About the ELCA

The ELCA Vault - Room Eight

The ELCA Vault is a collection of articles, blogs, and documents related to issues with the ELCA.

_Core Connection Jan. 2012 - Lutheran CORE newsletter

See the article - One Congregation’s Journey: Part Two on page 5.

_Bite the Hand

. . .if the ELCA loses its way, the buck stops with the presiding bishop, since the responsibility to “keep the ship afloat” ultimately rests with that office. . .

_ELCA Seminaries in Crisis

. . .There has long been talk as to whether this church, with only 4.2 million members and 10,000 congregations, needs seven seminaries. . .

LETTER: Watch for teachers in church

. . .The Apostle Paul taught that it was false teachers who cause division within the Church. So his wisdom is being confirmed today by the breakup of the ELCA that is directly caused by those false teachers who deny sin. . .

__Spoiled Rotten

. . .By falling into the trap set by the evil one and placing human desires before our God’s law, the leaders of the ELCA sows to please the sinful nature, putting their membership at risk. . .

Shrine to Mass Murderer 'Che' Guevara found in College's Christ Chapel

. . .So I was shocked when I received a tip-off that there was a shrine set-up in Christ Chapel at Gustavus Adolphus College that featured this terrorist. . .

_Obedience of Faith

. . .Deceiving their membership by adopting the doctrine of bound conscience, the leadership of the ELCA allows their members to place themselves in authority of God Himself. . .

_No Apologies

. . .Let's think about that for a minute: Someone sends you a letter you didn't ask to receive, and in the process gives away critical information that could cost you money and all sorts of other trouble. And, of yeah, they were asking you for money. . .

__Dear leaders

. . .I don't remember giving Rostered Leader Hanson permission to do political lobbying for me. . .

_Upside Down

. . .Preach the Gospel to all who will listen so that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, they will come to understand His Truth and realize that the ELCA is preaching a false gospel. Pray unceasingly for those trapped by the false teaching of the ELCA to have their hearts and minds opened to the Truth. . .

Lutheran leader: Rift about Bible

. . .The greatest risk to a Lutheran congregation is not that it will call a gay minister to serve it but “it may call a heterosexual who rejects a biblical world view. . .”

_Pastor David R. Barnhart Responds to Bishop Chilstrom's Letter to Roman Catholic Bishops of MN

I am writing in response to an open letter addressed to you by Bishop Herbert Chilstrom, a former bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in which he expressed his support for the homosexual lifestyle and for same-sex marriage. . .

_The Battle of Gettysburg

. . .I could not find a single quote from Holy Scripture in Hedges tirade, but he liberally quotes Camus and Havel. In his final paragraph Hedges equates his and his father's fights for racial equality, against war, and for gay rights with Christ's Resurrection. . .

_The Ten Suggestions

Well, we’ve certainly been busy here on Higgins Road these last few years. Disregarding Scripture, upholding everyone’s bound conscience, figuring out that Jesus really wasn’t quoted appropriately in that book of faith stories, debunking the truths myths of Christianity and trashing God’s chosen people, Israel. . .

Core Values

. . .All sorts of church festivals and commemorations pass without a word from our Bishop, but he never misses the two biggest festivals of the church year: Earth Day and World AIDS Day. I mean, why would a bishop comment on St. Andrew's Day when there are secular causes that need to be touted? . .

Is This Where the Lutheran Church is Heading?

. . .much of LTQ is devoted to articulating what these "progressive Christians" do not believe in, which includes the miracle stories in the Bible, virgin birth (such "stories", according to Spong, are "a dime a dozen") and the divinity and physical resurrection of Christ. That is, LTQ dismisses all of the basic tenets of what I understand it means to be a Christian. . .

Good Cop, Bad Cop

. . .Bishop Hanson continually advocates for the things of the world and emphasizes their importance in trying to "fix" our broken world. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ gets no more than lip service in the mission of the ELCA. For certain, there are ELCA churches that do not buy what Hanson is selling and remain true to the Lord, but we all are known by the company we keep. . .

Martin Luther and the Need for Reformation Today!

. . .He would look at the legalistic system we have in selecting voting members to our synod and churchwide assemblies and ask why we have replaced attentiveness to God’s Word with a Pharisee-like insistence on quotas.
I’m also certain that Luther would look at the many ELCA bishops, pastors, and seminary professors who reject the Bible’s teachings on things like Jesus’ virgin birth, on Jesus’ miracles, on Jesus being truly God and truly human, and on Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead. . .

Old News

. . .Perhaps they should transfer to California Lutheran University (one of the 28 universities and colleges of the ELCA -- inside joke!). The Christian Century reports that an atheist group on that campus is being supported and fondly embraced by the administration who welcomes the diversity (I guess Jesus said to embrace diversity, not preach the gospel). . .

Uselful Idiot

. . .Who is Hanson obeying when he, as the presiding bishop of the ELCA, decides to rewrite Scripture to placate those that want their worldly desires affirmed by the church? As Satan works on our worldly desires to lead us to sin against our Lord, Hanson decides that these “new things” are from God, but those true to the word realize that this is exactly what the evil one wants us to believe. . .

We're Not Worthy

. . .Satan must be dancing with glee when hundreds of pastors sign documents lifting up sexual immorality and support for reproductive rights (abortion). When the leader of the ELCA, Mark Hanson, denounces God’s chosen, Israel, while lifting up Palestine, led by the terrorist organization Hamas, Satan must be so proud of his work. If we choose to sit by idly, many may be at risk of losing their very salvation. . .

Going Rogue

. . .I was not surprised by my brothers and sisters who said they were vilified and ostracized by other pastors for taking a confessional stance in their parishes and in the wider church. I was also not surprised at the underhanded tactics and interference from folks in high places that were used to influence congregational votes. . .

Wishful Thinking

. . .Another “new” concept that intrigues the leaders and scholars of the ELCA is that hell somehow no longer exists, or is at least irrelevant, apparently since hell is cited only 53 times in the Bible. This is just one more example of wishful thinking. . .

Plant a tree

I was reading a book recently by a Lutheran seminary president, who complained about sermons like "The Importance of Good Health" and "Why We Should Plant Trees." The kicker -- this book was written 140 years ago. . .

CONCORDIA Lutheran Mission: Intro and History (read their Mission History)

. . .the ELCA’s acceptance and espousal of many unbiblical doctrinal decisions in it’s short history of 20 years became unbearable: inclusive language and neo-feminist ideology, toleration of abortion on demand, a quota system, human experience and science as norms for God’s truth, ordination of women, ignoring the Decalogue and Gospel reductionism, the acceptance of the non-biblical doctrine of ‘apostolic succession’ for the ‘bishops’: but the root problem of all the previous was and still is the clear denial of Scriptural authority. . .