Open idol worship in the ELCA....

[handy]

I'm so glad we are no longer a part of the ELCA. I believe that the denomination has passed the point of no return as far as being a church of God.

In San Francisco (surprise, surprise) the ELCA church "HerChurch" is openly and without recrimination from the denomination engaged in idol worship. From the HerChurch homepage:

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Our Christian/Lutheran feminist prayers and liturgy reach back into the storehouse of tradition to bring forth names as Mother, Shaddai, Sophia, Womb, Midwife, Shekinah, She Who Is. They do so out of renewed insights into the nature of the Gospel empowered by the risen Christ-Sophia.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Let your relationship with the Divine be opened and expanded.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Our Mother who is within us[/FONT]​

we celebrate your many names.​

Your wisdom come.​

Your will be done,​

unfolding from the depths within us.​

Each day you give us all that we need.​

You remind us of our limits​

and we let go.​

You support us in our power​

and we act with courage.​

For you are the dwelling place within us​

the empowerment around us​

and the celebration among us​

now and for ever. Amen

herchurch
​

[/FONT]

Here is the ELCA bishop's response:

After visiting with the bishop and with another synod staff member who knows the congregation and the pastor well, there is an acknowlegement that this congregation "pushes around the edges" on matters that make some of us uncomfortable. Things like what they refer to this "rosary" are seen by many to be outside the bounds, but don't rise to level of anything in the disciplinary arena. Speaking explicitly about the pastor and regular worship experience there, when folks have "dropped in unannounced" they have experienced preaching that is decidedly within Lutheran orthodoxy and worship that is familiar and done with
integrity. It was said that this small congregation is serving the local community very well, especially when it comes to reaching out to the local community.

Bishop Michael Burk of ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod
http://www.faith-life.org/Portals/1... - Theology Bible - Bishops responses 03.pdf

This is sad, because there are still many sincere Christians in the ELCA who are deeply troubled that the denomination that they have served God in for years has gotten so far off path.

But, after things like these, the vote to ordain openly gay and lesbian pastors, open idol worship....how can one continue to stay? At what point does one have to say that their union with God is far more important than their union to a denomination?

 

[grovenored]

Wow.
Just... Wow.
I'm not familiar with ELCA, but things don't look good.
I shouldn't be to surprised, I guess; I knew it was going to be bad from it being called 'HerChurch' and the opening statement of your quote - "Our Christian/Lutheran feminist prayers..."
As for the "They do so out of renewed insights into the nature of the Gospel empowered by the risen Christ-Sophia"... I have no idea where to begin. It's so sad it's almost funny.
Where did they get all this from, do you know?

 

[jasoncran]

Wow.
Just... Wow.
I'm not familiar with ELCA, but things don't look good.
I shouldn't be to surprised, I guess; I knew it was going to be bad from it being called 'HerChurch' and the opening statement of your quote - "Our Christian/Lutheran feminist prayers..."
As for the "They do so out of renewed insights into the nature of the Gospel empowered by the risen Christ-Sophia"... I have no idea where to begin. It's so sad it's almost funny.
Where did they get all this from, do you know?

the guy with the pitchfork

 

[handy]

I think you're right Jason, I think the ELCA is being deceived and deceived mightily by Satan.

It goes back to the days when they decided that God's Word needed to be judged according to the culture and time it was written...the ELCA believes that the Bible contains God's inspired words, but is not the inerrant Word of God. As a matter of fact, anyone believing so is often categorized as an idol worshiper, ironically enough.

There is a lot of theological theory that is open to debate in holding such a view of the Scriptures, but the real-world practical application of it is that...anything goes. This view of Scriptures, plus a healthy does of "feminist theology" which takes verses like Isaiah 66:13 ( “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.â€) to teach that God is both Father and "mother". The weakening of the foundation of the doctrines in the Church plus the addition of liberal theologies has brought what was once a solid denomination to apostasy, IMO.