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New video by Exposing the ELCA Please share this with those you know.
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 I find it very troubling that a leader in my denomination, straight from the headquarters of the ELCA and Office of the ELCA's Presiding Bishop, is mocking our Lord and Savior like this. How fitting that Dr. Streufert does this at a conference at which many of the teachers and speakers are priestesses of Isis or of other goddesses. Maybe even more troubling than Dr. Streufert’s blaspheme is the fact that the ELCA is allowing this. I have to believe that showing images of a female Jesus is nothing new to Dr. Streufert. In Dr. Streufert’s book, Transformative Lutheran Theologies: Feminist, Womanist, and Mujerista Perspectives, she writes a chapter titled, “The Person of Christ from a Feminist Perspective: Human and Divine, Male and Female.” (see here) Propagating a female Jesus is blasphemous. Changing Christ into a god of your own fashion and design, in opposition to the testimony of Scripture, is in reality, creating a new god. This female Jesus, which feminists in the denomination love to call “Sophia,” is not The Son, Jesus. It is a false god. The ELCA is promoting and involving itself in idolatry. There has been a lot of talk and publicity on the idolatry and goddess worship happening at the ELCA church, Ebenezer Lutheran, in San Francisco (otherwise known as “herchurch”). If you haven't seen it yet please check out what is happening at their November conference (see here and here). Of great importance is the fact that the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop is being represented at the conference and that person will be speaking. Since this is an important topic, I thought I would share with you some more information about this conference and the ELCA pastor responsible for it.
First, I came across a blog discussing “herchurch’s” 2009 conference. This comes from the perspective of one of the conference speakers. She says: “I was very, very surprised at the feeling of singing words of love and praise to the Sacred Feminine in hymn tunes which were already familiar.” “A rich and wonderful conference such as this with the title ‘Marys, Madonnas, Goddess-with-Us’ wouldn’t be complete without small group workshops for integrating sacred feminine spirituality through creative artwork or conversations with presenters, or more meditation and chanting. . . I kept seeing people walking around with Goddess dolls, wands really, that were magical and potent and strong in color and feeling. It turned out they were from a workshop given by the artist Linda Roberts. They were personal creations that each creator seemed to be in love with, and I’m sure they will grace many home altars.” “Once we understand that Mary Magdalene is the voice of the Goddess Herself in Christianity, it becomes very interesting to learn her symbolic language so we can hear her better in our own dreamworld and artwork.” “It was a very full weekend; full of love, full of respect for Rev. Stacy Boorn and her courage within Christianity, and full of secret hopes for the religious changes we need to support ‘the New Creation’ we all want.” (see here) Now let’s hear from the woman who is responsible for this yearly conference, “herchurch” pastor Stacy Boorn (ELCA). Toward the beginning of the interview Pastor Boorn talked about the people’s reaction to her church’s name, “herchurch”: “. . . when we posted that on the front of the church, people would drive by and then identified the congregation as “herchurch,” knowing what we meant the deity was “her.” The interviewer, soon after, asked about referring to goddess as “holy other.” Rev. Boorn, in her response said, “ . . . but ‘holy other’ also gives a sense of tie, I think with many religions’ traditions.” Here are some more statements made by Rev. Boorn from that interview: “. . . but way beyond the writing of those scriptures (the Bible) the wonderful work that we’ve tied into was Maria (inadible) Buddhist and others who showed us that for tens, and tens, and tens of thousands of years that there have been women leading societies, and goddess the head of that, and they produced peace communities . . .” “For example, you know we have a Wednesday evening goddess rosary which is a ritual that we’ve developed . . . in a very similar way to a ritual of the Anglican or the Roman Catholic prayer beads but with a more intentional liberation connectiveness to the holy mother, goddess of us all. And so for some, people will pray prayers envisioning an actual in the womb or the Earth as the body of the 'holy other' or the cosmos as the mother so it is wide open and I think that is the important part of it. On this journey with ‘she who is,’ there are many voices in the feminist religious world who have various takes, and I think it is important in what we do in this ritual community is to listen and use them all for our richness.” “. . . we have in our communion at the goddess rosary, some persons who, when we talk about ‘mother, maiden, crone,” as a symbol or metaphor for the 'holy other,' there will be some in our community who will actually name three goddess, Isis and others . . .” “The day is coming, I hope, when the patriarchal religious traditions are totally dismantled and something new comes forth and I think the feminists are going to make that happen.” “Hopefully our congregation will not be just one but one of many. And when we can be a model for others we are grateful to do that.” (listen here) This goddess worshipping church, supported by the ELCA leadership wants to be a model for other churches. Their pastor wants to see feminist goddess worship dismantle and replace historical Christianity worldwide. We cannot say “well this is just one church.” Not when this church has been supported and protected for years by the ELCA leadership. Not when the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop is represented at their goddess worshipping conference. The ELCA leadership is moving the denomination in this same direction. I know I do not want to be part of a denomination that encourages the worship of demons and pagan gods. Fellow members of the ELCA, don’t miss this.
Next month, an ELCA church in San Francisco, CA, will be hosting its annual heretical conference called “The 5th Annual Faith and Feminism – Womanist – Mujerista Conference.” The ELCA church hosting this conference is called Ebenezer Lutheran, otherwise known as “herchurch.” Ebenezer Lutheran is the church of Rev. Megan Rohrer, the first openly transgender minister ordained by the ELCA. This year’s conference has many non-Christian events on the schedule, (see here), but I would like to highlight a few of the conference speakers. On Friday night of the conference, at 10 p.m., you can participate in guided meditations with Lady Lorean of Isis Oasis. I looked up “Lady Lorean of Isis Oasis,” and I found that she is high priestess and proprietor of a Temple and mystical center dedicated to the goddess Isis. For those who may not know, Isis is the “ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility.” (see here) Why is this person being brought in to speak at a conference conducted by an ELCA church? And why is the ELCA churchwide allowing it? Good questions to ask as we attempt to understand more about Lady Lorean. Her website says: - “If you are called by the Goddess, the Temple of Isis is the largest active Iseum in the world today. The Temple has initiated over a thousand priestesses in it’s thirty year history.” (see here) - “You are invited to visit our mystical center dedicated to the Goddess Isis.” (see here) - “THE STAFF . . . provides massage therapy, tarot, past life and astrology readings by appointment.” (see here) Lady Lorean’s website also says that each week they offer "prayers at the altar of the great goddess Isis." (see here) A poem on the website says, "I am Isis the goddess, and I am the lady of words of power. Isis, the goddess and great enchantress at the head of the gods." (see here) Elsewhere, on Lady Lorean’s website, we read, “We are hoping to create a spiritual community of like-minded people who can live by the Laws of Maat, the ancient Egyptian Goddess of Truth.” (see here) Again, the website makes it clear, “The Temple practices magic using rituals of ancient Egypt which are taught in our gatherings on Sunday afternoons. These have amazing properties of manifestation . . . (w)e worship nature, and observe all the gifts bestowed on the planet.” (see here) You can’t make this stuff up! Also speaking at the conference is Cea T. Hearth, “Priestess and Shamana” (see here) “What is a Shamana/Shaman” you may ask? “The word ‘shaman’ is often used to refer to a person in a particular community who is chosen by the spirit world to be a spiritual healer (a soul doctor) for the group and its members. . . The shaman is one who is able to communicate with the spirits, enter trance at will and inspire ecstatic healing in others. These abilities come from the spirit world, but they are honed by the shamanic initiate through practice.” (see here) Not to be left out is “Isis Priestess Katie Ketchum” who is also conducting a conference workshop. (see here) God tells us in Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.” Yet this ELCA church brings followers of other gods in to speak and teach at their conference! The ELCA churchwide has known about the anti-Christian happenings at “herchurch” for years, yet they allow the church to remain in the ELCA. Not only do they know about the practices of this congregation, but would you believe that, a key note speaker of the conference comes straight from the Office of the Presiding Bishop, Director of Justice for Women for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Mary Streufert. (see here) If that isn't a big stamp of approval, I do not know what is. See more information about this ELCA sanctioned church. (here and here) Time to check out another video from the ELCA church that calls itself “Herchurch.” Be prepared to witness the breaking of the 1st Commandment, among other things. (the video is at the end of this blog) At the beginning of the video you will hear this - Congregation: Beloved Mother of wisdom, you are black and beautiful. ELCA Pastor Stacy Boorn: She is Queen and virgin, women onto herself. She is in violets, she is rising up. She is Mother, Mother of all, Mother of all that is. Congregation: Beloved Mother of wisdom, you are black and beautiful. At the 1:48 minute mark you will read that “Herchurch emphasizes dance, music and art as a form of worship to the Divine Feminine.” At the 2:48 mark you will see a painting of a topless pregnant women. Also starting at the 2:48 mark Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Pastor Stacy Boorn says, “Today we gather to be in the presence of that which is holy and good. Today we gather also to honor the black Madonnas who throughout history have been a reminder that our first Mother, the Mother of us all, our African Mother, our Mother Earth cries out from the stumps that are too often the remnant of a cut down life of (???). If you have never heard of this heretical ELCA church before, please check out these links. (see here and here) The ELCA has placed their opinion over God’s Word. The denomination's actions and teachings show us that they place their own authority over God’s authority. They have made themselves god and that is idolatry. Not surprisingly this isn’t the only form of idolatry happening in the ELCA. ELCA church Ebenezer Lutheran, otherwise knows as herchurch, in San Francisco posted highlights from their Christ Sophia Mass in 2009 on youtube. Pastor Stacy Boorn opens the service this way, “Welcome to the Christ Sophia mass, the incarnation of she who is all wisdom. . .” At the 2:33 minute mark of the video you can view the singing of Silent Night, but notice the changing of the words, they sing “Christ Sophia is born, Christ Sophia is born.” At the 2:46 mark you can see the congregation sing and dance to a song called “Grandmother Song.” The lyrics are, “Oh, Grandmother, I see you sitting in the East. I pray to you. I pray to you. You are sacred And you are looking at me.” This is repeated with only minor variations of the words. At the 4:30 mark you can watch children sing to Christ Sophia, (to the tune of Angels From the Realm Of Glory) “. . . come (each?) worship, come (each?) worship, Christ Sophia sets us free.” During Holy Communion, at the 8:26 mark you can see Pastor Stacy Boorn mouth what looks to be, “Body of Christ Sophia for you.” This is not Jesus Christ they are worshiping. It is a different god. The ELCA knows full well what is happening at this church. They approve it and welcome it. (see here) Is God being honored in this? Add another piece of evidence exposing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Exposing the ELCA has highlighted Ebenezer Lutheran Church/“her church” in San Francisco in the past (read here on page 6 and here). This ELCA church is famous for goddess worship, praying the goddess rosary, praying to “Sophia” and “Mother,” as well as the use of female pronouns for the god they worship. The ELCA has taken no action to stop these practices/beliefs. We could only conclude that goddess worship is an acceptable practice in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Now we have an actual statement from ELCA leadership about the teachings of this San Francisco Lutheran Church. Bishop Michael Burk of ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod spoke with Ebenezer Lutheran Church’s Bishop from the Sierra Pacific Synod (in August 2010). Bishop Burk had questions about reports he had heard of non-orthodox practices happening at the church. Here is his account of that conversation, “After visiting with the bishop and with another synod staff member who knows the congregation and the pastor well, there is an acknowledgement that this congregation ‘pushes around the edges’ on matters that make some of us uncomfortable. Things like what they refer to this ‘rosary’ are seen by many to be outside the bounds, but don't rise to level of anything in the disciplinary arena. Speaking explicitly about the pastor and regular worship experience there, when folks have ‘dropped in unannounced’ they have experienced preaching that is decidedly within Lutheran orthodoxy and worship that is familiar and done with integrity. It was said that this small congregation is serving the local community very well, especially when it comes to reaching out to the local community.” (read here, go to comment 6) We have now learned that Ebenezer Lutheran Church is offering women an interesting “spiritual retreat.” The church website says, “Celebrate ‘She Who Is’ Encounter the Divine Feminine with body, mind and spirit” At this spiritual retreat you will experience - “Sacred Re-imaging, rituals and work(play)shops, sacred sounds, altar building, meditation with the Cosmic Mother, Christian Feminist stories, beach walks, free time and relaxing with beauty that is around, among and within!” The experience will include presentations on - “God/dess Around Us Language of the Goddess – Pr. Boorn (ELCA pastor) God/dess Within Us Connecting with God/dess – J. Dancer God/dess Beyond Us Spirit Shrines – Linda Roberts” The Retreat gets even more interesting unfortunately. Ebenezer Lutheran Church’s website tells an attendee’s retreat experience where we read, “Pastor Stacy reminded us of some of the discounted feminine images of God in the Old Testament—probably none of which were the products of female imaginations—and invited us to form our own images in clay of Asherah, the mother goddess of the Canaanites familiar to early Jewish inhabitants of Canaan. I am no artist. Warming and working the clay with my hands, I wondered whether my goddess would look anything like the photograph of an Asherah figure Stacy provided as a possible starting point . . .” “The next project, led by Kathryn Wagner, was to make a mandala, a circular, meditative image of the self . . .” “On the shore of Monterey Bay, on Saturday night and Sunday morning, all ten of us prayed the Goddess rosary [some beaded their own Goddess Rosary that afternoon] beside a cross erected of driftwood and draped with seaweed. Stacy called us to remember the sea as the primal water from which life emerged, to think of it as the amniotic fluid of our mother's wombs . . .” (Read here) One could write five articles on the non-orthodox, troubling, and heretical statements written about this "spiritual retreat." But we will just focus on "Asherah." The image of Asherah, that ELCA pastor Stacy Boorn had the women on the retreat make, is a false god. As was mentioned above, Asherah is "the mother goddess of the Canaanites" that God continually told the Israelites to stay away from. Scripture speaks of Asherah and Asherah poles extensively and none of it is positive. Here is one verse (see more verses at end of this article) - Deuteronomy 12:3 - Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. I would be interested in hearing from ELCA headquarters and the synod bishops as to whether this new documented information of "herchurch" making idols of a false god (one the Bible specifically mentions and which is forbidden in scripture) is still considered acceptable practices for ELCA members. As you can read in the Bible verses below, it is not acceptable to God. If making idols and the worship of false gods does not warrant expulsion, I don’t know what does. ELCA inaction here = acceptance/approval. --------- More of what God’s Word says about Asherah/Asherah poles - Judges 3:7 - The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 1 Kings 14:15 - And the LORD will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused the LORD’s anger by making Asherah poles. 1 Kings 16:33 - Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him. 2 Kings 17:16 - They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. Deuteronomy 7:5 - This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. Over the course of the last nine months Exposing the ELCA has been presenting you with documented facts on the ELCA's support of goddess worship, universalism, renaming God, and homosexuality (among many other things). These teachings did not just appear in 2010. No, they have been slowly weaving their way into the fabric of the ELCA for years.
Back in 1993 the ELCA helped fund a Re-Imagining God Conference. (read here) There were over 2000 participants with 313 being ELCA Lutherans, many of them being clergy, and some of them were conference speakers. (see here) The purpose of this conference was "to re-imagine what belief in God and life together in community means from a Christian-feminist perspective." (Christian News, 21 March 1994, p. 1) One writer described the Re-Imagining Gathering this way, "Many basic doctrines essential to the Christian faith were repudiated at (the conference), often in an atmosphere of disrespect. These include the doctrine of God, the deity of Christ, His atoning death, the sinfulness of humanity, the Genesis account of creation, the authority of Scriptures, and the biblical understanding of human sexuality. " (read here) Here is one prayer said by those in attendance: "Our maker Sophia, we are women in your image . . . With the hot blood of our wombs we give form to new life . . . Sophia, creator God, let your milk and honey flow . . . With nectar between our thighs we invite a lover, we birth a child; with our warm body fluids we remind the world of its pleasures and sensations . . . We celebrate the sweat that pours from us during our labors. We celebrate the fingertips vibrating upon the skin of a lover. We celebrate the tongue which licks a wound or wets our lips. We celebrate our bodiliness, our physicality, the sensations of pleasure, our oneness with earth and water." (read here) This conference was not Christian. The things taught and spoken at this conference were blatantly against Scripture. Money from ELCA members, money meant for God's work, went to help fund this gathering. Here are four articles on the conference which speaks in detail of the heretical happenings. http://www.crossroad.to/Books/TwistofFaith/2-Holy.html#re http://www.watchman.org/reltop/reimagin.htm http://www.brfwitness.org/Articles/1994v29n3.htm http://www.firstthings.com/print/article/2009/03/002-a-new-heaven-and-a-new-earth-49?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=500&width=700 It seems witches like the ELCA's practice of praying to a goddess. Check out this Wiccan's blog and the following comments. Note: you will be taken to a Wiccan website (read blog here).
Our denomination as moved so far away from true Christianity that neopagans who practice witchcraft find us appealing. Is this a denomination that God wants you to stay in and support? Many of you know the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recently added seven pastors who are gay, bisexual or transgender, to its clergy roster. This occurred at a Rite of Reception service.
Here are a few things you may not have heard concerning this. 1) During the "festival Eucharist celebrating the reception and reinstatement of pastors," (p 4) the congregation recited the “Our Mother who is within us” prayer taken from the Goddess Rosary (read more about the Goddess Rosary here). The prayer goes like this - "Our Mother who is within us we celebrate your many names. Your wisdom come, your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us. Each day you give us all that we need. You remind us of our limits and we let go. You support us in our power and we act in courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen" (p 16) "The paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer, 'Our Mother who is within us . . .' is a part of the Goddess Rosary offered at University Lutheran Chapel of Berkeley (ELCA)." (p 24) 2) The sermon for this "celebration" was delivered by Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, who is a "Featured Speaker" at the publicized ELCA "Sharing the Gospel in a 2.0 World" event on August 11-14, 2010. (read here) 3) Much like item 1), they included a number of other prayers (listed below) to a god they call "Mother." (note that the Bible never calls God this name) "O Sophia, Wisdom and Mother of us all, you are One with many names and images. May we see in all who are gathered here today your multiplicity of blessings. Today we honor your unlocking systems and practices that devalued and demeaned us for so many years and by putting your way of honoring people in its place. Most Holy One." (p 11) "Life-giving Mother, you make a home for us in the midst of our fear… …that we may share your gifts with a hungry world:" (p 15) View and read the Rite of Reception service here. One should also take note that there were a number of ELCA bishops involved in this Rite of Reception, as well as many ELCA pastors. This kind of thing would not be happening if the ELCA did not support it. Have you ever prayed to the Goddess? Recited the "Goddess Rosary?" Joined an ELCA Goddess small group? If you stay in the ELCA long enough you may just get your chance. ELCA church, Ebenezer Lutheran in San Francisco (http://www.herchurch.org) has been doing this for a long time, but they are not the only ones. Rev. Jeff Johnson, recently elected to the Sierra Pacific Synod Council, and his church University Lutheran Chapel (ELCA) in Berkeley, CA are conducting a monthly "Goddess Rosary" service.
Here is what the University Lutheran Chapel newsletter says about the service. "Goddess Rosary. Last Sunday of the Month Goddess Rosary, 6:45PM at the Chapel. During the 1-hour session, the Divine Feminine will be recognized and reclaimed through recitation of the Goddess Rosary, silence, music, and movement. This very special Rosary consists of prayers by feminist theologian Carol Christ and musician Sister Miriam Therese Winter. The evening will be based on Rev. Stacy Boorn’s Goddess-centered devotion at Ebenezer/herchurch Lutheran Church in SF. People of all gender identities are welcome." ( See here ) You can't have a Goddess service without praying the "Hail Goddess" prayer. It goes like this, "Hail Goddess full of grace. Blessed are you and blessed are all the fruits of your womb. For you are the MOTHER of us all. Hear us now and in all our needs. O blessed be, O blessed be. Amen (adapted from Carol Christ) (see here) One participant in the Goddess Rosary service (at herchurch) described her experience this way - "From the basket of rosaries, I took into my hand a strand of vibrantly-colored beads with a silver goddess icon in place of the traditional cross. The goddesses came in a variety of shapes and sizes, celebrating the beauty of the feminine form; I found reflections of my own figure in the full hips and Rubenesque curves of my goddess. Once gathered, we began to recite together the “Our Mother” and “Hail Goddess” prayers." (see here) This is what is happening in the ELCA! The ELCA is well aware of this and they have chosen to accept it. If they didn't, they have the power to stop this practice. But the ELCA does not. This is false teaching and praying to a false god. This is on the ELCA's head. Let's not forget that they have promoted it in official publications (See on Page 6) AND have allowed a pastor who sanctions it to be on a Synod Council. For those of you on the fence concerning if you want to remain in the ELCA, what is it going to take? For those that insist on staying in the ELCA, there is more than enough evidence that the ELCA has abandoned scripture and true Christian teaching (see here), you cannot deny it. You are living for your own desire for your church and placing that above the will of God which is clear to all in His scriptures. |
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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