Quote:
Originally Posted by Contra_Mundum  Why were the council and the congregation angry at you? Or were they? It seemed like you were saying that was their reaction. If they appreciated you all this time, is it just because they are upset that you wouldn't compromise, and thereby stay a little longer for their own sakes? |
Though some are grieving my departure, others (leaders mostly) are angry because of my signature. Take note of it at the end of my posts.
Redeemer Christian Congregation is composed of a handfull of previous members of St. Andrew Lutheran Church. For 13+ years they have faithfully attended most of my Bible studies. As I would write or speak about the theological and spiritual conditions of the ELCA they refused to simply take my word for it, but instead carried out very thorough examinations on their own. Needless to say they were shocked at what they discovered. (E.g., herchurch.org - this being only one very small part of the larger ELCA picture.)
While initially praying for the conversion and renewal of the ELCA, they eventually came to the conclusion that such a thing was not God's will (or the will of those who lead the ELCA). So they began to speak out in public regarding the denomination. This, in turn, caused them to suffer quite a bit of verbal and emotional abuse from other - heterodox, ELCA-supporting - members. The situation actually went on for several years.
Eventually this group got together for mutual support and prayer (they did so on their own and without my knowledge). Though they originally thought of going to some other church, they eventually decided to form their own congregation. Knowing I would probably be forced to leave St. Andrew, they called me to be their pastor at 1/2 time and 1/2 pay. After the hammer came down (Feb 5, 2007) I then signed the Call Letter (Feb 26, 2007) to Redeemer Christian Congregation.
Hence the anger. As someone said, it appears that much of it is aimed at the fact that I actually have a place to go when leaving St. Andrew. Perhaps many were hoping I'd simply be thrown out on the street. If that is the Lord's will (and it may yet be - we're not sure if RCC will survive or not) then I will joyfully accept it and move on. But for the moment I will continue to be a pastor.
In the meantime there is lots of anger at the secrecy of the formation of the RCC and my call to it. I wrote an article on the topic of secrecy and will be posting it here.