Archive for September, 2010
I thought it would be wise to pass on this message from the WordAlone Newsletter to keep you up to date with the latest move made by this loyal organization.
WITH ALL DUE HASTE, LEAVE THE ELCA
by Tom Walker, Vice President, WordAlone Ministries
For more than a decade, WordAlone has assumed the role of the loyal opposition in relationship to the EvangelicalLutheranChurch in America. 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 church-wide assembly the ELCA’s irrevocable change of direction. WordAlone spent a decade of concerted effort prayerfully and patiently birthing faithful ministries, actively witnessing in the wilderness while waiting on the Lord’s directive through the Word. We now have concluded as a movement that the theological decay of the ELCA cannot be stemmed or reformed.
WordAlone has a new role with two aspects to it. First, we are sounding the call for faithful Lutherans to leave the ELCA for new and better opportunities among orthodox, confessional Lutherans. Secondly, we will even more enthusiastically continue our work of birthing new ministries to serve the needs of those leaving the ELCA.
Individuals, groups and congregations who are leaving the ELCA should understand themselves as choosing to stay with Christian orthodoxy and remaining in unity with the majority of the world’s 2.1 billion Christians. The actions of the church council, the rejection of Biblical authority by the voting members, 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 church body whose direction can be changed by a loyal opposition.
Therefore, the “loyal” in the equation is over. While our loyalty has always been to our one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our attempts to oppose gently and charitably have expired. Upholding the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions and shining their light of truth and rebuke onto actions, decisions and rhetoric of the ELCA will be our only means of opposing.
The entire doctrinal infrastructure of the ELCA is extremely damaged and the pervasive apathy of the membership assures that the current tragic direction will continue indefinitely. The vote in August 2009 was only the most recent and most flamboyant in a long series of evidence that the ELCA is no longer a thriving Christian denomination.
We urge confessional and biblical Lutherans to make plans to dissociate from the ELCA for the sake of their spiritual well being and particularly for the spiritual well being of their children and grandchildren.
The denomination’s clear departure from Christian orthodoxy during the past dozen years provides all the clarity you need for your decision. We look forward to the day that all of the sheep are safely OUT of the ELCA.
An amazing opportunity is available to those joining the developing Lutheran church bodies in the promise of options and teamwork among Lutherans in ways never seen before. Please keep your eyes on the various Websites and newsletters of organizations such as LutheranCongregations in Mission for Christ, Canadian Association of Lutheran Churches and the (yet to be constituted) North American ‘ LutheranChurch. Lutheran CORE seeks to gather together those who leave the ELCA as well as those who remain within the
ELCA, for whatever reasons.
In the next few weeks, you will be amazed at the growth and wonderful potential formission that will come as this new Lutheran landscape responds to Christ’s great commission. Second, in addition to sounding the call to leave, WordAlone’s other role is to continue producing the services and resources needed by former ELCA Lutherans- churches, agencies, groups, families and individuals-to preach, teach and confess Jesus, God’s Word alone.
We are now preparing to launch an Internet based, multimedia evangelism ministry called SALT (Salvation, Life and Truth) in order to reach out with the transforming Gospel of Jesus. We are working to start new worshipping communities through our partnership with Lutheran Evangelistic Movement, also known as LEM, in a Lutheran house church network called Life Together Churches.
We continue to bring new Christian education publications for children, youth and adults through Sola Publishing. We are spreading support for new mission starts, interim pastors and pastoral acts through the Chaplain Corps. We are upgrading our Clergy Connect service to help congregations and pastors find each other.
So, even as we carry forward our work of providing help for faithful transitions out of the ELCA, we are faithfully contributing to the new reality among confessional Lutherans.
Even though the loyal opposition to the ELCA has ended, please know that we have not forgotten our supporters and friends. We will speak out on your behalf; however, we will oppose the ELCA and other human, institutional church bodies preaching a FALSE GOSPEL. We will speak words encouraging departure from them. We invite you to take a careful look at our new “Leaving the ELCA” series on the Word|Alone Ministries Web site (www.wordalone.org) We think it will give you insight and hope as you consider your new future apart from the ELCA.