA has been doing lately that is aimed at the youth of the church:

- The ELCA's Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, in their newsletter, invited LGBT youth on a youth retreat -

(see here)

- Lutherock is a camp of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in Newland, NC. They hold all kinds of gatherings for children and teens. Below Lutherock posted this message and picture of a same-sex wedding of their past staff members. It gives us clear indication as to the mindset and beliefs taught to the children who attend the camp.

- A large gathering for ELCA high school youth in regions 1-4 was held at California Lutheran University (CLU), June 28 - July 2, 2017. One of the featured speakers was transgender ELCA pastor, Megan Rohrer. (see here)

Below is the transgender pastor's post on Instagram while at the youth gathering.

Of course, this ELCA gathering for youth had "All Gender Bathrooms."

All Gender Restrooms can be found in Mountclef, Nygreen, the Chapel, Pederson Admin Building, and Gilbert! #wsyg17 #wyle17 pic.twitter.com/975P5CrGUZ
— Western States 2017 (@wsyg17) June 27, 2017

- Lastly, we have the #ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza. This is a gathering for ELCA persons who work with the youth of the denomination.

The following are tweets from the ELCA Youth Ministry Network and people at the "Extravaganza." Most are related to the session given by a transgender child's mother.

On a different topic, we have the ELCA Youth Ministry Network tweeting this gender-avoiding reference to the Trinity.

Renewed in baptism for the journey ahead, may God be with you as you find forward. In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and the Sustainer. #Ext18
— elcaymnet (@elcaymnet) January 29, 2018

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ELCA Head Bishop Avoids "He" for God

2/1/2018

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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.)

In the current February edition of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's national magazine, Elizabeth Eaton, ELCA head bishop, wrote this in her monthly column:

"The history of salvation is one extended love story between God and God's creation, between God and human kind, between God and God's people".

Notice the tortured English in order to avoid calling God "He". It reminded me of the transgender pastor who recently spoke at Luther Seminary and asked the congregation to say the Lord's Prayer in a way that was comfortable for them. She then led them in praying "Our Mother in heaven..."

The Bible regularly refers to God as "He". The Bible says God is "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". We do not know better than Jesus, who taught us to pray "Our Father...."

In Jesus our Savior,

Pastor Tom

(see Presiding Bishop Eaton's column here)

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Today's Transgender and "God the Mother" Worship Service at Luther Seminary

11/15/2017

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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.)

Today the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's first officially ordained transgender pastor (a woman who presents herself as a man) preached at Luther Seminary's Transgender Day of Remembrance worship service. I watched the hour-long service below and here are the sad low-lights:

The service began not in the name of the “Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” but in the name of the “Creator, Christ and Holy Breath” (some shy away from masculine references for God because they claim they are sexist).

They recognized transgender people who have died and stated that dead transgender people “rest in the company of the saints of God”.

They stated "We celebrate transgender resilience…., We will not keep silence…Transgender people offer a witness of hope to us….God, help us to embrace your wondrous diversity".

During the sermon the preacher stated “It is my joy to speak to you today as a transgender Lutheran pastor." She then told her story of being raised as a girl and how horrible that was. She stated that Joseph’s “coat of many colors” in the Old Testament can also be translated “princess dress.” She quoted a poem called “Josephine” that says Joseph/Josephine perhaps wore a princess dress and that “when your brothers saw you in your flowing dress, they became enraged…the ground mourns the loss of its gender queer child…(Joseph/Josephine), I am claiming your story for every queer kid told they are unholy…Dear pastor…you’ve been lying about my (transgender) people too long.” The pastor stated that "Christ will not be bound by bathroom laws”.

After the sermon came the prayers when a woman prayed as a “cisgendered woman”, lifting up her prayers for her “transgender siblings”. She prayed for those “between and beyond the gender binary” and for future calls for future transgender clergy. She prayed “Mother and God, be with seminarians…who do not fit the either/or categorization that we so often put them in…give them strength when they proudly present their pronouns and courage to continue to come out.” She prayed for “transgender sex partners...tender-hearted butches, street queens and gender non-conforming seminarians”.

Then came Holy Communion when the transgender pastor led the congregation in the Lord’s Prayer “Our Mother in heaven, holy be your name…”

What a tragic day for my alma mater. I again noticed how small the attendance is at Luther Seminary Chapel, way down from when I graduated there in 1979. This is evidence of the shrinking power of liberal religion. When God the Father is not mentioned once in a worship service, but God the "Mother" is mentioned twice, something is very wrong.

Let us have mercy on people who suffer from gender confusion. May we help them be the biological gender God created them to be. Sadly, instead, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is joining our culture's sexual confusion and saying "If you think you are a man, you are a man, even if you are biologically a woman." In a recent interview, ELCA head Bishop Elizabeth Eaton took a stand for transgender rights (and also said if there is a Hell, Hell is empty).

As mainline, liberal denominations get further and further from Scripture, they will continue to shrink, and they should. If you are a member of the ELCA, the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church in America, or the Presbyterian Church USA, is it time to take your money, time and talents and join a more Biblical denomination. I guess I never thought I would see the ELCA sink quite so low in my lifetime.

Sincerely in Christ,

Pastor Tom Brock
pastorsstudy.org

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At an ELCA Church today: Universalism, de-sexing God, and Yertle the Turtle

8/29/2016

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(The following was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)

I am at a South Dakota church camp today and attended the closest church, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the liberal branch of Lutheranism). About 8 years ago I attended here one Sunday, during which the pastor had the congregation sing the hymn from the ELCA hymnal "Mothering God, you gave me birth." He then preached that he didn't know why people are so upset about referring to God as "Mother", must be 2000 years of sexism. He also said "Feel free to talk to me about this after the service." I did. I said "I think the reason Christians are not comfortable referring to God as 'Mother' is that Jesus taught us to pray 'Our Father who art in heaven.'" I could tell by the pained expression on his face that he didn't want to talk about it. I later googled him and discovered that his lesbian daughter was touring the county on the Soulforce bus trying to get churches to be open to homosexuality. He now serves a pro-gay church in another state.

Today a woman pastor preached. The service began with a wonderful hymn from the ELCA hymnal which was sadly changed to eliminate masculine references for God, making it difficult to worship. During her sermon she told the Dr. Seuss story of Yertle the Turtle, making the point that all are equal in Christ. "All people are children of God, whether you believe it or not, whether you know it or not, you and all people are God's children, all are welcome at God's table." Inwardly I was shaking my head. We are indeed all God's creatures, but we are not all God's children. In fact, the Bible teaches we all start out "by nature children of wrath, as the rest of mankind" (Ephesians 2:3). We only become "children of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26). The universalism heresy, the teaching all people are saved regardless of faith in Christ, appeared to be where she was coming from (later I noticed she had a "Co-exist" bumper sticker on her car.) Then came the Nicene Creed, which was also altered. Instead of "Jesus became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man" we recited Jesus "became truly human." Many in ELCA leadership believe it is sexist to only refer to God in masculine terms which is why the ELCA hymnal de-sexes hymns and has de-sexed all the masculine God language from the Psalms.

Other than those issues, it was a good service. But that is like saying "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"

Sincerely in Christ,

Pastor Tom Brock
pastorsstudy.org

5 Comments

Don't Say 'Brothers and Sisters': The ELCA Craziness Grows

7/1/2016

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The Northern Texas – Northern Louisiana (NT-NL) Mission Area (Synod) of the ELCA and ReconcilingWorks, the widely embraced LGBT advocacy Lutheran group, do not want you to use the words "brothers & sisters" anymore. I guess they believe they are not very "welcoming." See the tweets below.

Isn't it interesting that the ELCA seems to think they know better than Jesus, who Himself used the words "brother" and "sister" referring to His followers. That is par for the course with the ELCA.

The language "brothers & sisters” often marginalizes gender nonconforming people. Try these phrases instead! pic.twitter.com/Y2KpNMuZd1
— ReconcilingWorks (@ReconcilingWrks) June 30, 2016

Thank you for this reminder, @ReconcilingWrks. #ELCA #Community #Inclusion https://t.co/YQHD0VwSXv
— NT-NL Mission (ELCA) (@NTNLMission) June 30, 2016

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11 Reasons Everyone Should Leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

2/21/2016

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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.)

Recently I read an article by a liberal Lutheran pastor entitled "11 Reasons I Am Proud to Pastor in the ELCA". Permit me to do the opposite. Here are 11 reasons everyone should leave the ELCA.

1. The ELCA pays for abortion for any reason in its health care plan – which is funded by offering dollars.

2. The ELCA's health care plan has recently decided to pay for sex change operations.

3. The ELCA has a hard time referring to God as "He" and references to God the Father are rare. The ELCA's hymnal has removed all masculine references to God in the Psalms. The ELCA's "The Lutheran" magazine also avoids masculine pronouns for God.

4. The ELCA allows for the worship of "the goddess" and pagan deities like Asherah at an ELCA congregation called Herchurch (check out the false teaching for yourself at herchurch.org). When people have shared concern about this congregation, the ELCA has defended Herchurch instead of disciplining it.

5. The heresy of universalism, which teaches that all people will be saved regardless of faith in Christ, is being taught at ELCA seminaries. The ELCA's "The Lutheran" magazine also has articles promoting universalism. This is done even though the ELCA's founding documents teach that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone.

6. The number of ELCA missionaries has been reduced dramatically since the ELCA's founding in 1988. If universalism is true, why send out missionaries?

7. Some ELCA pastors, like the popular ELCA speaker Nadia Bolz–Weber, deny the substitutionary atonement of Christ, which teaches that Jesus died on the cross in our place to pay for our sins. This central Christian teaching is rejected as "divine child abuse" by some in the ELCA.

8. The ELCA ordains practicing homosexuals as pastors. The ELCA now has a male bishop with a "husband" who rode in a gay pride parade in California.

9. The ELCA recently has ordained transgender pastors.

10. Basic Christian teachings like the Virgin Birth of Christ are denied by many seminary professors in the ELCA.

11. The ELCA regularly advocates for liberal political causes, but does little to nothing to advocate for the unborn. This is understandable since the ELCA pays for abortions with offering dollars.

Need a good alternative to the ELCA? The Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, Lutheran Churches in Mission for Christ (LCMC), the Church of the Lutheran Brethren, the Wisconsin Synod Lutheran church, and the Association of America Lutheran Churches are all options which provide good Biblical teaching for those seeking to live out their Christian faith.

In Jesus our Savior,

Pastor Tom Brock
Pastorsstudy.org

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Trading God as “Mighty Fortress” for God as “Quilt”

9/17/2015

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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.)

Another “don’t miss” according to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s website is a blog from Kristin Berkey-Abbott, a lifelong Lutheran and college professor. It is entitled “Reforming our metaphors for God.” In recent years it has become “enlightened” to get rid of the Bible’s “offensive” metaphors for God. For some this means getting rid of the “sexist” language of God as Father. Some would also like to get rid of any military language the Bible uses for God. Berkey-Abbot has written about getting rid of God as “mighty fortress” found seven times in the Bible (Psalms 18:2, Psalms 16:1-3, 2 Samuel 22:2, etc.). It is also found in Luther’s most famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress”.

She writes of the Bible’s “problems”:

"Earlier this August, our congregation’s sending hymn was “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”…The imagery is fierce and militant. While some might find that comforting, I wonder if it’s the best metaphor for God. I know the history of the time period in which Luther lived, work and wrote. I know that God as fortress, as bulwark (to use the older language), as sword and shield might have been remarkably effective for those listeners.

But I am weary of wars of all sorts. I’m weary of the horrific images from wars fought in other countries….I’d like different imagery.

I realize that the Bible is full of rich imagery, but it has problems, too. I think of all the agricultural metaphors and bread metaphors. Do they speak to people who have never made a loaf of yeasted bread? …If I were to write a hymn or a poem or a parable to explain my understanding of God to a person who has yet to meet God, what metaphors would I use?…

A quilt would make an obvious metaphor for both God and the church. I like the idea of a crafter taking scraps of cloth and making them into a larger item that has both beauty and utility. The God I know would combine fabrics into new patterns. The God I know would delight in bits of lace, ribbon and some interesting buttons as adornments."

Berkley-Abbott lists other metaphors that she would like to use for God and concludes with this:

"I could go on and on, but let me stop here. It’s a fun exercise to do alone, and I imagine it would be an even more interesting exercise to do in a group. It’s a different way to talk about God, and if the metaphors work, it’s a different way to know God."

My response: Since when are we free to invent new metaphors for God? God has revealed Himself in the Bible as “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” and also as “Redeemer, Rock, Fortress, etc.” If we do not like these metaphors for God, it is not that something is wrong with the Bible, it is that something is wrong with us. We would be putting our own opinions and imaginations above the authoritative truth of Scripture. I love worshipping God as my Father and Fortress. I have no desire to worship God as my quilt.

Pastor Tom Brock

pastorsstudy.org

(read the ELCA article here)

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Feminist worship at Luther Seminary this month

4/17/2015

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The following article was written April 4, 2015 by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook (here) and twitter (here.)

I looked at the upcoming chapel services for April at my alma mater Luther Seminary, a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Some ELCA churches now incorporate "goddess" or "God the Mother" worship (see herchurch.org for some of the worst heresy in the ELCA). But it looks like this kind of thinking is perhaps making its way into the largest (though shrinking) ELCA seminary. Here are two of the chapel services for April listed on Luther Seminary's website:

- Service lead by students in "Sex, Gender, and the Old Testament" Class

- Service lead by students in "Feminist, Womanist, Mujerista Theolasian, And African Women's Theology" Class

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, the ELCA's newest hymnal has de-sexed all of the Psalms to get rid of masculine references for God and includes the hymn "Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth".

May you experience the blessing of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as you celebrate Christ's resurrection tomorrow!

Pastor Tom Brock
pastorsstudy.org

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Pronoun Police at a Lutheran Church and More "God the Mother" Heresy at a UCC Church

2/15/2015

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By Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. Follow Pastor Brock on Facebook (here) and twitter (here.)

This past Sunday I attended an historic congregation in Charleston, South Carolina of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the most liberal branch of Lutheranism). Sadly, they are using the ELCA's red hymnal that has hymns like "Mothering God, you gave me birth". The hymnal has also de-sexed all the of the Psalms to get rid of masculine pronouns for God (feminist theology in the ELCA thinks it is sexist to continually refer to God as "He"). The new hymnal has also changed the Apostle's Creed to get rid of hell and leaves out the line that Jesus "descended into hell." There was a prayer during the confessional about how we have "wounded the earth by our excess". The service did include some references to God the Father, so it wasn't as bad as what I saw next.

As I was sightseeing in Charleston a few hours later, I walked by an old Congregational Church (United Church of Christ). In front of the church was a big "gay friendly" rainbow banner with the words "God is still speaking". That is the United Church of Christ's motto which, I believe, means God is telling us new things today--things our Christian forefathers didn't know about (like inclusive God language, gay inclusion, etc). The forefathers of the UCC were the Pilgrims, Christians who definitely believed in the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Today in the UCC one can deny all those things and be a pastor. I slipped into the church as the service was ending and grabbed a bulletin. The opening hymn was just strange:

Why should we call these accidental furrows roads?
Everyone who moves on , walks like Jesus, on the sea,
You walking, your footprints are the road, and nothing else;
There is no road, walker, you make the road by walking...
Walker, there is no road, only wind-trails in the sea...

Who knows what that meant. The bulletin reads regarding the Lord's Prayer:

The leader will say "Our Mother, our Father..." Please feel free to address God in the way that is most true to your understanding.
That is the tragedy of the United Church of Christ. You get to make up your own version of God and whittle Him down to your own convenient image. Does it not strike people as arrogant that they are correcting Jesus Christ by rewriting His Lord's Prayer? The bulletin then advertised a new Sunday morning class "Is There Another Way? Teaching an Alternative Orthodoxy Within the Christian Tradition", a course from the Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque. But, I thought, if its an "alternate way", then it isn't orthodoxy. "Orthodox" means "correct belief" and my guess is that class will be anything but that.

So, be careful where you go to church! And if your church that you have loved for 50 years has abandoned the faith, time to move on. Hard to do, yes, but it is time for Christians to use their time, talents, and money to support churches which honor God.

In Christ,

Pastor Tom Brock

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<<Previous

The Strange New World of the ELCA: A Lutheran Pastor Who Wants To Be Called "They"

Naming God in the ELCA

John chapter 14: God the Father: 23 times, God the Mother: 0, God the Parent: 0

Latest Living Lutheran magazine: Prayer can include coloring mandalas…and how to be a gay-friendly church

Pro-transgender advice from ELCA Lutheran magazine

ELCA Seminary Website Calls God 'Ze'

Sacrificing Our Youth to the ELCA

ELCA Head Bishop Avoids "He" for God

Today's Transgender and "God the Mother" Worship Service at Luther Seminary

At an ELCA Church today: Universalism, de-sexing God, and Yertle the Turtle

Don't Say 'Brothers and Sisters': The ELCA Craziness Grows

11 Reasons Everyone Should Leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Trading God as “Mighty Fortress” for God as “Quilt”

Feminist worship at Luther Seminary this month

Pronoun Police at a Lutheran Church and More "God the Mother" Heresy at a UCC Church

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