Here’s Redeemer’s Answer

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod (SEPA) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is launching a new fund-raising appeal to member congregations.

It is called “It Takes All the Saints.”

Giving is down.

Under ELCA structure no congregation is required to give. We are not hierarchical, but are united for common mission. There may be many reasons why congregations do not support the regional body as they once did.

The evaluation of that mission is a right of congregations. If congregations are to part with resources, there must be clear benefits.

When a church sends less or sends nothing, it is easy to jump to the conclusion that the congregation is failing.

The congregation may simply be practicing stewardship.

Congregations may realize that in this great, new, networked world, they have choices. Giving to the regional body is a choice. The answer for many is that the support of a regional office is not “good use of the Lord’s money. ”

The words in quotes were once used by a Synod representative with Redeemer in East Falls. “Ministry in East Falls is not good use of the Lord’s money.” This is a convenient euphemism. When you view resources as belonging to the Lord, claiming them for yourself seems less like stealing.

Congregations may withhold money to express concern about the direction of the Church. For example, many churches stopped giving because of the theological objections in the interpretation of sexual policies. The Church heard that.

When the issues are more subtle and closer to home, there is a disconnect. Congregations may stop giving when they see no benefit or services. When the regional body claims managerial authority, there is little liklihood that this will be viewed as having anything to do with them.

The insatiable need for more money for “the Lord’s work” is always upon us. Problems occur when the regional and national bodies see their work as more important than that of the congregations. This creates hierarchy where none was intended.

Lutheran constitutions addressed this early on. However, in recent years they have been tweaked to mean the opposite of the promises made to congregations in 1987 and 1988 when the ELCA was soliciting members.

Synods were not intended to have management control of congregational assets. Now they do. Every congregation MUST realize this. They can no longer use their offerings to send a message. The risks are too high. This is a problem no one wants to address.

Here is SEPA’s pitch for their latest fund-raiser. It is excerpted from their website, MinistryLink.

Has your congregation called a pastor or sponsored a member through candidacy? Have you been engaged with one of our new missions or had an evangelism consult with one of our coaches? Have you been blessed by global connections with Tanzania, SEKOMU, and our missionaries, the MacPhersons? Did you send junior or senior high youth to our annual youth gatherings? Have you downloaded documents from our updated MinistryLink.org website? Are you presently serving on one of the more than 40 ministry teams and networks — including the Faith Formation team, Tanzania Partnership team, Stewardship Resource Team, Transformational Ministry team and so many more – active in our Synod right now. Have you called the synod office with a question, and received an answer? None of these services would be available without synod staff, contracted experts, and many dedicated volunteers who spend hours planning programs, producing resources and being present with the leaders and congregations of our Synod.

Having asked these questions, SEPA needs to hear the answers—from each congregation. The answers will tell them whether they are using “the Lord’s money” wisely. If they are not, “the Lord’s money” may be better invested elsewhere.

Here are Redeemer’s answers.

Has your congregation called a pastor . . . ?

Redeemer attempted to call a pastor through the synod office several times.

• In 1997, we signed an 18-month interim agreement with Pastor Robert Matthias. Bishop Almquist broke the contract after three months and supplied no one to replace him for more than a year.
• In 2000, we encountered a “take who I recommend or else” ultimatum from Bishop Almquist.
• In 2006, our pastor of close to two years had a private meeting with newly elected Bishop Burkat. He gave us ten days notice (not the constitutional 30) and left the synod after a private meeting with the bishop’s office. Synod lifted no finger to help Redeemer find a replacement ever again. Refusing to supply pastoral leadership (SEPA’s constitutional purpose) was a means to the desired end of acquiring property and assets.
• In 2007, we presented a resolution to Bishop Burkat to call a pastor with whom we had been successfully working for seven months. Terms had been negotiated. The candidate was qualified. All we sought was SEPA approval. This pastor disappeared after a private meeting with the bishop’s office.

Have you been engaged with one of our new missions or had an evangelism consult with one of our coaches?

Redeemer was having great success with an outreach to Tanzanians in our neighborhood who were coming here to attend schools and making new lives in America. Our attempts to work with SEPA’s mission office were rebuffed. Numerous calls went unreturned. The national office noticed our ministry and asked for a report, which we sent to Chicago. When a SEPA mission director at last responded, he offered this excuse. “It doesn’t matter what you do. The bishop intends to close your church.” On November 1, 2007, Bishop Burkat promised that we could work with the new Mission Director. She broke this promise.

Have we been blessed by global connections with Tanzania?

YES! But not through SEPA! About 60 Tanzanians joined Redeemer between 2000 and 2007. Yet when SEPA reported our membership to Synod Assembly, they weren’t counted. Synod Assembly was told we had only 13 members. The first judges in court were told this too. By the time SEPA started chasing our individual members in court, SEPA was holding Redeemer accountable for a voting membership of more than 70.

This led one of our young members to quip, “The Synod is big on Tanzania, as long as we Tanzanians stay in Tanzania.”

Redeemer is now supporting several mission efforts all over the world. We do this with no budget.

Did you send youth to annual youth gatherings?

No. We sent our youth and families to Lutheran Church camp. It was a better choice for children of immigrants who were learning about America and it was helping grow our congregation and our leadership. This stopped when SEPA took our money.

Have you downloaded documents from our updated MinistryLink.org website?

No.

Are you serving on ministry teams?

No. We have been excluded from all SEPA activities. However, we’ve created our own ministry teams that are amazingly effective.

Have you called the synod office with a question?

Yes. We called and wrote numerous times between 2006 and 2008 and received NO response.

Given this track record (which we hear in our Ambassador visits is not unique) it is no wonder that congregations think twice about where their offerings are best used. With new powers assumed by the Synod, they are risking more than they agreed to when they signed up for the ELCA.

What Redeemer continues to discover is that a congregation’s strength today is in its own network-building—not in the networks crafted by the regional or national body.

Perhaps the reason denominational giving is down is that congregations are realizing their offerings are best spent where they can make sure they are working, where there is transparency and accountability every day, and where they can individually evaluate success. That’s always been the Lutheran way.

Mission DOES take all the saints.

As for Redeemer  . . . we’ve given all we’ve got. Literally! It still is not enough for SEPA.

Again, when you view congregations as keepers of “the Lord’s money,” it feels a little less like stealing when you claim it for yourself.