Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Be rooted in Christ!
Posted on 07/13/2013 12:19:30 PM PDT by rhema
Since shortly after its formation in 1988 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has been fixated on deviant sexual behavior, culminating in the endorsement of homosexual pastors in 2009, homosexual “marriage” in 2011, and the election last month of their first homosexual bishop. Dr. James Nestingen, a highly respected scholar and retired ELCA seminary professor, recently concluded that promoting acceptance of deviant sexual behavior has actually replaced the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the primary mission and message of the ELCA.
Those within the ELCA demanding these radical changes asserted it is necessary for the ELCA’s very survival. Supposedly, they simply must move into the 21st century on these issues, or otherwise they will be so out-of-step with modern society that it would mean the demise of their denomination. By the way, this is the same deceptive reasoning behind similar disturbing changes recently in the Boy Scouts of America.
However, the ELCA has now released some startling statistics that show the exact opposite has actually happened:
** When the ELCA was formed in 1988 they had 5.2 million members, but they are now down to only 4 million members–a staggering loss of over 1.2 million members, or 23% of their membership. They have also lost 1,500, or 13%, of their congregations, from approximately 11,000 to 9,500. As they “celebrate” this year the 25th anniversary of the ELCA, the fact is that during that time they have lost more members and congregations than make up many entire denominations!
** Of these losses, over 500,000 members and 1,000 congregations have left the ELCA in just the last four years, triggered by their endorsement of homosexuality beginning in 2009. This is actually the biggest denominational split in American church history, and is directly attributable to that decision.
** Another measure of the ELCA’s decline is that in 1988, 2.1% of all Americans were members of the ELCA, but by 2011 that figure had fallen to 1.3%. The National Council of Churches reports that the ELCA has “the sharpest rate of membership decline” among all mainline Protestant denominations. Like Avis car rental which used to advertise “We’re Number 2–But We Try Harder!” the LCMS has historically always been the second-largest American Lutheran church body. However, at the ELCA’s current rate of losing members–nearly 6% in 2010–in just a decade the LCMS will surpass the ELCA as the largest American Lutheran church body, and a few decades after that the ELCA will cease to exist.
** Even among those congregations remaining in the ELCA average weekly worship attendance from 2003 to 2011 dropped 26%. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod has 2.3 million members and the similarly conservative Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod has 300,000 members, yet even with our smaller combined membership of 2.6 million the LCMS and WELS have more people actually sitting in the pews each Sunday than the ELCA with 4 million members.
** Donations to the ELCA on the national level were $88 million in 2008 but plunged to only $40 million in 2011.
** Luther Seminary, the ELCA’s largest seminary, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, announced that last year they had a $6 million operating deficit on a budget of $27 million. This was due largely to a recent sharp decline in donations to the seminary, reportedlyincluding a couple that for many years had given $1 million a year to the seminary but stopped their donations after the ELCA’s endorsement of homosexuality. The seminary was forced to cancel many of its programs and lay off a third of the faculty and staff.
** Since the ELCA’s endorsement of homosexuality, many other Lutheran church bodies around the world have severed their historic ties with the ELCA, and are instead seeking new relationships with the LCMS. This includes many of the largest and fastest-growing Lutheran church bodies in the world, such as the Lutherans in Ethiopia with over 6 million members–nearly as many as all American Lutheran church bodies combined. The center of world Lutheranism is shifting from Europe and America to Africa, Asia, and South America, and the LCMS is becoming the theological leader of these growing Lutheran church bodies. While the ELCA is becoming increasingly isolated in world Lutheranism, at our national convention this month the LCMS will enter into formal fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia, Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Lutheran Church of Togo.
The Lord warns:
“There will be false teachers among you, who will surreptitiously introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful, licentious ways.” (2 Peter 2:1-2)
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you formerly had when you lived in ignorance. Instead, just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:14-15)
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)
These passages show how misdirected and sinful it is to accommodate the church’s doctrine and practice to the world’s wicked ways. It is also foolish and futile.
On the one hand, the world will never be satisfied–until Christians completely renounce their faith. More importantly, the Lord will never bless such unfaithfulness to Him and His Word.
We see from the sad example of what’s happened to the ELCA–the biggest split in American church history–that whatever churches and other organizations such as the Boy Scouts imagine they will gain by giving in to the world is dwarfed by what they will surely lose.
I am a Sinner
Sin is NOT Good, Wise, or to be Commended
I am an Alcoholic
I DO NOT teach Alcoholism as
Good, Wise, or to be Commended
It is to be Repented, Confessed, and Penance done
The Apostle Paul in Romans 1, under the New Law,
is Blunt on the Subject of Perversion
One May engage in Homosexual Acts
But is is Sin, like any other
One DOES NOT teach Homosexual Acts as
Good, Wise, or to be Commended
They are to be Repented, Confessed, and Penance done
Like All Sins
Public Acts of Alcoholism are, to a varying degree, discouraged
Not Codified in Law as Good, Wise, or to be Commended
Alcoholism where there is harm to others, is a
Misdemeanor or Felony
The Church MUST NOT Teach Homosexuality as
Good, Wise, or to be Commended
Just like any other Sin
Of Course Sinners are welcomed to Church
That is what it is there for
And I am very grateful for this
But it MUST NOT Honor Sin, in any form, for any reason
they happily slid down that slippery slope
It is absolutely weird how 3% of the population suddenly has everyone else’s lives totally focused on THEM. Gay, gay, gay, gay, gay - 24/7.
How on earth do folks come to believe that they must trash their main principles and cater to max 5% of the population in order to survive?
ELCA thinks it must compete for members with the Metropolitan churches.
It is a manifestation of the paganization of the culture.
Welcome home sir!
Great article, rhema, thanks. Ping, lightman.
The LCMS isn’t far behind.
A hierarchy of wolves who fail to take responsibility for “The Jews and their Lies”.
I’ll bet if you go into the ELCA bylaws that it takes an act of congress to remove a name from the membership rolls.
“Membership” should never be used to evaluate a church’s size and reach. It should always be attendance (average weekly, monthly, annually...take your pick)
There is a group within the LCMS having some success in trying to make the LCMS like WELS, they call themselves steadfast lutherans. Each year LCMS has less members, perhaps the steadfast lutherans will succeed and its membership will be just like WELS. In the meantime there is a growing and new church growing out of the ashes of the ELCA, that of LCMC(Lutherans in MIssion for Christ).
The National Council of Churches reports that the ELCA has “the sharpest rate of membership decline” among all mainline Protestant denominationsThere is NOTHING mainline about this Satan worshiping heretical cult from HELL!
I wise person once told me that without law, there is no sin.
I keep thinking that no one believes in the law - with secular or religious. Both areas of human activity are suffering as a result.
It is not enough to focus on forgiveness, the law still exists.
Neither the President of the US nor the Bishops recognize any law but what equates to their own personal desires.
We are still in freefall. We will not hit bottom for some time. That is why it is best to keep your powder dry, and await the right time to build society up again.
Same thing happened to the Protestant Episcopal Church USA, which is now mainly an openly homosexual ministry. This started in the late 60’s, slowly but steadily pro-homosexual policies and clergy.
Christianity is being attacked on every side. Now, we have the Lutherans have defected from the faith. and their membership is falling like a rock. Another group that is being attacked are the Catholics. The majority of the Catholic faith has been penetrated by the “BLACK LIBERATION MOVEMENT” and their adherance to “SOCIAL EQUALITY”, whatever that means. I forsee the time when there will be a split in that religion also. Up to now, the church in Rome has been very quiet on where they stand on the “BLACK LIBERATION MOVEMENT” and where they stand on “SOCIAL EQUALITY”. As with the Lutherans, the split is irreparable, but the problem is all that property that the Lutherans own, in the USA. ELCA will never give that up without a fight.
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Be rooted in Christ!
Apparently all Christian denominations in the U.S. are suffering declines in ASA/marriages/baptisms. Some have predicted that as the trust funds begin to go dry, we will see the day come when a group of the most apostate old mainline Protestant denominations merge, i.e., ELCA, PCUSA, TEC, UCC, Disciples of Christ, and the left-wing of the UMC.
Think a sort of non-doctrinal Anglican, which is a very big theological tent indeed. Of course, the problem, as in any organization, “spritual” or otherwise, is “Who gets the plums?”
ELCA has three categories of membership:
Baptized = self explanatory. Includes all ages.
Confirmed = Baptized members who have received Confirmation.
Voting = Confirmed members who have made a Communion of record and a contribution of record within the current or past calendar year.
The “voting member” definition is entirely too minimalistic. One could Commune (filling out a record card) on Christmas Eve on alternate years and drop a check for $0.01 in the offering plate and be considered a “Voting Member”.
If that is true, ELCA and the Metro churches are doing a joint suicide pact. What morons.
The greatest trick the Devil managed to pull off was to convince gullible humans that evil did not exist. ELCA and the Metro churches are useful idiots.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.