Lutheran Ping!
Veni, Sanctae Spiritus!
Posted on 06/14/2011 8:36:26 PM PDT by lightman
A Message from the Board and Staff of WordAlone
Times of difficulty and crisis are ones that often call us to hard decisions. For people of faith, this makes it even more critical that we seek to live in trust and obedience. Such is the case facing WordAlone as an organization at this time.
As servants of Christ, we are called by our Lord to be faithful managers and stewards of all that he has entrusted to us - not only in terms of our material resources, but even more importantly, in his Word as "stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1). Jesus explained the kind of planning and foresight that he requires of his stewards. He said:
Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. (Luke 14:28-32 ESV)
For many years, WordAlone has sought to serve as a faithful gathering of disciples and workers in God's kingdom. Often with very limited resources, WordAlone has engaged in the battle for truth again and again, and has never shied away from taking a stand for the sake of God's Word. Over the years of its history, WordAlone has also laid a foundation and built many strong and significant ministries that continue to serve the larger fellowship of orthodox Lutherans. The Lord has used WordAlone to provide for the future of fellow-believers in this new Lutheran landscape. The faithful stewardship of WordAlone has born fruit in many ways among us.
Yet, with all that it has been able to accomplish, WordAlone has never forgotten that it is accountable in its stewardship to Christ himself. Throughout our history, we have prayed that when the time came for us to pass that stewardship on to those who follow, we would graciously commend the resources that God has given us as a legacy to the continuing ministry of Christ's Church. That day has now come.
For several months, WordAlone's resources for ministry have slowly been shrinking. While we maintain a high level of trust and appreciation from our constituencies, many WordAlone folks have naturally started investing their support into building for the future with new congregations and mission opportunities. This is as it should be. But this shift in focus has meant that there is less and less money available for WordAlone itself to continue our "transitional support" ministry. To put it frankly, after several months of cutting salaries and expenses, our funding has finally been depleted and WordAlone cannot continue in its present form.
The Board of Directors, as stewards of WordAlone's resources, has concluded that the time has come to limit WordAlone's continuing ministry to the one area where we can best be of service to our fellow disciples, Sola Publishing.
Sola Publishing is a growing and thriving ministry that has emerged out of WordAlone's commitment to solid Biblical and confessional preaching and teaching, and it has become increasingly obvious that this much needed ministry is the best gift we have to serve the broad constituency of our friends in faith, including LCMC, NALC, CALC, CORE, and other faithful Christians who want to stay grounded in God's Word. With an eye to the future, WordAlone will be investing all its resources and energy into building Sola Publishing into a full-service publisher, able to meet the needs of our expanding fellowship of congregations. We hope that you will continue your support of this essential ministry, which focuses on the best gifts that God has given us.
At the same time, the Board has expressed its intention that WordAlone should not continue to operate under a deficit or incur additional debt, nor should the larger organization continue to be subsidized by Sola Publishing, which needs support for its own development. The Board has therefore decided:
1) The executive positions of President and Vice President of WordAlone must regrettably be eliminated. Support staff will be reallocated where possible. 2) WordAlone's existing auxiliary ministries will be bequeathed to our partner ministries where they might best be used to serve our larger constituency. 3) WordAlone will work to fulfill, in good faith, the financial commitments incurred over the past few months, and back-compensation of its employees. 4) WordAlone will continue to exist, exclusively doing business as Sola Publishing.
While these hard decisions are not made easily, we acknowledge that the command of Christ to serve the ministry of faithful stewardship is not optional. Our Lord expects us to use wisdom and responsibility in seeking to serve him daily in a faithful and effective manner.
As WordAlone moves forward as Sola Publishing, we ask for your financial support in this transition. We ask for your prayers and encouragement, as we continue to minister in the legacy of our namesake - Sola Scriptura - God's Word alone.
Yours in Christ, The WordAlone Board and Staff
That said, the folks on the ALPB forum are too polite to name the elephant in the room, namely the scandal posed in the person of soon-to-be-former WordAlone Executive Director Rev. Jaynan England. Her gender is a scandal to those in the LC-MS and WELS, and her recent divorce should be a scandal for all who claim to be the true adherents to sola scriptura
. Divorce happens. Sin happens. Grace abounds.
But apart from the "four A's" (victim of addiction, adultery, abandonment, or abuse) divorced clerics should not be in a position of regional or national leadership.
Veni, Sanctae Spiritus!
I agree with you, lightman:
“WordAlone has done a great work in serving as primary catalyst for what some have called “the realignment of North American Lutheranism.”
The three presidents of the LC-MS, WELS, and ELS (the remnant of Norwegian Synod) stood on the same stage for the first time in fifty years and talked in depth about the doctrine - doctrine! - of church fellowship. This was at the Emmaus Conference held at Parkland Lutheran Church, Tacoma, WA, May 5-6 of this year. The talk was realistic, respectful, and even a little optimistic. I have no doubt that some of the reason this transpired has to do with what is happening to ELCA and the groups spinning off of it. What should be apparent to anyone watching is that there really are only two poles in the camp that calls itself Lutheran, the confessional and the other. It is my hope that LCMC and NALC will gravitate ever more toward the former.
Since three of the four nominees for Bishop of the NALC are members of the Society of the Holy Trinity that body seems much more likely to remain confessional, unlike the other which is infected with a strong strain of Haugeianism.
Sorry to be so skeptical, but I would be more confident if all four nominees had publicly subscribed unconditionally to the Book of Concord of 1580. But I will continue to observe, hope, and pray that LCMC and NALC will gravitate ever more toward the confessional pole.
I know too many people, ones I once counted as brothers, who went off to Luther/Northwestern and came out unrecognizable. And that was the conservative seminary!
What are your opinions about Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago? My wife, Nicole, is a student, there, and she hates it. Almost all of the staff and students are liberal Democrats, and they’re unfriendly. She got an F, in her preaching class, although the professor didn’t tell her that she wasn’t doing well. She’s preached about 13 sermons in three churches, within the past year, and all of those pastors said that she did very well. She appealed her grade, and she has to wait until Sept., to get a hearing, to get the grade changed.
Oh my. What to say.
I’ve known two people who went through LST. Both of them said (years later) that now they realize that they came out as unbelievers, and only later came to recognize what was actually the holy Christian faith and believe it. So, more than that I cannot say. By the writings of those who have in the past taught there or are now teaching there, I have nothing good to say.
Of the group I mentioned earlier, the LC-MS, WELS, and ELS, none now have female preachers nor ever have had. And it has nothing to do with sexism and everything to do with the plain meaning of the Scriptures. I realize that you probably didn’t want to hear that, but my conscience would not allow me to reply to your post without saying something.
They are solidly grounded in the Great Tradition and nurture a piety which is simultaneously catholic, charismatic, and evangelical.
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