Well, half of it anyway…..
It was in September 2009 that my Pastor told me he was unhappy with the church because of the new ELCA resolution allowing gay ministry.
I wasn’t even aware that a vote had taken place but the outcome has affected all Lutheran churches everywhere. Those who are affliated with the ELCA have had to make some decisions. Many who have ended up in a ELCA church not really knowing the programs behind it are now aware.
I believe the Lord led me to the Lutheran church I was attending. I just did not know why. It was way too liberal for me, which caused discontent. Knowing that one is not to be discontent in a situation that the Lord has ordained, I stayed.
Our Pastor gave notice and a few of us started looking for a new location. There was the possibility of renting a hall, meeting in someone’s home, or looking at vacant buildings. Then me and husband noticed a church that seemed to have only a few worshippers on Sunday. We contacted the Pastor there and then the Lord cleared the way for us to be able to use this facility. The congregation there disbanded and we were able to take over the premises.
After months of prayer for the Lord to lead and guide us, He supplied a fully-stocked church facility to rent. He sent us a benefactor for start-up costs and necessary repairs.
And He sent worshippers.
We installed the sign early in the evening anxious to see our church in lights. The next day people driving by stopped and asked, “Are you part of the ELCA?” When the Pastor said “NO”, they said, “Good …we will be attending your next service.”
We have not even advertised yet and we already think we will have to start planning a second service. Half of the people from the old church, people from other ELCA congregations that are dragging their feet on a vote, and people looking for a biblical church.. have come.
We will not be a perfect church for we are imperfect sinful people..yet God answered our prayer because we wish to serve Him in spirit and truth.
DiscernIt 
14 comments
January 31, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Enough
Thanks so much for your articles. (I read “Lutherans. . . Choose whom you will serve” also). So very true. I went to an ELCA seminary for awhile an realized that my denomination was messed up. They deny the authority of scripture and the result of that is teaching Universal salvation, blessing homosexuality, finding higher “truth” in what they believe are made up biblical stories, denying Jesus words in the Bible are really His, denying prophecy, siding against Israel at every turn. If you would like to read more about it, my website is http://www.exposingtheelca.com
I’m glad to hear your new church is growing and preaching God’s word. God Bless.
January 31, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Kim
Thank you for the link and the encouragement.
Much prayer has gone into this transition and the result is that God paved the way. It has little to do with us, except that we wanted to do God’s will. Die to self, live for Christ.
Our first service was basically for those transitioning. 55 showed up. And today when word has gotten around we had 103…
In only two weeks our sanctuary was 3/4 full. We haven’t even established our Sunday School program yet.
Today was a glorious worship service. Our voices rang with joy as we sang hymns…yes hymns…and Pastor preached about Jesus.
February 1, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Mary
Kim,
That is an amazing story. God does work in mysterious ways.
Very encouraging to hear good news of good churches.
I will be praying for your new church and your pastor.
February 8, 2010 at 10:11 am
PSanafterthought
I find it very interesting that you didn’t know that a vote had taken place, as it was all over the secular press, misquoted, out of context, sensationalized, etc., as is often the case with the secular press. But also, it was in the ELCA magazine, the Lutheran, and the issue had been studied in the churches for two years. Perhaps you chose to not attend any of the studies. Perhaps your pastor chose not to have the studies in your church. This was not a hidden issue. I would suggest that you read for yourself what actually happened at the voting in August and make up your own mind. What has been reported in many on-line sources is not accurate. My bias here is not that I am pro or against the vote, but that I am pro people finding out for themselves what went on and against people protesting after they get third hand accounts and not being part of the process.
February 8, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Kim
hhmm…I did not get much involved in any of the ELCA programs, did not read the magazine. Had my head pointed in the Bible and God’s Word which made up my mind for me years ago. A no brainer.
February 9, 2010 at 8:42 pm
PSanafterthought
So you wouldn’t even take classes taught by the pastor because you already know the Bible and how to apply it to every situation? What do you make of the parts of the Bible that say that we are to dash our children’s heads against a rock or that we shouldn’t mix fibers or eat certain foods at the same meal? Or that men can have many wives and concubines?
February 9, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Kim
Actually our pastor who left the ELCA is starting a Bible study class during the week in our new church. I am a children’s leader in Bible Study Fellowship and spend at least two hours a day in God’s word. I do not pretend to know everything, it is a lifetime process of sanctification.
I am not sure what part of scripture you refer to about children’s heads against a rock. But God is so wise. It has been shown that mixing fibers can cause terrible heat gain in the workers in the field. You took this reference from Leviticus 19:19.
This commentary is good.
And this one.
There were some strange dietary laws in the OT but there was no refrigeration in the desert.
Men were not supposed to have many wives…please read this commentary.
Then there is also the destruction of people who rejected God. Only two men of the original two million , Joshua and Caleb in the exodus from Egypt, crossed the Jordan into the promised land. Men, women and children were slain in the OT. It is awful. But isn’t this what we will see predicted in Revelation in the judgments? All who reject God and his Word will be judged severely for disobedience and rebellion.
February 12, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Kim
There are two remaining issues left from the comment left by PSanfterthought, that I want to address.
“What do you make of the parts of the Bible that say that we are to dash our children’s heads against a rock ….or eat certain foods at the same meal?”
There were no dietary restrictions about eating certain foods at the same meal that I can find..only clean and unclean foods.
I read the commentaries from the greatest bible scholars about the reference from 2 Chronicles 25:12.
And [other] ten thousand [left] alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces.
The KJV uses children and the NIV uses the word men instead. The reason is ….the Hebrew word BEN H1121 “of the children” actually means..”sons of” or even “people of a nation” not necessarily young kids.
from Matthew Henry
April 11, 2010 at 7:50 am
tiredofit
PSanafterthought appears to be one of the aggressive activists that won the ELCA vote on homosexuality in August 2009. Not content with just winning the vote it appears the next agenda is to beat us all into submission with political correctness.
April 11, 2010 at 9:00 am
Kim
tiredofit,
I agree with your assessment . Ok, im off to my unpolitically correct church!
April 11, 2010 at 3:02 pm
PSanafterthought
The comments aimed against me hardly follow from my comment on this post, nor do they reflect any obvious reading of my blog posts, where I have not commented on this issue. I have not, in this comment, nor on my blog, nor in public, taken any position on the VOTE of last August. I have discussed it privately with my pastor and my Bible Study group. I did attend the study sessions a couple of years before the vote, and I have read the relevant Bible passages. And I’ve read most of the ELCA press releases regarding this issue, as well as numerous blogs and letters to the editor, posted on line in many places, regarding this issue, both pro and con. I’ve become well informed, but I didn’t speak out for the vote in the comment here, so I’m hardly an activist, much less an aggressive activist. I’m just for people finding out things for themselves rather than relying on the pronouncements of people who are biased. And I’m for people reading the Bible in its entirety and applying it as such, rather than ignoring many portions but condemning others for interpreting certain portions in different ways without knowing why they did so.
April 11, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Kim
I take a definite stand on my position using these verses that state homosexuality is an abomination.
Lev 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It [is] an abomination.
Lev 20:13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood [shall be] upon them.
Jude is also very clear….the cities Sodom and Gomorrah were destoyed for their sexual immorality and perversion.
April 11, 2010 at 3:35 pm
PSanafterthought
I respect your stand. Never said I didn’t. I just was commenting about comments jumping to conclusions about what I stood for and making false statements about my comments, conclusions that certainly didn’t follow from what I said, nor what I stand for. I’ll just add that the Sodom and Gomorrah account was about way more than homosexuality. It needs to be read in its entirety; if not, the reader misses the message about guests, daughters, and obedience.
April 11, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Kim
I am sorry if any conclusion was jumped to about your stand.
When Genesis 19 is read in whole it is mainly about the men of Sodom wanting sex with Lot’s two guests who were angels of the Lord.
The men cried out to Lot….”Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” (verse 5)
The two angels told Lot in verse 13, “We are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he was sent us to destroy it.”
These refers back to chapter 18:20 where the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not I will know.”
Today the word sodomy is derived from the sin of these cities.