"Jesus First" Challenges the Church Growth Study Committee Report
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

The March issue of "Jesus First" clearly demonstrates that the "liberal" wing of the LC-MS has embraced the "Church Growth Movement." However, in true liberal fashion, they rant, fume and emote, but fail to identify any substantive flaw in the Committee's report.

In the opening article, Waldo Werning writes: "The tragedy about this committee study is that it gives no evidence of speaking to or dialogue with any experienced Church Growth leader or LCMS author."

Is that the sin of the Report? The Committee lists a number of Church Growth books that it read in order to produce their Report. When did Luther meet with the Pope? Why aren't the Church Growth books a sufficient source of information? Werning doesn't identify one flaw in the report in his entire article, except that he doesn't like it. If there is nothing wrong with the Committee's Report, then the Committee must be right! He doesn't realize that he actually endorsed the Committee's conclusions.

In the second article in "Jesus First", Paul Walter Mueller writes: "Church Growth Study Strikes Out at Straw Men." Well, if the men don't really exist, why is Mueller upset? He is really saying the Committee isn't talking about him or the Church Growth Movement, in which case, why should he take offence? Is Church Growth a religion, a secret brotherhood, a sect, a lodge, a public confession, or something that people join? How does Mueller know he is being attacked unless he is a member of this Church Growth aristocracy?

Mueller writes: "Please give me the names of all those in the LCMS who are the opponents of this oft repeated or similarly phrased refrain in the document, 'the gift of faith is the work of the Holy Spirit operating through the Means of Grace'." If there is no problem with the statement, why does Mueller object? His objection is virtually inexplicable. What if the Committee had quoted the Apostles' Creed a dozen times, would that also bother Mueller?

Yet, Mueller gets close to the mark when he suggests that the Committee is operating in a polity vacuum, but he just can't get that "polity" word out of his mouth. If he said it, then we would ask Mueller what his polity is and that is a question he and any self-respecting Church Growth advocate will never answer. For the liberal hoards the rule of thumb is, "No Rules, Just Right" the slogan of the "Outback Steakhouse."

Mueller plays the statistics card and asks if the Committee is interested in the 75% of the unchurched population in the United States. This is the typical Church Growth attempt to justify any doctrine and practice if it brings results. Hardly Elijah's approach!

Mueller equates the Committee's request that congregations use Synodically approved hymnbooks and liturgies with "bias." What Synod does Mueller and his cohorts belong to? Mueller asks: "What form/style should congregations use in their own cultural milieu to reach the ears of the unchurched . . .?" Naturally, Mueller will not give an answer and he will never utter the "Walther" word.

Ray Schkade writes in "Jesus First" about the Committee: "It Misses What is Right With Church Growth." He wants to know why "Church Growth" advocates were not on the Committee. Poor Ray! He doesn't understand that the purpose of the Committee was to stop, not promote the Church Growth Movement in the LC-MS. One might as well ask, why Melanchthon didn't include Dr. Eck and some Cardinals in the writing of the Augsburg Confession?

None of the writers in "Jesus First" even attempted to defend the Church Growth Movement with quotations from the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions, because they can't. They are all about desire, emotion, and crowd manipulation with no content.

"Jesus First" has identified itself with the phrase "Church Growth" one of the most innovative terms since "Pro-Choice." The phrase "Pro-Abortion" had a real marketing deficit until they invented, "Pro-Choice". The terms "fanaticism" "cult" or "self-indulgence" had a similar marketing problem until they invented the phrase "Church Growth." In the Old Testament it was easy to identify idolatry until they came up with the phrase "Baal Worship" which means, "Worship the Lord" in Hebrew. With the advent of image building, marketing innovations, advocates of "Pro-Choice," "Baal-Worship," and "Church Growth" can now don an air of respectability. So what is Church Growth? It is about bringing in a crowd and making money!

Our advice to the delegates of the 2001 Convention is that they follow the advice of the Committee Report in getting rid of Church Growth but do it while keeping the authority of the Congregation in the Voters' Assembly and out of the pastors' office.


Rev. Jack Cascione is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS - MI) in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He has written numerous articles for Christian News and is the author of Reclaiming the Gospel in the LCMS: How to Keep Your Congregation Lutheran. He has also written a study on the Book of Revelation called In Search of the Biblical Order.
He can be reached by email at pastorcascione@juno.com.

March 20, 2001