Many thanks to Dr. Mark Mattes of Grand View University, Des Moines, Iowa, for the video recordings of the lectures he recently gave on how we can be sure of our salvation.  These lectures were given at Lutheran Church of the Master in Corona del Mar, California, where Russell Lackey serves as pastor.  Until recently Russell was campus pastor at Grand View.    

Mark Mattes has been a Lutheran pastor for 38 years.  He served congregations in Illinois and Wisconsin and has taught theology at Grand View University for over 29 years.  He has authored and edited numerous books in theology and has lectured both across the country and in various parts of the world.

Concerning the theological and spiritual significance of his presentation, Mark wrote, “Many Christians look not just to Christ for the assurance of their salvation but also to changed behaviors, such as a greater engagement with prayer, Bible study, and witnessing.  They have a ‘checklist’ for evidence of conversion and ask you to mark off your progress in spiritual growth.”

In this presentation Mark shows us that this approach is simply not scriptural.  “The Bible tells us that Jesus alone is sufficient for our salvation.  If we look to changes in our lives and not to Christ alone, we jeopardize our assurance of salvation.  Anxiety, not security, is found when we look to the quality of our faith or righteousness for comfort.  Growing in devotional practices is a good thing but it does not guarantee our salvation. Nothing other than Jesus can secure those consciences anxious about God’s judgment.”

After watching these videos and reading his book on the same subject, “Ditching the Checklist,” I told Mark, “What you are saying I wish I had heard sixty years ago.  It would have saved me so much stress and anxiety.”

Here are links to his two You Tube videos.

The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly passed two resolutions that called for reconsideration of the 2009 social statement, “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.”

• Reconsideration #1: A review of specific text references that “would consider the import that marriage legally is now a covenant between individuals;” review specific wording “in light of public acceptance of marriage of same-gender and gender-non-conforming couples;” and “consider references to diversity of family configurations.”
• Reconsideration #2: A fresh consideration of the “church’s current concept of the four positions of bound conscience” found on pages 19-21 of “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.”

The task force that has been appointed to work on these reconsiderations will have recommendations for the 2025 Churchwide Assembly regarding Reconsideration # 1.  They describe these recommendations as “simply editorial.”  After the 2025 Assembly the task force will begin work on Reconsideration # 2.  This work will include recommendations which have been described as substantive.

The task force has released draft edits related to the first reconsideration, and the public comment period on these draft edits is open until January 31.  The following resources can be found on www.elca.org/Reconsiderations.

• A copy of the entire social statement with draft edits underlined and highlighted
• A document with Explanations of the Draft Edits, which helps connect each draft edit to the authorization from the 2022 Churchwide Assembly
• A conversation guide for groups
• A survey for people to submit their feedback on the draft edits

The task force has also updated the FAQs on the webpage.  Most of the resources are available in Spanish and large-print.

The task force will review the feedback at its next meeting in mid-February.  You can email comments or questions directly to the task force at [email protected], but they would prefer that people fill out the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8PMDXQM.

I am very grateful for the two opportunities I was given to have conversation via zoom with the two churchwide staff members who are working with the task force.  I found them very easy to talk with and very respectful of my views and concerns.  When I was asked what hopes I had for the process, I told them that I have no hopes for the process.  Rather it is obvious that from the beginning there have been powerful and preferred voices who have been working relentlessly to eliminate the provision for bound conscience and that if they do not succeed this time they will not stop until they eventually succeed.  Also I believe that when the ELCA does finally eliminate the provision for bound conscience, it will be committing a massive breach of trust. 

Please join with me in praying for the friend of Lutheran CORE who is a member of the task force.  Pray that he will be bold in his witness and clear, articulate, effective, and compelling in his contributions to the discussion.

I encourage friends of Lutheran CORE who are still in the ELCA to participate in this feedback process.  There are basically two things that I have to say about changes being recommended as part of Reconsideration # 1.  I have sent this communication to the leaders of the task force as my response.

Comment # 1

The original 2009 social statement was 48 pages in length.  The document containing recommendations related to Reconsideration # 1 is 51 pages in length.  True, the recommended changes are clearly highlighted and the “Explanation of the Draft Edits” is only 11 pages in length.  But why are ELCA social statements always so long, convoluted, and complex?  How many people – what percentage of people – do they really think will thoroughly and carefully read, analyze, and evaluate all those pages?  It is easy to wonder whether the reason for so much verbiage is to include things in all those words and pages that people will not catch.

Comment # 2 

I do not believe that the task force is being accurate when it calls the recommended changes in Reconsideration # 1 “simply editorial.”  Nor was a January 7 communication from the Theological Ethics Staff of the Office of the Presiding Bishop accurate when it described them as “small word changes that update the text without changing its meaning.”        

To support that claim I would point to the resolution’s calling for changes “in light of public acceptance of marriage of same-gender and gender-non-conforming couples.”  The key phrase is “gender non-conforming couples.”  The 2009 social statement affirmed publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same sex relationships.  The new wording being recommended goes beyond that as it considers “lifelong, monogamous relationships of same-gender or gender-diverse couples” (page 19 of the “Human Sexuality Social Statement Draft Edits”).  On the same page it speaks of “life-long, monogamous relationships between individuals of diverse sexes, genders, or sexualities.”  A footnote on that page defines “gender diverse” as encompassing “a wide diversity of identities and expressions in relationships between individuals, including gender non-conforming, non-binary, genderqueer, and transgender persons.”  That kind of change is far more than “simply editorial” and “small word changes” that do not change the meaning.    True, the recommended revised version still says, “The predominant historic Christian tradition has recognized marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman, reflecting Mark 10: 6–9” (page 15).  It also states, “The Lutheran Confessions assume and reflect this understanding of marriage” (pages 15-16).  But it is neither the Scriptures nor the Confessions that inform the recommended changes, but “public acceptance of marriage of same-gender and gender-non-conforming couples.”  Those with traditional views knew that the ELCA would not stop with what was approved in 2009.  Nor will it stop with what is now being recommended in this revised social statement.         

 

Please check out the new page on our website, “ELCA Focus,” which brings together in one place a large number of resources and articles regarding the ELCA.  It is intended to help pastors, lay leaders, and congregations become aware of and prepared for the dramatic changes that are anticipated from decisions that will be made and actions that will be taken by the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.  A link to that page can be found here. 

There are three sections to the page – “What Is the Issue?”, “Stories from Churches”, and “Relevant Articles.”

“What Is the Issue?” (LINK) contains links to the websites for the Lutheran Congregational Support Network, the ELCA’s Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church, and the DEIA audit which the ELCA had done of its governing documents.  The page also includes a link to my evaluation of a communication from an ELCA synodical bishop where he totally dismisses the legitimate concerns that people have about anticipated coming changes.  You will also find a link to power point slides that were used by the Reformers group of one ELCA congregation to inform their fellow members regarding issues within the ELCA.

If you have not yet checked out the Lutheran Congregational Support Network, we urge you to go to their website – https://lutherancongregationalsupportnetwork.org/  Their goal is to provide a means to inform ELCA congregations of coming constitutional changes in the ELCA and to help congregations be prepared and know how they can respond. 

“Stories from Churches” (LINK) contains links to actual accounts of pastors, churches, and lay leaders that have experienced the heavy-handed tactics of synods.

“Relevant Articles” (LINK) contains links to articles previously published by Lutheran CORE.  I do not see how anyone could read several of these articles and not say, “Something is very, very wrong.”

We hope this resource is helpful for you and that you will share it with others.

 

Many thanks to LCMC pastor Daniel Ostercamp for his video review of the book, “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure,” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt.  A link to Daniel’s review can be found here.  A link to our YouTube channel, which contains over four dozen reviews of books and videos on topics of interest and importance, can be found here.    

Regarding the book, Daniel writes –

Successful societies find ways to teach their youth the timeless wisdom needed to build good lives.  In this thoughtful and accessible book, a free speech lawyer (Lukianoff) and a social psychologist (Haidt) demonstrate how a generation of Americans is being set up to fail.

Three “Great Untruths” have become part and parcel of our educational process.  Safetyism has replaced our innate need for challenge and stressors, the false advice to “always trust your feelings” has curved us ever more inward upon ourselves, and our political decisions have morphed from being based in our common humanity into a call to identify and eliminate our common enemies. 

“The Coddling of the American Mind” provides a warning of the end station of good intentions and a pathway to renew our commitment to knowledge and truth.

 

A “MARY” CHRISTMAS

Christmas is filled with things that take your breath away.  In fact, one person went so far as to say that life at its best is measured not by the breaths we take, but by the breaths we miss.  Life at its best is made up of times like Christmas – times of awe and wonder. 

How much do you think that first Christmas took Mary’s breath away?  How much was she not even able to speak?  Oh, she had talked with an angel in Nazareth, and she had sung her song to her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea.  But in Luke’s account of Christmas Eve, there is not recorded even one word from Mary.  It is as if what was happening to her was just too deep to put into words.  So it merely says, “Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2: 19).

We need to be like Mary and spend some quiet time around the manager.  This Christmas we all need to be like Mary, who, apparently without saying a word, held her child, who was both God and human, close to her breast and pondered in her heart everything that was happening to her.

The first thing I believe she pondered was the LOWLINESS OF GOD’S APPROACH.  God did not come with noise and clamor.  Rather, as the beloved Christmas carol says, “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift was given.”  How often does the power of God come to us not with great noise, but instead in silence?  How often is God best experienced where there is the least noise?  How often is it that in the quietest of moments God most touches our lives?  Yes, Christmas is a time when the world holds its breath and listens once again for the soft cry of a baby.  So gracious and so holy was the time that Mary may not have said a single word.  Rather she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart, including the LOWLINESS OF GOD’S APPROACH. 

And then, second, I believe she also pondered the LOWLINESS OF GOD’S ARRIVAL.  There was no room for them except where the animals stayed, so Mary “wrapped Him in bands of cloth and laid Him in a manger.”  Do you think Jesus hesitated?  When the only begotten Son of God – pre-existent from all eternity – stood there on the balcony of heaven and counted what would be the full cost of His coming – of His emptying Himself, as the apostle Paul said.  Do you think He hesitated even for a moment before He came?  No, I do not think so.  Instead I think that He looked down and saw it all – including the cross and all the pain and all the shame – and then willingly and intentionally came.  Yes, I believe that when Mary was pondering all of these things, she was also pondering the LOWLINESS OF GOD’S ARRIVAL

And then, third, I believe she also pondered the LOWLINESS OF GOD’S AUDIENCE.  The first ones to learn of His birth were some shepherds.  Now I have read that the Pharisees of the day saw six professions as unworthy.  One of these was being a shepherd.  Shepherds were not permitted to give testimony in a court of law, and I have even read that they were not allowed to enter a synagogue because their work was considered ritually unclean.  So called “good people” would have nothing to do with shepherds.  But the good news of great joy was first given to a group of shepherds.  At the heart of the Gospel is the truth that knowing God is not something that is given only to important and powerful people.  Rather it is also given to shepherds.  And you and I are like shepherds – and we are all like sheep.  But the good news of Christmas is that we are all still worth everything to God.

“How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given! 
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him, still the dear Christ enters in.”

What I pray for you during this Advent and Christmas season, is that you will have the heart of Mary, who sat there silently and nursed her child, who was both God and human, as she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.

From my heart to yours I wish you a Mary – a M-A-R-Y – Christmas.

Dennis D. Nelson
Executive Director of Lutheran CORE

 

* * * * * * *

LUTHERAN CONGREGATIONS SUPPORT NETWORK

I am very grateful to and for all those who are helping spread the word regarding the Lutheran Congregations Support Network and its work to inform ELCA congregations of the risks they are under and are likely coming to their congregational autonomy and property rights because of anticipated changes in the ELCA constitution and governance structure.  Here is a link to their website – lutherancongregationalsupportnetwork.org

Among the resources on their website are links to three videos, which give

• Interviews with pastors and congregations that have experienced ELCA tactics
• A description of the process by which a congregation can lose autonomy and come under institutional oversight
• Publicly available information about the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly

Thank you for helping spread the word. 

 

* * * * * * *

With the 2025 March for Life in Washington D. C. coming up on January 24, we wanted to share with you two articles from the NALC Life Ministries Team.

Making Ourselves Gods

by Pastor Mark Chavez, Chair of the NALC Life Ministries Team

All life hangs on the first commandment: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:2-3) Martin Luther’s explanation of the First Commandment in the Large Catechism ends with these words:

Let this be enough for the First Commandment. We have had to explain it at great length, for it is        the most important. As I said before, if the heart is right with God and we keep this                                commandment, all of the rest will follow on their own. (BOC, Kolb/Wengert, p. 392)

The inverse of Luther’s words are equally true. Not keeping the First Commandment means we will not keep all the other commandments. Apart from Christ our hearts are not right with God. We have other gods. We do not keep the commandments. We do not preserve and care for life. Idolatry always leads to death.

We have many gods. They can be anything or anyone. The growth of one particular god in the current culture is especially disturbing and destructive. Culture would have us believe that we are each a god unto ourselves – “It’s my life, I can do whatever I want with it. It’s my body, I can do whatever I want with it.”

Self-idolatry is the extreme height of our sinful condition, incurvatus in se (turned or curved in upon self). Making ourselves gods, is also the height of our sinful rebellion. We attempt to displace the true “Author of life” (Acts 3:15). We think we are the authors of our lives. Our deception and delusion is profoundly tragic. Our authorship does not create, promote or preserve life. It destroys life. Not just our own life, but the lives of others as well.

Medical and scientific data has for many years proven that women who experience abortion and transgendered children and youth suffer physical, psychological and spiritual trauma. Were they to study the impact of physician assisted suicide on family, friends and the administering physicians, there is probably trauma for them as well. Culture says the above are ways of caring for life, but the truth is the opposite. Culture calls evil good.

Far too many are shaped by culture to assume life is in our hands, and we can do whatever we want with it. No wonder that the number of elective abortions, physician assisted suicides and transgendered children and youth is increasing.

Insisting we are gods is a complete rebellion against the only living God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The true “Author of life” owns every human life and body. He alone creates life. All life rests in his hands, not ours, including both believers in Christ and unbelievers. God’s ownership of a believer’s life and body is especially personal and intimate:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from      God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1              Corinthians 6:19-20)

Since we, as God’s elect, were bought with an extravagant price, the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, our whole life belongs to him. As members of his body, we are called to speak the truth to the culture. We are not gods. All life is in God’s hands.

March for Life and Y4Life Conference in January!

 by Pastor Dennis DiMauro   

The NALC Life Ministries team is once again preparing for the March for Life in Washington D.C. this January, but our plan is a little different. Instead of holding a life conference, NALC Life has decided to team up with Lutherans for Life (LFL) and participate in their events at the March! Their youth conference, Y4Life, will be held at the Hilton Arlington Landing Hotel (2399 Richmond Highway, Arlington, VA 22202) from Thursday, January 23rd, 2025 through Saturday, January 25th, 2025 and it has over 400 kids already registered (register at https://y4life.org/event/y4life-in-washington-d-c-january-23-25-2025/ ). We encourage all our NALC youth to participate in this free conference.

On Friday, January 24th we will be once again participating in the March for Life under the NALC banner, and I hope you can join us at 12th and Madison Sts., N.W at noon as we march to the U.S. Capitol. Before the march there is a prayer service at DAR Constitution Hall 1776 D St. NW (18th and D St.) Washington, DC 20006 starting at 8:30am. All our NALC members are invited to attend this service and our clergy are invited to participate (stoles are white). If you have any problems at the march, please contact Pastor Dennis Di Mauro at (703) 568-3346. Pastor Di Mauro can also host you in his home if you would like to stay overnight in DC. We can’t wait to see you in our nation’s capital this January!!

 

Response to

The Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church: Myths and Facts

Nov 23, 2024

By Bishop Michael Rinehart

Note from the Director:  I was absolutely amazed to read the response from an ELCA synodical bishop to what he calls myths and untruths that are circulating regarding the work of the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church.  I am equally amazed over how totally non-communicative the ELCA is about that work.  Here is my response to Bishop Rinehart’s comments.  My responses are in all bold and are preceded by my name, NELSON.   

NELSON: The website for the Lutheran Congregations Support Network did not go public until Tuesday, November 26.  Will his responses become even stronger if and when he becomes aware of that website?

To be honest, I hesitated to write this. I hate giving any airtime to fake news, but the misinformation I’ve seen touted about the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church (CRLC) is so bizarre, it requires addressing. People have asked me, “Where can I go to find the truth?” This article will hopefully answer that question.

At the last Churchwide Assembly in Columbus Ohio, a memorial was brought by several synods to take a look at the structure of the ELCA. Our current operating system was built in 1988 when the ELCA was formed. It was a bit of a hybrid of the polities of the LCA, the ALC, and the AELC, with a smidgeon of 1980’s corporate culture thrown in to boot. Many, including me, feel our structures were built for a former reality, one that no longer exists. Personally, I feel it was built to maintain what existed, rather than adapt to the mission context. Others suggested we should examine our governing documents for any systemic racism that might be built in. I voted for the motion, and the CRLC was created.

NELSON:  The sentence “Others suggested we should examine our governing documents for any systemic racism that might be built in” minimizes the prominence given to dismantling racism in the motion to form the CRLC.  First, “being particularly attentive to our shared commitment to dismantle racism” is the only specific instruction given to the CRLC.  Second, the phrase “dismantle racism” is not ideologically neutral and without context.  Rather it reveals a whole Marxist way of viewing reality.  Third, Bishop Rinehart’s comment does not acknowledge the fact that 7 out of 35 – or a full 20% of the membership of the CRLC – is made up of DEIA officers and/or leaders at their place of employment and/or influence. 

Committees do excellent work, but they rarely bring about the kind of institutional reform I think we need. Once they started the listening process, they got an earful of ideas. Their work then became how to just decide what to do and make it manageable. The language of the motion was their guide. The CRLC shall:

…reconsider the statements of purpose for each of the expressions of this church, the principles of its organizational structure, and all matters pertaining thereunto, being particularly attentive to our shared commitment to dismantle racism, and will present its findings and recommendations to the 2025 Churchwide Assembly in preparation for a possible reconstituting convention to be called under the rules for a special meeting of the Churchwide Assembly.” [CA22.01.06]

So the motion was to review the purposes of the three expressions of the church: congregations, synods and the Churchwide Organization, looking closely at its organizational principles and being attentive to our shared commitment to dismantle racism. The group will prepare a report for the 2025 assembly.

Suggestions completely unrelated to the original motion were put forward. Then afterward, rumors about the nefarious things the CRLC was doing began to float around the Internet.
If you’d like to know what’s going on, here’s a summary of topics and conversations, as well as a schedule of meetings.

Imagine my surprise when I saw detractors of the ELCA reporting that the CRLC was planning to take over the ELCA, take possession of all church properties, grounds, and finances, remove bound conscience, demand a double supermajority (??) for disaffiliation or even make disaffiliation illegal, and more.

NELSON: No ELCA leader who knows and understands people should be surprised that people will become very concerned and fearful of what may be coming when there is so little communication regarding the work of the CRLC and what the ELCA Church Council will be doing with the recommendations from the DEIA audit which the ELCA had done of its governing documents.   

Most people are smart enough to easily recognize this as propaganda from outside the ELCA designed to stir up suspicion, fear, and anger. I don’t like to respond to rumors, but I’ve also found, in the absence of credible information, people can take advantage of the ill-informed.

So I took this opportunity to make contact with some folks who are on the CRLC and get the low down. I learned that the CRLC doesn’t have authority to change polity.

Myth: The CRLC is going to remove Bound conscience.
Fact: The CRLC has not discussed bound conscience at all. It’s outside of their scope. There are conversations about updating the outdated language of our human sexuality statement, which was adopted before the marriage equality act passed. Congregations and clergy cannot be forced to marry or to not marry anyone.

NELSON: That is true that discussing bound conscience is outside the scope of the CRLC.  There is another task force that has the responsibility to review the 2009 human sexuality social statement and reconsider the provision for bound conscience.  So far there has been no report from that task force, even though the 2025 Churchwide Assembly is less than eight months away. 

Myth: Instead of a 2/3 vote, the ELCA is going to require a double supermajority (whatever that is) to disaffiliate.
Fact: No it isn’t. Discussing or amending the process of disaffiliation is not a part of the CRLC’s work at all. There are no conversations about this on the CRLC or anywhere in the ELCA that I’ve heard.

NELSON: I also am not aware of any movement to require a double supermajority to disaffiliate.  I also do not know what a double supermajority is.  Instead what the ELCA requires is two separate, supermajority votes with a certain amount of time in between.  It is a cheap shot to mock those who have mistakenly said “double supermajority.”  With the lack of information regarding the discussions and actions of the CRLC – and with another church body (the United Methodist Church) making it more difficult for congregations to leave – it is natural that people will fear that amending the process of disaffiliation will be a part of the report and recommendations from the CRLC. 

Myth: The ELCA is going to make it illegal to disaffiliate. If you don’t disaffiliate before 2025 you will not be able to.
Fact: This is completely false. This is obviously made up by someone who wants to encourage congregations to come over to their denomination.

NELSON: Again, because of the lack of information it is easy to understand that many people will be fearful that the changes recommended by the CRLC will make it impossible to disaffiliate – or impossible for a congregation to keep its property if it disaffiliates.  

Myth: In order to dismantle racism, colonialism, and patriarchy, the whole ELCA structure is going to be dismantled. The “new CRLC committee” is going to be in charge of the ELCA.
Fact: No it isn’t. The CRLC has no legislative authority. The CRLC has discussed issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion and how some aspects of the structures of the church have caused pain.

NELSON: True, the CRLC has no legislative authority.  It is the Churchwide Assembly that has legislative authority.  The “new CRLC committee” is not going to be in charge of the ELCA.  But they will be making recommendations to the ELCA Church Council, who will be making recommendations to the 2025 Churchwide Assembly.  And with all the talk about racism being systemic, the need to dismantle racism, the ELCA’s being the whitest denomination in the United States, and white people’s inability to not be racist, it is not too far down the road to say that the ELCA needs to be dismantled.   

Myth: Every ELCA church will need to go through a financial audit. One post claimed there would be fines if a church has not spent money on social justice committees “at the government level.”
Fact: Someone made this up. The fact is, every congregation does an annual internal audit, and it should for its own safety. Synods have an annual external audit.

NELSON: With all the “Recommended Minimum DEIA Standards for Congregations” which are a part of the DEIA audit which the ELCA had done of its governing documents, and with neither the CRLC nor the ELCA Church Council so far saying anything publicly about what will be done with that audit, it is natural for congregations to fear what they may be expected or even required to do and what will happen to them if they do not. 

Myth: The ELCA is going to take possession of all church properties.
Fact: Nope. There is no discussion about or desire to acquire church properties. (And since each ELCA congregation is a separate 501.c(3) it would be nearly impossible.) The idea that some entity (synod, churchwide, etc.) wants to steal your property or close your church is a bizarre, old trope.

NELSON: A synod’s taking over a congregation and its property and closing the congregation is not “a bizarre, old trope.”  Rather it is something synods are doing as they make use of S13.24 in the model constitution for synods. 

Myth: If your congregation does not give a certain amount to LGBTQIA causes or social justice committees “at the government level,” you will be reprimanded and ordered to pay a certain amount to the ELCA structure.
Fact: I truly don’t know where people get this stuff. This has no basis in reality.

NELSON: See comments above re the lack of communication from the CRLC and the ELCA Church Council regarding the work of the CRLC, the recommendations that will be coming from the CRLC, and what the ELCA Church Council will do with the recommendations from the DEIA audit.  Also Bishop Rinehart ignores the fact that people will understandably be concerned in light of the fact that 7 out of 35 – or a full 20% of the makeup of the CRLC – are LGBTQ.  And this does not take into account the additional number that are activists on LGBTQ issues.    

I get to wondering who is making up this stuff and why? (I have some suspicions.) Who stands to benefit? Consider this: Suppose you are part of a small splinter denomination that broke off for this or that reason. When you broke off, you imagined an avalanche of congregations would follow you, but it didn’t come to pass. Now you’re a small struggling denomination, with congregations that are not growing. You have no seminaries, no colleges, no camps, and are no longer part of the Lutheran World Federation. The only way you grow is by poaching congregations from other denominations by stirring up division. How do you do that? You make up stuff and play to their fear. “The bishop is going to close your congregation.” “The synod is going to steal your property.” “The denomination is going to take control of your finances.”

There are lots of other rumors floating around, but I hate to give them the light of day. If you have questions or concerns, give me a call. I’m happy to look into things and find out what’s what. I try to follow my parents’ advice: “Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.”

A Churchwide Assembly will be held again in the summer of 2025 as it is every three years. Any recommendations from the CRLC that require a constitutional amendment will be published in advance. Constitutional amendments can be proposed but not ratified until the following assembly.

At the end of the day, people will believe what they want, for whatever conscious or unconscious reasons they have. I am reminded of a Luther quote, which may be apocryphal:

You cannot keep birds from flying over your head,
but you can keep them from building nests in your hair.
– Martin Luther

NELSON: I would hope that all this will show ELCA leaders that they need to do a far, far better job at communicating what will be coming to and what will be voted on at the 2025 Churchwide Assembly because of the work of the CRLC and the DEIA audit.  The lack of communication and transparency has been astounding. 

 

December 2024

Dear Friends in Christ –

Luke tells us that the angel Gabriel said to Mary, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1: 31, 33).  This was in fulfillment of the promise God made to David through the prophet Nathan – “Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7: 16).

This fall I have been teaching a Sunday morning adult Bible class at the ELCA congregation where my wife and I are members on the life of David.  I have entitled the series, “A Man After God’s Own Heart,” which is the way that Samuel described the next king after Saul had been rejected because of his disobedience.

I have shared with those attending that I believe that the two best days of David’s life were (1) when he was anointed to be the next king of Israel (1 Samuel 16: 13) and (2) when the prophet Nathan told him that his throne would be established forever.  I also asked them what have been the best days of their lives. 

I am sure that from the time when he was anointed, David looked at himself and his life in a completely different way.  As we read the accounts of his being chased by a severely threatened and fiercely jealous King Saul, there were extremely difficult situations that David handled differently and better because he was completely secure in who he was as the one who had been chosen by God.  In the cave at En-Gedi (1 Samuel 24) and in the Wilderness of Ziph (1 Samuel 26) David would not allow his men to kill the king – even though they had the opportunity to do so – because Saul was “the Lord’s anointed.”  Knowing that he would be the next king, David was willing to let things work out in God’s way and according to God’s timing.

And think of what it must have meant to David – on the darkest days of his life – to remember that God had said that through his descendant (whom we know is Jesus) his house, kingdom, and throne would be established forever.  It would not end with him – or after one or two more generations.

I have now been serving as executive director of Lutheran CORE for nearly ten years.  Previously I had served as pastor of an ELCA congregation in southern California for forty years.  I feel that my work with Lutheran CORE is the culmination and high point of my entire professional ministry career.  I believe that all that I have done, learned, and been through as a pastor was preparing me for what I am doing now. 

The board of Lutheran CORE and I are fully committed to keeping you informed about the structural and governance changes that are likely to come from the work of the ELCA’s Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church.  The Commission continues to hold its cards close to its chest.  I interpret their behavior as their not wanting us to know what they will be recommending until close enough to the time of the August 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly that there will not be adequate opportunity to make people aware and give people a chance to process the potentially drastic changes.  The board of Lutheran CORE and I are also fully committed to alerting you to the all-encompassing redefinition of mission and ministry that will most certainly result from the DEIA audit which the ELCA had done of its governing documents.  We are deeply concerned about how many of these so-called “Recommended Minimum DEIA Standards for Congregations” will become expectations or even requirements and what will be done to congregations that are not DEIA compliant.  Third, we will let you know whether the provision for bound conscience is at risk when there finally is some official word from the task force that is reviewing and reconsidering the 2009 human sexuality social statement.

The board of Lutheran CORE and I feel that we have been called by God to do this work of alerting you to what is coming and helping you prepare and be ready to respond. 

We are encouraged and inspired by the way in which being anointed by God was a great source of definition of calling and strength for David.  We also think of what it must have meant for him to know that the kingdom would last beyond him.  His efforts would not be in vain. 

Many people have asked me, “How do you keep going?  Do you ever become frustrated, discouraged, or feel overwhelmed?”  I always reply No.  I work with no delusion that our efforts will get the ELCA to change.  Rather I work with the hope that more ELCA pastors, congregations, and leaders will become aware of the seriousness of what is coming and will be equipped with knowledge and tools to make good decisions and take action.  I cannot imagine that God will bless what the ELCA is doing and that what the ELCA is doing will end well. 

In Matthew 16: 18 Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”  In 1 Corinthians 15: 58 the apostle Paul wrote, “Be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Thank you for your prayers and your faithful, generous financial support.  Please find below a link to print a form which you can use to let us know how we can be praying for you.  You can also use that form to send a year-end gift that will enable us to continue to do our work, including the above as well as providing resources such as worship aids, prayers, daily devotions, weekly lectionary-based Bible studies and children’s messages, video book reviews, webinars, and support and assistance for congregations in transition.  Direct links for online payments are also found below.

In the Name of Christ, in Whom we are chosen and through Whom we have a secure future. 

Dennis D. Nelson
Executive Director of Lutheran CORE

The purpose of this communication is to inform you about a movement called the Lutheran Congregations Support Network.  Their goal is to develop a means to inform ELCA congregations of coming constitutional changes in the ELCA and to help congregations be prepared and know how they can respond.

The Network will not deal with theological or culture war issues.  Instead they will deal with constitution issues – what property rights and protections congregations have in the current ELCA constitution and how those rights and protections could be at risk in a new, revised constitution. 

A November 20 news release regarding the November 14-17 meeting of the ELCA Church Council reported the following as among the key actions taken by the Council –

• Approved amendments to “Constitutions, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the ELCA” that were drafted in response to the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility (DEIA) Audit. The audit report was presented to the council at its fall 2023 meeting.
• Recommended to the 2025 Churchwide Assembly certain amendments to “Constitutions, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the ELCA” that were brought to the council by the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church.

As has been typical, the ELCA is not communicating what those amendments entail, nor do they tell us how much advance notice they will give us prior to the July 28-August 2 Churchwide Assembly which will consider these recommendations.

As part of their goal and purpose of helping congregations protect their property and keep from being taken over, the Network is putting together a list of contract law attorneys that will help congregations think and act strategically. 

Here is a link to the website of the Network. 

lutherancongregationalsupportnetwork.org

This website will activate on Tuesday, November 26 and will contain links to three videos –

• interviews with pastors and congregations that have experienced ELCA tactics
• a description of the process by which a congregation can lose autonomy and come under institutional oversight
• publicly available information about the 2025 Churchwide Assembly.

May the Lord give you courage and wisdom as you consider this information.  Please help us get the word out to others.

Blessings in Christ,
Dennis D. Nelson
Executive Director of Lutheran CORE

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/lutherancongregationalsupportnetwork

Youtube:    https://www.youtube.com/@LCSN-us

Instagram: lcsn.social 

Email update signup:  https://mailchi.mp/f24b14632a56/subscribe-to-lcsn

At the church in southern California where I served as pastor for forty years we had a large Christian day school that went from preschool to eighth grade.  The Christmas programs put on by the students (preschool, K-3^rd grade, 4^th-8^th grade) were always excellent and we knew that for many parents attending their child’s program would be the only time when they would hear the Christmas message. 

The reality was that rehearsals and preparations for the programs basically took over the sanctuary from late November through the middle of December.  All the chancel furniture was removed and one hundred forty chairs were set up in the chancel.  The chancel was set up for the rehearsals early Monday morning and it stayed that way throughout the week until Friday afternoon when the chairs were removed and the chancel furniture was put back for Sunday morning.  Normally it all worked out just fine.

But one year the ninety-nine-year-old mother of a prominent member died in early December.  My first thought was, “I am toast.  No matter what happens, I will not survive this one unscathed.”  If I tell the prominent member that the sanctuary is not available for her mother’s funeral, I am toast.  If I tell the day school teachers that they are going to have to remove all the chairs and put the chancel furniture back an extra time, I am toast.  I saw no way that this one was going to resolve easily and well.

But then the prominent member told me that she wanted to have a memorial service for her mother the following September on what would have been her mother’s 100^th birthday.  I told her, “That is a wonderful idea!”  My heart said, “Thanks be to God!” 

But I have to admit that most of the conflict situations that I had to deal with during my forty years of pastoral ministry did not work out so well or so easily.  So I am very grateful to Lutheran CORE vice president and retired NALC pastor Brian Hughes for offering a free webinar entitled “Managing Church Conflicts without losing your passion, soul, or job” on Wednesday, November 20 from 11 AM – 12 noon Eastern Standard Time.  Here is a link where you can sign up for the free webinar. I have signed up, and I encourage you to do the same.  Brian writes regarding the webinar, “Pastors and other leaders are usually put in the crosshairs of church conflicts as ideas, needs, and personal desires jockey for position.  Join us as we examine stages of conflicts, types of conflicts, and how to bring down the temperature or, when required, press through to a new consensus.”

 

Structural and governance changes will most certainly come about from the work of the ELCA’s Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church.  An all-encompassing redefinition of mission and ministry will most certainly result from the recommendations, expectations, requirements or whatever that will be laid upon congregations because of the DEIA audit which the ELCA had done of its governing documents.  The provision for bound conscience will very possibly be eliminated as part of the review and re-evaluation of the 2009 human sexuality social statement.  As I keep up on the latest of what may be coming for unsuspecting ELCA congregations, I realize that conflict within congregations might only become more severe leading up to and after the next ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August 2025. 

In June of 2013 – just a little over a year before I retired – the synod in which I was rostered, Southwest California, elected the ELCA’s first openly gay synodical bishop.  That election threw the congregation where I had already been serving for thirty-nine years into total turmoil and conflict, and that was a conflict that continued throughout and beyond my final twelve months there.  And I found that since I had already announced my retirement because I would be leaving after forty years there, I was totally unable to provide leadership, guidance, and stability in the situation.  That was a situation that the congregation would have to work through without me.  I was not in a position to help them in any way during my final year there.

Friends of Lutheran CORE who are a part of ELCA congregations will find themselves in many different kinds of situations in regard to the upcoming changes in the ELCA.  Do any of the following describe your situation?

• In some ELCA congregations there will be strong agreement among the pastor, leaders, and members that the time to leave the ELCA is now and action needs to be taken as soon as possible in case the coming changes in structure and governance make it even more difficult if not impossible even for former ALC congregations to leave with their property.

• In some congregations there is no way that a motion to disaffiliate from the ELCA will prevail.  Even if a majority are in favor of leaving, they will not be able to achieve two separate votes with at least two-thirds of those voting approving a motion to disaffiliate. 

• In some congregations the pastor has kept information regarding what is actually happening in the ELCA from the people.

• Some friends of Lutheran CORE are the only one in their congregation (or one of very few in their congregation) that is aware and concerned.  They have faithfully sought to inform others, but their efforts fall on deaf ears. 

• Some former LCA congregations and mission congregations started by the ELCA believe that they would never receive permission from their synod council to leave with their property and/or would not be able to pay back to the synod the mission start funds expended by the synod that the synod would demand be repaid.

• Some congregations are too diminished and/or the membership does not have the energy left to deal with the issue.  If they are aware of S13.24, they are just hoping that the synod will not use that provision in the model constitution for synods against them to justify the synod’s moving in, taking over, and possibly closing the congregation.

• I know of a vibrant, Biblically faithful, Spanish language ministry where the synod owns the building and most of the salary of the pastor is paid by the synod and churchwide.

There are Biblically faithful, confessional pastors in the ELCA who do not believe that the right approach for their congregation would be to seek to disaffiliate from the ELCA.  There are many reasons for this.  Some feel that a motion to disaffiliate would not prevail.  Some fear that it would only be disruptive in the life of the congregation.  Some believe that they can keep the changes coming in the ELCA from impacting their congregations.  We need to be praying for these ELCA pastors and their congregations.  

We are very grateful for the friends of Lutheran CORE who are members of other Lutheran church bodies who are concerned about and regularly pray for their fellow Christians still in the ELCA. 

With the changes that are certainly coming and the wide variety of situations that friends of Lutheran CORE find themselves in, Brian Hughes is planning a series of webinars for upcoming months.  The themes for the webinars will follow the life of Moses and his leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt through the wilderness into the Promised Land.  Here are the planned topics.

November – Conflict Management

Groaning under Egyptian captivity; understanding what is coming in the ELCA and the stages and types of church conflict that might engender and how to navigate them without burning out

February – Vision Casting

The hope of the Promised Land; effective ways of pointing to a preferred future

March – Grief and Change

Loss and renewal in the wilderness; understanding the process of transition and how to maintain momentum and forward direction

April – Organizational Structure and Succession Planning

New rules for a new reality; constitution and bylaws for the mission field

Stay tuned.