The two largest cities in Idaho, Boise and Nampa, sit some twenty miles apart in the Treasure Valley. To the south and to the west lies the formidable Snake River carving its way through arid wilderness. To the north and to the east lie a seemingly never-ending series of mountain ranges. An hour’s drive from the Treasure Valley in any direction will lead to ghost towns, isolated villages, lonely ranches, untouched mountain forests, and remote deserts torn apart by deep canyons.
In this unique setting Messiah Lutheran Church of Nampa, Idaho assumed mission status in 1973. Not only were the physical surroundings of the church a wilderness but so were the spiritual surroundings. Isolated from its nearest WELS neighbor some 350 miles away, Messiah grew on the cusp of the “Mormon Empire.”
The Mormon Church is a prominent force in the cities of the Treasure Valley claiming 25-30% of the population.[1] Follow the Snake River east from Boise and the percentage of the population claiming to be Mormon nearly doubles, or in some cases, even triples. From the temple in Idaho Falls to the temple in Boise, southern Idaho forms a clear front for the growing menace of Mormonism. South of this northern front Mormonism predominates through the intermountain west deep into Arizona, with Utah in between as the religion’s beating heart. Mormonism has also paved heavy inroads into the surrounding states of Nevada, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, California and Colorado. Virtually no state and no country on earth are free from a Mormon presence.
In 1981 Messiah called Pastor Mark J. Cares from Boulder Colorado to serve in this unique setting. Pastor Cares and the members of Messiah embarked on extensive door to door canvassing in Nampa encountering many Mormons. Due to the heavy Mormon population Pastor Cares learned some things about Mormonism and he tried some of the available witnessing techniques.
After acquainting himself with Mormonism, Pastor Cares noted the following challenges facing Mormon outreach:
1) Mormonism is a nation within a nation. Mormonism is more than a religion; it is a culture, therefore reaching out to Mormons takes on many aspects of a foreign mission. Some ex-Mormons will still refer to Mormons as “my people”. Since they are self-sufficient it’s difficult for Christians to have meaningful relationships with them.
2) Mormon’s seem Christian. Their official title (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) speaks to this point.
3) Mormon’s have their own language. Many of the common theological words Christians use are used by Mormons but, with different meanings. This is also one of the reasons why they seem so Christian.
4) They have a good public image. Mormons come off as wholesome and American.
5) Their authority is not the Bible. Mormons will believe a Mormon produced document over the words of Scripture. This fact demands extensive knowledge of Mormon literature and teachings. [2]
As Pastor Cares and the members of Messiah reached out to their Mormon neighbors, they found many of the witnessing techniques lacking. They saw two main problems with the available methods. First, the methods employed were based on human reason. Most strategies for witnessing to Mormons begin with a discussion of the Godhead or of the integrity of Joseph Smith creating an argument that revolves around reason rather than the Gospel. Since these available methods did not center on a law/gospel approach they proved largely ineffective. Becki Detro, an ex-Mormon and member of Messiah, writes about these lacking techniques:
During my years as a Mormon, I was approached many times by Christians trying to warn me about my church. They always focused on Joseph Smith or LDS church history, things that I believed they were lying about. Never once in my entire life as a Mormon, did anyone try to witness to me by using God’s Word or by telling me the positives of Christianity. Their focus was always on the negatives of Mormonism.[3]
Second, there was little knowledge or understanding of the Mormon culture in the witnessing techniques. Knowledge of Mormonism is crucial when witnessing to Mormons. For example, if Christians do not know the difference between a Mormon’s definition of forgiveness and the Bible’s definition very little will be accomplished. Many times, Christians feel that Mormons are blatantly lying to them because Mormons seem to be agreeing with what the Christian says; when, in actuality, they are talking past each other. An understanding of Mormonism will also inform Christians of the certain stresses Mormons happen to be under, knowing their stresses can be extremely helpful for presenting God’s law and gospel.
In the face of the many challenges of witnessing to Mormons and the lack of an effective strategy, Messiah could have focused its energies elsewhere. The small congregation in Nampa, Idaho could have bunkered down and survived the expanding Mormon Empire. They could have focused their outreach efforts on an easier field. They could have focused on defending themselves from Mormonism rather than reaching out. The Lord’s promises, however, prevented this mindset form taking root in Messiah. After listing the challenges of witnessing to Mormons, Pastor Cares comments on Jesus’ commission in Mt. 28:18-22:
…This command deals with all nations including the Mormon nation…. Therefore no matter how difficult this challenge might appear, we really have no option to accept it or not. For we already have the Lord’s command to go and make disciples of all nations!
And we also have the Lord’s promises. We have his promise that he will always be with us in our going. We have this assurance that he has all authority or power to help us in our going. And we have his promise that he will bless us in our going (Is. 55:10-11)…. With the Lord’s help, a mission to the Mormons is not a mission impossible.[4]
Pastor Cares and his congregation in Nampa recognized some very important truths concerning outreach. They recognized the importance of understanding and getting to know the Mormon culture. As WELS Lutherans they also recognized the power of the Gospel to win souls. These two important truths would form the foundation of Messiah’s Mormon outreach strategy.
Difficult First Steps
The first major milestone of Messiah’s Mormon outreach took place on November 26, 1984, when Pastor Cares with four members of Messiah attended a meeting at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also present was Pastor Bill Goehring along with nine members from Prince of Peace; Pastor Warren Widmann of the Pacific Northwest Mission Board; three pastors from the Colorado Mission district board, including Pastor Harold Hagedorn who eventually became a key figure in supporting Messiah’s mission to Mormons; and two men from a group called “Saints Alive.” Saints Alive was a group consisting of former Mormons trying to reach out to Mormons.
The meeting began with a presentation by the members of “Saints Alive.” Afterwards, the WELS pastors and members discussed how to approach the problem of living in Mormon communities and how to share Biblical truth with Mormons. Those at the meeting expressed interest in educating WELS Christians about Mormons, and not just those within areas of containing a high percentage of Mormons, WELS members from all districts as well. After noting Mormonism’s heavy influence in 4 districts of the WELS, those at the meeting resolved that a petition should be made to the General Board for Home Missions to establish missions in Mormon country, they cited Hispanic outreach with its special needs and areas of concentration as precedent. Prince of Peace and Messiah were asked to prepare for their respective mission boards a request for the need of special consideration in Mormon country and the value of another congregation in the area for the purpose of mission work.
The meeting in Salt Lake resulted in a memorial submitted by the Pacific Northwest Pastoral Conference to the 1985 Synod Convention. The memorial requested that a study be made to consider a form of specialized ministry for Mormons. The Synod resolved that the Mormon problem was something that could be handled by the District Mission Boards most affected by the Mormon threat.[5]
In 1986 Pastor Cares continued in his efforts to develop an effective strategy for reaching out to Mormons. He sent several letters to various churches in the intermountain west asking for input on effective Mormon outreach. He also wrote to the Pacific Northwest District Mission Board asking the board to make ministry to Mormons a part of future planning and budgeting; to consider another meeting similar to the one held in Salt Lake City; and, to consider a proposal to the General Board for Home Missions to form a synod-wide meeting of people involved in cross-cultural work in the States. The District Mission Board resolved to ask the BHM committee on Special Missions for assistance. Eventually, the PNW mission board and the BHM suggested that they did not foresee any available resources in support of an outreach strategy to Mormons.
In 1987 Messiah submitted a proposal to the Conference of Presidents asking permission to solicit gifts from several individuals within the WELS for the purpose of calling an assistant pastor to Nampa. The assistant pastor would give Pastor Cares time to research and develop a strategy for witnessing to Mormons. In support for Messiah’s proposal, Pastor Cares emphasized the following points for the COP:
1) Similarity between the Mormon culture and a foreign culture.
2) The various challenges that Mormonism presented.
3) The outreach methods available were inept and riddled with false doctrine.
4) Development of a strategy requires time and resources.
5) Such a strategy would benefit the Synod as a whole due to first of all the Mormon encroachment and secondly to the fact that the strategy will also aid in efforts to reach out to other cults.
The COP looked over the proposal at the 1987 synod convention and a few months later they decided not to give Messiah permission to solicit gifts from WELS members.
Despite these setbacks the 120 communicant members of Messiah continued in their efforts to reach out to Mormons on a local level. God blessed the congregation’s efforts with meaningful dialogue with many Mormons and also the conversion of a few souls.
After three failed attempts to initiate an outreach program to the Mormons, the Lord finally opened a door. The lay organization, WELS Kingdom Workers, was under development. Through the administrator of the BHM, Pastor Hagedorn, WELS Kingdom Workers became acquainted with Messiah’s Mormon Ministry. Kingdom Workers approached Messiah in 1988 and agreed to help with the cost of a second pastor in Nampa. This would become Kingdom Workers first mission project. They proposed to donate $60,000 over a span of three years.
In March of 1988 the members of Messiah had several cottage meetings to discuss ministry plans. The proposal at hand was to call a second pastor for a minimum of three years so Pastor Cares could donate 50% of his time to Mormon outreach. A three year plan was developed. The first year of the plan would consist of Pastor Cares doing in-depth research to develop a strategy. This would involve extensive study of LDS teachings, field work in Boise, meetings with Mormons, and observations of Mormon services. In the second year of the plan Pastor Cares would teach the congregation the strategy he developed. The third year of the plan would be to execute the developed strategy. The funding for the plan would come in part from WELS Kingdom Workers and from a separate fund that interested individuals from both within and without the congregation could contribute to. Over 90% of the congregation was in favor of the plan. The General Board for Home Missions also supported the program and pledged both efforts and counsel in order to have sufficient funding assistance. The program became known as the “Mormon Outreach Project” (MOP).
A Strategy Is Developed
Work began on publicizing the need for Mormon outreach and on helping the newly formed WELS Kingdom Workers. In March of 1989 the WELS connection helped to educate the synod on both Messiah’s Mormon Outreach and on WELS Kingdom Workers. A Mormon outreach mission statement was also formed: “To develop a strategy of outreach to Mormons specifically and to cultists generally that is gospel-centered and can be used by committed Christians.”
In July of the same year Pastor Mark Frank was installed as the second pastor. Pastor Cares also gave his first of what would be many presentations about the ministry to an outside group at the Bible Class of Atonement Lutheran in Milwaukee. Pastor Cares continued to immerse himself in Mormon books, magazines, services, hymns, Mormon Church manuals (over 40) while conducting interviews with Mormons and non-Non-Mormons. Pastor Cares also communicated with WELS members who had been former temple Mormons gaining insights and assistance from them. The goal of this extensive research was to completely understand the Mormon and to see how they define words and bible passages.
By 1990 Pastor Cares developed a three-point strategy for witnessing to Mormons.
1) Centering the discussion on the message of salvation rather than on the nature of God or Mormon history. This strategy emphasized loving the Mormon rather than bashing them. Pastor Cares writes:
A debater focuses on exposing the negatives of Mormonism, while a witness concentrates on presenting the positives of Christ’s vicarious work (although neither approach necessarily excludes using elements of the other). Debating frequently establishes an adversarial relationship between the Christian and the Mormon. Witnessing, on the other hand, strives to create a caring climate. The goal of debating is to win the argument, while the goal of witnessing is to win the Mormon. A debater usually addresses the problems Christians have with Mormonism, while a witness addresses (among other things) the problems Mormons themselves have with Mormonism. Most importantly, debating often relies on the power of human reason unaided by the Holy Spirit, while witnessing principally relies on the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God (Rom. 1:16) in addition to human reason.[6]
2) Presenting that message in “Mormonese.” Pastor Cares writes:
Using their language, however, is almost a prerequisite for communicating clearly with Mormons. Knowing their language means understanding, for example, that they commonly equate salvation with the bodily resurrection from the dead. This is why they can agree that Jesus is their Savior – they believe he “saved” them from physical death.[7]
Tied together with this point was the fact that Pastor Cares stressed that Mormonism was a culture rather than a cult, something that was hardly ever noted. The use of current manuals was considered by many as ground-breaking. Pastor Cares notes that even his critics were impressed with this. One time he was conversing with a Christian world missionary who had done extensive studies in cross-cultural work. The missionary remarked how Pastor Cares must have done many studies in the cross-cultural field. Pastor Cares had to admit that he didn’t even know that cross-cultural studies existed, that he was just trying to witness to Mormons.
3) Initially addressing the areas of pressure that Mormonism places on people rather than the things that disturb Christians (i.e. the plurality of gods). Pastor Cares discovered that one of the main stresses for a Mormon is their goal of perfection. Before Pastor Cares introduced this approach there were hardly any Christians talking to Mormons about perfection. Knowing their obsession with perfection presented a perfect opportunity to show Mormons their need for a savior. Pastor Cares describes this law/gospel approach in a letter to Pastor Paul Heidrich, March 3, 1990:
…After delving into their culture and mindset we feel, at this point in time at least, that the area to concentrate is perfection. For that is what they are constantly being urged by their Church to achieve. And naturally that exerts tremendous pressure on them and creates guilt within them. Thus when we come and don’t let them justify their imperfections but rather use Mt. 5:48 (that’s a passage that I have found quoted the most in everyday Mormon literature) as the law’s sledgehammer they want to know how anybody can be perfect like that. Then we use Heb. 10:14 (a passage I have never once seen quoted in all their Bible Class materials, manuals, magazines) to present the Gospel to them.
Convinced that there was a better way to reach out to Mormons, Pastor Cares began to outline a book. Production of materials became a very important aspect of the Mormon Outreach Project. Pastor Cares began to develop a comprehensive “dictionary” of “Mormonese.” Work also began on creating a detailed listing of scripture passages which serve as the foundation of many Mormon teachings. Many of the members of Messiah helped Pastor Cares in this endeavor by indexing many Mormon books and writings.
By May of 1990 Pastor Cares informed Pastor Hagedorn about his idea to write a book. In a letter to Pastor Hagedorn, Pastor Cares cites two reasons for the book. First, there was a need to educate the members of Messiah so that they could effectively assist him in researching Mormonism, interviewing Mormons, and reaching out to them. Second, there were a number of requests (one or two a week) from other pastors asking for advice. The book slowly took form with the help of 12 WELS acquaintances serving as helpful critics. Pastor Cares notes that one of the critics, Pastor Paul Kelm, had a tremendously positive impact with his critique of the manuscript.
In 1991 phase two of the three year plan took form. The goal of this phase was congregation involvement. To educate the congregation Pastor Cares developed two courses on reaching out to Mormons. These two courses contributed much to the development of his book. In January of 1991 Pastor Cares kicked off phase two with a sermons series on outreach with special application to the Mormons. There were also video messages from Synod leaders sent to the members of Messiah in order to promote the Mormon Outreach Project. Pastor Cares had written a letter to John Barber, director of WELS Mass Media, asking him to tape some video “letters” of encouragement for Messiah. One of the speakers was synod president, Carl Mischke.
Pastor Cares began the first course called “Know Mormons” (Mormonism 101). The goal of the course was to help the members learn everything they can about Mormonism. The course dealt with current Mormon teachings and Mormon culture rather than the history of Mormonism. Pastor Cares envisioned at least three groups of ten people participating in the course. The total number of members involved was fifty-two, nearly half of the communicant members of Messiah. Twelve non-Lutherans also took the class. This congregational involvement demonstrated the congregation’s ownership of the project.
The second course was entitled, “Reach Mormons” (Mormonism 201). This course began later than anticipated, late in the summer of 1991. The goal of this course was to instruct members on how to witness to Mormons.
The final phase of the Mormon Outreach Project (Mormonism 301) began in February of 1992. The goal of this phase was to form support groups for members of those groups who would begin reaching out to their Mormon friends or neighbors. Two small groups met once a month as a handful of members consistently reached out to Mormons.
WELS members from all over expressed great interest in the Mormon Outreach Project. Pastor Cares had given many presentations on Mormonism and reaching out to Mormons in several states. He had also addressed LWMS rallies in Washington, Texas, and Colorado. At this time Pastor Cares began a support group for Christian parents of Mormon missionaries. Many of these Christians were Baptists and Nazarenes. WELS Kingdom Workers supplied an additional $14,000 for the project. The Christians in the support group demonstrated for Pastor Cares that many Christians needed not only to learn how to reach out to Mormons, but they needed to learn basic Scriptural principles. Teaching other Christians proper doctrine (in order to witness properly to Mormons) would become another facet of the Mormon Outreach Project.
On April 27th Pastor Mark Frank accepted a call to Yakima, WA. Messiah decided not to call a second pastor; instead, they used the next six months to develop a comprehensive three year plan for the congregation. As a result, there was no more need for support from WELS Kingdom Workers. The Mormon Outreach Project seemed to be coming to an end. Reflecting on the project, Pastor Cares writes:
Was the effort successful? Success, in church, is often a slippery commodity to measure. Outwardly, our success looks slim. The Lord has blessed us with seeing only a handful of Mormons see the wonderful truth of salvation through Jesus.
But there is an all-important difference between how we felt before the project and now. Before we were frustrated because we knew we weren’t communicating the Gospel to Mormons in terms they could understand. Now, we know we are hitting home with our witness. Then we were majoring in minors. Now we are spending our precious time together talking about the things that really count: our imperfection and Jesus’ complete perfection. By being able to speak to Mormons in clear “Mormonese”, we now can be effective ambassadors to Mormons[8]
On May 11th Pastor Cares received a letter from the Northwestern Publishing House agreeing to publish his book, Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons. In August Pastor Bob Hartman of WELS Evangelism provided a final analysis of the book along with a series of suggested discussion questions that could be used at the end of each chapter. Pastor Hartman then noted the need for a short pamphlet that would summarize and outline the basic approach for witnessing to a Mormon. Pastor Cares submitted the final manuscript on September 29th, 1992. On November 25th of the same year he also sent a manuscript to Jerald and Sandra Tanner. The Tanner’s are reputed experts in the field of Mormonism.
Early in 1993 Pastor Bob Hartman visited Messiah in late May to develop tracts and guides for witnessing to Mormons. He also suggested that Messiah should come up with a script for a possible training video that churches could use in their outreach efforts. WELS Evangelism eventually published the three tracts. The tracts were entitled: The Miracle of Forgiveness, Perfection Now, and A Testimony of Jesus Christ. These tracts were intended to reach Mormons using “Mormonese”. Two tracts for Christians were also produced. One summarized the witness to Mormons in general while the other focused in on Mormon Missionaries.[9]
By July the book was published. Immediately Messiah sent many free copies to numerous Christian bookstores and congregations throughout the intermountain West. Following the publication of the book Pastor Cares wrote a short post-mortem on the Outreach to Mormons Project in which he expressed his confidence in the developed strategy but lamented the fact that it was not put more into practice by himself or the congregation. Pastor Cares thought that the project would come to an end since it would answer the questions people were asking concerning Mormonism and reaching out to Mormons, therefore he did not see the need for supplemental material or more presentations. Looking back he also welcomed the prospect of committing himself to normal pastoral duties at Messiah. The Lord, however, had different plans.
Unexpected Growth
The strategy Pastor Cares developed in his book generated interest from both WELS members and Christians outside the WELS. Pastor Cares began to receive many requests from WELS and non-WELS Christians for information, presentations, seminars, and interviews. Pastor Cares had to decline many of these requests due to his congregational duties.
Various endorsements helped to stoke interest in Pastor Cares’ book. Dick Baer, an Ex-Mormon who heads Christian Alliance and co-producer of the Godmakers video, contacted Pastor Cares and personally endorsed the book making it available on his speaking tours. The Tanners of Lighthouse Ministry also endorsed the book in their newsletter and made many copies available in their bookstore. Concordia Publishing House also reviewed the book and made it available in their stores and catalogues. Perhaps the most major endorsement came in the fall of 1994. The Christian Research Journal gave the book a positive review and also asked Pastor Cares to submit an article. The article along with a full-paged advertisement was published in the journal’s 1995 spring issue. They also regularly recommended the book on their national radio show, “The Bible Answer Man.” During these years Pastor Cares was also invited to speak a number of times on Don Matzat’s “Issues Etc.”[10]
The wide interest in the book presented an opportunity to once again expand the Outreach to Mormon Ministry. Pastor Cares saw an opportunity to equip Christians both in and outside of the WELS. To do this he envisioned an aggressive marketing campaign for the book, the five tracts, and a video, all aimed at equipping the saints both in and outside of the WELS. Joint efforts by the WELS Board for Home Missions and WELS Evangelism/Mass Media sought to provide a wider market for Pastor Cares’ Mormon materials. In 1996 the joint efforts of the BHM and the Evangelism/Mass Media offices secured a booth for Pastor Cares at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention in Indiana. John Barber, director of WELS Mass Media, describes the event in the Northwestern Lutheran:
Throughout the convention, Cares had a steady stream of interviews with radio and television broadcasters. Estimates indicate Cares’ message and the exposure of WELS Outreach ministries reached over 25 million. The World Harvest Radio network carried a “live” on-air interview and claimed 15 million listeners over three continents. All this is part of a plan to bring WELS biblically-based outreach resources to a broad-base Christian audience.[11]
The partnership between WELS BHM and WELS Evangelism/Mass Media developed into WELS Outreach Resource Ministries (WORM), later renamed WELS Outreach Resources (WOR). The mission of WOR was to provide quality, effective, Christian books, videos, publications, and multi-ministry tools for Christians in and outside of the WELS. Pastor Cares’ Mormon materials were to serve as the pilot for the project.
The popularity of Pastor Cares’ book outside of the WELS demonstrated that there was a market for solid, biblical, law-gospel material in the wider Christian market, a market that was not fed by NPH. In a letter to Pastor Hartman and John Barber, Pastor Cares writes, “If many Christians today are not familiar with the basic law and gospel, what responsibility do we, as a Synod, have to be a light to God’s truth to the rest of Christendom?”
The BHM and WELS Kingdom Workers approved to fund the project in the fall of 1996. The Schwan Foundation, through WELS Kingdom Workers, pledged $300K for WOR. Most of the money was used to develop two videos and to provide funds for a second pastor at Messiah.
In 1997 WOR requested and received the rights for Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons from NPH in order to update LDS quotes, design a new cover, and to get a new copyright date for marketing a “new product”. WELS Outreach Resources also produced two videos on Mormon Outreach. The first, entitled Prophet from Palmyra, was a docu-drama aimed at getting Christians acquainted with Mormonism. The second video, Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons, presents the Mormon Outreach Strategy as developed in the book. The videos were produced by John Barber and were placed on the market by June of 1998.
By 1998 WOR expanded its materials. At the 1998 National Radio Broadcasters convention in Anaheim WOR promoted the Mormon Outreach Project, a resource manual called Mission and Ministry across Cultures by E. Allen Sorum, a video entitled Soul Search aimed at training Christians to personally reach out to the lost, and a witnessing video for children entitled Mr. Thistle created by Pastor Tony Shultz.
WOR undertook a marketing plan offered by Sprecher-Bertalot & Company. As a result new packaging was prepared for several items, ISBN numbers were obtained, a direct mailing program to Lutheran and Mormon area churches was begun, participation in the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) in July 1999 was arranged, and connections with Barnes and Noble.com and Amazon.com were made to distribute materials on line.[12] In 1998 WOR connected with Dayspring, a major distributor.
As the Mormon outreach ministry took on new growth, a major milestone occurred in 1995. In 1995 Becki Levi (Detro) began attending Messiah. Initially, she visited Messiah because she wanted to learn how to witness to her family. Becki had grown up in a very strong, high-ranking Mormon family. Her father was a stake patriarch for twenty-five years. She is directly descended from David W. Patten one of the original 12 LDS apostles and was considered to be the “first” martyr for the Mormon Church. Becki became a member of Messiah in 1996 and became an indispensable part of the ministry. Despite this milestone and many other positive developments of the Mormon Outreach Project, Satan was at work in dividing the members of Messiah.
On June 22 in 1996 Pastor Hagedorn presented the idea of calling a second pastor to Messiah so that Pastor Cares could once again be involved with the Mormon Outreach Project. July 21st the church council decided to keep the congregation involved with the Mormon Outreach Project and they resolved to recommend to the voters the calling of a second pastor for a three year time period. The voters were to decide on September 22.
On September 8th there was a special congregational meeting. At the meeting an affidavit was read by a vocal group of members opposing the Mormon Outreach Program and the ministry of Pastor Cares. They felt that the Mormon Outreach Program was neglecting the members and other forms of outreach and that the church council had limited the congregation’s options. The affidavit was also sent to Pastor Hagedorn of BHM, President of the Pacific Northwest District, Pastor Widmann, and President of the Synod, Karl Gurgel.
The council met to respond to the affidavit. After analyzing the affidavit the council concluded that the major premise and arguments of the affidavit were false. On September 15th Pastor Cares read his own statement after services to publicly defend his ministry. Copies of the affidavit, the council’s response, and Pastor Cares’ statement were made available to the congregation. On September 22nd the voters voted for the council’s recommendation with a vote of 23-6. After a number of devastating months several members removed their signatures from the affidavit but in the end 47 members left the congregation.
Looking back at the tumultuous experience Pastor Cares notes how the experience had a positive effect on his ministry and on Messiah. For himself, the experience drove him to the Lord, new leaders rose up within the congregation and Messiah became more unified in reaching out to the lost.
In the spring of 1997 Pastor Rick Tuttle was assigned as Messiah’s second pastor, he ministered at Messiah until 1999. Growth continued into the new millennium. Messiah’s outreach project consisted of three programs: publications, seminars, and web-site development.
Messiah had to once again get involved with publications and resources since WOR was short lived. The connection to WOR’s major distributor fell through since WOR could not continue to produce a continuous flow of new products. A lack of finances also kept WOR from pushing into the direction it had needed to go. In 2001, with the encouragement and consent of John Barber, Pastor Cares sought permission to receive the rights for the materials from WOR. He did this so that Messiah could market and sell the materials directly. Pastor Cares received the rights in 2002. A network of volunteer sales reps was then formed at Messiah but achieved little success. In 2004 the LCMS Inter-District Resource Committee on Mormonism approached the Mormon Outreach Project to see if they could order sample packets of Mormon materials for their congregations. This packet was publicized in 2005 and the publications program continues to support itself through sales of its products. Also in 2005, John Barber converted the videos to DVD.
Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormon’s seminars became a regular occurrence at Messiah and in other congregations. During the next years requests were made of Pastor Cares for speaking engagements, most requests came from non-WELS groups. Only a small number were agreed to every year. In 2001 Becki also began to give presentations. One of the first she gave was at the WELS National Youth Rally; many more speaking engagements were to follow including presentations to LWMS groups. Also in 2001 the Mormon Outreach Project developed a newsletter to send supporters. After four issues the project was abandoned due to time restraints. Other activities continued to generate interest in the Mormon Outreach Project. Pastor Cares was on the radio show, “The Bible Answer Man” in 2003. In 2004 members of Messiah were able to generate more sales by actively selling materials on Amazon.com. In the same year the Mormon Outreach Project started airing two-minute witnessing tips locally on the radio. Half of this was funded with an outreach grant from WELS BHM.
The internet became a powerful tool for Messiah’s Mormon Outreach Project. For a number of years work had begun to construct two websites devoted to reaching out to Mormons. The first website was aimed at equipping Christians to witness to Mormons; the second website was aimed at witnessing directly to Mormons. In 2001 the Mormon Outreach Project received a grant of $17,000 from AAL/Lutheran Brotherhood to partially fund the initial development of the website. Later, during the same year, WELS BHM provided a grant allowing Becki’s husband, Keith Detro, to work full time at developing the structure and content of the website. The email correspondence, website development, and newsletter were primarily handled by this husband-wife team.
Truthinlovetomormons.com went online in the fall of 2001 and gained tremendous popularity receiving approximately 150,000 hits a month and hundreds of downloads from 90 different countries. Truthinlovetomormons.com quickly became the top site of its kind. The site contains hundreds of pages of articles, scripture references, and information all with the purpose of helping Christians witness to Mormons. The website also allowed members at Messiah to conduct numerous email dialogues with Christians around the world who were actively witnessing to Mormons. Indirectly, the site along with the book and other resources were teaching Christians the truth of God’s Word. Many Christians have thanked those behind Truth in Love Ministry for strengthening their faith and assuring them of forgiveness. Work on the second site, myheavenlyfather.com, had been suspended until the completion of truthinlovetomormons.com. In 2002 grant money ran out and Becki Detro’s health declined due to a brain tumor. Despite the setbacks Keith Detro worked part-time to support his family and volunteered the rest of his spare time to the ministry and to the development of the website.
Thankfully, surgery restored Becki’s health. The Lord continued to bless the ministry’s efforts through financial gifts from various sources. Messiah gifted half of its monthly mission budget to the ministry from August 2003 to July 2004. Verle Naber, a WELS member from Phoenix, contributed a gift. In 2004 Messiah received a $30K grant from Thrivent through the BHM to help develop the second website. In June of 2005 the LWMS chose the Mormon ministry as one of the two missions they supported for the year, contributing $30K to develop the site. The site was renamed thecityofzion.com and is currently being developed as a massive witnessing site to Mormons. The site compares Mormonism with Christianity, teaches Christian truths in a variety of ways, and employs Mormon terminology and concepts. Many members of Messiah are currently contributing articles to his website.
In the Fall of 2004 Messiah decided to make the Mormon ministry a separate corporation. The reason for incorporating the project are as follows: the ministry was getting too large for Messiah’s structure; the by-laws, and procedures of Messiah made it awkward to manage a mission outreach program; the size of the project was distracting from Messiah’s other ministry; corporations have a better chance of getting grants that do congregations; and a corporation would allow for men outside of Messiah to be on the board of directors. The Mormon Outreach Project was renamed Truth in Love Ministry (TILM), so that the ministry may possibly include other cults or non-Christian religions in its future outreach programs.[13]
Conclusion
Messiah’s unique setting gave way to a unique ministry. The ministry had elements of a foreign mission as it had to acknowledge the Mormon language and culture; and as it had to devote a great deal of time, effort, and money to the cause. Despite the inherent difficulties of mission work, the members of Messiah and those involved with the ministry did not relent in their efforts to reach out to Mormons. Even when Pastor Cares and the members completed various goals of the project the Lord opened new doors, gave them new opportunities, and compelled them onward. One could admire the perseverance, zeal and courage of those involved with the ministry to Mormons but, ultimately, as they would readily admit, the glory belongs to God.
The love of Christ, as Becki Detro so passionately recounts whenever she gives her presentations, fueled the mission’s drive to love Mormons and to reach out to Mormons. Without this love there would be no mission to the Mormons. Without love there would be no desire to devote enormous amounts of time, energy, and money into the Mormon mission field or any mission field for that matter.
The promises of God also fueled the drive. Promises that told them that the Word of God is active and living, shaper than any double-edged sword (Heb. 4:12); that God’s Word will not return to him empty (Is. 55:11). Those involved with the mission to Mormons were confident in their strategy not because of their ingenuity, but because they trusted God’s promises.
Finally, the command that Christ gives to all Christians (Mt. 28:19) to reach all nations fueled the drive to reach the Mormons; for the Mormon Empire was a nation neglected and in desperate need of the Gospel of Christ.
In view of the above, the members of Messiah, Pastor Cares, and all those involved with the mission to the Mormons could confidently look ahead to a harvest of souls. Through the Lord’s wisdom, grace, and power a tiny congregation situated in the great expanses of the West initiated a great assault against the growing menace of Mormonism. Through this mission to the Mormons the Lord has demonstrated the power of his Word; he has demonstrated the need that many Christians have of that pure doctrine which WELS has been so blessed with; and he has added an unknown number of souls to his flock. May the Lord continue to bless the efforts of the mission to the Mormons as they continue to speak the truth in love.
By Rev. Caleb Davisson
December 12, 2005
Bibliography
Barber, John. WELS reaches out with witness resource ministry. Northwestern Lutheran April 1996: p. 21.
Book of Reports and Memorials, 34th Biennial Convention of the Wisconsin Lutheran Synod, 1985, p. 315-316.
Detro, Becki. Do you know a stressed out Mormon? Forward in Christ December 1998, pp. 8-10
Cares, Mark. Is a Mission to the Mormons a Mission Impossible? Essay. Salt Lake City, Nov. 26, 1984.
Cares, Mark. Reflections: Mormon Outreach Project. WELS Kingdom Workers Update April 1993 Vol. 6, Issue 4: p. 1
Cares, Mark. Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons. Milwaukee. WELS Outreach Resources, 1999.
Cares, Mark. Witnessing of Christ to non-Christians. Forward in Christ October 1999. p. 12-13
Proceedings, 34th Biennial Convention of the Wisconsin Lutheran Synod, 1985, p. 66.
Other Sources
Becki Detro – Researcher, evangelist
John Barber – Director of TILM
Pastor Mark Cares – Author, chairman of TILM
WELS Outreach Resource Business Plan 2000
www.adherents.com
www.mtio.com/articles.assiar32.htm
[2] Paraphrased from a short essay entitled: Is a Mission to the Mormons a Mission Impossible? Pastor Cares delivered the essay at a meeting in Salt Lake City, Nov. 26, 1984
[3] Northwestern Lutheran, “Do you know a stressed out Momon?” December 1998, p. 10.
[4] Is a Mission to the Mormons a Mission Impossible?”
[5] Proceedings, 34th Biennial Convention of the Wisconsin Lutheran Synod, 1985, p. 66.
[6] Cares, Mark. An Alternate Approach to Reaching Mormons. Christian Research Journal Spring 1995 p. 7
[7] Ibid
[8] Reflections: Mormon Outreach Project, WELS Kingdom Workers Update. April 1993 Vol. 6, Issue 4.
[9] The tracts are provided for in the addendum. The tracts provide an excellent example for witnessing in Mormoneses.
[10] See addendum for other endorsements and comments on Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons.
[11] Quote taken from the April 1996 issue of Northwestern Lutheran, p. 21.
[12] WELS Outreach Resource Business Plan 2000
[13] Pastor Cares’ and others have noticed that the strategy developed by the Mormon Outreach Project can readily apply to cults other than Mormonism. See the article Witnessing Christ to non-Christians listed in the Addendum.
