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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...

For over a decade, WordAlone has assumed the role of the loyal opposition in relationship to the ELCA. We clearly voiced opposition to prevailing trends, but always with the intention of getting the ELCA back on a faithful track with a future. However, we see in the watershed events surrounding the August 2009 churchwide assembly the ELCA’s irrevocable change of direction. The actions of the Church Council, the rejection of Biblical authority by the delegates, the weak-kneed response by the bishops, and the increasingly strong-arm tactics of the church to repress critique make it clear that it is not a...

What to Do When . . . (John 6:68) The 2009 Churchwide Assembly for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will be addressing some very important issues of ELCA church doctrine and policies. Many are concerned as how best to respond faithfully to possible changes in ELCA policies and practices. They are seeking guidance for options available to faithful Lutheran Christians. In an effort to assist individuals, pastors and congregations in their discernment, the WordAlone Network Board of Directors has developed this document. 1WordAlone offers these considerations, to be taken only after much deliberation and prayer. This document addresses factors...

Chuck Wallner believes the leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is taking the church in the wrong direction. “It is my belief and the belief of a number of others that sin, repentance and redemption are soon to be considered antiquated words within the ELCA,” he said. “Orthodox theology is a theology of repentance and redemption as opposed to what I believe the new theology is, and that appears to be a theology of tolerance and social justice.” Wallner, 69, said he has no ax to grind with the latter theology, but it should grow from what he...

Local Lutheran church changes affiliation By SCOTT POWELL Ledger Staff Writer St. Paul's Lutheran Church took the historic step Sunday of becoming the first South Carolina church to leave its state and national Lutheran governing bodies. St. Paul's Lutheran Church congregation members voted 90-25 following Sunday's worship service to leave the S.C. Synod and Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). The move followed a 4-year span in which St. Paul's and several other Lutheran churches statewide have struggled with what pastor Roger Lindler described as a national "theological shift in the direction of the Lutheran church." The ELCA's activities have...