ELCA Bishop Tells 'The New Yorker' Magazine, Nadia Bolz-Weber's Sexual Reformation is Long Overdue2/9/2019
The New Yorker magazine wrote a feature story on Rev. Bolz-Weber this week, titled "The Lutheran Pastor Calling for a Sexual Reformation," which provides a window into the life, thoughts and vile nature of this beloved ELCA pastor, which I will highlight. The most important revelation came from Nadia's bishop, Rev. Jim Gonia, of the Rocky Mountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He begins by comparing Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber to Martin Luther, "He talked about farting and drinking and he was kind of like Nadia.” The feature writer continues, "Gonia summed up Luther’s idea like this: 'Now that we don’t need to worry that we’re good enough for God, how do we direct our attention to our neighbor?'” Then we have the ELCA leadership's public approval of Nadia, who wants to undo Biblical teaching reserving sexual relations to one man and one woman within marriage. Here is the whole paragraph from the article to give you context: "Bolz-Weber argues that this idea should be extended to sex. For millennia, the Church has taught Christians to deny their physical selves, and to consider carnal urges sinful. 'We keep looking for a set of laws that will save us,' Bolz-Weber told me. 'Relying on grace can feel shaky. If it’s free it must be worthless.' As a result, both men and women lead fractured lives, believing that their sexuality is at odds with their spirituality. 'This idea that salvation comes through sexual repression,' Bolz-Weber said, 'that shit comes out sideways.' In “Shameless,” she sets out to build a sexual ethic around human flourishing rather than around rules encoded by men centuries ago. This begins by recognizing that with sex, as with everything else, 'it’s not about being good—it’s about grace.' This, she argues, is actually just the natural extension of classical Lutheranism. 'She’s the most classical Lutheran preacher you’ll ever meet,' Gonia said, adding that the reformation she’s calling for is long overdue. 'We have so intellectualized our faith—there’s a need to bring head, heart, and body into the forefront of our lives, for the future of the Christian tradition.'" People of the ELCA, the leadership approves of what Nadia Bolz-Weber is preaching. This is public confirmation, along with ELCA leadership having her speak to 31,000 ELCA youth this summer as they assembled for the church-wide gathering. They are on board with these harmful sexual ethics she and many others preach that clearly go against God's will for people. Why are you still part of this vile denomination? Here is a run down concerning things from The New Yorker article (in which I am quoted): - Nadia Bolz-Weber and her two children recently went to a sexually explicit exhibition called "Au Natural" that included casts of penises, nudity, and a sculpture that is masturbating. It also presented a sculpture of Jesus made from cigarettes. - "When she was twenty, she joined Vox Femina, a feminist performance-art group whose acts, she told me, weren’t so different from Lucas’s egg massage." (referring to one of the art exhibition performances) - She use to be a call-center psychic. - She had an abortion, saying she could not afford a child. And she does not think abortion is wrong. - She divorced her husband and loves having sex with her boyfriend, which has caused her to feel closer to God. - Her son is gay, and at 16 years old Nadia bought him condoms when she heard he had a new boyfriend. - She calls the belief, that homosexuality is wrong, "bigotry." - Bolz-Weber was once a counselor at a Unitarian summer camp where some campers would sunbathe nude. As you can see below, ELCA pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber is publicizing The New Yorker piece as if she is happy with what it says.
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Famous ELCA Pastor Talks of Sex With Boyfriend, Writes Book Rejecting Sex Reserved for Marriage2/7/2019
What you are about to read, by the most famous and sought after pastor in the ELCA, goes completely against Scripture. Run away from this denomination as soon as you can.
Nadia Bolz-Weber is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and is highly revered in the denomination and with ELCA leadership. That, despite the heretical and controversial things she has said and done and keeps saying and doing. (See a list here, here and here) Recently, Rev. Bolz-Weber appeared on a podcast by Kevin Garcia that was titled "Making Sex Shameless, w/ Nadia Bolz-Weber." 
The content that follows shows you what the ELCA is becoming. This is what ELCA seminaries produced and are producing. Nadia Bolz-Weber is not some outlier. She is one of many the ELCA has elevated to a position of power and great influence, speaking throughout the ELCA and even to multiple ELCA Youth Gatherings. During the interview the host asked Nadia to give a little synopsis of her new book, "Shameless." Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber replied (language warning): “. . . it came out of my own experience, I was raised, obviously very very fundamentalist Christian, with all the crazy shit about gender roles and sex and extramarital sex and all that, but it was before the purity movement you know, but I was raised with all that, rejected it, led this very different life. But then I discovered the Lutheran Church, and the ELCA is one of the most progressive denominations in the country and yet, there is a document you have to sign when you’re ordained called “Visions and Expectations” that says you would be faithful in marriage, or I think its 'celibate or chaste in singleness.' Well, the origin of this document was it was originally sorta' forged through the denomination by a group that was trying to keep the homosexuals out of the pulpit. It was a way, it really was a way, of keeping the homos down. Because you would have to be celibate in your singleness, and gay people couldn’t get married – and that shifted, and they were like, 'oh shit,' right? And everybody had to sign this. And it’s insane because what happens is that there are all these people who get married right out of seminary, because they can’t afford to live separately, you know, they need to live in intern housing, and so they get married sooner than they should. Or they have sexual relationships that they are forced to keep secret or not be honest about. Or they are completely repressed, and we have single, grown-assed adults who don’t have, who are not flourishing in their sexual lives because the church says they shouldn’t. So none of those things are great, really. And so you know, (Nadia then talks about her ex-husband)...we never connected, like there was no intimacy in our marriage, and for whatever reason, it just didn’t happen for us. And so, you know, people are like, ‘Wow, you don’t do cross-fit any more?’ And I’m like, ‘I was doing cross-fit because I wasn’t having sex!' You know what I mean, it was just a way of like managing. And now I’m like all soft, and I got long hair, and I’m so much happier. So what happened was, I get divorced, like the most amicable divorce you can imagine. No lawyers, no acrimony. It was great, right, it was like actually really lovely. But I get together with my boyfriend and start having sex and it was like 'holy shit,' I was like, it felt like an exfoliation of my whole spirit. I'm like 'This is so good for my brain chemistry, and my body, and my heart. And I’m like fuck man, why in the world would the Church say ‘Don’t do this?’ Like I could tell it was what I needed, and it was so good. And then 10 days later, after we get together...I have to go to Europe for 3 1/2 weeks on a book tour, because the U.K and the German edition of my book came out...3 ½ weeks after years of sexlessness and 10 days of having sex, right, my mind was like swirling, I was like ‘What the fuck is happening?!’" "I’m walking down a street in London...we (a friend) just cried and ate, we had both just gotten divorced, and we were like insane. So for 10 days we trampsed around England and Scotland, and eating and crying...I as like ‘Wait a minute, why did the Church make me sign that thing? How is it better for my church if I’m not getting laid?’ Look, the church will entrust me with the care of souls and will not entrust me with my own grown-ass woman sexuality, to make good decisions for myself? Like don’t fuck the flock, clearly, I get that part... I’m like, “what the fuck.” So I messaged, I whatsapped Eric, my boyfriend… and granted, this was with an unwarranted urgency, and I’m going, and he gets on Skype, and he’s not Christian, he’s never a Christian, and I go ‘Why do you think the Church has tried to control sex for so long?’ and without skipping a beat, my beloved said, ‘Umm...I guess I always assumed that the Church saw sex as its competition'…I was like, I’m writing a book." Nadia continues, "Here’s the harm that these teachings have directly caused myself and these people (who Nadia interviewed), and if the teachings of the Church are harming people, we need to rethink these teachings. We should never be more loyal to an idea or a doctrine or an interpretation of a Bible verse than we are to people. So that’s the premise of the book.” (Listen here. Starting at 22:20 minute mark.) Continuing on, “I want people to have better sex too. I want people to feel uninhibited with their lover and to lose themselves in that. And uhm, you know, I think Christianity has led to a lot of really bad sex. And a lot of people shut down and not connected to their bodies. And terrified to talk about sex with their partner, even.” (Listen here. Starting at 41:40)
What ELCA pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber is saying, pushing for a new teaching on sex to replace the Biblical and traditional view of where sexual relations are to take place, is evil. It is from the pit of hell. It is against God's will and God's Word.
Let's recap what Rev. Bolz-Weber said (and apparently what she says in her new book): - She calls the ELCA document that pastors sign, reserving sex to marriage, "insane." - She calls fundamentalist thought on extramarital sex "crazy shit." - She says she is having sex with her boyfriend, (hence, sex outside of marriage. This is in violation of "Vision and Expectations," an ELCA document for pastors that she signed.) - She questions why the Church would not allow sex outside of marriage. - She calls the Biblical teaching on sex "harmful." - She says "people" should come before God's Word, if God's Word causes "harm" to some people.
As I said earlier, this is not one crazy ELCA pastor talking. This is a belief held by many ELCA pastors, leaders and future ELCA pastors. See below the social media post by ELCA pastor, Javen Swanson, and my blog about "Naked and Unashamed" (here).
Below is Pastor Swanson's tweets with active links.
Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber is the face of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). She is a beloved pastor/author in the denomination who speaks at some of the ELCA's largest gatherings, including this summer's National Youth Gathering that brought in over 31,000 high school students. (See the end of this article)
No word yet if Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber and her ELCA brethren will be dancing around the golden object at its unveiling. (Exodus 32:19) What is this about? This is about sex. This is about being sexual. Nadia does not like God's directive for sex to be between one man and one woman, who are married and does not think it should be confined only to marriage. Rev. Bolz-Weber's new book website says her book "offers a full-blown overhaul of our harmful and antiquated ideas about sex, gender, and our bodies." (See here) The Huffington Post article quotes Pastor Bolz-Weber saying, “This thing about women that the church has tried to hide and control and that is a canvas on which other people can write their own righteousness ― it’s actually ours...This part of me is mine and I get to determine what is good for it and if it’s beautiful and how I use it in the world.” (see here) If you think this is a joke, it is not. And Nadia Bolz-Weber is actually making a golden vagina sculpture. 
(See here)
In return for people sending ELCA pastor Bolz-Weber their purity rings, they will be sent an "impurity" ring and a "Certificate of Impurity" as seen below.
Nadia Bolz-Weber has said and done a lot of heretical things in the past (see here and here). For example, in 2017, Nadia Bolz-Weber signed the "Naked and Unashamed" statement that rejects marriage as the only place for sexual intercourse. (See here) And more recently, she spoke of her support for viewing "ethically sourced porn." (See here)
How can this be allowed in a "Christian" denomination? It can not. The ELCA has placed feeling and belief above that of God and His Word. This is what happens when a church rejects, twists and ignores much of Scripture. It will only get worse.
The same principles and theology of ELCA professors who taught Nadia, are and have been teaching most pastors of the ELCA. Warn people about the apostasy of the ELCA. If you are attending an ELCA church, get out and find a Bible-believing and God-honoring denomination. -- As you can see below, not only is Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber the brightest star in the ELCA, she is the face of the ELCA, and the defacto theological leader of the denomination. She is sought out by ELCA leadership. Rev. Bolz-Weber's Facebook page has 196,105 "likes" and 212,283 people follow her. On Twitter, she has over 71,000 followers. Nadia Bolz-Weber's influence is wide and deep.
Here is a picture of Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber sitting with the leader of the ELCA, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton.
This picture shows Nadia with former ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson. 
The ELCA chose Rev. Bolz-Weber to speak to the the youth at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering. And also at the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering. Then there is a video created by an ELCA synod about Rev. Bolz-Weber and her church. 
ELCA bishops want to be around Nadia Bolz-Weber. The picture below shows Nadia with the Bishop of the Gulf Coast Synod, ELCA.
Next, Rev. Bolz-Weber is pictured along with the bishop of the ELCA's Rocky Mountain Synod. Finally, we have Rev. Dr. R. Guy Erwin, bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with Rev. Bolz-Weber. 
Finally, here is an ELCA church hosting Rev. Bolz-Weber's book tour.
More and more ELCA pastors are coming out of the closet and admitting they are universalists. Universalism is the belief “that all human beings will eventually be saved.” (See here) Below is a recent Facebook post by prominent Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) pastor, Clint Schnekloth. Schnekloth is a pastor, author and blogger; he created and facilitates the ELCA Clergy Facebook Group that has over 5800 members.  This is a false teaching that is dangerous, risking the eternal lives of people who put their trust in it. The Bible, which is God’s Word, teaches that some people will be saved and go to heaven when they die and some people will go to hell with they die. "...Universalism and universal salvation are unbiblical beliefs. Universalism directly contradicts what Scripture teaches…To say that those who reject God’s provision of salvation through His Son will be saved is to belittle the holiness and justice of God and negate the need of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf.” (See here) Rev. Schnekloth is one of the growing number of ELCA pastors that espouse this belief. The most renowned pastor in the ELCA, Nadia Bolz-Weber, is a universalist. (See here) Rev Bolz-Weber will be a keynote speaker at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering. Around 30,000 youth typically attend the event. There are still ELCA pastors who will not admit to the label “universalist,” most likely because they understand that it is viewed as heresy, but they do openly teach the principles of universalism. For example, the leader of the ELCA, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, in an interview last year was asked, “Is there a hell?” She replied, “There may be, but I think it is empty.” (See here) That is universalism, plain and simple. If hell is empty, all people will go to heaven. Presiding Bishop Eaton is a universalist. There are many more examples of the ELCA propagating universalism. They do it in their seminaries, in their publications, on social media and in their churches. If the growth of universalism is a concern to you, please go to the following links, here (and scroll down the page) and here, to find just how prevalent this teaching is in the ELCA.
You can not change your sex. You can not change your gender. Those are facts. Trying to do so goes against God's will for you and is a sin against God. (see here)
It is also a sin to encourage sinful behavior. The ELCA is guilty of this. They do this regarding homosexuality and transgenderism. This week the ELCA's St. Matthew-Trinity Lutheran Church in Hoboken, New Jersey, announced that one of their pastors is "transitioning" from female to male. They will be holding a renaming service for this pastor. The bishop of the New Jersey Synod, Tracie Bartholomew, will be the featured preacher that day. 
Here is Pastor Rose Beeson, the transitioning woman who is having the renaming service.
Pastor Beeson's church will also be holding LGBT Etiquette Training. The church newsletter describes it this way, “a refresher course on terminology used by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to equip us with more tools and resources to make St. Matthew Trinity an even safer and more welcoming congregation. This builds on SMT's historic commitment to be a Reconciling in Christ congregation, welcoming people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.” (See here) Here are a couple excited St. Matthew-Trinity members sharing the news of their pastor's renaming ceremony. 
This isn't just a case of one wayward church or one wayward ELCA leader embracing transgenderism. It is happening throughout the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. - Not long ago a ELCA website published an article by an ELCA pastor about her transgender child. (See here)
- The ELCA's Sierra Pacific Synod 2016 Assembly Handbook tells us how the synod had a workshop called “The Story of Gender.” Here are the first few sentences describing the workshop:
“Gender is no longer just male and female. As a church we need to know and understand the language around gender identities and be able to include this language into our liturgy. Now that many people are getting the language needed to help them understand who they are, such as transgender, people are now able to live into authenticity.” (See here, page 18) - Also in the Sierra Pacific Synod 2016 Assembly Handbook you can read all the changes being recommending to the synod and the ELCA by the Committee on Gender Identity Inclusivity in response to two resolutions that were passed at the 2015 Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly. (see previous link and go to page 71) - Fittingly, I just came across this tonight.
- Then there is this from the ELCA Youth Ministry Network:
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. I have included some more information at the end of the article. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Reverend Asher O'Callaghan, a woman who presents herself as a man, is the first transgender pastor ordained through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's ordination process. In 2009 the ELCA voted to ordain practicing homosexuals. There was never a vote to ordain transsexuals, but ELCA leadership has been doing it anyway. Not too many years ago Luther Seminary (my alma mater) was known as the most conservative of the ELCA's seminaries. I'm afraid those days are gone. On November 15th at Luther Seminary's Holy Communion service, Reverend O'Callaghan will be the preacher in observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. How sad that the ELCA is jumping on the transgender bandwagon which says "You are whatever sex you think you are." As Bible-believing Christians we respond " No, you are the sex God created you to be." But instead of siding with God and biology, the ELCA has sided with our sexually confused culture. Instead of helping people out of their confusion, the ELCA confirms people in their confusion. In a recent interview, in which she stated that she thinks Hell is empty, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton also took a stand for transgender rights. Sadly, I'll say it again: This is not my grandma's Lutheran church. Last week we celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. Luther would grieve over the ELCA. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org PS. Below is a description of Reverend O'Callaghan from the pro-LGBT website "Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries". "Before becoming a Lutheran pastor, Asher fancied himself spiritual but not religious. He thought he was done with organized religion after growing up transgender and bisexual in a fundamentalist church. But then he stumbled into a church called House For All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado where God messed up all his plans. There he heard an invitation he couldn’t help but go share. From Christ’s open table he heard: “Behold who you are. Become what you receive.” Becoming what he’s received has led him to earn a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary, to pastor a small mountain congregation called Zion Lutheran Church in Idaho Springs, Colorado, and now to serve as ELM’s Program Director." (see here) -- Not only is the ELCA indoctrinating their future pastors with their false view of Scripture and the world but they are doing the same with college kids at their institutions. Last week Luther College (an ELCA school) brought in a transgender speaker.  (Warning: Sexuality explicit language) Elle Dowd is an ELCA seminarian at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) and is also part of the leadership of Decolonize Lutheranism (read about this group here). She recently wrote a blog called “Jesus and Black Lace Lingerie” where we are told: “…I was at a casting call, auditioning for the chance to model a body-positive line of bras and underwear. The church has a reputation for prudishness about anything having to do with things like desire, bodies, or sex. And so me, a seminarian, a pastor-in-training, showing up ready to strip down to my skivvies for a photoshoot seems to a lot of people like a glaring (or at least interesting) contradiction.” She then goes into a strange discourse about God having a body, experiences He had with his body (using intentionally provocative words and descriptions of Christ’s birth), and experience she has had with her body. Then she writes: “Learning about a shockingly embodied God empowered me to reconnect to my own body in a variety of ways through therapy, yoga, running, dancing, sex...Talk about the ways in which sex has been a powerful way not only to reclaim my body and reconnect to my sexuality, but to heal from spiritual abuse perpetuated by the church? It seems unheard of.” After reading Elle Dowd's blog I believe a main message she is trying to communicate is that we should celebrate our bodies. Unfortunately, that seems to mean “in whatever fashion you want, sinful or not.” And that leads us back to her lingerie photo shoot. The ELCA seminarian writes: “I felt my black lacy, cheeky shorts rub against my skin underneath my jeans as I sat on that futon and talked with the designer and the photographer about being a faith leader. Then I took off my t-shirt and took some photos in my bra, feeling free and brave, knowing that if anyone found this scandalous, at least I was in good company with my Scandalous, Incarnate God.” (read here) Elle's blog has been the subject of some conversations with a number of ELCA leaders on Twitter recently. Here are some of the more shocking answers to questions posted by ELCA Deacon Tara L Ulrich, that were inspired by Elle Dowd's blog (notice that Elle retweeted each one):  ELCA Rev. Dr. Joelle Colville-Hanson, Director for Evangelical Mission for the Northeastern Iowa Synod.  ELCA Rev. Jason P. Chesnut  ELCA Rev. Priscilla N. Paris-Austin (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
Some liberal pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America did not like a recent post in which I wrote about the false teachings I encountered at a United Church of Christ worship service. They basically said that I'm too critical and I need to "judge not." I think "Judge not" is the most misquoted verse in the Bible. Below is my response to them. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org The same Jesus who said "Judge not" said "...judge with righteous judgement (John 7:24)" and "Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? (Luke 12:57)." Both are true. I believe "judge not" means we are not to see ourselves as superior to anyone, and "judge with righteous judgement" means we are, of course, to distinguish between right and wrong. We can't get away from that nor should we. In fact, people who say "Judge not" are making a judgement about those they deem judgmental. Jesus tells us we will know false prophets by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20), so we must be discerning (I John 4:1). Here is another example of the Scripturally ignorant, false teaching pastors the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has placed in ELCA congregations. Karen K. Torrez is a pastor in the ELCA. She posted this cartoon on her Facebook page.  There is a lot wrong with the cartoon the ELCA pastor posted. Those reading it could deduct false doctrines: - all of the "gods" of other religions are equal to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. - belief in Christ is not necessary. - all religious teachings are the same. - all religions point to the same god. - "love" is what is most important. - Mohammad was about "love." ...To name a few. The ELCA allows pastors who believe this evil garbage to pastor in their denomination. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him in your house and do not give him a greeting: for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deed. - 2 John 9-11 This is the second in a series of blogs Exposing the ELCA will post sharing findings from Pew Research Center. This Pew Research Center survey questioned "Lutherans in the Mainline Tradition." I believe the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is the only Lutheran denomination considered to be in the mainline tradition. There are two charts below. Firstly, people in the ELCA were asked "who they look to...most for guidance on right and wrong."  When almost 75% of ELCA members do not identify their religion, or better said "God's Word," as the source for knowing right and wrong, it is obvious that their denomination has failed them. That failure is because the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has been teaching against the truth of Scripture in word and deed since its inception. (see the Pew Research poll here) In the second chart posted here, people in the ELCA were asked about their belief in absolute standards for right and wrong.  (see here)
Again we see the lack of Biblical literacy, knowledge and reverance of ELCA members, due, for the most part, to a low regard for Scripture and its truth being preached in their ELCA congregations. Seventy percent of those surveyed said that "right or wrong depends on the situation." No wonder the ELCA supports the killing of unborn children, celebrates homosexuality, ordains transsexuals, makes antisemitic policies, allows goddess worship, rewrites the Bible to their way of thinking and does not instruct their missionaries to lead people to Christ. Many of the people and pastors do not know the Bible, have decided it has little authority in their lives or have turned their backs on it. It's time to find a Bible-believing church to attend, my friends. |
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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