Exposed ELCA Social Media Blog - EXPOSING THE ELCA

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Has A Retired ELCA Pastor on its Board

7/14/2019

In this Tweet by Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (Ohio RCRC) we learn that retired Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) pastor Al Debelak is a clinic escort for Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio. A clinic escort is someone who walks with people going into a Planned Parenthood clinic.

We also learn that retired ELCA Rev. Debelak is a board member of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio. NARAL stands for National Abortion Rights Action League.

Up next is Pastor Al Debelak—a retired ELCA minister, clinic escort for @PPGreaterOH, and board member of @ProChoiceOH. #StopTheBans pic.twitter.com/63secIm7se
— Ohio RCRC (@OhioRCRC) March 26, 2019

Newly Elected Synod Bishop Using Foul Language

7/12/2019

See what newly elected ELCA bishop of the Metro D.C. Synod, Leila M. Ortiz, posted on her social media two months ago.

Shit happens! Are we gonna sit and dwell in the stench or are we gonna claim it fertilizer for our growth? pic.twitter.com/XkY5wtth2c
— Leila M. Ortiz (@La_Luthercostal) May 15, 2019

'Jesus Learned to be Such an Amazing Mother' Says ELCA Pastor

7/7/2019

ELCA pastor Clint Schnekloth said this on social media:

Sometimes about all one can do is shake their head.

Below are some additional Clint Schnekloth posts and you can read more about him here.

A 'Sex-Positive Gospel'

6/27/2019

Calvary Lutheran Church in Federal Way, WA is had a series of free forums under the banner "Silent No More: Sex, Gender & Identity in the Church." (See more about the speaker here)

One forum is titled "Sex, God, & the Conservative Church, Erasing Shame From Sexual Intimacy": A Sociological Account." The speaker is a therapist endorsing a "sex-positive Gospel."

The other forums are called "Seeing Beauty": A Person Account. (the speaker is active in LGBTQIA organizations) and "Hitler's Pink Victims": A Historical Account.

We invite you to our upcoming forum series, #SilentNoMore: Sex, Gender & Identity in the Church, featuring @danny_c_cortez, @uclsuplu, and @TinaSSellers! Feb. 17, 24, and March 3 at 3:00 PM in Calvary’s social hall. FREE and open to the public. @ELCA pic.twitter.com/Ci7ji62QDF
— Calvary ELCA (@calvary_elca) February 7, 2019

Metro D.C. Synod of the ELCA Posts Gay Pride Parade Pictures

6/25/2019

ELCA Pastor Says Conversion Therapy is Abuse

6/17/2019

Robert Neubert is an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor in Madison, WI. A few months ago, Rev. Neubert took to social media saying he is "deeply saddened at what the Christian Church, which I call home, has done and continues to do to make people in the LGBTQ community feel guilty for who God made them to be." He also said, "Conversion Therapy needs to be outlawed throughout our nation and classified as what it is...abuse." (See here and below)

God did not make people LGBTQ and it is an act of love to help people turn from the sin of homosexuality.

This is the state of our secular society and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

If you go to the linked post you can read the comments, which are interesting.

And below are some additional posts by ELCA pastor Robert Neubert.

Spotlight on an ELCA Seminary Student

6/11/2019

What kind of pastor is the ELCA producing? And what kind of person is seeking ordination in the ELCA? Good questions all ELCA churches should ask.

A person's social media account will often tell a lot about a person. Jacob Krueger is a student at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Wartburg Theological Seminary who is active on social media. Here is some of what he is saying on Twitter.

The greatest threat to the United Stated is the white, male, patriotic American. #dylannroof #etc
— Jacob Krueger (@JacobKrueger5) July 8, 2018

Lord, have mercy. https://t.co/JEcXz35r88
— Jacob Krueger (@JacobKrueger5) January 22, 2019

I hope the March for Life folks called for the end of the death penalty! Otherwise, they are all missing the point. #march4life
— Jacob Krueger (@JacobKrueger5) January 19, 2019

Me trying to look around Rickett’s bullshit. https://t.co/pOAWdsi98h
— Jacob Krueger (@JacobKrueger5) January 5, 2019

Christmas isn’t about the individual. It is about the community. Jesus, a refugee and non-white person, came into this world to liberate us from our sin sin of unjustly treating the refugee, our sin of killing those on death row, and many more. You should talk to your bishop
— Jacob Krueger (@JacobKrueger5) December 10, 2018

Enacting the travel ban not only denies new lives for refugees and immigrants, but denies the humanity and dignity of those very people. #NoTravelBan
— Jacob Krueger (@JacobKrueger5) June 27, 2018

Fuck this shit. Be kind to people. https://t.co/blaKj9B5e2
— Jacob Krueger (@JacobKrueger5) February 15, 2019

Know What Your ELCA Youth Director Teaches and Believes

6/4/2019

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has left the truth of Scripture and you have to wonder what that means in the local church. Here is what one ELCA youth director says about evangelical churches and Christians.

Why are people surprised about evangelical churches being homophobic? I’m a Youth Director in an ELCA Church & often times the 1st thing I wonder when I meet a Christian is if they‘re homophobic.(If you’re looking for a safe place, check out an ELCA RIC Church. It’s good stuff)
— Vanessa Steiger (@vsteiger94) January 17, 2019

Attacking America and Israel

5/25/2019

Elle Dowd is a student at the ELCA's Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. Two recent Facebook post by this student are posted below. The first contains a picture of Elle in or near Israel with a head covering and a closed fist up in the air. Part of her comments with this picture were:

"Our US tax dollars fund an occupation that is violently enforced, including the use of the same chemical weapons against the Palestinians that we choked on in St Louis during the uprising."

"Free Palestine.

From Ferguson to Palestine, occupation is a crime."

You should read the whole post because not only does it proclaim a lie, saying Israel occupies "Palestine," but she makes no mention of the violence, terror tunnels, arson, knifing, rockets attacks and pedestrians being hit by cars, perpetrated by Palestinians.

(See here)

The second Facebook post by ELCA Masters of Divinity student Elle Dowd equally contains falsehoods. She writes:

"...Michael Brown was sacrificed to the false god of white supremacy."

"...we sacrificed Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin and Felipe Alonzo-Gomez to the false gods of nationalism and security."

"...Christian counseling centers...torture lgbtqia+ children and call it 'reparative therapy,' leading to the death of countless children."

(See here)

Taking God's Name in Vain and Cussing By ELCA Pastors

5/21/2019

Below you will find Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastors breaking the 3rd commandment. You will also find them using coarse / vile language.

It's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth." - Matthew 15:11

Jesus H. Christ. Literally and figuratively. #Slatespeak https://t.co/lrhYkASVzv
— Tuhina Verma Rasche (@tvrasche) January 6, 2017

Wondering if the Pope is thinking, "Jesus H. Christ. How did it get to this?" https://t.co/KHp81n0XDX
— Tuhina Verma Rasche (@tvrasche) May 24, 2017

PSA: Yes, this pastor says fuck. Yes, this pastor even tells demonic ideas to go fuck themselves.

And sometimes even people spouting those demonic ideas at me.

I’m not ashamed, and I’m not hiding it. I’m just following Jesus.
— Lura Groen (@lura_groen) September 5, 2018

Yeah this is the real offensive language right here.

LGBTQ+ PEOPLE ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD AND THEIR IDENTITY IS NOT A “SINFUL ACT.”

You’re the one mocking God with this bullshit talk. #GTFOH. https://t.co/F8kjWgccBr
— Chesnuts Roasting On All The Fires (@crazypastor) December 19, 2018

@jim_milewski @ScotAlanJohnson @ClasicMthrGoose @ExposingtheELCA now you are just making shit up.
— Clint Schnekloth (@Schnekloth) January 8, 2016

Dear God, I am so immensely grateful and fuck you.

My heart hurts. So very much.
— Tuhina Verma Rasche (@tvrasche) May 4, 2019

Dan’s trolls reporting back to him.

The circle-jerk of shitty misogynistic theology will be starting in the evening. https://t.co/xUVyqmfhY9
— Chesnuts Roasting On All The Fires (@crazypastor) December 19, 2018

Dear God,

Please take my shit and make it fertilizer.

Amen.
— This holiday sweater is giving me a Verma Rasche (@tvrasche) January 3, 2019

@jim_milewski @ScotAlanJohnson @ClasicMthrGoose @ExposingtheELCA It's just a not so subtle way to be an asshole.
— Clint Schnekloth (@Schnekloth) January 8, 2016

Guy I blocked on FB still finds a way to spread his vile "Christian" shit on posts of common friends. And I have zero fucks to give anymore.
— Jason Chesnut (@crazypastor) June 21, 2017

Just because Bannon's out doesn't mean this clusterfuck behavior of an administration will end.
— Tuhina Verma Rasche (@tvrasche) August 18, 2017

Don't kid yourself that they wont pull the same misogynist bullshit hatchet job on her as well. https://t.co/Mvj4adl6xe
— JoelleColvilleHanson (@PastorJoelle) November 9, 2016

I realize every political group has its crazies, but this asshole is quite the special little rainbow. Evil and pathetic. https://t.co/XydYvC9qi2
— Go Big Rev (@ScotAlanJohnson) November 12, 2016

I forgot how good it feels to be productive when I feel like shit. #selfcare
— Korla Masters (@korlaporlapaz) November 12, 2016

That's so fucking terribly distressing https://t.co/WrfPXy79Vi
— Korla Masters (@korlaporlapaz) November 9, 2016

As usual, women are the ones who get shit done.
— Jason Chesnut (@crazypastor) January 21, 2017

as someone who works with college students, kids who are unprepared for the rigor of the college they enter frequently have their mental health go to shit. this is allllll about the parents. if you care about your kid, you want them to get into a school where they will succeed.
— MysticalRage (@rawlingseliza) March 12, 2019

Also I would not call myself a Lutheran if it weren’t the name of our denomination. Luther has some great ideas, was also an asshole. I’d rather proclaim grace than Luther.
— MysticalRage (@rawlingseliza) March 10, 2019

It is always too early in the morning for Falwell Jr ‘s bullshit.
— MysticalRage (@rawlingseliza) March 10, 2019

Me: Bullshit.
Voicetyping: b*******.

I'm being censored!
— Emily Hamilton (@unwieldykakapo) March 26, 2019

ELCA pastors Tuhina Verma Rasche, Jason Chesnut, Lura Groen, Rich Rentner, Clint Schnekloth, Joelle Colville Hanson, Scott Alan Johnson, Kyle Symanski, Elizabeth Rawlings, and Emily Hamilton. Karla Masters says she is an ELCA Pastoral Intern.

Interfaith Symposium

5/7/2019

Peace Lutheran Church in Coon Rapids, MN hosted a Interfaith Symposium. Peace Lutheran is an ELCA church.

See here.

ELCA Seminary Facebook Post Profiles Married Gay Student

4/30/2019

ELCA seminary, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), has taken to Facebook to shine a spotlight on some of their first-year seminary students. The below profile is of Phillip Potaczek, a Master of Divinity student. In the profile we learn Phillip is gay and has a husband.

God tells us in many places in scripture that homosexuality is a sin. We also know that God calls on us to repent of our sins. If you care about gay people you will lovingly tell them that.

Instead of encouraging repentance of homosexual relations, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America presents it as "good." People with same-sex attraction deserve to know the truth. They need to know that bondage to sin can separate them from God.

Popular ELCA Pastor Uses Christ's Name as a Cuss Word

4/25/2019

What kind of ELCA pastor uses God's name as a cuss word?

Answer: one that is so highly thought of by ELCA leadership that she was chosen to be a keynote speaker at the ELCA Youth Gathering last summer to speak to 31,000 teenagers.

I give you ELCA pastor Tuhina Verma Rasche. (read more about her here)

The shit that POC have to endure on not just a day-to-day basis, but a moment-to-moment basis.

Jesus H. Christ.
— Rasche-ly acting up in 2019 (@tvrasche) January 19, 2019

God damn transphobia.

God damn it.
— Rasche-ly acting up in 2019 (@tvrasche) January 22, 2019

ELCA Seminary Penalizes Students if they Use Gendered Names for God

4/17/2019

Ivy Gauvin is an ELCA pastor at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Bemus Point, New York. She writes that students were penalized if they used gendered names for God at her ELCA seminary.

See here.

ELCA College Pastor Wants A Vulva Blouse

4/10/2019

Rev. Elizabeth Rawlings is an ELCA campus pastor at the University of Washington. When seeing the shirt below pastor Rawlings tweeted "I would like a vulva version I can wear over my collar."

This says a lot of about the state of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

I would like a vulva version I can wear over my collar. https://t.co/qTA8rwk04q
— MysticalRage (@rawlingseliza) March 13, 2019

Radical Grand View University Professor

4/4/2019

Kevin Gannon, a professor of history at Grand View University (an ELCA college) and the director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, is a prolific Twitter user.

Professor "Gannon, who has more than 56,000 followers on Twitter, is known to have an active Twitter presence by Grand View University and receives the tacit support of the administration. Along with fellow faculty members, Gannon said, the university president's wife, Carole Henning, acknowledged her support." (see here)

A large amount of the Grand View professor's tweets seem to be pro-Democrat, pro-liberal and anti-Republican with some foul language tossed in. Among his many retweets are controversial congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Below are some of professor Kevin Gannon's twitter escapades beginning with a rather juvenile and ugly attack on conservative commentator and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza:

So when someone like Dinesh D'Souza tries to own me by saying I work at a university "no one has heard of," what he's really doing (besides showing his entire ass to the internet) is disparaging my colleagues and my students. And I will not let that pass uncontested. /15
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 1, 2019

You may have a Dartmouth degree, but you've sold out everything you learned to be a grifter and a huckster. You want so badly to be seen as an intellectual but you're just a fraud. You know it, too. All you have left is trolling. And you're not even good at that.
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) February 28, 2019

This is all about the principal and not one bit about student success. Performative bad-assness doesn't make anything better.
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 3, 2019

"We can't afford Medicare for all" https://t.co/jHFwXjBLrY
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 3, 2019

The Grand View University professor recently wrote that "the American Right Wing is gleefully and willingly complicit in an epidemic sexual crimes and child molestation." Continue reading while you ask, "Do I want him teaching my young adult children?"

From attacking Title IX to Trump to Jim Jordan to ICE, the American Right Wing is gleefully and willingly complicit in an epidemic sexual crimes and child molestation. https://t.co/lfiefY59iA
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) February 27, 2019

Pro-white-fetuses
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) February 27, 2019

You assholes can't censure Steve King but you're gonna do this, huh? https://t.co/yaG4a7V5AU
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 5, 2019

OF all the dumbass things he does, the literal flag-humping is what makes me cringe perhaps the most https://t.co/2Yowp7sxrx
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 4, 2019

See Professor Gannon's twitter page here.

Presiding Bishop of the ELCA is Confused In More Ways Than One

3/31/2019

ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton tweeted:

I am trying to understand the president’s decision to cut aid to Guatemala El Salvador Honduras. The rich and the governments of these countries will not bear the brunt, the poor who are leaving to seek asylum will.
— Bishop Eaton (@ELCABishopEaton) March 31, 2019

So the poor that are LEAVING Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras seeking asylum in the United States will be hurt by President Trump's decision to cut aid to those countries?

An ELCA Church's Syncretism and its Politically Obsessed Pastor

3/26/2019

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.

(See here)

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

ELCA Bishop Hazelwood's Constant Political Bashing

3/18/2019

Jim Hazelwood is the bishop of the ELCA's New England Synod. He uses his Twitter account mostly to spew his politics and anger at President Trump. The following is just a small sample of his tweets over the last few months.

I think there is a healthy debate that can happen over @AOC 70% tax proposal, but Billionaires pushing back on it should just shut up because you look so obviously defensive. The self-interest is showing, just a tad :)
— Jim Hazelwood (@bikerhazelwood) January 29, 2019

Did the President clear that speech with his Advisors, Hannity, Putin, Colter and Limbaugh?
— Jim Hazelwood (@bikerhazelwood) January 25, 2019

Can we just have the 2020 election now and end this madness?
— Jim Hazelwood (@bikerhazelwood) January 25, 2019

8 GOP Senators failed to keep Sanctions on Russia after the Trump administration leaned on them. Trump wanted to help this Russian oligarch. Come on People, how obvious does this have to get? https://t.co/ZtooqGFX7v
— Jim Hazelwood (@bikerhazelwood) January 22, 2019

On the day of the Holy Innocents, the modern day Herod offers no regret or apology for the deaths of children in the care of the Department of Homeland Security. We are a cruel and viscous culture now. Lament Lament Lament.
— Jim Hazelwood (@bikerhazelwood) December 30, 2018

pic.twitter.com/iyUH4ruSKf
— Jim Hazelwood (@bikerhazelwood) December 26, 2018

The dumbest administration ever https://t.co/xyal2Ed65f
— Jim Hazelwood (@bikerhazelwood) December 24, 2018

ELCA Transgender Pastor Featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine

3/12/2019

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America transgender pastor Dr. Megan Rohrer was featured in an article and video by Cosmopolitan. (See video below. The video and article can be seen here)

Rev. Rohrer is the first transgender ordained in the ELCA and the ordination took place at a goddess worshiping ELCA church in San Francisco, known as herchurch.