I wanted to let you know about the spiritual violence done to my friend who is a pastor in Wisconsin. He is being attacked now by 10 pastors who are bringing formal charges against him for being "schismatic," for his opposing the direction of the ELCA. 10 pastors who have never talked to him, and who do not even know him.....and they are trying to get him defrocked. So much for the bound conscience...... Anyway, the charge is being led by the interim pastor who was at the two churches right before C____ arrived as pastor. The former interim has been meeting with members of the parish trying to stir up trouble. Below is the email that the interim sent after C____ had sent him a letter asking what he was doing meeting with the members. The guy obviously makes the ELCA his precious golden calf.
I have also have attached C____'s solid and faithful response immediately after the heretic's letter.
Anyway, keep C____ in your prayers
The Heretical Former Interim's letter:
C_____,
Thank you for contacting me. This is the first message I have
received from you. You spurned my attempts to meet with you when you
first arrived, and I haven't heard from you since.
I appreciate the opportunity to talk about what I am doing, and what
I'm not, as well as why.
I am following the ELCA constitution sections http://www.facebook.com/l/2eadckb1jRn9vNxATwin2rF_PGQ;20.21.01 and 2021.03 in
bringing formal charges against you for conduct incompatible with the
ministerial office. The requisite signatures have been acquired and
such has been sent to the synod office. I expect you'll hear from
them shortly. You will of course see specific charges and be given a
chance to respond, as per the process laid out in that same section.
At the heart of the matter is that your actions have caused the loss
of your protected status from outside interference. By your own
declaration the rest of the ELCA is no longer in communing status with
you. You have continually "stumped" for groups looking to split the
ELCA, at the same time you've sworn to preach and teach in accord with
the ELCA (read your letter of call). You lied to the call committee
about your intentions of leading them out of the ELCA. You spread
ridiculous rumors regarding the ELCA without doing due fact checking.
You refuse to acknowledge anything good within the denomination.
Given this, it is indeed my duty to utilize our discipline process.
My motive is to protect the congregation, not you. I believe you will
be happier not in the ELCA, and why you chose us in the first place
continues to be puzzling. Your ethical path is to resign your call
and your roster status, and seek to be rostered somewhere that you can
follow the vows you make to that group. It is not to try to lead out
a group with 125 years of contented relationship with its
denominational affiliation.
I am meeting with the folks of Zion, not Peace, as a representative of
the ELCA. Not the synod, not the national church, just a member of
the rostered clergy who takes his vows seriously. I am providing
factual information about what the ELCA does and does not teach, as
well as the options congregations have at times like this. I do see
this as my duty, given the lack of healthy process you've enacted. I
do not do so secretly; indeed the announcement of such was at the
public worship. I do not do so in isolation, but do what I do in
consultation with a broad base of colleagues as we collectively work
to figure out what is the most health-ful response at this point. I
do own my decisions, however, and carry the sole responsibility for
what I am doing.
I am serving my twenty-fourth church, (ahh the life of an interim).
With all of those former congregations Zion is the only one where I
have met with a group like this. Why? I liken it to the ethical
problem that goes like this: Is lying wrong? Yes. If the S.S. from
WWII Germany is asking you if you are harboring Jews in your home (and
you are), is it ethical to say yes, or no? There, the situation
dictates an exception to the general ethic that lying is wrong. Here,
a pastor who lied about his intentions to get where he is, and
continues to lie about the ELCA to push a congregation out, and stumps
for dissenting groups at congregations not his own, demands a change
from the normal rule of non-interference.
And finally, rumor control. I am on call to the synod council for
specialized ministry as an interim pastor. I am not interested in a
settled call period. Not at Zion, or anywhere else. I do not make
the interim assignments, and go where I am sent.
I am also not working with Peace. I believe Zion has the capacity to
hear what I have to say and discuss what a healthy discernment process
will look like. I believe Peace will do whatever Henry wants
regardless of process, or of you or me.
Well, I don't expect you to like it, but I hope that clarifies what I
am doing, and why.
C____'s response to the heretic:
John, one might wonder how charges against one can be brought, when there has been no attempt to actually research the facts. And might I ask just under what authority the charges are being brought? From 2/3 of the congregation council, 1/3 of congregation or from 10 pastor or even the bishop? Seeing that no one has actually ever asked me to explain myself, the charges are dubious at best.
Given that I have sworn (in my ordination vows, mind you) to preach and teach, not according to this church (denomination) but to the Word of God found in the Old and New Testaments and according to the Confessions of this church, then any charges need to be made according to what I have preached and taught. So, I am linking you to my blog where I place my sermons each week. Read through these, compare them to Scripture and the Confessions, and then get back to me on where I have erred in my doctrine. Here is the link: http://weeklysermons.blogspot.com/
In service to Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church,
Rev. C______
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