What You Need to Know About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The ELCA Vault - Room 11

The ELCA Vault is a collection of articles, blogs, and documents related to issues with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Historic Grace Lutheran Church, Eau Claire, Faces Legal Assault by Former Pastor

. . . If motives are important in sorting out facts and lies, right and wrong, whether in the courts of law or the “court of public opinion” it is no wonder why so many in Eau Claire Wisconsin and across the country see the major suit against Grace Lutheran as a desperate money and power grab by a denomination and its leaders. . .

Hijacked ELCA Wants to Play Hardball

. . .the signs increase daily that instead of repenting for its many departures from the historic Christian faith and the authority of God's Word, the Bible, that the leadership who have hijacked the body intend to pursue their agenda, moving the ELCA ever further away from the cornerstone Lutheran confessional principles, "Grace alone. Faith alone. Word alone.". . .

CPE, Redux

. . . At what point should one actively promote schism with appeals to conscience, revealed truth, etc? Ever? At what point does one submit to what one believes to be false teaching for the sake of unity/community? Ever?. . .

Ash Wednesday Vigil Eve at the ELCA

Ash Wednesday is less than 48 hours away. You would think that this would be big news on the ELCA website. You would think Ash Wednesday would dominate, or at least be mentioned, on the homepage. . .You would be thinking wrong! . . .

The Raheb-Herzog Affair

. . .they included the Lutheran Bishop Mark Hansen, another long-time patron of Raheb. The virtues that they ascribed to Raheb, however, had nothing to do with peacemaking; they also misspelt the award as the "Medienpries." They claimed to represent fifteen million Christians, but in fact many of their church members detest their Palestinian bias. . .

Fear and Envy

. . .Envious of the peace and tranquility of the State of Israel, the leaders of the ELCA advocate for the sworn enemies of Christians and Jews alike, the Arab State of Palestine. They encourage the terrorist organization Hamas, decrying Israel as a villain when they attempt to build housing communities on Israeli land. . .

May We Learn to Blush Again

. . .at the risk of the immortal souls of those who listen to us for a Word from God, we in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have recently arrogantly arrogated to ourselves the power to tell some that it's OK to do what their sinful orientation tells them to do. . .

Should Church-Affliated Institutions Repudiate Christ, the Bible, and the Truth About Sin, Repentance, Faith, and Grace?

. . .Does this example of political correctness and heedlessness of Scripture's teachings cause any ELCA member to think twice about support ELCA-related colleges and universities in any way? . . .

Willfully Ignorant

. . .Apparently these new things that God is saying advise the enlightened leaders of these apostate churches to lift up the longings of a depraved humanity as good in His sight. These religious elites believe that God is telling them “Nevermind”. . .

Plaintiffs Vie to Block Disaffiliation Vote at Grace Lutheran, Eau Claire

Grace Lutheran is on the front lines of the national discourse on religious liberty. . .

Grace Foundation, Eau Claire, is Pulled into Grace Lutheran Church Lawsuit

In another stunning turn of events, Catholic attorney Drew Ryberg who vowed to “take back what belongs to the ELCA” has filed a motion on behalf of Amazing Grace and by proxy Bishop Duane Pederson’s Northwest Wisconsin Synod to prevent Grace Foundation from holding its annual meeting. . .

Three Questions…Three Answers

. . .Jesus affirms God’s model for sexual relationships between males and females in Genesis, yet nowhere in Scripture is there affirmation for same gendered sexual relationships. Rather, through Scripture God declares such relationships sinful. Understanding this, current ELCA policy according to the social statement “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust” places human knowledge and experience ahead of biblical teaching, stating that the biblical authors did not have sufficient understanding of human sexual orientation. . .

One Little Thing

. . .Our lessons for each week, which are largely taken from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), are printed on bulletin inserts published by the ELCA Publishing House, Augsburg Fortress. The inserts are called Celebrate. On the inserts, each of the lessons is preceded by brief explanations. Those explanations, which are meant to be read during worship just before each of the lessons is read, are designed to give context to the Bible passages. . .

ELCA Needs Some Remedial Help from TEC

It seems the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the mainstream Lutheran body that entered some sort of joint recognition agreement with the Epicocpal Church (TEC), did not pick up the many legal traps made popular by their Anglican bedfellows. Although the ELCA has begun to follow the TEC on its road to apostasy, their Anglican friends apparently forgot to mention they should first legally bind everyone to the denomination and then you forsake Christ! Those silly Lutherans went and started to change everything when their congregations were able to just walk away!! What amateurs these Lutheran apostates are. . .

H8ers

. . .Another article took a theological cheap shot at the Tea Party and people who go to Christian music festivals saying they are legalistic and judgmental. . .

The Ant and the Grasshopper

. . .Bishop Mark Hansen leads his merry band of grasshoppers, choosing to advocate for those wanting the affirmation of their sinful lives rather than the daunting task of denying themselves and turning their lives over to the Lord. . .

The poor you shall always have ... to use for political gain

. . .The ELCA and other politically-minded denominations are quite willing to regard the poor as a kind of political cash cow to be invoked and used at will. . .

Will You Stand Up or Just Watch?

. . .The question before laypeople in the ELCA is simple: Will you accept these false teachings and ignore your duties as priests of God, or will you lay claim to your God-given role and trust in Christ alone? . . .

Impressions of LutheranCORE Convocation (from 2009)

. . .I was pleased to see not only eight former ELCA bishops present and committed to LutheranCORE's renewal aims, including my former bishop. . .

Follow the Money

. . .perhaps we should be glad that the ELCA budget for missionaries has been slashed. If the missionaries, like the one my congregation supported for eight years, believe that there are many paths to heaven and that there is no hell, then perhaps it is best that they not preach a false gospel to the world. . .

Theological Reflection vs. Theological Defection

. . .Who could have imagined that our ELCA would actually engage in a blasphemous attempt to worship such as the Rite of Reception held on July 25, 2010 in San Francisco? Even the thought of ELCA bishops attending a service which includes a prayer to the goddess Sophia, or our mother whose “wisdom unfolds from deep with us” leaves me utterly dismayed…no, angry. . .

Where Does “Mutual Respect” Stand?

The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a statement on human sexuality which acknowledged four different opinions the ELCA held “with conviction and integrity,”. . .Three recent announcements cast into question just how seriously the ELCA is officially holding to the balance among these four convictions. . .

29 Days of Persecution

. . .another month of silence from America’s Christian churches. My own denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America, takes positions on all sorts of issues (invariably liberal ones), but I can find nothing on the ELCA web site relating to persecution of Christians. On the other hand, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict features rather prominently. . .