An ELCA Church's Syncretism and its Politically Obsessed Pastor

Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Rockford, Illinois, is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is located 75 miles away from ELCA headquarters in Chicago. 

​If you attend Emmanuel Lutheran Church you should know that they are "embracing a broader view of Jesus’ life and teachings as a path of transformation for our own individual spiritual journeys, our ReFresh service draws upon readings from the Bible and other sacred texts, poetry, dance, and song."

On Emmanuel Lutheran's website homepage they say "We are open to the uniqueness of each person's story and are about helping you discover your gifts and your calling. We seek to become compassionate servants of God, reaching out through service to heal and inspire Rockford and the world. We learn from our own Christian tradition as well as from other cultures and religions." (see here)

Mixing religions is called syncretism. This goes against God's Word. (See ​Deuteronomy 4:2 and ​Revelation 22:18-19.) That is what Emmanuel Lutheran in Rockford looks to be doing.

​Below is how this ELCA church describes a couple of their services (or see here). 

(See here) 

This same ELCA church recently hosted a Sufi Meditation Gathering, (see below) which is Islamic. 

This is a video by Emmanuel Lutheran Church of church members saying what they like about the church. One young person interviewed said “I like how it accepts most religions and sexualities…It gives people a chance to just like chill without being like told, like if they are not a certain religion they can not go up for communion. It’s really accepting.”

Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Rockford, Illinois, describes itself on its home page as "PROGRESSIVE.  INCLUSIVE.  CREATIVE." (see here) Below is their LGBTQA Support information. 
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(See here)
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​Robert Franek is the interim pastor at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. ​(See below)

ELCA pastor Franek is very passionate about politics, and he loves to share his perspectives. ​In one of his articles he wrote, "Currently one party, as it struggles with messaging and infighting, is fighting for the soul of our democracy. The other is a dumpster fire gas lighting the nation and enabling a president who poses a clear and present danger to our national security, civil rights, and planetary health." (Read here)

​On Rev. Franek's Twitter account he made 143 tweets, retweets and replies in a 24-hour period. (11/1/18 2:55 p.m. to 11/2/18 2:55 p.m.) And he did not tweet that in one sitting. The tweets took place in at least 21 different time blocks throughout the 24-hour period.  I'd call that obsessive.  

Below is some of what Rev. Franek has written or shared:

The Health 202: Three states to vote on measures to limit abortion rights in the midterms https://t.co/MnWm2tz5P8 pic.twitter.com/5EIjLncHlW

— Robert Franek (@robertfranek) November 2, 2018

Trump Has Destroyed the GOP Coalition With His White Nationalism https://t.co/zUA5tpvtTB pic.twitter.com/vSzXzmanON

— Robert Franek (@robertfranek) November 2, 2018

Trump Has Told 6,420 Lies Since Becoming President https://t.co/pS2rlL9PEh pic.twitter.com/jxeXQbIHmf

— Robert Franek (@robertfranek) November 2, 2018

Mob boss law and order. This fear mongering and inhumanity has to be stopped. VOTE BLUE! https://t.co/cMgvfimJiu

— Robert Franek (@robertfranek) November 2, 2018