Glendale, Arizona 85304-2419

A reader commented:

"On Fri, 21 May 1999 08:57:38 -0700 you wrote:

ARE MISSOURI AND WELS IN FELLOWSHIP WITH ELCA?
f. The WELS and ELS hymnals owe their worst content to ELCA. WELS obviously
worked closely with ELCA on their feminist hymnal. The ELS used a lot of
ELCA material.

And the same could also be said of our beloved The Lutheran Hymnal, which
even included hymns from non-Lutheran sources! Indeed, even the Liturgy of
pages 5 and 15 were borrowed from a more liberal Lutheran synod and the
collects we so love are borrowed from the American ediction of the Episcopal
Book of Common Prayer. So we had better get busy and clean out the TLH or
make a new one of our own liking."

END of QUOTE

I'm not sure if these comments were in jest or not. The Lutheran Hymnal is not perfect, but it is far better than the new, improved versions. WELS' Christian Worship has the distinction of being the worst of the Lutheran hymnals in print. Worse than Lutheran Worship? Far worse. Worse than the Liberal Book of Weirdness? Definitely! The LBW does not have a feminist creed or a single Fanny Crosby hymn. WELS has feminized two creeds and has included two Crosby hymns.

Which homosexual abortionist ELCA pastor is so compelling in his Unitarian high-churchiness that CW and the ELH (Evangelical Lutheran Synod) have to borrow from the LBW? Would it not be better to avoid all associations with the LBW? Why should WELS go beyond the LBW and say in the Creed that Christ became "fully human" (CW)?

For a long time I heard that it was fine for Lutherans to study under false teachers at Fuller Seminary because TLH has some confused hymns in it, such as, "The Church's One Foundation," where the visible and invisible Church are confused. The logical fallacy is that two wrongs make a right. Not so.

If you love Fuller buzz words, attend the new AAL pan-Lutheran event, for ELCA, for LCMS, and for WELS and other Lutherans. It will be a full-blown "hands-on" religious event, apparently with a commissioning service at the end.

More on this later, when I get the brochure. For some reason I am not on the mailing list.