A friend wrote that he felt my comments about Thrivent had cast the WELS in a negative light. That was absolutely not the intent. I continue to hold my membership in WELS because of the high value I place on that relationship and its commitment to the proclamation of the truth of God’s Word and the message of salvation through Christ alone.
It is true that WELS has never “directly” provided financial support for Christian Life Resources. That being said, gifts given to WELS that had been restricted for Christian Life Resources have always been passed on with no problem.
My point remains: Thrivent has a specific purpose for existence as does the WELS. Even though we are in full doctrinal fellowship with WELS their purpose for existence does not include sending money to Christian Life Resources. We do not have a problem with that.
So also is my point about Thrivent with whom we do not have any specific doctrinal fellowship. Their purpose does not include supporting Christian Life Resources so we do not have a problem with that. We are thankful, however, that they still permit employee matched support and member directed charitable dollars to support New Beginnings, our home for mothers.
I again apologize if my words about the WELS were deemed negative. I am fine with their practice. I was just trying to illustrate that any demand that Thrivent must support Christian Life Resources is not warranted.
