In a recent news report Chilstrom carries water for the ELCA once again, attacking those leaving as fixated on sex and mixed up in general. But:
1. Chilstrom equates the Gospel with tolerance, with a simplistic universalism of “luv.” He needs a theological course correction, beginning with “the cross alone is our theology” (Luther).
2. Chilstrom is blind to the fact that the ELCA is, step by step, following the Episcopal Church in the US (TEC). While 80% of Anglicans in the world go one way, TEC and its companions go another. The LWF has exactly the same percentages, with the ELCA among the 20%.
3. The ELCA is the one focused on sex, and the so-called “bound conscience” turns out to be a one-way street.
4. Chilstrom minimizes ELCA losses: “By the end of 2010 several hundred congregations…will have left [the ELCA].” He’s out of touch. LCMC already has over 500 congregations, and the NALC is just starting up. ELCA Secretary David D. Swartling has said that fewer congregations have left than expected but income has dropped more than expected. Moreover, many individuals have silently left from churches that won’t vote to leave or have failed to get the required 2/3’s majority vote to exit the ELCA.
5. Again note how the balloon has slowly been going down in TEC, in spite of strong loyalty to historical roots, as both side realize what TEC leaders themselves have described as “two different religions” within the same organization.