In my office hangs my ordination certificate.  Across it is emblazoned the name of the ordaining body, the body whose confessional commitments I pledged to uphold on the day I knelt and made my vows.  An adult convert to the Christian faith who settled in Lutheranism as the place where I would live out my “mere Christianity” after reading a church library copy of the Augsburg Confession, in the spring of 2016 I had served that denomination in various roles for twenty years.

This spring marks the eighth year since I called my bishop and informed him that I would be serving in a new church body.  Even as an adult convert, I know how painful the process is of leaving a church body you have called home; to cause further fracture to the Body of Christ, to disappoint My Lord by ensuring that His prayer that all His disciples might be one as I will become yet one more piece of living evidence of how little the truth of the gospel seems to change the lives of those who believe it, to serve at least in part as another stumbling block for people who—as did I at one point—hold the Christian faith in contempt, was an exquisite pain… I can only imagine how hard it is for a cradle member of a communion to make a similar choice.

In his classic study of what causes massive shifts in a mindset, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn details how it takes a superabundance of contrary evidence to get people to rethink their fundamental commitments, coining the terms paradigm and paradigm shift.  A paradigm shift, when it occurs, is more than a reordering of the furniture in one’s mental office or even changing offices due to corporate restructuring; it amounts to moving out of the building, watching that edifice be razed, and having a new foundation poured upon which you must tentatively build a new place from which to conduct your business.

It is for this reason that I am uncertain whether my decision to leave the ELCA represents a true paradigm shift or not.  In the words of a Roman Catholic mentor whose specialty was ecumenical theology, with whom I shared the pain of my process, “You aren’t leaving your church; your church is leaving you.”  Though hopefully my thinking has become more refined and nuanced, my fundamental commitments in some ways have not changed since I first knew myself to be a Christian in 1995 and a conscientious son of the Lutheran reformation by early 1996.

Yet once such a choice is made—the choice to leave the home that has nurtured you during your most formative years—once the evidence piles up so high that you cannot ignore it, you begin to rethink many things.  Aspects of your identity you thought unassailable become things you question.  Commitments you thought unshakable bedrock you begin to recognize as issues of secondary and sometimes tertiary importance… sometimes you come to know them as even detrimental to keeping the most fundamental commitments of all.

Such for me has been the issue of inclusive language in ministry, whether for God or people.  The sine qua non of both my undergraduate and graduate education, I have come to question not just its utility, but its very ability to communicate the Word of God, which in turn means its very ability to foster human flourishing… especially for women.

By the time I was being formed in seminary, the use of inclusive language for human beings was a matter of basic politeness and the use of such language for God became mandated as a “justice issue” while I was away from campus on internship.  My early training conditioned me to be okay with the former; indeed I had chosen to pursue ordination in the ELCA over the LCMS because of a precommitment to women’s ordination, a commitment I still hold but should not have then, before I could possibly know the Biblical or theological issues at stake.

My conviction in Christianity as a revealed religion prevented me from embracing inclusive language for God.  Because of an encounter with a cult in my early twenties, I have a sensitivity to when I am only being told one side of an argument, so the aggressive insistence on the agenda second-cum-third wave feminism and the lack of critical presentation of any other perspective set off a voice in my head: “Danger, Will Robinson… Danger!”  The special prominence of this in my liturgics class, where we failed to learn the rudiments of using The Minister’s Desk Edition, made me begin researching the best arguments on the other side.

I was surprised to often find these arguments to be robust rather than reactionary.  An honest reader could disagree with these arguments, but not accuse the writer of bad faith or barely disguised animus against women.  Particularly compelling was an article by Jesuit Paul Mankowski (who often wrote under the pen name Diogenes) entitled Jesus, Son of Humankind? The Necessary Failure of Inclusive-Language Translations, which I found in a now out-of-print journal.  (It is still available on the Touchstone magazine website for subscribers.[1])

There is one issue central to our salvation that inclusive language translations of the Bible obscure—even those translations that only use inclusive language for human beings, like the NRSV—that I have never seen referenced in any scholarly work, so I would like to address it briefly here.

“No one comes to the Father but by me,” says Jesus in one of our most beloved funeral readings (John 14:6), but how exactly does Jesus get us to the Father?  “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” joyously declares St. Paul. (Galatians 3:27)  Elsewhere he adds, “For if we have been united with [Christ] in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:5)  We have been united with Jesus.

A robust Sacramental theology teaches us that as regards our eternal inheritance, this means that when the Father regards us, He sees Christ, with whom we have been united, and whom we have donned like a mantle.  In other words, He sees not Joe or Sally, merely created in the image of God however pious or penitent, but Jesus, His Son, God Himself, for Whom the entire realm of created reality and uncreated glory is the rightful inheritance.

What this means in contradiction to the polite niceties of post-Christian American cultural religion, each of us is, properly speaking, a child of God only when we share in the sonship of Jesus Christ through Baptism.  It is for this reason—not the misogynistic cultural baggage assumed by feminists of whatever wave—that St. Paul in his letters addresses both the male and female objects of his correspondence as “brothers.”  We are all brothers because we all through Holy Baptism share in the sonship of Jesus Christ.

Inclusive language translations that render St. Paul’s address as “brothers and sisters” obscure this important salvific truth, esteeming the demands of feminist-defined justice as greater than the actual Biblically depicted mechanism of salvation.  Further, it propagates its own fundamentally irreconcilable war between the sexes into the very “beloved community” that is to be the home of “the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18), fomenting disunity in the Body of Christ. Under such conditions, the uniqueness of Christ as the way to God is necessarily veiled and universalism will proliferate to the loss of the evangelistic impulse.

I count this as a very serious way that the very inclusive language that is purported to be a justice issue for women actually does worse than underserve them; it may fail to call them to Christ and so be positively opposed to their ultimate interests.

[1] https://touchstonemag.com/archives//article.php?id=14-08-033-f

In Matthew 19: 14 Jesus told His disciples, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”  In Matthew 18: 3 He added, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Children show us what it means to be humble and trust.

Lutheran CORE is very pleased to be able to offer a large number of resources on our website for pastors, lay people, and lay leaders of congregations.  We have suggested prayers of the church and hymns for each Sunday, daily devotions, and weekly lectionary-based Bible studies.  Links to these resources can be found here, here and here.

We are now very happy to be able to add weekly, lectionary-based children’s sermons.  Many thanks to ELCA pastor Jim Fitzgerald and his wife Hanna for providing this new resource.  Jim is pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fulton, Maryland.  A link to his children’s messages can be found here. 

The children’s sermons are focused on the lectionary, usually the Gospel.  Hanna plays a lamb puppet named Sammy.  Each week Sammy and the pastor have conversations about Jesus and the disciples.  Pastor Fitzgerald shares, “We keep the scripts simple, fun, easy to understand, and focused on Jesus.”  The scripts are written for young children under the age of twelve, but the Fitzgeralds have noticed that adults also have fallen in love with Sammy’s messages about Jesus.  Each week the Fitzgeralds provide a prop list and Scripture reading along with the script as well as information about each of the characters.  Their goal is to make the scripts “as accessible, readable, and easy to use as possible.”

I asked Pastor Jim how he and his wife became involved in providing children’s sermons.  He wrote –

“During internship, prior to his call to ministry at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fulton, Maryland, Jim served at Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania as a vicar. One of the pastors had conversations with ‘Donkey,’ the puppet his wife played. Jim watched each week as children filled several pews to hear about Jesus from Donkey and the pastor.

“The initial thought both Jim and Hanna had about these children’s sermons was how wonderful they were, but Hanna didn’t want to ever engage in playing a donkey puppet, and then their daughter was born. In October 2023, Pastor Jim was ordained, and he and Hanna began talking about how they could offer meaningful children’s sermons to the children at St. Paul’s. Hanna was not willing to play a donkey, but said she would play a lamb, as long as she could pick out the puppet (the puppet had to be cute). Sammy was born.

“Jim and Hanna started leading children’s sermons together at St. Paul’s Lutheran during the season of Advent in 2023. Working with Sammy, the lamb puppet, they had no idea how the congregation and children would respond to the weekly discussions Sammy and Pastor Jim had together. They had no idea how much the congregation would fall in love with the character of Sammy—and that love has to stem from the church’s deep love of Jesus.

“Each week, Pastor Jim reads the gospel and invites the children to come forward for a children’s sermon. During the time that the children are walking up the aisle, Hanna works her way behind the pulpit, grabs a handheld microphone, and becomes Sammy. One of the members of the congregation created a wooden frame with green felt on the front that slides into place next to the pulpit: Sammy’s meadow.”

A link to further information regarding “The Adventures of Sammy the Lamb” can be found here.

Lutheran CORE would like to thank Pastor Jim Fitzgerald and his wife Hanna for sharing this resource.  To contact Pastor Jim for questions or more information, please email him at pastorjim@stpaulslutheran.info.

The church’s mailing address is:

Photo of Pr. FitzGerald and Sammy the Lamb was taken by Sally Murphy.

Almost 30 years ago, I had my first introduction to the tactics of postmodern argumentation.  A professor at Texas Lutheran made the statement that he could not be racist because as a Latino, he had no power.  Racism was prejudice plus power.  I scratched my head.  I had been taught that racism was prejudice towards another person on the basis of skin color or a sense of moral superiority towards one’s own race.  Where did this other definition come from?

Since then, I discovered the origin of the professor’s definition, and I have also discovered that such shifting of definitions are a strategy to shift an argument to heavily favor one particular side by causing confusion, obfuscation, and, in the case of racism, an avenue where one does not need to examine one’s own prejudice towards those of a different color. 

There are times to call such obfuscation out and refuse to play the game.  There are times to say, “I simply refuse to engage your definition of that word because it is not the culturally agreed upon definition of that word.”  However, there are also times to do what apologists call “defeating an argument on the opponent’s terms.”

When you can show that an opponent’s definitions or stances will fail to accomplish what they set out to do, you can cut through the confusion and bring the argument around to your favor.

Such is the case with the definition of racism embraced by those of a more left-leaning bent.  Prejudice plus power is their definition of the word, so logically, if you get rid of either of those things, racism is dismantled.  Get rid of power or get rid of prejudice, and racism comes to a halt. 

So, here is the question to ask in regards to power: has there ever been a system of thought or practice that gets rid of power?  You really shouldn’t have to wait long for an answer.  The self-evident answer is no.  Even that professor from Texas Lutheran was a bit misguided when he said he had no power.  He handed out grades, after all.  One simply cannot get rid of power structures.  They emerge no matter what, and as power shifts and prejudice remains, you simply shift who is racist and never eradicate racism.

Therefore, you must look at the prejudice part of that equation.  How does one get rid of prejudice?  Can one pass any sort of legislation which will eradicate it?  Again, the answer is no as prejudice pertains to the state of a heart and mind.  In order to change prejudice, a heart and mind must be changed.  What is the most effective way to change a heart?

From a Christian standpoint, it is the power of the Gospel which brings to fruition the baptismal promise: “there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28). 

As far as I can tell, and please tell me otherwise if not, this particular approach completely dismantles those who would like to excuse racism by changing the definitions, and it brings the discussion to a place where Christianity offers the best answer to truly tackle the problem of racism.

Note from Executive Director Dennis D. Nelson:

Many thanks to a friend of Lutheran CORE for giving us a review of Eve Tushnet’s book, “Tenderness: A Gay Christian’s Guide to Unlearning Rejection and Experiencing God’s Extravagant Love.”  The reviewer finds in this book a hope-giving guide for same-sex attracted persons who seek to live lives that are faithful to the Scriptures as well as find healing from their pain as they draw near to God.  It is also a reminder to the followers of Jesus that we need to have the mind of Christ as we offer grace, encouragement, and support to people who are struggling with the issues in their lives as they seek to live lives that are faithful to God.  Here is a link to our Resources page and here is the link to the post on our website that offers resources for same-sex attracted persons as well as their pastors, church leaders, friends, and family members. 

Many Christian books have been written about LGBTQ+ concerns (homosexuality, transgenderism, etc.) from a traditionalist perspective.  Rarely, if ever, are these books written by and for members of the LGBTQ+ community, addressing their needs and concerns. 

Tenderness: A Gay Christian’s Guide to Unlearning Rejection and Experiencing God’s Extravagant Love meets the need for such a book.  The author, Eve Tushnet, is a practicing Roman Catholic who holds to a traditional sexual ethic.  Tushnet identifies as “gay”/”lesbian” (same-sex attracted); however, she lives a celibate life.  Tenderness is addressed specifically to persons who identify as “gay” or “lesbian” and/or who experience same-sex attraction.  Its aim is to help gays and lesbians to know God’s love for them, and to learn how to live faithful Christian lives, with love for God and obedience to the Church. 

Tenderness begins by acknowledging the pain that gays and lesbians have experienced.  Part I:  Hard Times details the various ways in which gays and lesbians have been needlessly harmed, both by the church (i.e., through sermons about “how the gays are destroying America”) and by the world (i.e., through “homophobic jokes”).  Tushnet affirms that holding to a traditional sexual ethic need not – and should not – result in inflicting these sorts of wounds. Tushnet also acknowledges the struggles of same-sex attracted persons who have tried and failed to eliminate their battle with same-sex attraction (i.e., “you’ve desperately prayed to become straight, night after night, often in tears”), then experienced the pain of being misunderstood and shamed for their persistent struggle with same-sex attraction.

Tushnet assures same-sex attracted persons that they aren’t alone, that their pain is not their fault, that there is hope for their healing, and – most importantly – that God loves them and cares for them.  By acknowledging their pain and by giving them hope, Tushnet takes crucial steps towards helping same-sex attracted persons to heal.  This healing, for many, is required for them to be able and willing to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ with an open heart. 

The rest of the book provides teaching and practical help to Christian gays and lesbians.

Part II:  What If “Bad Things” Are…Good? addresses what gays and lesbians should do about not being able to have sex and/or to marry.  Drawing on St. Augustine’s concept of sin being disordered love which is in need of being rightly ordered, Tushnet explains how to rightly order “same-sex love”.  Tushnet gives the prospect of celibacy a positive outlook, challenging the notion that a celibate life is one that is condemned to loneliness, isolation, and deprivation. 

Part III:  The Church Suffering addresses the various kinds of suffering that Christian gays and lesbians endure: anger and sadness, abandonment and abuse, guilt and shame, doubts about the Christian faith, questioning the traditional sexual ethic.  Tushnet, again, assures those who have suffered in these ways that they are not alone in their suffering.  Then Tushnet guides them in the process of working through these challenging thoughts and feelings.  In so doing, Tushnet aims to help them (re)discover the beauty of the Christian life, to commit to the traditional sexual ethic with integrity, and to develop firm faith in Jesus Christ.

Part IV:  How to Know God’s Tenderness offers “specific practices or ways of thinking” which some gays and lesbians have found especially helpful.  These are meant to develop knowledge of God, trust in God’s goodness, experience of God’s love, and closeness to God. 

Tenderness provides an excellent resource for gays and lesbians who aspire to live faithfully, to heal from pain that has hurt their faith, and to draw near to God with faith.  * A note about language:  There is a dispute, among traditionalists, regarding whether or not Christians who experience same-sex attraction should identify as “gay” or “lesbian”.  Tushnet is comfortable with using these terms, but acknowledges the fact that some Christians are not, and would prefer to use alternate terms such as “same-sex attracted”.

Recently, the ELCA posted the results of a DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility) Audit¹ which was authorized by the Churchwide Assembly.  The audit laid out its findings and made numerous recommendations for the church to implement practically and constitutionally.

It would seem as though a move towards DEIA would be uncontroversial.  If you take the traditional meaning of each of those words, arguably every congregation would seek to be: diverse as the Gospel is for all people; equitable as God is just and fair; inclusive as, again, the Gospel is for all people; and accessible as we are called to be hospitable and welcoming.  However, one of the great tricks of the postmodern world is to take common words and redefine them to mean something different.  DEIA in the current secular fashion is less about including everyone and more about pushing out those who are labeled oppressors—usually heterosexual, white men.  And while the audit does go to great pains to try and urge a DEIA policy which is rooted in biblical thought², I cannot help but see a Trojan horse which seeks to formalize secular DEIA within the church.

I believe this to be the case as I see these recommendations centering the church’s focus on DEIA and moving it completely away from its God-given mission to spread the gospel.  I hope to show this in four points.

#1. The approach is top down.  Don’t take my word for it.  I quote the DEIA report itself, “ELCA’s leadership needs to be more vocal, consistent and strong on expressing commitment to, and visibly advancing, DEIA, from the top down.”³  Right off the bat, we see that this implementation is not a grass roots movement which most lay people embrace and are calling for.  This is an imposition of thought and practice that begins at the top and is forced upon the whole church, including recommendations for punitive measures for those who do not comply.⁴  Such practice does not exactly have a good track record of success historically and actually ends up being divisive and counter-productive. 

#2. It shifts the primary focus of the church inward instead of outward.  Not that many churches have escaped the problem of naval gazing, but this movement reinforces the tendency to focus on “us.”  What do we look like?  Are we making sure we have proper representation across all groups within our church?  One might argue that this will force the church to look outward in order to check the appropriate boxes.  It is a legitimate argument, but its practical application has been an abject failure within the ELCA for decades already.  What makes us think it will change this time?

#3. It’s the wrong metric to measure congregation viability and engagement.  Here is a suggestion from the audit: “Those incentives might include granting congregations with stellar DEIA achievements greater voting power at the Assemblies, as a form of enhanced membership, or conditioning any grants or other financial assistance to congregations on compliance with the Recommended Minimum DEIA Standards.⁵”  Grant incentives to congregations with stellar DEIA scores, but not to congregations who are actively feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, and visiting the prisoners?  Granting incentives to congregations with stellar DEIA scores instead of congregations who are growing in number?  Granting incentives to congregations with stellar DEIA scores but not to congregations who are actively engaged in their communities and truly making an impact in those communities through their ministries?  This is a bit more worldly, but…granting incentives to congregations with stellar DEIA scores but not to congregations who give big benevolence dollars to the synod?  Need I go on?

#4 And probably the most damning.  When the prophet Samuel went to anoint a son of Jesse to be the next king of Israel, a very interesting scenario plays out.  As Samuel approaches the sons, he gazes upon their appearance and makes judgments.  Time and again, Samuel is met with this response or a similar one, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  This is not simply a truism of the Old Testament.  It particularly is emphasized in the New Testament as the result of encountering the overwhelming grace and love of God.  The human heart changes from looking inward (classical definition of sin) to looking outward towards God and neighbor–in that order.  DEIA does not look upon the human heart, but upon outward characteristics.  It completely reverses the stance God takes throughout the Scriptures.  It must be rejected on this basis alone.  To continue down the path of implementation will resort to nothing less than a disaster.

1.  REPORT ON THE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND ACCESSIBILITY AUDIT OF THE GOVERNING DOCUMENTS OF THE ELCA. Fox, Swibel, Levin & Carroll LLP.  Chief Author: N. NEVILLE REID.  November 2023. 

2. Ibid.  p. 4, 6-7.

3. Ibid. p. 3.

4. Ibid. p. 3.

5. Ibid. p. 8.

Editor’s Note: Pr. Haug wrote a positive article on this topic in January (click here).

Last newsletter I hinted that I would write a follow up article about Operation
Reconquista and offer some critical thoughts about the movement. However, after
publication, I was introduced to two leaders in the movement; Richard Ackerman (AKA
Redeemed Zoomer), the official leader of Operation Reconquista, and Benjamin Ruff,
leader of the Society of Lutheran Advocates (SOLA). SOLA is the Lutheran
Component of Operation Reconquista. Rather than simply offer critique, I offered these
two gentlemen a chance to respond to my critical questions. What follows is their
responses in an interview format which allows CORE readers to hear from them directly.

1. I hope you saw the article that I wrote for Lutheran Core.  Did I accurately capture what Operation Reconquista is trying to accomplish as well as accurately convey your beliefs?

RA: Yes, you did accurately represent us. Here are a few things I would add: Firstly, Reconquista is part of a broader ideology that Christians have made the mistake of retreating from the culture and the world in the past 100 years, which has caused the culture to become more secular, which has caused more Christians to retreat, and so the cycle repeats. Reconquista is the belief that, when secularists hijack a Christian church or institution, faithful Christians should retake it rather than running away from it.

Secondly, the abandonment of mainline churches and the rise of Evangelical and non-denominational churches has caused Protestantism to lose its traditional and institutional rootedness, which is something the Reconquista hopes to fix.

BR: I was very pleased to read your article. It was an incredibly brief and accurate representation of our goals. Affirmative responses were in short supply, so we were delighted to receive one from such a trusted source.

2a. For those who know history, the word Reconquista can conjure up images of violent response and take over.  Obviously, you are neither advocating for nor implementing such things; however, knowing that there are those who say, “Words are violent,” and that they might use that against the name of the movement: did you consider other names?  How do you respond to those who might try to tie this to a violent takeover?

RA: I was the one who thought of the name Reconquista. Yes, it is a militaristic language. The Bible uses militaristic language. But the Bible is VERY careful to clarify “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” – Ephesians 6:12. Likewise, we are very clear to clarify that we are fighting Satan, and the heresies that he has spread in the church, not against churches and not against leaders in the church. We believe that in order to inspire young men to make sacrifices and take up a difficult cause, it is psychologically necessary to use strong militaristic language. We believe the failure of past conservative renewal movements in the mainline can be partially attributed to their timid and compromising nature. The progressives have never been timid in the slightest and have been rewarded for it with astounding conquest.

BR: I was not involved in the naming process of Operation Reconquista, but I was involved in the naming process of SOLA, and militaristic language just didn’t strike us as the best way to describe ourselves. As far as those who try to associate us with violence, our usual response is twofold; Firstly, the Bible and theologians have never shied away from using militaristic metaphors to describe the life of faith, and secondly, we’ve never advocated for any sort of violence. We have only encouraged perseverance and catechism. We do what we can to ensure that when our members engage in debate, they conduct themselves in a Graceful and Christlike manner.

2b. For many people in mainline denominations the word Reconquista will conjure up images of the Conquistadores – not the people who reconquered Europe from the Ottoman Empire but the European powers that came to and conquered America and enslaved and mistreated indigenous peoples.  How will you deal with the blowback you will receive from those who will dismiss you as just white, misogynistic, privileged, oppressive, western, Euro-centric males?  

RA: This one is easy. In all global conflicts between liberals and conservatives in a denomination, the white countries have churches that are trying to push the church in a liberal, LGBTQ affirming direction, and the global countries have churches trying to resist it. Two enormous examples of this are: 1) the African Anglican churches recently hosted a meeting of conservative Anglicans from all over the world in Kigali, Rwanda, to condemn the Church of England’s affirmation of same-sex blessings. 2) the United Methodist Church would have voted for gay marriage in 2019 if it weren’t for all the African congregations voting against it. Generally, theological liberalism emerges from privileged white cultures. Even within American mainline denominations, minority congregations are almost universally more theologically conservative on average.

BR: Here at SOLA, some of our current goals include establishing a women’s group, either just for SOLA or potentially for the entire Reconquista, as well as contacting and including ethnic church voices in the movement. If we ever have the resources to do so, we would be delighted to publish theological resources in other languages. It is a fact that young white males do make up the majority of our membership, but the white-ness of our movement is only a reflection of the ELCA’s demographics, the youthfulness of the movement is because many of the ELCA’s older orthodox members have already jumped ship(Or joined organizations such as LCORE), and the male-ness of our movement is a result of it being spread on the internet, where women are typically less active.

3a. I noted that among things that Operation Reconquista sought to preserve in the mainline was cultural power and relevancy.  How would you respond to those who believe that mainline denominations are no longer relevant and actually have little to no cultural power? 

RA: The mainline has POTENTIAL to have cultural relevance, but that potential is not actualized due to the mainline refusing to hold to its historic beliefs. The Catholic Church has strong cultural influence these days because they are institutionally rooted and theologically conservative. Evangelicals are theologically conservative, but not institutionally rooted, so they don’t have much influence. However, if the mainline, which is institutionally rooted, becomes more theologically conservative, it will gain back its cultural influence.

BR: The reason the Mainline doesn’t appear culturally relevant is because it hasn’t been utilizing that cultural relevancy in any meaningful way. If Mainline churches began preaching things apart from modern culture and properly teaching orthodox faith, the changes it would be able to make would be truly profound. It’s also important to note that a more orthodox mainline wouldn’t just be utilizing its own cultural power, it would also be amplifying the cultural power of Christianity as a whole by presenting more visible unity in Christian thought.

3b. I personally believe the Church should not be interested in obtaining cultural power but should strive to be invitational and not impositional.  The times the church has taken cultural power have not generally ended well.  What are your thoughts regarding this?

RA: “Cultural power” does not necessarily mean a marriage between church and state. It simply means the church can have a moral influence on the outside world. Liberals in the denomination already believe this. They believe the church’s job is to speak out against injustice. About this they are correct, they are just doing it on secular terms instead of Biblical terms.

BR: I think these concerns are valid but slightly premature. At this moment, Operation Reconquista’s mission is restricted exclusively to the church and its congregants. I pray that when the day comes that our mission has the opportunity to expand our sights to other institutions, a wise decision will be made, and whatever we do will be pursued in a Christ-like manner.

4. Is the mainline truly worth saving?  What if the death of mainline denominations is a removing of the branches of the vine that do not bear fruit (John 15)? 

RA: It is hard for Americans to understand this, but institutions matter. Generational resources matter. Traditions matter. The mainline contains generations and generations of donations from faithful Christians, only to be hijacked by those who do not hold to the values that such people donated to. Mainline churches have decades and centuries of history and heritage quite literally carved into their walls. They have old cemeteries. They are living testimonies to the beautiful things Christians built for the glory of God. Their choirs and liturgies are still relics of what they created back when they were more faithful.

BR: I would argue that the ELCA still bears fruit. Not Theological fruits, but the ELCA’s commitment to charity and community under the motto “God’s work our hands” is (to my knowledge) unparalleled among Lutherans, in addition to the fact that the ELCA has been able to provide sacraments more regularly than a lot of other Lutheran churches, and even if many parts of the ELCA are barren in God’s eyes, we hope that by building up the orthodox congregations within it, some twigs and leaves will remain.

5. A more practical question: the secular progressives indeed played a very long game to seize power in mainline denominations, and they were very successful.  There are numerous accounts (Dennis Nelson has chronicled several in the CORE newsletter) of them pushing out orthodox believers and seizing control of congregations to ensure their agenda continues.  Are you prepared for the blowback that you will inevitably receive? 

RA: Yes there will be persecution. Jesus said we would face it. However, persecution only makes the church stronger. Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire but ended up taking it over. The way of Jesus is the way of suffering and rejection, but in the end, the church will be triumphant because God is on our side.

BR: Only time will tell if we are strong enough or lucky enough to weather the backlash from the ELCA’s leadership and members, but I can say that all the members of SOLA are incredibly passionate and committed people who are aware of these threats, and willing to face them as they come, though that’s not to say we’re going to paint targets on ourselves or our churches without needing to.

Editor’s Note: by M. Roy Schwarz, M.D.

The American Heritage Dictionary, 2nd College Edition defines “life” as “the property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from the dead or inanimate matter manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli.”  These four criteria can be used to judge whether some object is alive or dead.

Science has taught us that the process of human development begins when the male sperm penetrates the female egg.  This triggers a series of events leading to division of the fertilized egg.  Hence, a single cell divides into two cells, these cells divide into four, those cells divide into eight, and those cells divide into sixteen.  This all occurs before the fertilized egg attaches to the wall of the uterus.  By seven days, or when implantation begins, a significant cell mass has developed.  At ten days, the cell mass shows signs of differentiation as the cells become specific in their nature.  At three weeks, the cardiac or heart muscle fibers may be seen that are capable of contracting.  By six weeks, brain waves appear and, by eight weeks, the human form has appeared and organs are developing.  By fifteen weeks, fetal movement is evident and, by twenty-four weeks, the fetus is a viable person.  By thirty-six weeks, we have a full term infant.  THIS PROCESS, FROM FERTILIZATION THROUGH DELIVERY OF THE INFANT, IS CONTINUOUS WITHOUT INTERRUPTIONS.  There are no stops and no pauses in the process.  Once fertilization occurs, bio-chemical events are initiated that continue until a mature human being is formed.

So when does life begin?  To answer that question, it is well to go back to the definition of life and use the four end points for judging if life exists.  These include metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli.

Immediately after penetration of the egg by the sperm, bio-chemical events start the process of development.  Thus, the metabolism end point has been met.  When the cells begin to divide, the growth criteria has been met.  Third, when the cells are reproducing in the course of their division, the criteria required for reproduction is met.  The fourth end point, response to stimuli, is a little more vague.  It is clear, however, that any cell when confronted with a toxic stimulus will respond by changing the movement of its membrane.

Based on this analysis, one is led to the inexorable conclusion that: LIFE BEGINS AT THE TIME THE SPERM PENETRATES THE EGG AND LIFE CONTINUES UNTIL DEATH.

M. Roy Schwarz, M.D.

February 2024

When I was dating my wife Debra, I was so excited about being with her. I was eager to talk with her, be with her, and go off on adventures with her. I am still delighted that she is my wife. But I sometimes worry my beautiful wife may think I am too contented with her. I am surely tiptoeing on danger if I take her for granted. Does my contentment give me an excuse for being lackadaisical about our relationship?

As Christians, are we excited to belong to Jesus? Or are we just contented to be church goers?

Of course, excitement is a feeling or an emotion. We know emotions come and go, often because of circumstances. Where do we turn when our excitement has drained away and we are left with the day-to-day patterns? A faith dependent upon emotions will bottom out when hard times eventually arrive.

Are we so contented with our relationship with Christ, that our faith is a ho-hum contentment marked by satisfaction but not joy? Is contented faith acceptable to the Lord?  We are warned by Jesus, “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16)

While we may be bored, apathetic or lukewarm in our faith towards Christ, that is not how the Lord considers you. The LORD is not content for you to wander away in sin or indifference. The LORD seeks after us. (Luke 19:10) Consider how Christ came to call us sinners, not the righteous. (Mt 9:13)

Today we use the word “passion” to describe our emotional intensity. But in our faith, we use the phrase “the passion of the Christ” to communicate the depths to which God is willing to go to redeem us from sin and to convey the intense commitment of His love for us. Jesus tells us that the LORD rejoices over you and every other sinner who repents and is saved (Luke 15:7,10, Zeph 3:14-17, Isa 62:5). Holy Week, or Passion week, is all about Christ Your Savior who loves you so much he is willing to die for you.

Do you feel like you are in a love affair with God? Do you have a contented faith where you are satisfied with just knowing who Jesus is? Is your faith excited about a what or a who?

Rather than speak about emotional excitement, the Spirit-inspired scriptures speak of rejoicing and joy. Do we rejoice in the love Christ pours into us? “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” (1 Pe 1:8, cf 1 Th 1:6–7)  We are to have joy and rejoice with all our being in the LORD (Zech 10:7, Isa 61:10, Ps 70:4).

Is the Lutheran pattern for faith to be mildly contented and satisfied with minimal investment or contact with the LORD? No. Pastor Martin Luther was driven by a passion to exalt and praise God. Listen to his prayer:  “Dear Lord God, I want to preach so that you are glorified. I want to speak of you, praise you, praise your name. Although I probably cannot make it turn out well, won’t you make it turn out well?” The passion of Luther comes across on almost every page that you read from him.

As Christians we have the absolute assurance and presence of Christ to save His people from their sins. We can be contented that Christ’s work is complete (Christ Alone) and that through trust in Christ we are redeemed (Faith Alone). This faith is a gift of love from God, not our effort (Grace Alone). Such was Luther’s rejoicing that we stay focused on Christ.    

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 15:5-6)

Your servant in Christ, Pastor Douglas

Just over a year ago Christine and I found ourselves in Florence, South Carolina.  Nice place just off I-95, we found a fixer-upper on the little lake in town.  Pro tip: don’t buy a fixer-upper in your 60s.  You know you can do the work, but you don’t want to … except finding contractors in a small southern town you trust will bring you back to the pro tip of avoiding the original purchase.  But I digress.

 When people ask where Florence is, I mention South of the Border as you head to Florida.  We’re about 45 minutes south of there.  Or we’re 25 minutes south of the new Buc-ee’s travel center. Wasn’t looking to retire and move to SC, but then our daughter-in-law announced that our first grandchild was on the way.  Christine made clear: “I’ve followed you all over the country for your callings.  I have a calling to be a grandmother and that calling is in South Carolina.”  No way I was going to win that one, so I uttered the only Norwegian I’ve learned from her family, “Yes dear.”

Never moved before without a clear sense of call and certainly not to a place where the person cutting your hair asks if you’ve found a church, three different neighbors stop in and ask, the guy installing your new gutters inquires, the electrician who fixed something, the two fellows who encapsulated the crawlspace and the one other contractor we hired, the fellow who redid two of our bathrooms. 

In a place where everyone seems to be churched and asks where you attend what do I as a Lutheran have to offer?  As David Keener of the NALC likes to say, “We Lutherans are less dense here in the South” and the nearest NALC congregation is 50 minutes away.

Then I attended my second lunch time gathering of pastors who are part of Helping Florence Flourish (HFF). One of its priorities is supporting marriage and families.  OK, you have my attention. The pastor sitting across the table with his wife shared with me, “I fear my granddaughter will never meet a decent, Christian young man to marry.  We’ve lost all our young men and now many of them are just lost.”

At the prior gathering of this group the Director of HFF had pitched a vision for a marriage and family blessing gathering at a local park.  He didn’t have many details in place but lifted up the idea.  It was well and thoroughly embraced which had led to my lunch table conversation with a troubled pastor.

Perhaps someday I’ll share what I’ve found when poking around Luther and his passion for marriage, family, and especially the role of the household in faith formation. But that’s a story for another newsletter.

About a decade ago the last congregation I served embraced something called Faith 5, a process put forth by Lutheran Pastor Rich Melheim that led to a book entitled, “Let’s Kill Sunday School before it kills the church.”  Snappy, eh?  It is a simple, five step, 15-minute way of entering conversation as a household; sharing the pains and joys of the day, reading scripture, seeking ways the Word may speak to the highs and lows, praying for one another and ending with a blessing.  I mentioned this approach to the Director.  He’d never heard of it.  He ran it by one of his staff people.  I showed him an example of the bookmarks that go with the process.  He ordered a stack of them and told me “You’re up to present this to our gathering.”  OK then.

March 3^rd we met in the park.  Because I’m one of those Lutherans I brought along balm from Israel as I planned to anoint as well as pray and bless.  An elderly woman wept.  A young clergy couple spoke with me at length.  Another wants to talk to me about launching a ministry in the drug and prostitution corridor of Florence. I have an invitation to speak in a congregation. We Lutherans have a lot to offer even if we aren’t very dense.

In my previous two articles, I talked about the dilemma facing De-churched Lutherans.  Some cannot find an orthodox Lutheran parish in their area.  Some have been made to feel unwelcome in their former congregation.  Others belong to a congregation that cannot find a pastor.

I have suggested that there is help for De-churched Lutherans.  There is no reason that a group of Lutherans who have no congregation or who cannot find a pastor should give up.  Lutheran lay people can gather together for prayer and Bible study.  As I have mentioned before, there are services found within Lutheran hymnals that may be led by lay people.  These include the prayer offices of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Compline, along with the Service of the Word.  (Check the Table of Contents in the Lutheran Book of Worship or the Lutheran Service Book.)

This month, however, I want to discuss resources that are available for you from Lutheran CORE. First of all, there are Daily Devotions available for personal use.  Dr. Jeffrey Greene writes Daily Devotions for Lutheran CORE.  Dr. Douglas Schoelles hosts a podcast called The Daily Plunge Bible Study. 

For adult education, Lutheran CORE has a Video Ministry that includes Book Reviews and series of videos in theological topics called “CORE Convictions”.  In addition, Pastor Dennis Nelson, records a Weekly Bible Study on the Lectionary Readings each week. 

For those who would like to hold a weekly worship service, Lutheran CORE has a Worship Page.  Pastor Cathy Ammlung has developed Hymn Suggestions and Prayers of the Church for each Sunday of the Church Year.  In addition, she offers Hymns and Liturgy Paraphrases for congregational use which she will be updating after Easter.

Finally, for congregations that are either too small or who have failed to find a pastor, there is hope.  Small congregations and worshipping communities can raise up leaders from within. The Congregational Lay-Led Initiative (CLI) offers training and mentoring for lay leaders.  The intent is not to replace pastors or seminary education but equip lay people for ministry in their own congregations and communities.  If the lay leaders in your congregation need help, or if you would like to form a small worshipping community, Don Brandt would love to talk with you. 

Of course, Lutheran CORE is not the only place you can go for help.  Our ministry partners also have many resources that you can use. In particular, I recommend that you look at two independent Lutheran publishers, SOLA Publishing and ALPB Publicity Bureau.  SOLA Publishing offers weekly worship resources, Sunday School, Confirmation, and adult education curricula in print and on video, and much more.  ALPB publishes books that would be very helpful for adult education worship planning.  Of most interest, however, is the four volume series on daily prayer called For All the Saints.  A congregation that wanted to gather weekly for Morning or Evening Prayer would have all they need to make that happen, excluding hymns and musical settings for the services. 

There is hope for De-churched Lutherans.  Let us know how we can help.