Planned Givers ?

Below is question from a reader about planned giving counselors? You might recall about a month ago I posted about Rev. JD Liggett's annual plea for money. Maybe another reader can give insight as to the historical development of these "fund raisers."
http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=828&contentID=557&shortcutID=14621


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What are the views of WELS having "planned gift counselors" to help write wills, etc. ? I am middle age, and I never remember planned gift counselors existing 35 years ago or so...

Sometimes I think it is a good idea; other times it sounds kind of like a "hard sell".

I think WELS has a lot of money issues, but I am not sure this is the solution...on the other hand, the younger generation does not seem to be making up for the older generation that is passing away.

Keep the Mass in Christmas

We so often hear about the need to keep Christ in Christmas which is well and good. The focus of this season does need to be on the birth of our Savior. But what about the Mass in Christmas? On this the Nativity of our Lord what a blessing to have a church that celebrates the Holy Supper. The call to keep Mass in Christmas is what should ring out. The term "Mass" has fallen out of use in our circles (lest you be deemed a magpie). However, the confessions do refer to the divine service as the mass with the focus on Christ crucified and the Holy Supper. As pointed out below it is hard to offer communion when a church service is not even held. That Christmas morn Christ came in the flesh..."take and eat this is my body.."

I wonder if Ed Stetzer will be telling the WELS pastors to keep the Mass in Christmas?

"We do not abolish the Mass but religiously keep and defend. ... We keep traditional liturgical forms' (Apology to the Augsburg Confession, 24)"

A Christmas miracle

The Christmas miracle is the birth of our Lord and Savior. Yet at some WELS churches it might be a miracle if you find the church doors unlocked. I am curious as to why a WELS church would not want to celebrate this holy day of Christmas with a divine worship service (with communion too). As some travel to church on this holy day we might just hear the women respond, "the church is empty."

It seems to me that this Holy Day should be set aside for the church family to gather and worship the birth of the King. Yet search a bit and you will see that the very WELS churches that don't admit they are Lutherans are the same ones following the evengelical trend of not having a worship service on Christmas Day. They love the pregame Rock show on Christmas eve but don't show up for the actual event on Christmas Day.

This trendy thing to do started in the non-denominational churches several years ago. These churches say they will meet you where you are. That is as long as you don't go to their church on Christmas Day.

Heb. 10.25 "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as we see the Day approaching."

These Rock and Roll churches of course balk at the liturgy and the liturgical calendar. They scream we don't have to go to church on Christmas. We don't have to use the liturgy. We don't have to follow the liturgical calendar. Again the identity of the Lutheran church is lost as they follow the trend of the non-demonational church down the road.

Full disclosure ?

I am wondering why the Church and Change group is not proudly and loudly advertising their upcoming conference with Ed Stetzer as the keynote speaker.

http://www.churchandchange.org/

Ed Stetzer has revealed on his blog that he is in fact coming to this conference.

Last spring a covert group of WELS pastors swam down to the exponential conference in Orlando. http://www.exponentialconference.org/

Not long after that Ed Stetzer was contracted to speak at the WELS conference.

The Board for Parish Assistance issued several calls for a consultant and finally landed a whale, Rev. Paul Kelm. The synod now must make drastic cuts due to a large budget deficit. hmmm...

Rev. Bruce Becker is asked to clarify a recent statement: http://together.wels.net/2008/12/1/clarification

So what is happening? All is not well in the WELS.