Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Brooklyn, NY got its hopes raised but then dashed

 Rev. Dr. Norm David reports that Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Brooklyn, NY got its hopes raised but then dashed when Bishop Robert Rimbo of Metropolitan New York Synod / ELCA promised to meet with him to discuss the Bethlehem property issue then broke that promise. 

        The opportunity arose when the Synod at its annual assembly in May adopted unanimously a resolution to pursue "a year of forgiveness and healing" after a lot of aggravation this past year.  One such aggrieved party is Bethlehem, whose property near the heart of the city at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues the Synod seized and shuttered in January 2009.  Bethlehem contends this action was illegal and actively seeks its return. Rev. David, who attended the assembly as a guest, took Bishop Rimbo aside, expressed his gratitude for the resolution, and asked if they could meet.  Bp. Rimbo said that if Rev. David would send him a letter stating what he'd like to discuss, the bishop would meet with him.

        Rev. David wrote the letter stating the Bethlehem concerns.  Bishop Rimbo responded that there was no "Bethlehem issue" and that "all issues brought forth in your letter have been resolved by the Courts of New York State and by the Church."  Rev. David wrote back to say "You know as well as I that nothing has been settled and that, if leaders of our respective entitities fail to reach some kind of accord, we of Bethlehem will be forced to contest all that you claim in all possible forums."

        Rev. David referred Bishop Rimbo to the words of Christ in Matthew 18:15-17 and 5:24-26 and urged him to reconsider and appoint the meeting.  In the meantime, Bethlehem's fundraising drive continues for its anticipated lawsuit.  The amount pledged is $62,000 at present but the legal fees could cost two or three times that, he reports.  Those who wish to contribute may learn more atwww.bethlehembrooklyn.org.  For those who can give $3,000 or more over a 3 year period, Bethlehem will enter into a nonrecourse loan arrangement.  All checks should be made payable to "Eastern Star LLC" and sent to 597 Belmont Street, Belmont, MA  02478-4420.

 

With best regards,

 

Rev. Dr. Norm David, Senior Pastor

Bethlehem Ev. Lutheran Church, Brooklyn NY

LCMS Urged to Defend Abandoned Biblical Truths

The head of the second largest Lutheran body in the country greeted delegates over the weekend with a note of affirmation that they are the front-line defenders of biblical truths.While lamenting the liberal direction that their sister body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and The Episcopal Church have taken in recent years, Gerald B. Kieschnick – president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod – thanked his denomination for uniquely preserving the Gospel.

"The unique contribution of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to Christianity in the world is that we have always stood steadfast and without compromise on the truth of God's inspired, inerrant, infallible Word," he said Sunday at the 64th regular convention in Houston.

During its eight-day convention this week, the LCMS will be considering resolutions in response to the ELCA's decision last summer to allow noncelibate gays and lesbians on the clergy roster. One of the resolutions commends the "Theological Implications of the 2009 ELCA Decisions" document for study and reference.

While the two Lutheran bodies had partnered together in works related to mercy and relief, the ELCA's action – or what Kieschnick described as a desertion of biblical truth – now threatens that cooperative relationship, the document states.

The document does not call the LCMS to immediately cut ties with the ELCA but it expresses hope that their theological position will be respected and that they can "avoid any policies or decisions which would require us to cease our support and involvement in their activities."

Further frank and serious discussions on the matter are also needed, it adds.

In his report Sunday, Kieschnick indicated that the ELCA has descended into "the swamps of compromise," deluded Christian doctrine, and edited "God's Word to suit the whims of the day."

And just as the LCMS defended the "purity of the Gospel" in the early 1970s, they are continuing that fight today, he noted.

Since the ELCA's controversial action, dozens of churches have taken votes to sever ties with the denomination – the largest Lutheran body in the country – and several have sought support from the LCMS, according to Kieschnick.

The breakaway churches are going to the smaller Lutheran body for theological support, training, mission assistance, financial assistance and conservative confessional companionship, he said.

Kieschnick reaffirmed the LCMS' stance that homosexual behavior is contrary to the will of God and therefore intrinsically sinful and that marriage is a divine institution which binds one man and one woman together in a one flesh union not to be broken until death parts them. He further repeated the theology and confessions that the denomination holds to, including belief in the triune God and that the pastoral office is limited to men.

"This is what we believe, teach and confess," he underscored. "Anyone who alleges otherwise is simply misinformed or misled. The Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod for 163 years has been a solid, evangelical, faithful, biblical, confessional Christian church and I pray to God it always will be."

He added that preserving biblical truth does not make the church static or incapable of adapting to changing times though the LCMS has struggled with shrinking membership over the last 40 years.

It's about "proclaiming a changeless Christ to a changing world," he stressed.

Membership at the LCMS is currently 2.4 million. Kieschnick acknowledged that the denomination is struggling with its fair share of problems including disharmony over diversity (in terms of worship, style, role of laity and service of women), a lack of civility and accountability, poor communication, and a loss of its children and grandchildren from LCMS churches.

He urged the church body to face up to this reality in order to fix the problems and move forward to reach the lost.

"Time is short and hell is hot," he noted. "I pray that we will recommit to proclaiming the one message of Christ and Him alone."

Sheep Stealing Studied

Sheep Stealing Studied

Presbyterians weigh guidelines for reformists.

Ken Walker | posted 7/01/2010 09:00AM

Neither denomination will comment until the PC(USA) General Assembly meets this July in Minneapolis, where delegates will consider asking the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to create guidelines for interactions between member denominations.

A yearlong Presbyterian Church (USA) investigation found no evidence to support accusations that the conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) actively solicited PC(USA) congregations. However, the April report expressed concerns over "inappropriate interference" by the EPC's New Wineskins Presbytery, which works with disaffected PC(USA) churches.

"There is going to be tension between the two groups, as there is between other Presbyterian and Reformed groups in the country," said Jeff Jeremiah, stated clerk for the EPC.

A renewal group leader doubts the potential guidelines will do much to stem an exodus, which in recent years has claimed more than 100 churches from the denomination.

"I think this is an attempt by a dying denomination to corral whatever churches it has left, rather than to be reformed and change its policies," said Parker Williamson, editor emeritus of The Presbyterian Layman.

The strains between the EPC (100,000 members) and the much larger PC(USA) (2.1 million) were likely exacerbated by mid-May events: a cutback of 49 positions at PC(USA) headquarters just days after First Presbyterian of Aurora, Illinois, left the denomination and an Arizona church announced its intention to do likewise.

Some say the divide mirrors conflicts between more than 35 renewal groups and other mainline denominations.

David Runnion-Bareford, president and CEO of the Association for Church Renewal umbrella group, said some renewal groups are critical and others try to work within the system.

Presently, he sees a third set of groups emerging: "lifeboat groups," such as the Anglican Church in North America, which is distancing itself from the Episcopal Church. "They are more associative and draw people together … encouraging each other, finding qualified pastors, and keeping churches healthy," he said.

Another is the North American Lutheran Church, which plans to form this August in Columbus, Ohio, one year after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved same-sex unions and noncelibate gay clergy.

Already, more churches have left the ELCA over the past year than the PC(USA) over the past four years, according to reformists' estimates. By early May, 351 congregations (out of more than 10,000) had voted to leave since August, although only 122 successfully completed the process.

Whether this could prompt a Presbyterian-like dialogue is unclear. However, Alan Wisdom, director of Presbyterian Action for Faith and Freedom, hopes all denominations remember the need for civility, lest non-Christians think such disputes are primarily about church property. "I would hope church officials dealing with these questions would put people first," Wisdom said. "Christ came to die for people, not denominations."

Copyright © 2010 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere: 

Previous Christianity Today articles on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) include:

Ready to Implode? | PCUSA congregations prepare shift to Evangelical Presbyterian Church. (March 15, 2007)

Official Presbyterian Publisher Issues 9/11 Conspiracy Book | Process theologian David Ray Griffin is among the most prominent proponents of theory that Bush administration, not Al Qaeda, was behind attacks. (July 31, 2006)

'Assault on the Jewish People' | New Presbyterian policy on Israel raises hackles. (December 1, 2004)

Talk of Presbyterian Split Grows | Homosexual ordination, lordship of Christ are ongoing issues for conservatives. (December 3, 2001)

PCUSA Opens Door to Gay Ordination and Other Ways to Salvation | The real big news out of the denomination's General Assembly may not be its revoking of its ban on gay ministers.  (June 1, 2001)

MORE: ELCA Seeks Dismissal of Claims in Pension Plan Suit

The ELCA churchwide organization filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Minnesota June 28, seeking dismissal of all claims against it in a lawsuit filed following termination of a defined benefit compensation retirement plan by Augsburg Fortress Publishers (AFP).

On April 21 former employees of the Minneapolis-based publisher who were covered by the terminated pension plan filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota. Named as defendants were Augsburg Fortress; its president and chief executive officer, chief financial officer and vice president of human resources and organizational development; the ELCA; and current and former members of the publisher's board of trustees. About 500 people were affected by the termination of the plan.

The lawsuit seeks to recover losses allegedly suffered by the plaintiffs because of what they claim were "breaches of duty" with regard to the termination of the defined benefit pension plan. The suit also asks the federal district court to declare that the terminated pension plan is not a church plan, but a defined benefit plan regulated by the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Augsburg Fortress, a separately incorporated entity apart from the ELCA churchwide organization, maintained and continues to maintain its own retirement benefits for its staff. At the time the lawsuit was filed, the ELCA churchwide organization asserted that "it had no role in the creation, management, funding or termination of the Augsburg Fortress pension plan." It also denied all legal claims made against it by the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs assert that the ELCA is liable for the Augsburg Plan's losses under ERISA or, alternatively, state law, states the ELCA's dismissal motion. The ELCA churchwide organization denied this. The ELCA churchwide organization noted that it is named in three counts regarding ERISA. One count seeks a declaration that the terminated pension plan is an ERISA Plan (Count I); another claims the ELCA had a duty to monitor the plan under ERISA rules (Count V); a third claims the ELCA had a co-fiduciary duty under ERISA (Count VI).

"All ERISA counts must be dismissed because the Plan is a 'church plan,' not an ERISA plan," the ELCA  motion stated. "Even if the Plan is deemed an ERISA plan, Plaintiffs' allegations that the ELCA is an appointing fiduciary fail to state a claim as a matter of law, requiring dismissal of Counts V and VI as to the ELCA."

Augsburg Fortress Publishers similarly filed a motion on Monday seeking to dismiss the counts based on ERISA but did not address other claims in the lawsuit.

The ELCA churchwide organization motion also said the plaintiffs claim that Augsburg Fortress is an "alter ego of ELCA" which should render the ELCA liable for breach of contract (Count X), or for failure to keep the promises made to the publisher's employees concerning their pension (Count XI) or under the Minnesota Consumer Fraud Act (Count XII).

"The allegations that AFP is an alter ego of the ELCA are neither legally sufficient nor plausible. The Minnesota Consumer Fraud Act allegations also fail to state a claim under the terms of the statute," the ELCA's motion stated. "Accordingly, the ELCA requests dismissal of all claims asserted against it."

In 2005 Augsburg Fortress' board of trustees froze the organization's defined benefit plan, and began offering a 403b defined contribution plan to employees. The costly defined benefit plan "has been underfunded for about nine years," Beth A. Lewis, Augsburg Fortress president and chief executive officer, said at the time the defined benefit plan was terminated on Dec. 31, 2009.

Lewis said when that plan was terminated most participants in the defined benefit plan would receive a lump sum payment. The trustees provided for a "more equitable allocation of plan assets among plan participants," she wrote in a letter to plan participants. Without the amendment, more than half of the plan participants would have received nothing at all, Lewis wrote.

"If we had done nothing, the plan would have run out of money in approximately five years and left about 60 percent of those in the plan with no retirement benefits," Lewis said. "We didn't think that was equitable or fair."
Distributions were made to plan participants in March, Lewis said. Lewis denied all claims of wrongdoing against Augsburg Fortress in the lawsuit.

ELCA Churchwide Organization Seeks Dismissal of Claims in Pension Plan Suit

From <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>
Date Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:51:06 -0500

Title: ELCA Churchwide Organization Seeks Dismissal of Claims in Pension Plan 
Suit
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>June 28, 2010  

ELCA Churchwide Organization Seeks Dismissal of Claims in Pension Plan Suit
10-177-JB

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The churchwide organization of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) filed a motion in U.S. District Court in
Minnesota June 28, seeking dismissal of all claims against it in a
lawsuit filed following termination of a defined benefit compensation
retirement plan by Augsburg Fortress Publishers (AFP).

>More:
>http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4563

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
Twitter: http://twitter.com/elcanews

WordAlone's “Leaving the ELCA” series

Should I leave the ELCA? This is a question that many congregations and members in North America’s largest Lutheran church body are beginning to ask. Recent changes in ministry policy that allow the ordaining of practicing homosexuals are bringing a significant challenge to the traditional understanding of the Bible and its authority for Christian life. However, this is only the most recent development in a long history of problematic decisions by the ELCA. After a decade of concerted effort WordAlone has reached the conclusion that the theological decay of the ELCA cannot be stemmed or reformed. The entire infrastructure of the ELCA is extremely damaged and the pervasive apathy of the membership at large assures that the current tragic direction will continue indefinitely. We urge confessional and biblical Lutherans to begin making plans to disassociate from the ELCA for the sake of their spiritual well being and particularly for the spiritual well being of their children and grandchildren.

Questions that are frequently asked by those considering leaving the ELCA can be found by clicking …Click HERE...

Taking Action

The action you choose to take in leaving the ELCA depends a lot on your situation. It is vital to know what the other members of your congregation think about the matter of leaving or staying in the ELCA. It is also extremely important to know where your pastor(s) stand on the issues. Another crucial factor is to know how current leaders in the congregation understand the problems that give rise to the need to leave the ELCA. WordAlone recommends that individuals, groups and congregations carefully consider their situation as they decide what action to take. We have worked through this with many congregations, groups and individuals. We have some suggestions for analyzing your situation and the actions you may want to take. To read more about this click HERE...

Follow a Careful Process

Moral Compass

The environment surrounding the process of leaving the ELCA has become increasingly charged in the months following the August 2009 churchwide assembly. ELCA officials and synod staff members have become increasingly anxious as more congregations choose to leave. The rules have been tightened across the ELCA but are being enforced differently in various synods. This means that everyone engaging in the process of voting to leave the ELCA needs to be very careful about how they do it. We have compiled a number of suggestions, cautions, and advisory notes about how a congregation should engage in the process of voting to leave the ELCA. To read more about this click HERE...

Study Resources

So much to read...but there's time...

Our experience suggests that the uninformed members of ELCA congregations are the most content with the present direction of their church. WordAlone has consistently worked to bring the actions, theology, and policy of the ELCA into a critical light. We are convinced that such analysis is healthy and beneficial to the faith of Christian Lutherans. For this reason we have included a large study resource section in this website to help our readers locate quality resources as they carefully work through the process of leaving the ELCA. To access these resources click HERE.

Case Studies

In "synch" with what others are doing...

It is often best to learn by example. For this reason our series will include a section of case studies that will grow as we are able to gather them. These are stories of people that have successfully found faithful ways to leave the ELCA in an effort to make a more emphatic response to Christ’s command to go and make disciples. We believe they will encourage and inspire you. If you have a story that you think would make a good case study for this series please contact us at info@wordalone.org.

Living Word Lutheran Church

For instance, Living Word Lutheran Church started worshipping with 83 people Nov. 1, 2009, in Alexandria, Minn. By this spring, their number had grown to 150 and they were on the verge of not only calling their first pastor but also deciding whether to buy a vacant church or to buy land and build a church with probably a 300-seat sanctuary. The new congregation is affiliated with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ . . . Read more

Redeemer Lutheran Church

Another example is Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fridley, Minn. is a 2,100-member congregation in a northern suburb of Minneapolis with a focus on outreach. “Changing denominational affiliation won’t change that concentration on reaching out,” says their pastor. As a matter of fact, the two votes they took in the past few months to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have taken a back seat to the excitement and work for their newest project—launching a second campus for their congregation June 5, 2010, Pastor David Glesne said. . . . Read more

Gary Wollersheim Re-elected Bishop of ELCA Northern Illinois Synod

From <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>
Date Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:30:45 -0500

Title: Gary Wollersheim Re-elected Bishop of ELCA

Northern Illinois Synod
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>June 18, 2010  

Gary Wollersheim Re-elected Bishop of ELCA 

Northern Illinois Synod
10-168-KG*/MRC

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Gary M. Wollersheim was 

re-elected June 18 to a third six-year term as bishop

of the Northern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical

Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at the synod assembly
June 18-19 at Augustana College, 

Rock Island, Ill. Augustana is one of 27 

ELCA colleges and universities.

More http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4554

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
Twitter: http://twitter.com/elcanews