Sunday, September 3, 2017

Another one bites the dust. . .

What may be part of the story but not mentioned is that congregations like First in Waco are reaping some of the bitter fruits of the ELCA and its ecumenical direction toward non-Lutherans and its unflinching embrace of the culture and agenda of the LGBTQ community.  In what has to be some twist of ironic justice, the building was purchased by a group that dissented from its own national church, the Episcopal, over just such issues and has struggled, as have the break offs of the ELCA, to carve out its own identity and stand as, it believes, the rightful heirs of a once vibrant liturgical and confessional tradition.

What is sad is that those who worked so hard to establish First Lutheran would not recognize the ELCA or what it stands for today.  They would not get how Lutherans could wander so far from their theological and confessional roots to become merely another wannabe among the mainline denominations competing for cultural relevance.  It is a wake up call for all churches, but especially for those still struggling to resist modernity, that becoming a mirror image of the media and culture is no key to success or relevance.  In fact, it is the recipe for failure and irrelevance in a world where the one thing the Church offers (besides a critique) is a solid alternative toward the empty values and consumerism that has turned the gospel into a grandpa god who wants us to be happy no matter what it takes for us to find happiness (within).

Missouri has certainly not won the war but the battle tide has moved against, rather than for, those who think that the road to success is to become less of who we are.  In this Reformation anniversary year, we will hear much of Lutheran success but we dare not forget our failures for unless we acknowledge the cost of faithfulness we will soon cash in the inheritance of our great past for few moments in the spotlight in which we thought we were on top of the world.  Word to the wise, just when you think you are on top of the world, the world moves and you must play the game of catch up while others pass you by.  This is not the Church for which Luther was willing to give up all.
Joyce Heckmann generated a lifetime of memories inside the 133-year-old First Lutheran Church of Waco. At age 94, it’s fair to say she has more memories vested in the historic structure than anyone else in the aging and dwindling congregation. . .

She was baptized there in 1923. She and her husband, Fred Heckmann, a New Yorker she met when he was stationed at the former James Connally Air Force Base in Waco, were married at the church in 1943. Her children and grandson were baptized there and her husband’s funeral was held there.
Through the years, there were countless Christmas celebrations, church-wide smorgasbord dinners, Sunday school classes, Vacation Bible Schools and more.

But while the years have been kind to Heckmann, they have taken their toll on the aging church building and congregation, members say. The once-vibrant church family boasted 450 members, requiring an extensive expansion project that more than doubled the size of the building in 1958.
Now, members say, they are lucky to have 40 worshipers on Sunday morning. Members recently came to the painful but practical realization that their smallish group could no longer support such a large building. So they voted to sell the property — Texas Historical Commission landmark medallion and all — to Christ Church Waco, an up-and-coming Anglican congregation that has met in least 10 temporary locations since it was formed in 2009. The two churches closed the deal June 27 and First Lutheran conducted its last Sunday morning service there on July 2. More than 100 people attended the final service, including former pastors and past members.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think your assignation of a dying church with unfaithfulness misses the mark. This article could just as well been written about hundreds of faithful LCMS churches across America that are also shrinking and dying. The real culprit is a Western culture that has been scornful and hostile to Christianity for centuries. The UK, Germany, Australia etc. are no different from the US except they are further down the road than we are. The mission of the church is to preach the Gospel and make disciples. May this Reformation anniversary year lead us to recommit ourselves to being bold Evangelicals.

John Joseph Flanagan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Recovering Lutheran said...

Anonymous:

I think you missed the point of the pastor's post. What you said about LCMS congregations suffering losses along with ELCA congregations is true, but the reasons for the declining fortunes of the two denominations is vastly different.

Those denominations which uphold traditional marriage (such as the LCMS) are lampooned, demonized and dehumanized by the larger popular culture. Already there is talk of these churches losing their tax-exempt status because of their "homophobia" (read: disagreeing with progressive culture). Recently in my home state of Texas (derisively referred as Jesusland by some secularists) some evangelical pastors in Houston were ordered by the city to deliver any transcripts of their sermons that concerned homosexuality and gender identification (the orders were later quashed, possibly because of unexpected bad publicity the city received). The idea of full-scale repression of Christian denominations in the USA which uphold traditional teachings now seems like a real possibility.

By contrast, denominations like the ELCA receive approval and support from the larger popular culture. To the extent that Hollywood and the rest of the culture has anything positive to say about Christianity, it is to praise "inclusive" fringe denominations like the ELCA and the Episcopal Church. The ELCA should be doing booming business. Yet both denominations are losing members.

The declining fortunes of the LCMS is perhaps to be expected given the growing hostility and repression. But it is not so easy to explain why the ELCA is also losing ground - unless one accepts the heretical notion that popular culture is not always right (shocking, I know!).

My wife and I were members of an ELCA denomination until 2009. During that time, we saw the denomination openly reject the Gospel and in its place substitute leftwing political activism. The god of the ELCA is secular welfare state government, not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When the ELCA adopted the LGBT agenda chapter and verse, we were told this was the only way it could arrest its decline ("Adapt or die" was the unambiguous warning leaders gave its members during that time). The exact opposite has happened.

Since this reply is already too long, let me bring it to an end by saying popular culture in the USA - and the West in general - is very good at destroying but not so good at creating. Popular culture is an efficient tool at spreading hate, lies, intolerance, and death. It is not nearly as effective at creating something positive. The domination of popular culture in US politics is near absolute, yet racial tension is on the rise, the gap between rich and poor is growing, political leaders are growing more crass, boorish and corrupt (and harder to remove from office), fake news dominates, education is being replaced by political indoctrination, and abortion has killed enough innocents to rival Nazi German's best efforts. Popular culture approves of the ELCA's message, yet has not been able to increase its membership.

John Joseph Flanagan said...

Cycles of decline and revival have characterized the Western Christian churches since the Protestant Reformatiin. In times of relative prosperity and perceived stability and security, people often become spiritually apathetic. Cultural hedonism and immorality grow in relation to leisure and wealth. On the other hand, instability, uncertainty, hardship and persecution have the opposite effect...driving many people to their knees to seek God. The Christian church is growing in Communist China, Vietnam and in many Muslim lands...despite persecution and government oppression of Christians. Why? Does this not follow the pattern of Israel in the Old Testament? In times of famine, war, captivity, many turned to God under the admonishment of the prophets, while at various periods of peace and prosperity they turned away from the Lord, often worshipping the idols of neighboring pagan tribes they had conquered. It may turn out that a revival might come to Europe and America, but it may well be a result of God's correction and discipline, and a painful purging of the body of Christ will result.

Anonymous said...

Correction: "...and abortion has killed enough innocents to rival Nazi German's best efforts." Abortion has killed enough innocents to overshadow Nazi German's best efforts. Let's be clear.

Anonymous said...

The Anglican parish that has bought the former ELCA parish building is a part of the Diocese of Fort Worth under the leadership of Bp. Jack Iker. Iker is considered rather conservative and traditional, although he staid in ECUSA far too long to suit my thinking.

Fr. D+
Anglican Priest

Anonymous said...

Too bad ELCA congregations would rather die than vote to join the LCMS.........