Recent communications and a "faux pas "

We recently received a letter from the NI Synod saying to meet the requirements to fully split from the ELCA our Church council would have to travel up to the NI Synod office in Rockford to address the NI Synod council and give  our rationale for wanting to leave and to then listen to their response and then open some sort of dialog in an attempt to coerce us into either giving up our Church name or pressure as into remaining with them . We declined the invitation to travel to their office but were still open to having a phone conference with them just to finalize the whole mess. Our church attorney (who is also a member), sent out an e-mail asking "who should we contact". It was not addressed to anyone in particular and I thought it was just to me. I  didn't see that a member of the NI Synod was in the recipients list as I was just reading it in the yahoo preview pane that show the e-mail only and when I thought I was responding to a single person (our attorney" I in fact I was sending the response out to this NI person as well. Below is a copy of the e-mail in question. After it was brought to my attention I sent out an apology as they were unintended recipients and they received the e-mail by accident. They in response sent back an e-mail scolding me and questioning my character and leadership ability. 

This is getting to an insanity level from the ELCA. They will stop at nothing and re-write and re-interpret anything they can to cause as much damage and grief to all who oppose them. They are deceiving their flock and misdirecting souls on a cataclysmic level daily and think they have moral integrity to attack me for a sarcastic e-mail sent to them by accident.  

I'd contact this big lovable lug . But actually Sandra Musch is probably the person to contact 

815-964-9934 

                                Gary Wollersheim 

   

Or Jeff Clements, Gary's asst.

 

815-964-9934

or Sandra Musch

Ms. Sandra J. Musch

Assistant to the Bishop

Administration; Financial Administrator; Oversight of Rosters; Coordination of Synod and Congregation Constitutions; Congregational Life Committee; Congregational Resourcing Event and Professional Leaders Conference Subcommittees; Events Coordinator; Legal Issues; Synod Assembly Co-chairperson

815-964-9934
smusch@nisynod.org

Plenty of photos of goodsoil

slide show

Where's Word Alone or CORE?

Can you believe THIS!!! NI Synod says we still need their permission to leave

It looks like the NI Synod feels compelled to further  force themselves on us.

                           103 West State Street                                                              Phone: 815-964-9934

                           Rockford IL 61101-1105                                                            Fax: 815-964-2295

                           www.nisynod.org                                                                    welcome@nisynod.org

May 6, 2010

Ms. K__ M____, Church Council Secretary

Faith Lutheran Church

1611 41’st Street

Moline, IL 61265-3499

Dear Ms. M______ and Members of Faith Lutheran Church Council:

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am in receipt of your correspondence dated April 23, 2010 indicating your vote to leave the ELCA.

The constitution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America states that congregations of which the predecessor body was the Lutheran Church in America (ELCA Constitution 9.62g) must receive permission from the synod to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Because Faith Lutheran Church is a congregation formerly of the Lutheran Church in America, the Northern Illinois Synod must take action on Faith’s desire to leave the ELCA.

Therefore, we invite you, and any others whom you wish to accompany you, to attend the Northern Illinois Synod Council meeting on Saturday, May 15, 2010, 10:30-11:00 a.m. at the synod office in Rockford. The purpose of your visit would be to present your request and rationale for Faith’s desire to separate itself from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. A presentation up to 15 minutes and then time for questions would be helpful for the synod council as they act upon your desire to disassociate with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Please contact my secretary, Ms Julie Lewis, by way of letter or email (jlewis@nisynod.org) of your willingness to attend this meeting and sharing your rationale of Faith’s desire to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

In Christ,

Bishop Gary M. Wollersheim

Bishop warns four congregations violate church law

By Mary Garrigan Journal staff | Posted: Friday, May 7, 2010 9:00 pm | (3) Comments

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A Lutheran pastor from Philip and the four Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations she leads have been told by their bishop that they are in violation of church law for affiliating with another Lutheran association and withholding funds from the South Dakota synod.

The Rev. Frezil Westerlund said Friday that she was notified of ELCA Bishop David Zellmer's "censure" on May 5. The four congregations she serves -- Philip, Long Valley, Midland and a rural church -- each voted to join the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ. The LCMC opposes the new ELCA policies for homosexual clergy and same-sex marriage that were adopted last year. The LCMC churches also voted to withhold parish support from the synod and national church headquarters because of that decision and redirect it to charitable agencies of their choice.

The national church headquarters announced in January that the ELCA will not allow congregations to be members of more than one church body. Bishop Zellmer could choose to discipline a congregation for affiliating with an additional church body, and Zellmer announced in April that he would do so.

Nearly 200 ELCA congregations have joined LCMC since the ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted in August 2009 to change ELCA teaching and policy to permit pastors to be in same-sex sexual relationships. The significant number of congregations joining LCMC may explain the ELCA's new tough stance against dual church body affiliations, said the Rev. David Baer of Whitewood. Baer estimated that 11 congregations in South Dakota have joined LCMC.

Zellmer is traveling outside of the country, but his assistant, the Rev. Bill Tesch, said Friday that estimate is high. Similar letters went out to a few other churches, in addition to Westerlund's, he said.

Tesch said the letter was not a censure of Westerlund or the churches, but rather a letter informing them that their dual membership puts them in violation of ELCA church constitution. He said the LCMC is defined as a denomination, not an association. The bishop will consult with the synod council in the near future to determine any further action against ELCA congregations that continue their LCMC affiliation.

"It's not a censure. It's not a threat. It's a letter of information," he said.

Contact Mary Garrigan at 394-8424 or mary.garrigan@rapidcityjournal.com

Posted in News, Local, State-and-regional, Lifestyles, Faith-and-values on Friday, May 7, 2010 9:00 pm

Tanzania Lutherans Reject Aid From 'ELCA' Churches

By Fredrick Nzwili and Kevin Eckstrom
Religion News Service

NAIROBI (RNS/ENI) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania says it will not accept money or help from groups that allow or support the legalization of same-sex marriages.

"Those in same-sex marriages, and those who support the legitimacy of such marriage, shall not be invited to work in the ELCT," says a statement posted to the church's Web site on April 29. "We further reject their influence in any form, as well as their money and their support."

Church officials referred Ecumenical News International to the presiding bishop of the church, the Rev. Alex Malasusa, but neither he nor the ELCT general secretary Brighton Kilewa could be reached.

The statement comes in advance of the 70-million strong Lutheran World Federation assembly in Stuttgart, Germany, from July 20-27, where homosexuality is expected to be a divisive issue.

"This church affirms that love is the essence of a relationship between two people who live, or who want to live, together in marriage," the church statement said. "But, with regard to married spouses, this is the love between two people of the opposite sex." The Tanzanian church is the world's second-largest Lutheran body after the Church of Sweden, which last October deeply angered Lutherans in Africa by allowing the celebration of same-sex marriages.

Last summer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America lifted restrictions on non-celibate gay clergy, and approved a broad local option for congregations that want to bless same-sex relationships.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, said he expects to have "honest and open conversations" when he hosts Malasusa at ELCA headquarters in Chicago on May 18. Hanson said the "the ELCA's shared commitment ... to be engaged in God's mission for the sake of the world" remains unchanged.

The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director of the ELCA's Global Mission department, told ELCA News Service that the ELCA has promised sister churches that it will "continue to be respectful of local policies and practices" when assigning U.S. missionaries overseas.

Are You kidding Me?!..... You want us to do what?

Can you believe this! They actually have the audacity to ask us to change our worshiping name. We have, it's Faith Lutheran LCMC! Well since they've been so good to us I guess we could,... maybe......NOT! 
The splinter group "Saving Faith" is no more, they deserted their Church, took up at another, now disbanded and now our former synod wants us to change our name to accommodate those who want to be "of the world" rather than "in the world" 

May 4, 2010

The Reverend Mark Gehrke &

Church Council

Faith Lutheran Church

1611 41^st St.

Moline, IL 61265-3499

Dear Reverend Gehrke and leaders of Faith Lutheran Church,

Grace to you and peace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who is and who was and who is to come. Amen.

The Northern Illinois Synod Council, having noted that the congregation at Faith has elected to withdraw from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, kindly requests your consideration of a change in the name of your congregation. Our request is based on the following rationale:

Ø      Faith Lutheran Church has been associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for more than two decades. A change in the congregation’s name may assist you in developing your new identity as a congregation affiliated with another body of Lutherans.

Ø      A congregational name change may assist the people of Moline and the surrounding communities in coming to know the difference between the Faith Lutheran Church congregation and Saving Faith, the Synodically Authorized Worshiping Community.

Ø      Finally, a change in your congregation’s name will be of mutual assistance to you and to the Northern Illinois Synod in marking an end to our long-standing partnership.

The Northern Illinois Synod Council understands that it has no authority over the name by which your congregation is known. By this letter the Council simply and respectfully requests your consideration of this topic.

In Christ,

The Reverend Gary Erickson, Secretary

Hard Copy to Follow

Cc: Bishop Wollersheim

       Mr. Bill Bartlett, Vice President

Faith moves, stays

Faith moves, stays

Posted Online: May 01, 2010, 12:00 am  
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By Leon Lagerstam, leon@qconline.com
MOLINE --Faith Lutheran Church, 1611 41st St., Moline, recently voted for a second time to sever its relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The 195-to-51 vote on April 18 completed procedural requirements dictated by church constitution. An earlier vote passed in mid-January, but a second vote was required after a 90-day period.

Members also approved a new constitution and by-laws, that ''other than removing synodical references, didn't really change anything,'' spokesman Bruce Dalfonso said. ''We still have the same services, committees, programs, staff and mission mindedness.''

Meanwhile, a segment called ''Saving Faith'' has gone its own way.

In a statement earlier this week, Bishop Gary Wollersheim, of the ELCA's Northern Illinois Synod, said, ''we are saddened at Faith's decision to leave the ELCA, but through Christ's love, we respect the bound conscience of those persons, who, through study and prayer, have reached different conclusions.

''Despite our differences, we remain brothers and sisters in Christ,'' he wrote. ''The congregation of Faith and its leaders have been, and will continue to be, in my prayers.

Members who decided to remain in the ELCA formed a Synodically Authorized Worshipping Community under the leadership of the Rev. Joe Robb, the bishop said in the release. "This group, Saving Faith, offers the continued presence of an ELCA worshiping community for all those who desire one.''

That group has been meeting in the multi-purpose room at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1330 13th St., Moline.

The counterpart group, named ''Moving Forward WithFaith,'' says it's time to do just that, Mr. Dalfonso said.''We're now in charge of our own church, and that means we will have to do a better job of managing it ourselves.''

The church is affiliated with an organization known asLutheran Congregations In Missions for Christ, but that doesn't change the church's regular day-to-day operations, Mr. Dalfonso said.

Church leaders plan to launch a new stewardship drive soon, and are planning worship services, church education programs, vacation Bible school, confirmation classes, benevolence and 60th anniversary celebrations.