Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Posted on 11/14/2009 12:14:42 PM PST by SmithL
The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America reported that 40 positions may be cut as the denomination struggles financially.
"These have been very painful days in this organization," ELCA Presiding Bishop the Rev. Mark S. Hanson told the Church Council Friday, according to the ELCA News Service.
Lutherans are looking to reduce their 2010 budget by 10 percent due to decreased giving over the past 30 years, the economic downturn, and the decision by some congregations to withhold funding.
Several congregations have decided to cut all funding to the ELCA following the controversial vote in August by the denomination's chief legislative body to approve a resolution allowing noncelibate gays and lesbians to be ordained.
"What the ELCA vote has accomplished is to make each congregation even more autonomous. That independence frees us to choose who we work with in mission and who we support financially," pastors at Hope Lutheran Church in Fargo, N.D., said last month. "To that end Hope Lutheran's leadership has suspended all financial support to the ELCA and will develop a process to define who our mission partners will be. We will support these partnerships with direct financial support."
Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal), an association of conservative congregations within the ELCA, has urged congregations and individuals to direct funding away from the national church body.
"With our consciences captive to the Word of God, Lutheran CORE must oppose the decisions of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly," the renewal group states.
Some churches are weighing the decision or have already voted to leave the denomination. Community Church of Joy, a megachurch in Glendale, Ariz., voted to sever ties, saying the direction the ELCA has chosen is not consistent to where God has called their church.
The recent actions compounded with the denomination's continuing decline in membership and giving have prompted a call for stronger leadership.
"However one analyzes the contributing factors, the consequences are the same: Mission is diminished. Unity is strained. Lives are impacted. And faith is tested," Hanson said, as reported by the ELCA News Service.
"I can say with all confidence that this church has never in my nine years as presiding needed the strong leadership of the Church Council as much as we need leadership from you now."
The ELCA is the largest Lutheran denomination in the country. Membership in 2008 was at 4.6 million in 2008, down from 4.7 the year before. Total giving in 2008 dipped by 2.64 percent to over $2.7 billion.
They’re killing the denomination with their heresy, but they’ll blame the Bible-believers.
This is so sad. Do they think they need homosexuals (and their sought-after disposable income) so much that they’re willing to destroy their church to get them? It just doesn’t make sense.
While there are still many Christians upon the membership roll of the ELCA the ELCA itself has ceased to be Christian.
I pray that Christians are willing to give up their fancy buildings and comfortable seats to follow Jesus into an empty field for worship as our denominations fall one by one to the homosexual agenda.
The ELCA is killing itself with (especially misguided) political correctness. Good for those Lutheran congregations that have decided to withhold funding from ELCA and pursue their missions independently. Even in the world of organized religion, money talks.
Some Lutherans say that Scripture reveals that homosexuality is no longer a sin.
Other Lutherans say that Scripture reveals that homosexuality is still a sin.
Since individuals from both groups of Lutherans are reading the same Scripture, it’s obvious that the practice of interpreting Scripture individually doesn’t work. They can’t both be right.
As a Catholic, I thank God for giving us the teaching Magisterium of the Church so that we can know for certain what God says.
Synods and all centralized bureaucracies simply get in the way of spreading the good news of salvation by bogging down in a morass of by-laws and sclerotic vested interests.
Jesus would be better served by smaller groups of Christians working locally to witness and serve Him in their neighborhoods. That is how the Church began.
The entire point of Martin Luthers arguments on Marriage was that it was entirely a state matter and not that of the church. The church could decide to bless or not bless a marriage but marriage itself was a state affair.
He also felt that, among other thing, prohibiting a man from marrying his niece was proof the catholic church was the antichrist.
So the ECLA isn’t really far off the mark.
Yeah, after a 'painful night', knowing what they're all about now.
For certain eh? Question: If they (Magisterium) taught that Scripture said we should all jump off cliffs, would you jump?
Try reading Acts 17:11. All followers of Christ are priests and we all not only have a right, but a duty to read and understand His Word. My pastor encourages all of the congregation to not trust in just what he preaches, but read in the Bible for ourselves. This is how God intended it.
Just curious, but how from your perspective did the early Church (prior to AD 313) even survive? There was no Magisterium after all. Not to start a religious debate on this thread, but the fact is that heresy isn't exclusively reserved for non-Catholic sects.
It's one thing to seek God's Truth with an open and clean heart, but it's quite another to look for ways to justify sin through eisogetic interpretation of Scripture.
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Quite a contrast in tone to the celebrating and hugging and fondling that went on this summer just before the big storm hit.
There are some very good one and there are ones who are as far out in left field as the ELCA hierarchy.
Priests have to answer to the Magesterium. That is where the Catholic Church’s teaching comes from. If I know the Magesterium’s teaching and a priest goes off the reservation I can call him on it.
As a Catholic, it seems totally unproductive to be throwing bricks at our good Christian friends in the Lutheran church.
The Lutheran Church has done a tremendous amount of good ~ for all people. Turning away from Biblical teaching, losing memberships, congregations are going to hurt all people. It will negatively impact all of us, Lutheran, Catholic, Jew and Secular.
We can do better than to get into an ecumenical circular firing squad.
I resent they even use the name "Lutheran". They are not Lutheran in any sense of the word.
We left the ELCA for the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
Luther wrote that "The Lord God has wanted three things made right again before the Last Day: the ministry of the Word, government and marriage." From all of his writings I do not for a minute believe that gay marriage was one of those "things" he wanted made right.
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