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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.)
Fast forward to today. A while ago at Luther Seminary, a transgender chapel preacher said “Let us pray the Lord’s Prayer in whatever way you are comfortable, “Our Mother who is in heaven…”. At the ELCA’s recent Churchwide Assembly, many delegates announced their “preferred pronouns” before they spoke, regardless of whether those pronouns matched their God – given anatomy. This was their way of being “trans inclusive”. In today’s strange world of religious liberalism, if you don’t call someone by their “preferred pronouns” you are doing “gender violence.” What about respecting God’s “preferred pronoun”? God consistently revealed Himself as “He” in both the Old and New Testaments. Yes, there is some female imagery for God in the Bible, like when Isaiah talks about God caring for us as a mother. But the pronouns are always masculine and Jesus never prayed to God as “Mother” but only as “Father”. This kind of desexing of God language is also taking place in the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, and the Presbyterian Church USA. How about respecting God’s “preferred pronoun”? Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock
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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 below worship service led by a transgender pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, this man who presents himself as woman says "The grace of Jesus the Christ, the love of God the Creator, and the communion of the queer-making Spirit be with you all." The creed in this service states "I believe in Jesus Christ, Sophia, the Word". "Sophia" is a feminine image for God that feminists use to worship the "Divine Feminine." Along the same line, God is referred to in the service as "The Divine Seamstress". This is the strange new world of the ELCA. One cannot say that the extremes of the below service are not shared by the ELCA's national leadership. ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has made two gay pride videos and at the ELCA's Youth Gathering an 11-year-old boy who thinks he is a girl was put on stage to promote transgenderism to 31,000 Lutheran teens. At the installation of the ELCA's first transgender bishop, Bishop Eaton prayed to God as "Parent, Child and Holy Breath" and as "Rain, Estuary, and Sea". I hear from people periodically who say they stay in their ELCA congregation because they have been members so long and they would have to leave their friends. But sometimes Jesus says to leave and "shake the dust off your feet". I believe that time is now for Bible-believing Christians who are still in the ELCA and supporting it with their offering dollars and their presence. Our first allegiance is to Jesus, not to our friends nor to our denomination. Sincerely 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 first article in the October 2021 edition of Living Lutheran, the official magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, says this: ”And the Spirit transforms you and me by her relentless presence in, with, and among humanity”. The Bible never calls the Holy Spirit “her” or “she”, but that does not stop the feminist ELCA from revamping the biblical language for God. Indeed, years ago, the ELCA came out with its most recent hymnal which desexed all the Psalms to get rid of masculine pronouns for God. I hope you attend a good church which unashamedly worships the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the only true God. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock PS The same article also talks about the “kindom” of God (whatever that is) instead of the “kingdom of God“. I’m presuming we can’t even say the word “king” anymore because that is too patriarchal and oppressive. (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 recent chapel service at Luther Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Seminary chapel at my alma mater has become radical in recent years with transgender and "womanist" preachers, prayers to "Mother God", Native American spirituality, and observance of both National Coming Out Day and the Transgender Day of Remembrance. In the below service, the preferred pronouns of each participant are listed (he/him/his, etc.) in order to be transgender-sensitive. And the closing benediction states "May the Spirit embrace your soul in her grace", even though the Bible never refers to the Holy Spirit as "her". Luther Seminary attendance has shrunk much since my days there and, as with other liberal seminaries, financial problems have led to the seminary selling off some of its buildings. Two ELCA seminaries in Pennsylvania had to merge into one United Seminary, whose new president, former ELCA Bishop Guy Erwin, is a homosexual with a "husband." The ELCA's Pacific Lutheran Seminary in California sold its building to a Muslim school. The ELCA, the Episcopal Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Disciples of Christ, and the United Methodist Church are the most liberal denominations in America, and they have lost many members in recent years as these denominations drift further and further from Scripture. Once again the verse comes to mind "You reap what you sow." Sincerely 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 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America continues to push for a feminist understanding of God and a diminishing of God the Father in its December, 2021 edition of Living Lutheran, the official magazine of the ELCA. In an article entitled "A Gift of Ministry: Embracing mom–pastors and a mothering God" the magazine quotes from ELCA Pastor LeeAnn Pomrenke's book "Embodied: Clergy Women and the Solidarity of a Mothering God". She writes "When I began recognizing the mothering behavior of God in my own experience, it made me feel less alone...We have fallen into a rut in referring to God mostly as "Father" in the church..." One must ask: Was Jesus in a rut when He taught us to refer to God as Father? Never once did Jesus refer to God as "Mother." Are we in a rut praying regularly "Our Father", the prayer our Lord taught us to pray? Do the people running the ELCA know more about God language than Jesus Christ? Another article in Living Lutheran written by Karoline Lewis, preaching professor at Luther Seminary, talks about God revealing "God's self". It is normal to talk about God revealing "Himself," but that is too patriarchal so now a new phrase has been invented. Living Lutheran magazine regularly eliminates masculine pronouns for God, using "God...God...God.." instead of "God...He...etc." This de-sexing of God language has been going on for a long time in the ELCA, the Presbyterian Church USA, the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, and the United Church of Christ, but at its last national assembly the ELCA voted to officially declare itself in favor of more "expansive and inclusive" language for God. The liberal mainline Protestant denominations are shrinking, and they should. Any denomination which is embarrassed by 'Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" language and desires to "expand" beyond it does not deserve to exist. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock 
Bill Tesch is excited, as you can read in the below post about Kevin L. Strickland, an openly homosexual man (married to a man), becoming bishop of Southeastern Synod, ELCA. Calling the Holy Spirit "her." Below Rev. Bill Tesch writes about NOT being elected as bishop of the ELCA's South Dakota Synod saying "I had thought I might be called, but the Holy Spirit, in her typically messy way, has revealed that I am not." What about false religions? Politics? Check out the following by the ELCA bishop:
A sign held by Cassie Hartnett read, "When Jesus Comes Back She'll Be Gay." Cassie Hartnett is a former vicar at an ELCA church in Maryland and she attended Union Theological Seminary. When ELCA leaders openly blaspheme Jesus it is time to leave and never set foot in an ELCA church again.  (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Perhaps you've heard about Nadia Bolz–Weber, the popular pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She is the one who gave abortion rights activist Gloria Steinem a statue of a vagina to thank Steinem for her life's work. She was also the speaker at the ELCA's teen assembly who led 31,000 ELCA teenagers to repeat after her "I renounce the lie that queerness is anything other than beauty." Bolz-Weber also denies that Jesus died in our place for our sins, claiming that would be divine child abuse on the part of God the Father. And now she has a meditation doing what has become typical in feminist circles of the ELCA, "expanding" the language for God. Bolz-weber writes: "Our Father, Our Mother, Our Holy Parent, The Source of All Being from whom we came and to whom we return, You who knows us better than we know ourselves. Jesus called you Abba and so shall we, even as we may have an ambiguous relationship with parenthood - Be to us our Holy Parent, the one who loves without condition." (See here) Jesus taught us to pray to "Our Father", never once did He say to pray to "Our Mother." It is arrogant to think that we have the right to "expand" upon the language Jesus gave us for God, as if we know better than the Son of God. The ELCA's hymnal has also revamped God language. It contains a hymn entitled "Mothering God, you gave me birth". The ELCA hymnal has also de-sexed all the Psalms to get rid of masculine pronouns for God. Such rewriting of Scripture and the ELCA's "expanding" beyond the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one more reason people should leave the ELCA and join a more biblical denomination. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock 
(The following article is from Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
Some in liberal, mainline Protestant denominations have begun calling the Holy Spirit “she“, though there is no biblical warrant for it. Watch the very brief video below of a female pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, who is “married” to a woman, call the Holy Spirit “she“. It is also common among liberals in mainline denominations to claim the Holy Spirit blesses homosexual behavior and desires the Church to affirm the LGBTQAI+ movement. But the Holy Spirit never contradicts the Scriptures which he himself inspired (2 Timothy 3:16). For all the Bible verses about homosexuality, see my article “What does the Bible say about homosexuality?” at Pastorsstudy.org. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock https://www.facebook.com/1403802538/posts/10223769687335847/
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(Additional social media posts by ELCA Rev. Meagan McLaughlin - ) 
(The following article is from Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) This past summer the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in convention passed a resolution calling for more expansive, inclusive language for God. The national magazine of the ELCA, Living Lutheran, is very liberal and I am sure happy to oblige. So here is their recent article telling us to pray to “God the Mother”. When God the Father is no longer “enough”, something has gone terribly wrong. Yet another reason to flee this unbiblical denomination. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock https://www.livinglutheran.org/2020/05/god-or-mother-both/  
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)  |
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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