Monday, January 20, 2014

Intrepid Lutherans: Moving into the Future

For those of our readers with an interest, we are pleased to announce that Intrepid Lutherans is in the process of reorganizing with a new Board of Directors. This will take some time, and we expect that some changes will result in terms of direction and purpose. We expect to make comparatively swift progress, however, and will keep you all apprised as developments proceed.

In the meantime, we will resume publishing with semi-regularity, beginning later today with the first installment of an analysis project proposed by Intrepid Lutherans in September 2013, in our post Church Growth Project. A brief description excerpted from that post is as follows:
    That the CG movement has made inroads in the WELS there can be no denying. Sadly, the emphasis on buildings and programs and methodologies has become so prevalent, that it is increasingly difficult to recognize the Scriptural purpose of the church in many congregations in the WELS. This can be observed by simply looking at the home page of some WELS church websites. The prominence of CG methodology on these websites can be a good indicator of CG practices within the local church itself. The home page of any church website gives a unique view into the purpose and mission of a church. The website home page does, and must, speak for itself. It is a unique opportunity to provide a message for visitors to the website who might never consider walking into the physical church building or calling on the telephone to inquire about services. What message will the website visitor find on a church’s home page? With that question before us, a project is being undertaken, and is described in this proposal, to characterize websites of WELS churches to assess the message found on the website home page. The analysis is limited to only the home page of WELS church websites, and the intention is to have the analysis be simple and straightforward and factual. The home page of a WELS church website will be assessed by looking for clear evidence of the Gospel, the Means of Grace, and confessional Lutheran standards. Specifically, the analysis will look for clear evidence of 1) the Gospel message, 2) God’s Word, 3) the Sacraments, 4) the name “Lutheran”, 5) the Lutheran Confessions and 6) the liturgical service.
Following our September post announcing this project, a number of volunteers joined Mr. Vernon Knepprath, over the past several months, have conducted a rather extensive survey of WELS Congregational websites. Their results are most interesting. Stay tuned, and visit again later today for the first installment of their study results.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If you need volunteers, I'm retired with very little to do that furthers the Lord's Kingdom. Rev. Roger Ph. Drews. I might be remembered for starting the "Come To The WELS" outreach program.

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