Mega-Churches Carving Up LCMS
by Rev. Cascione

This news just in from the LCMS September Reporter as the following article was about to be released: The LCMS Foundation reports a 40 million dollar loss according to treasurer, Dr. Norman Sell, due to reported bad investments. The Council of District Presidents lobbied for the election of Sell at the 1998 LCMS Convention in most of their Districts’ delegate caucus meetings. This may be the single greatest financial loss in the history of organized religion in America. More information will be published when available.

Meetings are taking place across the LCMS where pastors are being trained to be corporate "leaders" of their congregations and the lay people lose their right to make a motion from the floor of the Voters’ Assembly because their constitutions have been rewritten.

The big American mega-churches are sending out their advance teams, crisscrossing the nation, signing up congregations, which include LCMS congregations, on their networks. Thousands of LCMS pastors and many LCMS District Offices are being drawn under influence of these American Mega-Church corporations.

At least four, if not more, of these Mega-Churches view LCMS congregations as fertile ground for proselytizing and building their own networks across America. They are Willow Creek in Barrington, Illinois, Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, California, Community of Joy in Phoenix, Arizona, and The Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California, just to name a few.

These Mega-Church Corporations enroll congregations in expensive conferences and seminars, sell them tapes, books, programs, literature, and then finally sell them full-blown consulting programs for thousands and tens of thousands of dollars. Each level of involvement lures pastors and district presidents with the promise of growing congregations into mega-churches like theirs.

During a recent visit to the Crystal Cathedral I learned that LCMS pastors from across the Synod are attending classes and seminars at their impressive education complex in Orange, California.

In Michigan someone offered my name as a possible contact person to help promote a Community of Joy Leadership Association meeting for LCMS pastors at Shepherd’s Gate Lutheran Church. I went to the meeting. There were a number of Michigan District Pastors present. The invitation that was sent to many pastors in our area reads as follows:

Dear Pastor Cascione,

The Power Breakfast at Shepherd's Gate Lutheran Church [LCMS] in Shelby is next Wed., July 14 at 9 a.m. It's being hosted by Pastor Jon Bjorgaard and me, Karen O'Neall, event coordinator, from the Joy Leadership Center in Phoenix. The address is 12400 23 Mile Rd.

We wanted to provide an opportunity to the pastors in the Shelby Twp. area for fellowship, and to share the beginnings of the Joy Leadership Association . . . its mission, its programs and services. Your input will be appreciated.

At the same time, I'm looking forward to sharing information with you about our upcoming One-Day Seminar at Shepherd's Gate on September 24th ... "Building Your Church Through Visionary Leadership." Pastor Walt Kallestad and Tim Wright of Community Church of Joy will be presenting sessions on learning how to dream and create and gaining a new vision for outreach.

I look forward to an opportunity to meet you. Please reply.

All the best, Karen

The other pastors and I who were in attendance are supposed to recruit at least 300 pastors for their Sept. 24th meeting.

During the meeting we learned that the Community of Joy is building a 300 million dollar complex. In addition to teaching clergy and laity how to do "Church Growth" with Leadership Training, we learned that the Community of Joy also promotes many conferences for business leaders. They teach Christian values, ethics, morals, leadership training and human relations to employees from corporations around the world. Hence, the major donations from American Corporations to build this complex at the Community of Joy also helps the corporations receive a benefit from their gifts.

The goal of the meeting at Shepherd’s Gate, like many others the Community of Joy is setting up in LCMS congregations across the LCMS, is to bring more LCMS congregations into their organization. Congregations in the LCMS are excellent targets for Mega-Churches because they own their own deeds and are relatively autonomous in comparison to other denominations.

Second, the breakdown of any identifiable doctrine of Church and Ministry makes it possible for any of the Mega-Churches to establish a "partnership" with LCMS congregations.

Third, the District Offices of the LCMS are encouraging their congregations to be involved with the Seeker Movement promoted by Mega-Churches. The end result is that more and more LCMS congregations adopt the practice and the doctrine of the Mega-Churches.

Chad Doughty from Saddleback Community Church will speak on the same program with Dr. Gerald Kieshnick, the Chairman of the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations and the Texas District President, on October 25-27 at Concordia Lutheran Church in Tomball, Texas. Doughty will speak on "The Purpose Driven Church." Doughty’s topic is described as "A presentation on what ‘purpose driven’ churches are and accomplish for Christ by a faculty member of one of the biggest churches in America." Of course all this has absolutely nothing to do with anything Lutheran.

"Become a Contagious Christian" by attending a Willow Creek Community Church workshop at Bethel Lutheran Church, 11211 East Plano, in Dallas on January 30, 1999. This was the invitation from Mr. Paul Krentz of the Texas District Office to pastors and congregations in the District. The registration fee was $20.00, or $25.00 at the door.

After complaints from ReclaimNews and many others, District President Kieschnick removed the Texas District’s membership from the Willow Creek Association.

After removal of the Texas District’s name, a message endorsing Willow Creek appeared in President’s Kieschnick’s monthly letter to District pastors from Mr. Paul Krentz.

Krentz explained the advantage to Texas District congregations if they had individual memberships in the Willow Creek Association as follows: "Membership in the Willow Creek Association means that we are entitled to a 20% discount on all materials produced by Zondervan Publishing, including small group resources, planning resources, videos, marriage enrichment resources, drama resources, your ministry resources, and audio tapes. It also provides a 20% discount on any conference the Association puts on. John Goeke and I have both attended a conference in November, 1996. In addition, we receive monthly Willow Creek Association resources (5 copies) loaded with stewardship, evangelism, leadership ,etc., resources. Membership also keeps us on the cutting edge of what is happening in the ‘seeker church’ movement. I think it is valuable for us to belong, and allows us to better serve Christ and His church."

One only has to check the lists of Mega-Church Associations, such as the Willow Creek Association, and find it is decorated with the names of numerous LCMS congregations. The Mega-Church Associations are retraining LCMS congregations to be just like them. This must eventually lead to fragmentation and break-up of the LCMS.

The goal of ReclaimingWalther.org is to have LCMS Convention adopt a resolution reestablishing Walther’s "Church and Ministry" as the official doctrine and practice of the LCMS as it once did unanimously in 1852. We are not so naive as to believe that a unanimous vote is possible. But by the grace of God this resolution may get to the 2001 Convention floor and it may pass. Without an official doctrine of "Church and Ministry" the LCMS cannot possibly survive as a united church body. Without any basis to work together as "one church in Christ" we much inevitably continue to shrink, decline, and divide.

Our first effort is to sponsor the First National Free Conference on C.F.W. Walther in St. Louis on November 5th and 6th. We invite you to attend. We are particularly interested in lay people attending this meeting.

Rev. Jack Cascione is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS - MI) in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He has written numerous articles for Christian News and is the author of Reclaiming the Gospel in the LCMS: How to Keep Your Congregation Lutheran. He has also written a study on the Book of Revelation called In Search of the Biblical Order.
He can be reached by email at pastorcascione@juno.com.

September 11, 1999

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