This was the start of not feeling welcome by the ELCA

1/5/2022

(The following is a letter written by a married couple to their ELCA church council. I have made a few edits to remove names and places)

On January 8, 2021, ELCA Bishop Elizabeth Eaton was one of several religious leaders who signed a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, members of Congress and the Cabinet calling for the removal of President Donald Trump from office following the events of January 6 in the Capitol. This letter was written two days following the events at the Capitol while causes of the events of January 6 were in the early stages of investigation.

The letter signed by Bishop Eaton stated, "In addition, we recognize the need to hold responsible not only those who invaded the Capitol, but also those who supported and/or promoted the President’s false claims about the election or made their own false accusations." We read this to state that the leader of the ELCA is now calling for repercussions for those with thoughts and beliefs that are not her own.

Our world is currently so very divided, and one place we want to feel at peace, loved, appreciated is in our church home. When we read this letter from Bishop Eaton, we immediately felt that due to our political beliefs we were no longer welcome in the church we called home. We must admit that since the covid pandemic started, our involvement with (our church) has waned. Some of it was due to covid, but much of our lack of involvement was due to our research beginning in January 2021 on the beliefs of the ELCA and our realization that our beliefs differed greatly from ELCA leadership.

Polls show that 75 to 80 percent of Republicans believe there was some fraud involved with the 2020 presidential elections. We fall within that group that questions whether fraud occurred in the election process in some states. While we accepted the results of the election, we do believe that there was some questionable election activity in multiple states that should be explored. We are not saying the fraud was absolute, but there was cause for investigation. According to the leader of the ELCA, we are outright wrong in our beliefs and there is no room for discussion.

Considering that at least 50 percent of (our state) are registered Republicans, and according to polls 75 percent of Republicans believe there was some fraudulent activity in the 2020 election, that would equate to a rough estimate of 40 percent of the church membership of the ELCA in (our state) that needs to be held responsible for the events of January 6 at the Capitol according to Bishop Eaton. We disagree.

This was the start of not feeling welcome by the ELCA, and the beginning of our research on what the ELCA currently stands for.

We moved to (this city) in 2012 and joined (this ELCA church) because it was the church at which (my wife's) father was a member and that her paternal ancestors had belonged to, though (my wife) had been raised as a Catholic and (I) as an American Baptist. We knew that (this church) was a member of the ELCA, but we didn’t do our research as to what the ELCA believed. We just believed that all Lutherans were essentially the same. The January 8, 2021 letter signed by Bishop Eaton led us to do further research.

Our research found a multitude of issues to which we disagree with ELCA leadership. Below we will highlight just a few of the issues with which we disagree.

Bishop Eaton stated in an interview that there may be a Hell but she thinks it is empty. We disagree and so do many Bible scholars. One Bible scholar notes that thirteen percent of the 1,850 versus in the New Testament that record the words of Jesus deal with the subject of eternal judgement and Hell. Believing humans can go to Heaven but not Hell is not representing the true words of Jesus. Matthew 7:13 You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to Hell is broad and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.

John 14:6 states that “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The 2019 Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment policy statement of the ELCA appears to be inconsistent with scripture in its universal approach to faith. The Bible states there is only one God, one faith, and one way to God the Father, and that is through his Son Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death on the cross.

The ELCA as an organization is pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel, demonstrated through letters from ELCA leadership to our government. We do not support this stance of the ELCA.

We are 100 percent pro-life and disagree with the ELCA’s stance that “abortion is an option only of last resort”. We were surprised to discover documentation that the ELCA supports Planned Parenthood. We believe that abortion is never an option and abortion is murder of a human created by God. The Bible teaches that the child in the womb is truly a human child who has a relationship with the Lord.

Psalm 139:13-15: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

These are just a few of the reasons we started questioning whether membership in an ELCA church was right for us. Then on November 19, 2021, Bishop Eaton released a pastoral message on the Rittenhouse acquittal stating, “When a child is allowed to become a vigilante without recourse, we are forced to confront the idols of our society: guns, violence and white supremacy.” She also stated, “Today’s acquittal is an injustice.”

Kyle Rittenhouse faced recourse through a government trial and judgement by a jury of his peers and he was found innocent. Kyle Rittenhouse’s guilt or innocence is not for Bishop Eaton to determine. There are many Bible versus about judgement including Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” We should accept the decision of the jury and leave any further judgement to the Lord.

Following much research, prayer and discussion, we have decided to withdraw our membership in the ELCA which means we need to withdraw our membership at (this church) and seek a local church that more closely fits our beliefs. We wanted you to know that our withdrawal of membership is not based on our local church family, but rather the work and beliefs of the leadership at the highest levels of the ELCA. We love and support our friends and neighbors who are members of the ELCA and will continue to support the work of (this church) at the local level through prayer.

13 Comments

rebecca

1/5/2022 06:44:17 pm

Welcome to the Ex group, My story also is that I didn't pay much attention to the elca at the top level either. A friend wanted me to attend her church and I did. After being voted to the church council, I received, and read, the Living Lutheran. Every month it was going downhill more. Eventually, my conscience simply could not remain having my name connected to the elca. The church insurance pays for abortions and I think, sex change operations.
(I bet there are cults with higher standards than some in elca.)
Our people were told if we agreed with the election being stolen, and said so, that they were not telling the truth. I think that means they were called liars!
There are fine churches who believe the Bible is inerrant, that immorality is not acceptable, and
abortion is murder. I am speaking plainly here, but it is past time to have been doing so.

Jenn link

1/6/2022 07:55:24 am

Thank you for posting this letter. I cannot agree more with the pints made by the writer. This is exactly why we chose to leave our local Lutheran church & are now in the process of establishing ourselves in a God-honoring, Biblically-based local church. Thank you again!

Born again

1/6/2022 10:19:43 am

The reason the ELCA bishop’s letter was penned so quickly was because it was likely penned before the so-called “insurrection.” ELCA is all part of the left wing Marxist phony narrative to tie anyone conservative to the “insurrection” and thus ruin their careers or put them in Soviet style gulags as many are now. This was largely a peaceful demonstration. The leftists conveniently forget about their antifa & blm thugs who injured and killed many, as well as caused millions, if not billions in damage across the country.

Didaskalos

1/7/2022 05:44:28 am

"Let God be true and every man a liar," the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3.

The malleable ELCA's hermeneutic is "Let the world's fluctuating opinions be true and God irrelevant."

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “It is a strange, strong expression; but it is none too strong. If God says one thing, and every man in the world says another, God is true, and all men are false. God speaks the truth, and cannot lie. God cannot change; his word, like himself, is immutable. We are to believe God’s truth if nobody else believes it. The general consensus of opinion is nothing to a Christian. He believes God’s word, and he thinks more of that than of the universal opinion of men.”

Didaskalos link

1/6/2022 11:04:17 am

Not one solitary ELCA bishop could justifiably express surprise when former members like the married couple in Dan's blog post express their disaffection for the ELCA's relentless politicking and Bible-flouting heresies and apostasies.

The ELCA leadership's express intent for decades has been to deceptively foist the world's unbiblical beliefs and practices on both its parishioners and its ever-shrinking remnant of confessional pastors.

** “. . .A former ELCA synod mission director wrote the following:
“Shortly after being called to that position I attended staff orientation at the ELCA headquarters with other new Mission Directors. We were told unequivocally that we were to start new congregations for gay and lesbian groups but to refrain from traditional church starts as there would be little if any financial support for traditional church groups. I was told directly by the then ELCA mission director it was the unspoken policy of the ELCA to NOT start traditional New churches or to provide any support for Rural Congregations because the money was to be directed to gay and lesbian church starts. . . .
“During one of my visits to the ELCA headquarters, the national mission director took me into a closet that held the congregations' responses to the first sexuality study of the ELCA. She said, and I quote, ‘we are going to ram this s____ down their (congregations') throat.’ . . .
“I and many faithful pastors suffered mightily at the hands of the ELCA. In fact nearly every faithful pastor I knew as Assistant to the Bishop suffers or has suffered as a result of ELCA pressure on their ministry to conform. In the ELCA almost anything is tolerated except not accepting their lgbt policy.”
-- http://lutherancore.website/2019/05/14/pithy-responses-to-cores-april-letter-to-the-director/

** Adam Clarke, 19th century British theologian and biblical scholar, foresaw ELCA political operatives in clerical collars:

“This is a striking feature of the city of London in the present day. The itch for news, which generally argues a worldly, shallow, or unsettled mind, is wonderfully prevalent: even ministers of the Gospel, negligent of their sacred function, are become in this sense Athenians [cf. Acts 17]; so that the book of God is neither read nor studied with half the avidity and spirit as a newspaper…It is no wonder if such become political preachers, and their sermons be no better than husks for swine. To such the hungry sheep look up, and are not fed.”

Another reader

1/6/2022 06:27:02 pm

I also certainly agree with the writer of this letter & the comments. There are many more people that could say the same thing, including ourselves, that either have left or will be leaving the ELCA church. Others will say I have been at my ELCA church so many years that I don't want to start over again some where else! Since money talks give your money to other organizations that do a much better job of helping people and quit supporting the agenda of Bishop Eaton & other bishops

born again

1/8/2022 09:05:25 am

It is quite gratifying to see the number of people turning against the ELCA. It was an eye-opener for me to marry into this stubborn group of German-heritage Lutherans. I think there is a lot of truth to the adage about stubborn Germans. They diligently read their Bibles, but also read their ELCA issued daily devotions that are full of lies and deception. They also follow their liberal news outlets like they were the Gospel, further distancing them from the true God. You can't reason with them at all. But I just pray that Jesus will come to them in their dreams and visions to lead them to the truth. I don't want to disparage Germans or Lutherans or do any stereotyping but my experience has been quite eye-opening at their closed-mindedness.

Brad

1/9/2022 09:42:13 pm

Wow, my wife and I could have written this. Lifelong elca Lutherans. That letter that our congregation decided to email to the whole congregation, was a gut punch after a flurry of smaller blows thru the previous 12 months. I called my pastor and said if I wanted msnbc talking points or other secular opinions I would stay home and watch the news. Pastor defended the letters! Switched to a Missouri synod church the following week and haven't looked back. I feel really sorry for the elca, I think they have wrecked a pretty good thing they had going.

Van

1/25/2022 08:49:01 pm

One other thing of note:

The petition that Bishop Eaton signed contains many falsehoods.

Including this one:

"This domestic terrorist attack resulted in at least five deaths, including a Capitol Police Officer"

A year later and nobody charged with domestic terrorism.

And the Capitol Police Officer wasn't killed. He died the next day due to natural causes.

So, about that false accusation thing...

Eli 7777

3/13/2022 12:00:34 pm

ELCA promotes everything contrary to the Word of God, the Bible, & is demonic with profanity, & vulgarity. Jehovah God established laws & standards in worship. Creating their own She God, while approving all that opposes Jehovah God through Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit is idolatry, promoting every evil work. Those who have had near death experiences, verify eternal damnation or Hell. The Biblical Book of Revelation declares no liars or whoremongers will enter into Heaven. Only those who have repented & changed, by receiving Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit will see Heaven. Sin is sin, & we must repent & seek Jehovah God through HIs Word. Altering God's Word & creating false gods contrary to the Bible is an abomination. It similar to devil worship, honoring all evil.

3/13/2022 12:18:15 pm

Jehovah God in the Bible said, He will bless those, who bless Israel. Mr. Trump stood with Israel & worked the Abrams Accord Peace Deal with Israel & Arab relations. On Jan. 6, Trump had text his supporters: no violence, no vandalism, that isn't who I am. Marxist BLM & ANTIFA were there, & FBI found Pipe bombs the day before, so why didn't they get back up forces? For 6 months, Socialist Democrats supported Marxist BLM riots. Maxine Waters had encouraged Dems to confront Republicans, & MN. rioters to get aggressive, while Harris & Omar helped raise bail for criminals involved. Biden had flipped Trump's policies & Biden favored Iran, who funded Hamas in Palestine to attack Israel in 2021. Trump sanctioned the Russian Nord Stream 2 oil line, that Biden approved in 2021. He ordered 500,000 barrels daily, supporting Russian attack with millions. Biden is CCP endorsed, & China gave millions to Biden's Center, & family. China has gained in 2,400 products, 150,000 U.S. farm acres & 140,000 TX energy acres waiting for Green Deal approval. These are threats to U.S. National Security. Same with transporting thousands of illegals & 80,000 Afghanis across the U.S. God's approval will be in our faith in Jesus Christ, HIs Son, through the knowledge of God's Word, the Bible, & Power of the Holy Spirit. Following a leader contrary to God's Word is following heresy,

1517

3/27/2022 10:26:51 pm

I appreciate the fortitude of that letter to the PC ELCA bishop.
The relativistic "social-justice ideology" has been swallowed whole-hog by mainland Protestant denominations for more-or-less a half century. Their congregations responded to this clarion call by stampeding --- right out the front door.
The ELCA is in a death spiral, and Bishop Eaton will someday have to rationalize her clear role in the demise, a truly shameful legacy!

Jane

1/3/2023 08:25:14 pm

My heart was filled with anger and disgust regarding the ELCA. Several years ago, I checked out the ELCA website. I knew that the ELCA congregation where I worshipped was becoming "out there". Reading about the direction of the church on the website confirmed my suspicions. I wanted to seek a Church where The Gospel, not politics and sexuality were vomited up most Sundays. The cool aid was not my flavor. I was very angry to put it mildly. I loved the music and liturgy of the Traditional Lutheran service. I decided to explore a Missouri Synod congregation. In the ELCA it was insinuated that the MS was "cult-like". I have not found that true at all in my experience. Both my husband and I have experienced love, caring, and wonderful sermons teaching the Bible as the word of God. Never have I heard any political agendas from the pulpit. God's word is lovingly taught and as a congregation I see God's spirit lived out by all "saints and sinners". I am eternally grateful that we made the decision to depart. I thank God that he put us in a church family that worships, loves, and serves Him above all.

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This was the start of not feeling welcome by the ELCA

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Dan Skogen

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