In this Release:
LCMS
Congregation Invites Entire Synod to Participate in Promise Keepers
Dear Friends in Christ:
As you may be aware a Promise Keepers event is scheduled to happen in Portland, OR on
July 21-22, 2000.
The Men's Ministries of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Portland, OR (9800 SE 92nd
Ave, 788-7000) would like to invite you to stay at Beautiful Savior Church for the night
and receive a free continental breakfast, and possibly (depending on numbers of people)
transportation to the Rose Garden. Men who wish to stay should bring an air mattress,
sleeping bag, etc. for sleeping on the floor, (no showers are available). If you are
interested in this invitation please contact the BSLC church secretary at (503) 788-7000
and give her your name and phone number and someone will contact you with necessary
information.
1Thes 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you
are doing. (NIV)
Reclaim News Comment:
We do not support Promise Keepers and other Baptist Ministries.
Advent,
Zionsville, Indiana, Growth Questioned
Gary questions Reclaim News Report on Advent's growth as a "traditional" LCMS
mission congregation as follows:
"Perhaps the reason the Council of Presidents doesn't want to promote the kind of
growth experienced by Advent is because it appears to be primarily transfer growth. I
looked at the Synod web site and checked their statistics. They are way above average on
the number of adults confirmed but the dramatic increase in numbers seems to be from
sister congregations. Is that the kind of growth we should be looking for--moving people
from one LCMS church to another? Just a question."
Reclaim News Responds:
Most new mission congregations on the suburban perimeter gather transfers from other
congregations as people move out to the suburban perimeter. Gary himself said, that Advent
is way above average in adult converts. We think the Council of Presidents and people of
Gary's perspective find no joy in growing LCMS congregations with traditional worship,
hymnbooks and catechisms.
New
"Traditional" Mission Congregation in Northern Michigan
Dear Pastor Jack,
SHALOM
The release about Advent Lutheran Church certainly affirms Beautiful Savior Evangelical
Lutheran Church, Wellston, Michigan approach to serving. This past Sunday (6-11-00) we
became the very newest Michigan District LCMS congregation. We are just beginning our
venture with Christ but are in the most traditional mode, which includes Lutheran Hymnals,
traditional worship, instruction (via catechism), Bible study (Sunday & during the
week) and SERVING laity. At our chartering service we actually ran out of hymnals and
programs SOLI DEO GLORIA!
We have about 30 souls on our current roster. Many of the attendees have been retirees,
recreational property owners, tourists and local "unchurched" via canvassing
activity. The area does not have potential for dynamic growth numbers wise but a fertile
field for spiritual growth definitely exists.
Beautiful Savior - Wellston, MI utilizes The Lutheran Hymnal out of Concordia
Publishing House , Copyright 1941 for entire service.
Gerald Philips
Two Pointed
Resolutions Passed at the Atlantic District Convention
By Pastor William P. Terjesen
At its district convention on June 9th and 10th, the Atlantic District passed two
pointed resolutions.
Led by task force leader Pastor John Hannah, Atlantic District liberals resolved to
request the 2001 Synodical Convention to set aside Synodical Resolutions 7-05A and 7-06A
and their attendant bylaw 2.272g, which give the Synodical President authority to remove
errant district presidents.
This of course, was the Atlantic District's reaction to Dr. Barry's treatment of
President Benke regarding the latter's public participation in an interfaith prayer
service several years ago. They want to take that authority (the same authority DP's
currently have over pastors) away from the Synodical President.
Secondly, Atlantic District liberals resolved to memorialize the Synod to affirm
Article VII and that Synod is an advisory and not a legislative body, and to amend the
bylaws (1.09b and 2.39b) which state that Synod's resolutions should be honored and upheld
and considered binding if they are in accord with the word of God and applicable as far as
the condition of the congregation is concerned. Synod should also affirm the right of its
members to judge the validity of all Synodical resolutions in the light of Scripture, the
ecumenical creeds and the Lutheran Confessions. The point of this, of course, is to leave
liberals, charismatics, "Church Growthers," etc., free to do their thing within
the Synod with impunity.
I'd like to be able to say that there was a healthy opposition to these resolutions,
especially from the younger, more confessionally oriented recent grads. But apart from the
"Nays" voiced by my congregation's lay delegate and me, there were maybe only
ten other "nays" in the room.
One further note:
The brief video of Dr. Barry on the Fellowship question was received coldly, with only a
smattering of very brief, polite applause.
The Atlantic District, in my opinion, spoke with a unified voice and said to the Synod:
"We want to go in quite another direction altogether than the one Dr. Barry is taking
us."
Texas
District President Kieschnick Announces That Every New "Mission Start" Is Not
Necessarily New Mission Congregation
Reclaim News has questioned the location of the 33 mission congregations the Texas
District has claimed to have started in the past 10 years. At the Texas District
Convention, President Kieschnick announced that in the past 3 years 17 new ministries were
stated in the Texas District. Of the 17 new ministries, only 8 are actual congregations.
Of the 8, 2 are splits of congregations caused by the "Church Growth Movement."
Kieschnick only listed the cities in which the 8 "mission congregations" are
located, but did not offer the Convention the addresses or the names of the ministers
serving the mission congregations.
Quite often, in many Districts, the new "ministries" are mission funds given
to congregations to support staff for "outreach programs." We fear that the
statistics for new "missions" that Dr. Robert Scudieri reports for the entire
Synod are actually based on "ministries" and not actual congregations with
pastors. We offer the following report by David Strand for the LCMS.
Church-growth experts use a formula to figure out how many new congregations a North
American church body must plant annually in order to maintain its membership. For the
LCMS, that figure is 48 new congregations a year in order to stay even, 60 to grow.
Last year, we planted 65 new mission congregations and preaching stations; in 1998, 85.
Interestingly, of the 65 planted last year, only 24 were Anglo. The rest were African
immigrant, African American, Chinese, Korean, Hispanic and several other ethnic types.
"We now have the largest number of congregations and preaching stations that the
LCMS has ever had," says Dr. Robert Scudieri of LCMS World Mission.
"However," he cautions, "we are not, in my opinion, starting enough new
congregations to grow as we should. It seems to me that we would have to start 90 new
churches a year in order to replace those that are going out of existence and to grow
significantly."
For a state-by-state listing of new LCMS missions, or a listing according to ethnic
groups, go to http://www.Pentecost2000.com/numinist.htm.
Thank you!
David Strand
LCMS Director of Public Relations
Reclaim News comment:
If the reader checks the 2000 Lutheran Annual he will find that the LCMS lost 18,000
baptized souls in 1998.