Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Marantha--Come, Lord Jesus!
Posted on 12/14/2009 7:58:59 AM PST by SmithL
CLEAR LAKE — Members of Zion Lutheran Church voted to withdraw from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Sunday, a reaction to the issue of practicing gay pastors.
The vote was 238 to 119, exactly the two-thirds majority vote needed for it to pass.
“I’m happy that they decided to go this direction because I think it sets the possibility for a new and stronger future for the congregation,” said Rev. Dean Hess, senior pastor at the Clear Lake church.
Carole Roth, church council president, said she was pleased with the results, too.
“Certainly God has spoken today,” she said.
The vote came in reaction to a resolution adopted by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August that would allow gay pastors in a committed relationship to serve congregations.
Prior to that, gay pastors had to commit to being celibate in order to serve.
Since the August resolution, Zion has withheld its benevolence giving to the ELCA. Several churchwide forums have been held on the issue.
Hess said the church felt that the ELCA’s action moved it away from the Lutheran Confessions, authority of the Scriptures and Lutheran traditions and roots.
“I feel that the congregation confirmed that, yes, this is the identity we have and the identity we want to remain,” he said. “We want to be faithful to the Scripture and faithful to the Lutheran roots and traditions and faithful to the Lutheran Confessions.”
Hess added that the vote should not be taken as a rejection of anyone.
“That’s really not what motivated us at all,” he said. “Zion has always extended the love and welcome of God to everyone without exception and we continue to do that.”
The next step for the church is to discuss what type of Lutheran affiliation it wants to move toward. Hess said the church has several options.
In the spring a second vote will be held to confirm the first vote and to decide on the affiliation the church wants to join.
Exodus
The time between the first and second vote will be used by their synod to spread lies and drive wedges in the congregation. My advice to them is that under no circumstances allow any representative (bishop or anyone else) into the church to address the congregation. I speak from experience...
ELCA’s ‘fear’ should be the fear of the Lord
By: Kay Syvrud, Hawley, Minn.
Louise Nettleton, in a letter to the editor during the week of Nov. 16-20, stated that those Evangelical Lutheran Church in America churches and members who have chosen to withhold monetary support from the national headquarters in Chicago have done so out of “fear.”
I am not sure what sort of “fear” Nettleton meant, but I would think that if any motivation to oppose the recent ELCA decision regarding active homosexuals serving in the churches as pastors is based on “fear” – it would be the biblical “fear of the Lord.” A Scripture from the book of Proverbs says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” If true Christians want to honor Almighty God, they must also “fear” him, in the biblical sense of the word.
Christians who truly fear the Lord also believe that what he says in his word is infallible and inerrant and is not to be lightly discarded or served up as “smorgasbord Scriptures” – choosing Scriptures that please you and ignoring that which you do not like ... such as the Scriptures in both the Old Testament and New Testament that call homosexuality a sin, rather than a “lifestyle.” The Scriptures also make very clear that the Lord hates the sins but loves the sinners. Christians are called to daily repentance because our old natures are always with us.
Nettleton’s definition of “fear” is obviously very different from the “fear of the Lord,” spoken of multiple times in both Old Testament and New Testament.
Churches and people are leaving the ELCA in droves because they have parted from the solid rock of Scripture to the shifting sand of political correctness.
In 1989 the congregation I was serving was the first to withdraw from the ELCA's Metro Chicago Synod. Following our first vote we were required to meet with the Bishop. After an hour of the usual ELCA-speak concerning the authority of Scripture the Bishop hauled out the "you might lose your property" canard, at which point a 72 year old man responded, "Bishop, none of us came here tonight to talk about the ownership of property. We came to talk about the authority of the Word of God--and, frankly, to this point its been trampled under foot." The Bishop then walked out. It was a beautiful thing.
It's hard to imagine what the past 20 years of ministry would have been like slogging away under ELCA leadership.
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Marantha--Come, Lord Jesus!
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