Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The ELCA Inquisition

The leadership of the ELCA has been driven to reinvent Scripture and to reconstruct traditional Lutheran doctrine to mirror current secular ideology in their misguided attempt to modernize the Word to draw in a more diverse membership. The new doctrine of bound conscience, adopted just one year ago, has already been redefined to apply to only those that “toe the line” with the ELCA’s new and improved interpretation of Scripture. As their progressive scholars bend, staple and mutilate Scripture to advance their worldly desires, the leadership has reached back into the past. It seems that this wayward denomination, so enamored with becoming the modern and accepting end all to a new form of Lutheranism, has harkened back to the Dark Ages, and has re-established the “Inquisition”. This new hard line approach has many ELCA pastors afraid to even discuss this false gospel promoted by the leadership of the ELCA with their respective congregations. ELCA pastors that adhere to and proclaim the Scripture as God’s Word and infer in any way that the ELCA’s new doctrine is contrary to our Lord’s intent, are facing discipline, including the threat of expulsion and loss of their standing with the church.

As more congregations vote to sever ties with the ELCA, more are challenged by the Synod Bishops on the procedures and standards used when conducting those votes. The ELCA leadership is making more attempts to confiscate the properties of those congregations voting to leave. Grants made years ago to congregations are being required to be repaid. The ELCA constitution rules have been changed, preventing congregations from amending their congregational constitutions without instituting all the new policies on human sexuality and pastoral standards. Congregations will be expected to honor and are required to report to the ELCA on the progress of their implementation of these new standards. While the leaders tout the ELCA as so very accepting, tolerant, and welcoming to everyone, they are nothing of the sort to those that remain true to God’s Word.

On July 25, 2010 seven gay and lesbian pastors, including the first transgendered Lutheran pastor in the US were ordained, officiated by, not one, but three ELCA Bishops. In this service, the Lord’s Prayer took on a completely new form. Reported in the August 2010 Lutheran Core Newsletter, the new Lord’s Prayer was recited publicly in the following manner, “Our Mother who is within us, we celebrate your many names, your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us. Each day you give us what we need. You remind us of our limits and we let go. You support us in our power and we act in courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen.” Brothers and sisters, this is not the prayer that our Lord taught His Disciples and not what you were taught in Sunday School and confirmation classes. Any church that promotes this type of reshaping of the faith that our Lord calls upon us, is not following our Lord’s command. By becoming the central emphasis in this perverted version of the Lord’s Prayer, man has indeed placed himself as god and relegated our Lord to a secondary role. When we place ourselves above our Lord, we break His First Commandment to us and, in fact, worship ourselves, our identities, and our accomplishments.

This progressive minority that has hijacked our faith from within the ELCA must be defeated. It has been obvious that the leadership of the ELCA has been on a deliberate course to rewrite Scripture and force upon their membership their vision of the perfect religion. Unfortunately this new version places man and his opinion on a higher plane than God. This is not something that has happened overnight. The leadership of the ELCA has been very cunning and calculated in this over two decade’s long crusade to replace God’s Word with a more modern and all accepting new religion. As with the radical Islamists, the leadership has been very patient, waiting for just the right time to foist this false gospel upon its membership. Those that have been compelled to dwell in the Word are finally realizing what has transpired within the ELCA. Romans 8:9, “You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but are in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” For those that belong to Christ, the time is now to act and leave this misguided denomination behind, awash in their heretical teachings. Pray for those trapped, unaware of the deception within the ELCA and those that choose to remain out of the misguided notion of not breaking the unity of the church. We are united in Christ, not in the church, and there is far too little emphasis on Christ in the ELCA. Pray that those pastors that are afraid are inspired and given courage by the Holy Spirit to speak out and inform their congregations so that their eyes may be opened to see how the leaders of the ELCA have betrayed their faith. Pray that somehow the leadership of the ELCA will return to God’s Word and abandon this ill-advised assault on Scripture.  Do not forget our brothers and sisters that remain in the ELCA and continue to reach out to them in Christian love, continually praying for their deliverance from the false gospel perpetrated by the leadership of the ELCA.

9 comments:

  1. Thank you for your excellent post!

    In addition to ELCA members who are unaware of what has happened, I believe there is another group which knows all about it and are deeply upset by this turning away from the Gospel. However they have chosen to stay in the ELCA while doing nothing about it. They have convinced themselves that they can go on worshipping as before, and that the apostasy of the ELCA will never appear on their doorsteps to confront them with a stark, unpleasant choice.

    It is true that the evil the ELCA is working may not come to their congregations for a long time. On the other hand, it may also come knocking tomorrow. The one thing for certain is that it will come.

    And when it comes, it will almost certainly not be something dramatic and unmistakable, which might cause a rebellion. Likely it will be a series of seemly tiny compromises. You know the sort: this new inclusive worship is important to make everyone feel welcome...it's really not our business who the pastor sleeps with, so long as he is in love and it is a stable long-term mutually loving relationship...we don't want to be seen as judgmental...don't worry it's not as important as people in the past unfortunately believed...it's possible that God just might be in every single person no matter their faith...many important religions believe that we are in fact God....love is all that matters.... As C.S. Lewis noted in The Screwtape Letters, "...the safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."

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  2. Perhaps the saddest part of your post is that you are not alone in your fight against this apostasy. I am not in the ELCA and yet I see hints and shadows of many of the same distortions about which you have written.

    The progress is remarkably subtle...and effective. Often it begins with a "watering-down" of the Message so as to appeal to the masses and become more "Seeker Friendly". The addition of 'Entertainment' as a goal of worship eventually replaces any opportunity for the Holy Spirit to do a work. Keeping a schedule is held in higher regard than capturing the hearts of God's people.

    Next comes the more progressive terminology - indiscretions rather than sin, social justice rather than Biblical justice. Finally there is the replacement of God's Word with that of man's word.

    Remember, though, Elijah thought he stood alone - even after the great victory on Mt. Carmel and God reassured him that there were thousands who had not yet bowed a knee to Baal(I Kings 18 & 19).
    Keep the faith and keep blogging!

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  3. Would you please expand and explain what you've said:

    "The ELCA constitution rules have been changed, preventing congregations from amending their congregational constitutions without instituting all the new policies on human sexuality and pastoral standards. Congregations will be expected to honor and are required to report to the ELCA on the progress of their implementation of these new standards."

    I haven't heard anything about this. My congregation would very much like to know more information.

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  4. This spring the ELCA council amended the model constitution to incorporate all of the changes adopted at the 2009 ELCA Church Wide Assembly. The new model constitution is required to be used in any revised congregational constitution. You can however, modify by-laws without Synod approval and it only requires one congregational vote to do so. In addition all congregations of the ELCA are to report to the Synod office by 2012 outlining the progress of implemention and actions of those new standards adopted at the CWA.

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  5. Here is article 15 from the implementation of the Human Sexuality statement found at the following link, http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Social-Statements/JTF-Human-Sexuality.aspx#resolutions

    To call upon Church in Society and other appropriate churchwide units to oversee a process of implementation and accountability for this social statement and to report on implementation to the Church Council in early 2012.

    Copyright © 2009 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
    Produced by the Church in Society program unit, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
    Permission is granted to reproduce this document as needed, providing each copy displays the copyright as printed above.

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  6. I neglected to post article 14 of the implementation statement. This is particularly troubling because it also requires schools to carry out the substance of the policies.

    To call upon all congregations, synods, early childhood education centers, elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, seminaries, campus ministries, outdoor ministries, social ministry organizations, public policy advocacy ministries, and all church-wide units to carry out the substance and spirit of this statement; and

    To call upon Church in Society and other appropriate churchwide units to oversee a process of implementation and accountability for this social statement and to report on implementation to the Church Council in early 2012.



    Copyright © 2009 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
    Produced by the Church in Society program unit, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
    Permission is granted to reproduce this document as needed, providing each copy displays the copyright as printed above.

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  7. I'd be interested in where you received the informationin this sentence: "The ELCA constitution rules have been changed, preventing congregations from amending their congregational constitutions without instituting all the new policies on human sexuality and pastoral standards." We are doing a study of the ELCA and this information would be pertinent.

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  8. Our congregation approved our amended constitution at our annual meeting in January. We attended the Lutheran CORE convocation in 2009 and it was discussed that the ELCA may enforce the new standards approved at their 2009 Church Wide Assembly. Any ELCA congregational amendments to their constitutions are required to incorporate the entire asterisked portion of the ELCA model constitution. Our constitution followed CORE's recommendations to state that our congregation would adhere to the 1990 standards on human sexuality. The ELCA will no longer allow this to be included in any amendments.
    From the ELCA model constitution;

    > Required provisions: Sections of this constitution marked by an asterisk [*] are required when a congregation amends its governing documents. These sections must be used without alteration or amendment of the text in any manner (neither additions nor deletions). This is in keeping with provision 9.52. in the Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This provision stipulates that when a congregation of this church “wishes to amend any provision of its governing documents, the governing documents of that congregation shall be so amended to conform to 9.25.b.” in the churchwide constitution. The provisions herein marked by an asterisk are those that are indicated as required in ELCA constitutional provision 9.25.b.

    From the 2010 Ministry Standards, Visions and Expectations of rostered clergy;

    This church acknowledges that its members hold various convictions about lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships. Nonetheless, this church has committed itself to finding ways to allow congregations that choose to do so to recognize and support lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships and to hold the partners publicly accountable for the relationship. It has committed itself to finding a way for people in such publicly accountable, lifelong monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders of this church. It also has committed itself to make provision in its policies to recognize the conviction of members who believe that this church should not call or roster people in such relationships.4 The ordained minister is expected to respect the people who hold these various convictions.

    Where this standard applies to the model constitution;

    *C9.02. Only a member of the clergy roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America or a candidate for the roster of ordained ministers who has been recommended for the congregation by the synodical bishop may be called as a pastor of this congregation.

    The Ministry policy prior to April of 2010 included the 1990 standards requiring any gay or lesbian pastor on the ELCA roster to be celibate. That no longer pertains to the new ministry standards and as such will not allow any congregation to amend their constitution to include the 1990 standards. Because we added the amendment prior to the adoption of the new ministry standards, our amendment was allowed. So any congregation wishing to invoke their bound conscience and amend their constitution to incorporate the 1990 standards, will no longer be allowed to do so.

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  9. I know firsthand what you are describing here, as charges have been filed against me by 10 other "pastors" in my synod, for conduct unbecoming an ELCA pastor, b/c I have been criticizing the ELCA and the things they are doing and teaching. And even after being cleared by the synod's "consultation committee," the charges will now be heard by the synod council.

    So, pray in these trying days, as they start taking a harder-line on these issues

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