ELCA pastor Lura N. Groen has been highlighted on Exposing the ELCA many times. She is one of the most radical and heretical ELCA pastors I have come across. (See here and below for a number of things she has been saying. Some of it is blasphemous and vile.)
With that said, Pastor Lura N. Groen has been endorsed and placed into postions of influence and leadership by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Below are some writings and social media content from Rev. Groen. Sorry for the shocking and odious content. How can the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America leadership allow someone, who speaks and believes as this pastor does, to rise in their leadership ranks? How can they allow Rev. Groen and many ELCA pastors like her, to mock the One True God? The ELCA is culpable and responsible for this. They allow it and give it a platform in their midst. The true God of Scripture is not the God the ELCA serves. The Holy Spirit does not dwell in it. 
Continuing from Rev. Lura N. Groen's article posted above "I Hope You Have Only Good Sex" (see the complete article here), she writes, "This is, for me, an open expression of a deeply faith based sexual ethic. My Christian way of saying the same thing is to hope that each of you has sex in way, and only in a way, that is set free to love God, self, and neighbor. And that every time you have sex you respect the image of God in yourself and in your partner(s). That you treat yourself and every other body involved as holy, a temple, beloved by God, created beautifully, fearsomely and awesomely made."
Some of Rev. Groen's comments get even worse:
In the next post Rev. Lura Groen shared an article titled "What Promiscuity Taught Me About God's Love." The article was from QueerTheology.com.
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Sadly, the ELCA has rejected Jesus' own way of referring to God as Father. They must "know better" than Him. This is not just a one time thing. It has been happening for awhile. See a few instances of that here. (click and scroll down)
The ELCA wrote this prayer in their publication, Bread for the Day and yesterday they posted the prayer on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Facebook page. (See here or below) 
Radical ELCA seminarian Elle Dowd claims to be the author of this "Mother God" prayer, that the ELCA chose to use in their devotional book and on their official Facebook page. Why is ELCA leadership using her as a source for the denomination's prayers/material? See more about the author here. 
(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, the official magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has a recent article entitled “Who is God?” The author is Erin Strybis who is content editor of Living Lutheran and who writes “These days I long for a softer God. God as Breath. God as Water. God as Mother. God as Healing.” In many of its articles, Living Lutheran tortures the English to avoid calling God “He”. But Jesus never prays to God as “Mother”, only as “Father.” This past summer the ELCA passed a resolution calling for more “inclusive and expansive language for God”. My alma mater, the ELCA’s Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, periodically offers prayers to God as “Mother”. It is tragic and arrogant when people think they can improve upon Jesus’ language for God.  Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock --- (See article here)  ELCA Assembly Calls on the Denomination to Use “Gender-Inclusive and Expansive” Language for God8/15/2019 (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) At this week's national assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, delegates passed a statement decrying sexism and calling for "gender-inclusive and expansive" language for God. (See here) The ELCA's hymnbook years ago removed all the masculine pronouns for God in the Psalms and the hymnal contains a hymn "Mothering God, you gave me birth." It appears that the ELCA leadership wants more. One ELCA congregation called Herchurch in California worships the goddess Sophia and uses the prayer "Our Mother who is within us, we celebrate your many names". Herchurch's pastor had a retreat in which (according to its website) “Pastor Stacy... invited us to form our own images in clay of Asherah, the mother goddess of the Canaanites..." to aid them in worshipping the Divine Feminine. If you know your Old Testament, God forbade the ancient Jews from worshipping the false gods Asherah and Baal. Years ago some ELCA Lutherans in Iowa complained to the Iowa bishop about Herchurch. The Iowa bishop asked the California bishop about the situation. The Iowa bishop then wrote "“After visiting with the bishop (in California) and with another synod staff member... there is an acknowledgement that this congregation ‘pushes around the edges’ on matters that make some of us uncomfortable. Things...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..." If anyone doubts it is time to leave the ELCA, go to the herchurch.org website and see the idolatry that the ELCA permits. There has never been any discipline of Herchurch by the ELCA bishop. If goddess worship is now within Lutheran orthodoxy and "done with integrity", something has gone very, very wrong in the ELCA. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock  Rev. Laurie Larson Caesar was elected bishop of the ELCA's Oregon Synod, May 11, 2019. (See here) A simple google search of "Rev. Laurie Larson Caesar" turned up a sermon given by Bishop-elect Laurie Larson Caesar titled, "Is God Male?" In the sermon the soon-to-be ELCA synod bishop had this to say about God: Lent is “…also a time to stretch, stretch our souls, stretch our theological imagination, stretch our sense of the chasms that God can build bridges over. So I just want to talk a little bit about the face of God as 'Mother.' How many of you grew up with God is 'Father' in your ordinary lives, in your day-to-day living? Yes. How many of you have encountered in not just in intellectual weapon in a prayerful way, in a soul changing way of praying with Mother God or writing a hymn with Mother God? Just a few. It's one of the gifts of going to seminary that we're forced to stress whether we like or not and we encounter theologian who stretch and pull us in ways… I am really fortunate to have been loved well by some amazing women. And so God as a woman comes easily to me. God has female. As one more metaphor. As one more name.” (See at the 11:30 minute mark) Bishop-elect Laurie Larson Caesar also called God “Grandmother God.” (16:50) Later, Rev. Larson Caesar says: “If you've never prayed with an image of God as Mother find one and try, just try, move from the head...What does it feel like to pray to a Mother God who supports us and holds us?” (22:24) “God is here and all around you. Thank you for your ministry. She loves you in an embarrassing way huge way.” (23:13) 
Today at a chapel service of Luther Seminary, a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the closing benediction was given “..in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Mother of us all” (see minute 45:52 below). The problem with this is that Jesus never prayed to God as “Mother” but only as “Father.” So why this change in God language at Luther seminary? Because the ELCA is bowing the knee to feminism rather than to God’s Word. The ELCA hymn book has eliminated all masculine pronouns for God in the Psalms, and contains the hymn “Mothering God, you gave me birth…” The ELCA is so committed to feminism that it even pays for abortion for any reason in the church’s health care plan. And this healthcare plan is funded by offering dollars. That’s right, your ELCA offering dollars can be used to kill unborn children. Head bishop Elizabeth Eaton said nothing about New York State’s radical law to allow abortion up to the day of delivery, but she makes numerous comments in favor of liberal political causes. The ELCA has lost many members and much financial support since it voted to ordain practicing homosexuals in 2009. As the Bible says “You reap what you sow”. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock 
Women of the ELCA (WELCA) tweeted a link to a video where God is referred to as "She." The video was made by the theologically liberal "Sojourners." The video is called "My God is ---------." Seven seconds into the video a woman says, "She breaks through stained glass ceilings and brings down walls." The video shows about a dozen people completing the statement "My God is..." (See additional examples of the ELCA referring to God using female terms here and here)
Jesus spoke to God calling him "Father." One needs to ask why the ELCA is going against Jesus' own words. Based on all the ways the ELCA defies Scripture, some would say the ELCA wants a god after their own making. Other statements in the WELCA shared video include, "My God was a refugee, was an immigrant, and wasn't white," and "My God doesn't care if I don't speak English." The video laced with manipulative statements that hold to the ELCA's and Sojourners social justice beliefs like, "My God heals without worrying about insurance." This is what the Women of the ELCA is putting forth and sharing on Twitter for all who will listen. Here is the video. Below is a picture of the video WELCA shared speaking about God as a woman. And here is a link to the Women of the ELCA's tweet. 
Last weekend a church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Ebenezer Lutheran Church, (also known as "herchurch") in San Francisco, CA, held their 2018 Goddess Harvest Festival.
At the Goddess Harvest Festival one could take a "Goddess Painting Class." Below is how the ELCA church described the class: "Join Jennifer and Katie for an afternoon encountering the Divine through painting! This fun, no-talent-required class will guide you from start to finish in creating your own sacred icon of the Divine Feminine. This class we will honor the Goddess of Willendorf, the Neolithic Great Mother." (see here) The ELCA church's website gives additional information about their monthly "Goddess Painting" class which is captured below. Every month they paint a different goddess. The list is:
"2018 Goddesses:
January: Cerridwen, Celtic goddess of the cauldron of transformation February: Wakahiru-Me, Japanese goddess of the morning sun March: Butterfly Maiden, Native American Spring goddess April: Hina, Hawaiian Moon goddess May: Hathor, Ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and beauty June: Tree Goddess July: Minoan Snake Goddess August: Mami Wata, African ocean goddess September: Arianrhod, Welsh/Celtic goddess of weaving cosmic time October: Hecate, Greek goddess of the crossroads of life and death November: *second Sunday of the month* Willendorf, Neolithic Mother goddess December: Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas" (see here) 
Note, herchurch calls this "encountering the Divine through painting." This is not a Christian activity. In fact, it is in direct opposition to God's First Commandment which says "And God spoke all these words: 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.'" - Exodus 20:1-3. It is hard be believe, but herchurch, which has a long disturbing history (see here) is in good standing with the ELCA. The ELCA is complicit in this evil practice. Here are some other activities that took place at the Goddess Harvest Festival: - Spirit Voices Of Light/Totem Animal Allies Mask Making "Join Deborah...to explore connection with totem animal allies through a Shamanic journeying and mask making process. For this workshop, Deborah will lead participants using the combination of Shamanic journeying with the creation of a mask for each person. Participants will leave at the end of the workshop with a mask pulled from their face. Space is limited to 10 participants." - Make your own Goddess Totem "You are invited to make a small goddess figure using polymer clay, which hardens by baking. You will be amazed at how easy it is to create these personal totems to take home! All supplies provided. Take yours home to bake or pick it up Sunday, baked for you." - Liturgy of the Divine Feminine "Honoring and raising up the Divine Feminine in the cosmos, community and ourselves. All are welcome. (ELCA) Pastor Stacy Boorn" - Tai Chi Chih "In this easy, gentle movement class, participants will engage in moving meditation to enliven them with the natural flow of energy known as chi. Tai Chi Chih’s 19 movements and one pose promote health, well-being and longevity." (See here) If you are an ELCA member, you should ask yourself why you part of a denomination that allows this. Rev. Tom Brock shared his thoughts on Facebook about the "Goddess Harvest Festival," which you can read below: (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Below is a service at my alma mater, Luther Seminary, a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In the below video, Luther professor Amy Maria, who teaches a course in "Womanist, Feminist, Mujerista Theology", is careful in her sermon to avoid using the pronoun "He" for God, and refers to God as "Mother" and "She." At the end of the service the congregation prays the Lord's Prayer with "Our Father who art in heaven", but in the past Luther chapel has also prayed to "Our Mother in heaven". So the new normal at Luther is to periodically call God "Father" and to periodically call God "Mother." Jesus never prayed to God as Mother and never taught us to do so. But that doesn't stop people who think they are enlightened from doing so. A few months ago I wrote about Luther Seminary's homosexual and transgender chapel preachers and how Luther's financial problems are now necessitating the sale of a number of its buildings. Sadly, they are not learning from their error. From what I can see, no sign of repentance. Please say a prayer for the ELCA colleges and seminaries. It would take an act of God to turn them around, but sometimes God acts! Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock
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)
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) (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 "God the Father...Mother of us all": How liberals are changing the Bible's language for God4/26/2018 (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
Patricia Lull is the bishop of the St. Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In an article called “Not What We Bargained For” she beings with this: "Grace and peace to you from God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Mother of us all. AMEN". Where does Jesus ever call God the "Mother of us all"? Jesus consistently refers to God as "Father." Bishop Lull provides us with another example of how feminism is overriding the authority of Scripture when it comes to God language. If you attend an ELCA church which uses the ELCA's official hymnal "Evangelical Lutheran Worship" perhaps you have noticed such hymns as "Mothering God you gave me birth". The hymnal also desexes all the Psalms to get rid of masculine pronouns for God. Years ago lesbian pastor and popular ELCA speaker Barbara Lundblad proposed to baptize in the name of “the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Mother, Lover, Friend; Wisdom, Word and Breath of Life." And two ELCA head bishops have used the word "Godself" to avoid saying the words "God Himself." This de-sexing of God language is not just an ELCA aberration but is also happening in the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church USA and other liberal denominations. I visited a United Methodist congregation a few months ago and the pastor deleted God the Father from the baptismal formula, instead baptizing "in the name of the One who creates all things." I wrote the pastor a note that we are not free to change the way Jesus taught us to baptize "in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). It has become popular in some liberal churches to close the worship service not "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" but "in the name of the Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier", again, to get rid of the Bible's language for God. If you attend a church which is embarrassed to use Jesus' language for God, I recommend you find a Biblical church where the Triune name of God is upheld and where you can best invest your money, time and talents to the glory of God the Father. In the name of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org (See Bishop Lull's article here) (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
This month's Living Lutheran, the national magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, highlights women in ministry. One such person is Prairie Rose Seminole, American Indian Alaska Native program director for the ELCA. She writes: "...As the sun rises, I also rise. I put out water, tobacco or food for my ancestors. I offer gratitude...for being able to witness to that which moves all things--God, Great Mystery, Chief Who Sits Above, Mother, Creator, the blood in my veins, the hurricane crashing to shore, earth moving--that power of which we are all a part...I come from the Sahnish/Arikiara tribe...Our creation story is different from what is in the Bible. Is it our place to say that is wrong? No....My faith is influenced by millennia upon millennia of indigenous roots in this land, 2,000 years of Christianity, 500 years of the Lutheran church, and more than 500 years of genocide and policies to wipe out the first people of our country." Sadly, what we have here is a program director for the ELCA who is trying to combine pagan, non-Christian religion with Christianity. Pantheism teaches that God is everything and everything is God (the mountains, the hurricanes, everything is God). But Christians reject pantheism and teach that God is separate from His creation, God is the Creator, not the created. Christians believe in God the Father, nowhere did Jesus teach us to pray to God as "Mother." And the Biblical account of creation is the one Christians believe, not stories from other religions. I am German. My ancestors worshiped Thor and Odin. I am not at all offended that I cannot worship these old gods along with the Holy Trinity, neither do I want to. We are all called upon, regardless of our heritage, to reject the false gods of our ancestors and worship the Trinity alone. Sadly, this article from the national magazine of the ELCA appears to teach otherwise. In Jesus the only Savior, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org (Read the Living Lutheran article here.) (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 This weekend the ELCA's Metro D.C. Synod posted a version of the Lord's Prayer on Facebook that calls God "Father and Mother of us all." (see the synod post below)  And from the west coast of the United States we have this account of ELCA pastor Staci Boorn, “When she had been at Ebenezer Lutheran less than a year, Pastor Boorn, with the parents’ permission, baptized a child ‘in the name of God who is our Mother and our Father and in the name of Jesus, who is the child of God.’” (see here) Here we have two more examples of the ELCA teaching against the witness of Scripture by calling God a female. (See more by clicking and scrolling down the page here and here) In Matthew 6:9, Jesus instructs us to call God "Father." |
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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