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FUTURECHURCH / Truth Behind the Mask</font size="5"> by David J. Webster,M. Div.,
St. Peter: "There were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be among you lying teachers, who shall bring in sects of perdition, and deny the Lord who bought them and many shall follow their ways. . . they shall with feigned [false and "reshaped"] words make merchandise of you. (I Peter 2:1- 3)"
FUTURECHURCH AND ITS INFLUENCE:FutureChurch was founded in Cleveland in 1990 and boasts a membership of 5,000 parish based members, one third or 1,600 of whom are from the Cleveland Diocese. Their membership consists of nuns and ex-nuns and professional people many of whom occupy middle management positions in our Diocesan office and in places of influence in our parishes as teachers and in retreat centers. FutureChurch is only one of a whole network of organizations bent on "reforming" the Church with notions and heresies that sprang out of the social rebellion and moral catastrophe of the '60's in which this generation was formed. The very same agenda used by radicals that destroyed so many of our seminaries from the '60's by their heretical doctrines of moral permissiveness, which has now finally come to light, and theological dissent is the same one that continues even to this day in FutureChurch and Call to Action. Call to Action, out of Chicago, claims FutureChurch as a regional unit of theirs and their agenda is one in the same. The present shortage of priests (though falsely exaggerated), the cataclysmic collapse of the religious orders representing an entire generation lost to the faith was the price we have paid for our toleration of heresy and moral laxity in Catholic universities and seminaries.Many have been deceived and taken in by the friendly, warm, caring, charismatic "spiritual" mask so typical of every successful cult from Jim Jones to David Koresh. We might claim everyone has a right to believe what he wishes, but we cannot deny that we have a moral obligation to be honest and truthful about what we believe. To deceptively call ourselves "Catholics in good standing" when we repudiate the Catholic faith and work to overthrow the ecclesiastical structure of the Church is morally reprehensible and intolerable. Would you call anyone an American who was actively working to overthrow our Constitutional Republic and establish a totally new form of Government? You would call him a subversive and a revolutionary. If they engaged in harming the innocent and our children as these subverters have done in poisoning and killing the souls of those they have mis-taught in our schools and PSR programs, you would call them terrorists. To add bitter insult to such injury, many who are promoting this anti-Catholic agenda within the Church are being financially supported by the contributions of faithful loyal Catholics.
THE CLAIMS AND THE FACTS:What is it when you claim your greatest concern over a shortage of priests is the lack of availability of the Eucharist when you do not even believe a priest is necessary to preside at the liturgy of the Eucharist because there is no miracle of transubstantiation; when you believe the Catholic Mass is no different than a Lutheran or Baptist communion service? You would call that claim of concern a deception and a lie. FutureChurch does not believe that the Elements become substantially the very body, blood, soul and Divinity of the Resurrected sacrificial Christ as seen in Revelation 5:6. They do not believe that that Sacrificial Lamb in very substance, by another miracle, only appears to be bread and wine, just as in the Incarnation God Himself only appeared as flesh and just as His very real resurrected physical body could be invisible to the human eye. "Real Presence" in the Eucharist to FutureChurch is falsely "reshaped" and redefined to mean no more than a "spiritual" presence. FutureChurch rejects what Jesus Christ established, what the early Church followed and what they and millions of Catholics throughout the centuries have literally died for. The claim of concern for the availability of the Eucharist then is a deceitful mask to cover the real agenda of this group, which is to replace the Catholic faith and Church with something altogether different. Future Church is therefore not merely anti-Catholic but anti-Christ because it lies and deceives to further their anti-Catholic agenda. These people may be as sincere as Martin Luther in believing their views and they may be just as sincere in believing they would make the Church better but they are clearly deceived, but worst of all, they are knowingly using deceit to further their views. Martin Luther had enough honesty to admit he no longer held to the doctrine of the Church. FutureChurch does not.FutureChurch Position on the Eucharist: No cry from FutureChurch has been made louder or longer than over the alleged lack of availability of the Eucharist because of the "shortage of priests." Christine Schenk, head of FutureChurch, however, does not believe the priest's consecration creates the Eucharist, the "Real Presence." To her it is the spirit and attitude in the person and/or group that brings the "Real Presence." Since this is entirely a spiritual reality as it is in a Protestant communion service, that "Real Presence" will thus be in degrees, depending on one's spiritual condition. At her talk, "The Future of Priestly Ministry," at the Call to Action National Conference in Detroit, November 15-17, 1996 she stated, "Eucharist is not really fully Eucharist if women are not able to be included as presiders . . . . we're coming with a different model of the Eucharist." This same position is highlighted by Schenk in the Winter, 2001 FutureChurch publication Focus in the article: "E(e)Eucharist: Do this and Remember." </FONT SIZE="3" FACE="ARIAL, SANS-SERIF" color=#0C195C> What do you call one who has knowingly rejected the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist and yet claims to be a Catholic in good standing with the Church? You would call such a person a liar and a deceiver. What would you say about one who claims a primary concern over the abuse of our youth by the approximately 2% of our priests, 95% of which are cases of homosexuality, and yet continues to promote the acceptance of homosexuality as a legitimate lifestyle contrary to the teaching of the Magisterium and the Old and New Testament Scriptures and who refuse to support the Vatican in its directive to deny the priesthood to those with this tendency. Anyone who knows the well documented facts about the greatly accelerated indiscriminate promiscuity among homosexuals and still favors their placement into the priesthood would either be demented or be an outright liar about any claim of primary concern for the abuse of our youth in our Church. FutureChurch Position on the Homosexual lifestyle: In the Winter 1999 issue of Focus is a news story entitled "Sad News from Rochester." The sad news according to FutureChurch is that Father Jim Callan was dismissed from Corpus Christi Parish and suspended from the priesthood for among other things refusing to cease blessing the unions of gay and lesbian couples. While continually calling for the recognition of all the Baptized to be allowed as presiders at the Altar and for married priests, not once has FutureChurch stated any objection to allowing homosexual or lesbian couples to preside at Holy Mass or for them to become priests. Using this moral crisis to promote a married priesthood is another clever deception. Most child molesters are married. </FONT SIZE="3" FACE="ARIAL, SANS-SERIF" color=#0C195C> What would you say about anyone who claims to "love the Church" and only wants to "make it better" who not only denies the Eucharist, justifies homosexual activity, denies the infallible revelation of unalterable moral and theological truth in Holy Scripture, and even condemns the Church's hierarchy established by Christ through the power of His own Keys ("The Gift," I Timothy 4:14) and faithfully passed down by the "laying on of hands" in Holy Orders. You cannot say you love a church whose faith, moral teaching and its very structure you intend to destroy. A claim to the contrary is a deception and a lie. FutureChurch Position of the Magisterium and the Keys of the Kingdom: Christine Schenk said at a recent meeting at St. Malachi's (March 23) that the Keys of the Kingdom were given not merely to Peter, as His Vicar, as Jesus says in Matthew 16:18,19 but to all the baptized in the Church and that they all share in the Magisterium. Not only is Schenk denying the teaching of the Church but the plain sense of Scripture. Compare Matthew 16:18,19 with Isaiah 22:20-22 and you will see that Jesus appointed Peter to be literally His Prime Minister over New Israel, His Church. The Keys were not given to the people of Israel but to the Prime Minister. Every Pope who succeeded Peter occupies that very same position over the Church. This is a divinely instituted Monarchy with an Aristocracy. According to the prophet Isaiah (9:6,7) this government established by Jesus Christ would last forever, it cannot be changed. Is it a coincidence that the Roman Catholic Church is the oldest uninterrupted government in human history? </FONT SIZE="3" FACE="ARIAL, SANS-SERIF" color=#0C195C> What would you say about one who in addition to the above heresies, insists that one's own conscience is a greater authority than the official position of the Church on moral and theological matters and yet claims it "respects" the Traditions of the Church? The "primacy of conscience" is the classic protestant doctrine which led to the shattering of the One Body, One Faith and One Baptism into 20,000 denominational splinters which despite the great zeal of many of these denominations and genuine love for Christ (at least a love in part), the Christian faith since that division has become increasingly discredited and rejected in public life in the world. Jesus said a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. FutureChurch's position is far worse than the "reformers" because it does not even believe the Scriptures are fully inspired and reliable in respect to its moral and theological teachings. It is not then just chaos that will follow this movement. Without divine intervention what will follow will be the extinction of the Church, Christianity and all saving truth and faith from the earth (Luke 18:8). FutureChurch/Call to Action is the vortex of a spiritual and moral "black hole." The Catholic view on human conscience, that all men are indeed obligated to obey their consciences, does not mean one's conscience is more reliable than the official teaching of the Church of Christ, as the FutureChurch people deceitfully try to imply. It simply means if out of ignorance one cannot see the truth as taught by Christ's Church he must follow what he sincerely believes is right, even if it is wrong. While all error, even if believed in ignorance, has destructive consequences, God will not hold one accountable for such error if held to or practiced in "all good conscience." One, however, cannot in "good conscience" claim to be Catholic while holding to or practicing error delineated by the Church whether one is sincere or not. Even if the leaders in FutureChurch are perfectly sincere in believing their errors, they are not ignorant of the fact they are no longer Catholic and that they have used deceptions and lies to imply otherwise and to perpetuate their anti-Catholic views within the Church. Deception is the modus operandi of FutureChurch. For the incredible falsification of statistics this group has used to exaggerate the priest shortage for their own ends see our reproduction "Deceptions and Lies used by FutureChurch and Call to Action" or the original source from pages 54-59 of Call to Action or Call to Apostasy by Dr. Brian Clowes. FutureChurch Position on human conscience: From the FutureChurch / We Are Church Coalition, We Are Church Catholic Referendum: "We believe in a church which affirms: the primacy of conscience in deciding issues of sexual morality…and in all moral decision- making." The moral choices actually stated in their literature are birth control, homosexual lifestyle and abortion, but there is no limit on the moral issues this would include whether it be euthanasia, polygamy, incest, pedophilia, genocide, cannibalism, ad infinitum, all of which have been approved by human conscience. FutureChurch then has the audacity to cite Church sources attempting to support their position, particularly Vatican II, Gaudium et Spec, 16 and Dignitatis Humanae, 3! One thing is obvious, those responsible for these statements have little or no conscience about deception and lying. Scriptures speak of those with seared consciences: "The Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared…" I Timothy 4:1. (This of course means these would no doubt pass a lie detector test!) FutureChurch on the Holy Scriptures: They are full of moral and theological errors. Seven New Testament passages relating to the relationship of men to women are cited as needing to be eliminated from the Lectionary and not allowed to be read in the Church as they are considered to reflect a pervasive prejudice against women. A condemnation of homosexuality as intrinsically evil as taught by St. Paul in Romans 1:24-27 and I Corinthians 6:9; and forbidden as an abomination in Leviticus 18:22;20:13 and Deut 23:17 is also seen as a serious error in Scripture. Liberal thinkers have for years been twisting and misinterpreting the Scriptures in attempt to negate its authority and replace it with their own. FutureChurch is party to one of the most outrageous of these attacks on the Scriptures (and the Apostle of John) I have ever heard.
At a FutureChurch seminar on "feminine spirituality," held at Resurrection Parish in Solon, Ohio, March 1, 2003 the speaker Miriam Winter, a professor at Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut, without batting an eye or raising a peep of protest declared to her audience that the Beloved Apostle, St. John lied to us in his Gospel account when he claimed to be at the foot of the cross. Yes, the word was "lied." At another point she instructed her audience, "Don't buy into the Scripture!" Well, at least some of us still know it is Satan who is "the Accuser of the brethren" (Revelation 12:10) and a denier of the Word of God. FutureChurch is a ship in the middle of the ocean without a compass or rudder whose ultimate direction will be straight down. Unfortunately, it appears she will take many down with her. </FONT SIZE="3" FACE="ARIAL, SANS-SERIF" color=#0C195C>
FUTURECHURCH: WHERE ARE THEY HEADED?FutureChurch is involved with something even more serious than what we have yet described. It appears to have opened its doors to what the most radical of the "feminist movement" are promoting and practicing and which Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger plainly calls, "another religion." Let us first examine this "feminist religion" and then compare that with what else we discovered at the FutureChurch meeting at Resurrection Parish, March 1, 2003. On this slippery slide of dissent and rebellion it is not surprising that many nuns and ex-nuns have embraced the full blown neo-Pagan religion of the goddess Sophia and the earth goddess Gaia straight from Wicca (witchcraft). Many nuns no longer wear the crucifix. Some have been so bold as to replace the crucifix with the earth globe. These have adopted the "creation spirituality" of Fr. Matthew Fox, O.P., who replaces the Christ of Christianity with the earth goddess. Fox, a speaker at the February 1990 Call to Action's Midwest Conference, has gone so far as to condemn what he calls "Christology," the worship of Christ of Israel. He claims the earth itself is Christ crucified, the "cosmic Christ," not anyone who lived in Israel 2000 years ago. By the "cosmic Christ" he means the force of the created universe. God is not then a transcendent Being or wholly other than His creation but "immanent" and essentially one and the same as creation. Since man reflects the highest intelligence of this creation we become for all practical purposes God. This is a complete repudiation of the most fundamental truth of the Judeo-Christian tradition of faith and the very heart of the divine revelation of both the Old and New Testament Scriptures. The Judeo-Christian faith insists that God is both a personal being and objectively and wholly "transcendent." He has, however, only out of self- giving love for us, made Himself immanent to His creation.
1. The crucifix and the male image of Jesus as Messiah represents to Fox a perversion of the truth as man, to him, does not need an objective redemptive sacrifice. The disappearance of the crucifix among those in our religious orders reflects the subtle influence of this serious heresy.
One of the most researched and well documented sources of information on the "feminist" movement and the more radical new "feminist religion" being widely promoted within the Catholic Church is a book published by Ignatius Press entitled Ungodly Rage by Donna Steichen. Steichen gives us in some 400 pages detailed information on the complete apostasy of many of the prominent leaders in this new religion. Dr. Rosemary Ruether and Mary Daly are but two. Rosemary Ruether, a founding member of Call to Action and a frequent and honored speaker at their conferences , is professor of applied theology at Garrett-Evangelical Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. She is a featured columnist for the National Catholic Reporter. Her books can be found in most Catholic libraries, though she as early as 1975 rejected the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. She has, according to Steichen, from time to time recommended the worship of pagan goddesses as more beneficial for women than Christianity. At the fourth annual conference on "Women and Spirituality" with the theme "Language and Imagery" at Mankato State University Ruether, before some 500 women suggested that rather than abandoning the use of "Jesus" altogether some might wish to retain Him as a "symbol." Rather than leave the Church, Ruether decided to stay in the Church "in the hope she could 'help' it toward 'a new future'." (pp. 30,32, Ungodly Rage) In Ungodly Rage, Steichen gives these accounts and her sources:
Dr. Ruether is, indeed, openly and consistently revolutionary. In a 1980 essay [Journal of Ecumenical Studies, pp.65-67 (Winter 1980)], she called for "the equivalent of a French Revolution" to overthrow the authority of the hierarchy, so that "the academy" could become "the teaching Magisterium of the Church." To achieve that end, she said, it would be essential for the "liberal wing" of Catholicism to retain both "autonomy" and the appearance of legitimate "Catholicity" . . . . She later, and as reported in America, March 1, 1986, advised Chicago Call to Action members to maintain Church membership as camouflage while revolutionizing from within. (p.36, Ungodly Rage)
Ruether reduces "God" to the mere human ideal of "human possibility," which evolves within human history. In accord with this new "evolving" "God," Mary Daly, usually named as the first of the radical American Catholic feminists, declares in her book entitled, The Church and the Second Sex, p. 182,183, that the Church should discard the "perverted notion" that God is immutable, because it establishes a "worldview" closed to "theological development and social change." Among those Daly cites to support her case against an all intelligent, all knowing and therefore an unchangeable personal God are Rosemary Ruether and Fr. Eugene Kennedy, who was, incidentally, the guest speaker at the 12th Annual Dinner of FutureChurch held here in Independence in October of 2002. (p. 297, Ungodly Rage) FutureChurch: It has embraced this new "feminist religion" of the pagan goddess worship of Wicca (Witchcraft). </FONT SIZE="3" FACE="ARIAL, SANS-SERIF" color=#0C195C>. Our very first Prayer/Protest was held on March 1, 2003 outside Resurrection Parish in Solon, the birthplace of FutureChurch in 1990. The occasion was a FutureChurch/Call to Action "festival" on feminine spirituality featuring Miriam Winter. Sr.Christine Schenk, head of FutureChurch and Lisa Frey were participants. While some 27 of us were outside praying we had three attendees documenting the proceedings. What was seen and documented was shocking. It proved we were dealing with a new religion altogether, a religion that had changed all the realities of Christianity into mere symbols to which then were attached non-Christian meanings. Call to Action, commenting on this very event in its last News Bulletin, summarized this new religion and the wholly new concept of "Christ" as distinct from Christianity: "You are no longer Christian or Muslim . . .." What was immediately noticed was that the only image of Christian faith the parish had in the sanctuary, the Resurrected Christ on the Cross, had been removed for this meeting. It was there two days before, now it was gone. In its place were huge banners of the goddess Sophia. There were no confessionals, no crucifixes, no Holy Mother Mary (nine years ago according to witnesses, they had dumped Her in the trash bin behind the Church), and no saints. In a small room we found and photographed a plaque describing the new Eucharist. It is no Eucharist until it is consumed in community.
In another area we found wine and pita bread, which cannot by Church law be used in communion as it contains leaven, a symbol of sin. While they had turned the sanctuary into a picnic area, they had left room on the floor for a grouping of candles as you would find in a channeling exercise. This had now replaced the Tabernacle, long ago removed, as the center of worship. The Tabernacle was found in a backroom where chairs were being stored. The picture, however, gets even clearer. We discover the parish is planning a new multi million-dollar "Worship Area." A professional architect observed an increase of only 15% seating capacity. What could possibly justify this effort and expense? It was then noticed in the artists rendition that this building has no Christian symbols whatsoever, not even a plain (Christian)cross1 on the outside.
1 The plain cross is not of itself a Christian symbol. The plain cross dates from a time long before Christ and is to this day a Wiccan symbol denoting the center place where all forces of life converge, north, south, east and west, a symbol of prosperity and protection not a place to die to self. It represents the world that crucified Christ, which Scripture says "lies in wickedness" (I John 5:19). The plain cross, in itself, represents something entirely anti-Christian. Only as one sees one's blessing as coming from the One who was willing to die on that Cross does the cross become something of honor, because by the surrender of His human self will, that Sacrifice frustrated and overcame the evil of the cross. Only the crucifix conveys this all important Christian view of the cross.
In fact the word "church" is nowhere to be found on the drawings. The structure is called a "Worship Area." Turning to the drawing plan for what should be called the sanctuary we discovered a completely new arrangement for the "altar." The "altar" is towards the center of this new structure facing an area in the very middle, oddly called the "Worship Space," beyond which is the Lectern. In other words the "altar" is facing the Lectern with this "Worship Space" between them at the very center of the structure. Conspicuously absent are the designations, "Sanctuary" or "Sacred Space" referring to the Altar area. The two "assembly areas" on either side of this new central arrangement are in a circular formation. This circular formation of the people around the "priest" in the center is required at a Wicca coven. From the information we gathered it appears that these plans were approved without the Bishops knowledge. Not long after these shocking revelations I discovered something in Ungodly Rage, that was only further confirmation of what now seemed obvious was happening at Resurrection Parish. It told us where FutureChurch was headed, if it was not already there:
Joan Keller-Maresh, ex-nun, feminist activist . . . organizer of a coven that meets in her home, called her workshop "From Covenant to Coven.". . . Before telling "her story," Keller-Maresh led workshop participants in an extended Wiccan circle ritual. . . . To other women planning to start a coven, she recommended, "It is of utmost importance always to have the centering ritual and to hold the gathering outside of any church facilities." Summing up, she said, "Because I am and you are the goddess, she is right here now. She's alive, she's reinvented; she's changing and growing in us." (p. 50, Ungodly Rage) First, can we yet deny "you are the goddess" is self worship? Second, can we yet deny that the dedication of Catholic properties by those with Holy Orders is a clear obstacle to the power in this new religion and that these two religions thus are at complete odds? Third, can we yet deny when speaking of FutureChurch/Call to Action we are here speaking of "Lying teachers," "feigned words" and "denying the Lord who bought them"? We believe unequivocally that FutureChurch and Call to Action, its parent organization, are integral parts of an entire movement within the Catholic Church warned about by the prophet Daniel and confirmed by Jesus as the "Abomination of Desolation" that will set itself up in the Holy Temple (The Church) in the last days (Matthew 24:15). It's aim is to replace the center of worship in the Church, the Real Presence of the Sacrificed Christ in the Host, with the worship of man, of self, the religion of Antichrist. "The continual sacrifice [daily Mass] shall be taken away, and the Abomination of Desolation shall be set up" (Daniel 12:11; 9:27). First, our Tabernacles were moved out of the sanctuary, now the Eucharist is being stripped of its meaning and reality—Jesus Christ. The final step is for man with the "new Eucharist" to place himself in the center of the new "Worship Area." Satan knows it is only when man is worshipped within Christ's Church that he will have the whole of mankind in his power. He will have then defeated Christ, for then the Gates of Hell will have prevailed against the Church. He will of course, will fall short of his objective, but millions of souls will be destroyed in his attempt because too many Catholics have been asleep and have chosen to place personal comfort over the eternal needs of souls. Pray and offer your sacrifices for those whose faith has been destroyed or replaced by a false hope. With humility put yourself in their place and you will know how to pray and work for the protection of the innocent and the deliverance of the deceived. "The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save!" (Isaiah 59:1)
We have a compassionate and loving care for all who are part of FutureChurch Many members of FutureChurch have little idea where they are headed. Those who do, and persist in this apostasy need to listen to Jesus' warning to all those who would oppose His Church. Israel as a nation had just lost its place of prominence in the Kingdom to God, the Church and brought upon itself a judgment of national annihilation, fulfilled in 70 A.D. because of their unbelief. Jesus now warns that generation and all to follow, that those who would now choose to come against Him and His Vicar, the "Stone," would only destroy themselves. Those who from without the Church who "fall against" the Stone, would be broken, but those who come against the Stone from within the Church, upon these the "Stone" will fall and grind them to powder (Matthew 21:43,44). If you are concerned or confused about the Catholic faith and wish sound, sensible answers or council, PLEASE CALL US and share your concerns. You will find a caring listening ear.
No Catholic ever gave up his faith who understood it correctly!
Save Our Church, P.O. Box 1404, Medina, OH 44258 "Ecumenical not heretical!" Please support us with your earnest prayer, sacrifices, & gifts!
COPIES OF THIS ARE AVAILABLE Post Paid: 1 copy $1; 2 copies $1.50; 3 copies $2; 4 copies $2.50; 5 or more 50¢ each. 1 The plain cross is not of itself a Christian symbol. The plain cross dates from a time long before Christ and is to this day a Wiccan symbol denoting the center place where all forces of life converge, north, south, east and west, a symbol of prosperity and protection not a place to die to self. It represents the world that crucified Christ, which Scripture says "lies in wickedness" (I John 5:19). The plain cross, in itself, represents something entirely anti-Christian. Only as one sees one's blessing as coming from the One who was willing to die on that Cross does the cross become something of honor, because by the surrender of His human self will, that Sacrifice frustrated and overcame the evil of the cross. Only the crucifix conveys this all important Christian view of the cross. 6
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