Newspaper account about the purchase of the bankrupt bar, now The CORE.
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| Lenski commented on the entire New Testament, not just Romans 4:25 |
Fox Valley WELS Pastor Joel Lillo wrote in his "final" message:
One more thing... It didn't cost WELS Extension Fund nearly the $500,000 you claim it spent purchasing the present CORE building. That's just what the asking price of the building was. It was purchased for significantly less than that and WELS' share was even less than that since the congregation put up most of the purchase price in offerings and loans that will be repaid. This won't matter to you, though, since you never let facts get in the way of a good story.
If the reader examines the newspaper account linked above and here, the facts contradict Lillo's spin. The story reveals the purchase price to be less than the asking price of $850,000 and closer to the fair market value of $523,000.
Worth noting - Lillo claimed he knew nothing about Ski - the Mark Schroeder escape clause. But then he knew everything about Ski and the wonderful way that was handled - not mentioning the excommunication of an honest member and the four-way lawsuit against another member. When did Lillo become an expert on St. Peter finances, WELS finances, and the diabolical lies told by the newspaper?
The story speaks of a WELS grant and a WELS loan, both to buy the failed bar and to remodel and fumigate it.
Few readers think that St. Peter in Freedom, with an annual budget over $1.4 million, needs loans or grants from WELS. When greedy pastors soak up the loot for themselves, nothing is left for real missions. The CORE was phony mission from the start, with a gargantuan appetite for Other People's Money.
Oi - Savoy!
WELS and Tim Glende want the Savoy, Illinois stories to disappear. Tim managed to bully WELS into giving him a blank check to get rid of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, a successful campus church (which the Eastern Orthodox now use and love). He had to have his Coffee Bar of Bethlehem instead.
WELS warned him against it, but he got his way, doubtless helped by Vicarage Supervisor Mark Jeske (Church and Changer) and Uncle John Brug (Sausage Factory).
Tim ran from his Savoy mistake before it was finished - to get a sinecure from Ron Ash, chairman of Church and Change. Now his first big project is in foreclosure. Soon WELS leaders will deny there was a Coffee Bar of Bethlehem in Savoy.
Gurgle - The SP Who Cannot Spell or Balance the Books
WELS supports goofs like Glende and Gurgle. Don Patterson's current assistant managed to waste the MilCraft estate as the District President. Gurgle was so bad that the "conservatives" anointed him their dream candidate to replace the retiring Carl Mischke. Gurgle managed to do the same - and then some - with the massive Marvin Schwan indulgence. Gurgle was encouraged to resign or learn how to make license plates at government expense.
Mark Schroeder the Bookkeeper took over with promises about finding the missing $8 million and building the MLC chapel.
But Piepenbrink walked off with about $300k - after Mark Schroeder had WELS spend $250k on "financial controls."
Conservative Babylon blogs Piepenbrink
Sentenced: Leon Piepenbrink, 52, former pastor,Shepherd of the Hills, Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, to one year in jail, 20 years’ probation, one year work release and 60 hours’ community service, and ordered to pay an as-yet undetermined amount in restitution, for embezzling about $300,000 from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). In April, Piepenbrink pleaded guilty to seven counts of theft by swindle. He claimed he took the money to “help the needy.” Story: Fox 9, May 4, 2011; Pioneer Press, July 24, 2012
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| "I was helping the needy." |