Not so in the ELCA...
The ELCA's Northeastern Iowa Synod announced that this week Bishop Steven Ullestad would be "Learning from Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber about outreach to the generations." (see here)
Do you know who Nadia Bolz-Weber is and what she believes?
Rev. Bolz-Weber writes in her new book "Pastrix" that the goddess of Wicca is "simply another aspect of the divine, like God's aunt or something." (see here)
She has also said -
- "oh my god, nobody believes every line of the creed.” (see here)
- "And just to be clear: The cross is not about God as divine child abuser sadly sending his little boy off to be killed because we were bad and well, somebody had to pay." (see here)
- "I know it's a big deal to like build faith in home; we don't do that." (see here)
- "I think that there is a really insipid message to girls when you use the exclusive male pronoun for God..." (see here)
"I confess that I am a Christo-centric universalist. What that means to me is that, whatever God was accomplishing, especially on the cross, that Christological event, was for the restoration and redemption and reconciliation of all things and all people and all Creation – everyone. Whatever God was getting done there, that is for everyone. How God manages to play that out through other religions, other symbol systems, I will never understand. I have to allow for the idea that God is actually nimble enough and powerful enough and creative enough to do that.” See here
“. . . Preaching hopefully in some way is the word of God, speaking is not. So I thought, I wonder, we can look at Paul that way. You know like sometimes he was just going off on his snotty opinions, he has some authority to speak on it but that’s not necessarily the Word of God.” from here
That is what Bolz-Weber believes, yet the Northeastern Iowa Synod's writes that "she is a prophet and a gift to our church." (see here)
It is not just an ELCA bishop that sits under ELCA pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber's instruction. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has cast Bolz-Weber into the role of "teacher" to their leadership and youth. She is highly revered by the ELCA. She speaks to ELCA synod assemblies, ELCA National youth gatherings and ELCA conferences. (see here)
Nadia Bolz-Weber isn't the only ELCA chosen high profile instructor/speaker/teacher who openly teaches against Scriptural truth. Highly controversial scholars Marcus Borg (see here) and John Dominic Crossan (see here) are also Evangelical Lutheran Church in America favorites.
People of the ELCA, with these kinds of teachers is there any question what kind of ELCA pastor they will produce?