lcms and wels diffs?

tagyourit · #1 29th September 2010, 02:56 PM

Don't want to start a flame war, but just want to know, what the main diffs are between WELS and LCMS. Thanks.

edit: I guess I would like a little more info than what I'm reading here

www dot lcms dog org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=2149

Zecryphon · #2 29th September 2010, 03:05 PM

Originally Posted by tagyourit

Don't want to start a flame war, but just want to know, what the main diffs are between WELS and LCMS. Thanks.

edit: I guess I would like a little more info than what I'm reading here

www dot lcms dog org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=2149

You should also read the WELS site at:

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) | Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and a good book to read that will answer a lot of your questions is called WELS and Other Lutherans and is available from Northwestern Publishing House - Proclaim his Salvation Day After Day. It's a short book and it tells the differences between the three most popular Lutheran Synods and what each believes and teaches, the WELS, the LCMS and the E*CA.

tagyourit · #3 29th September 2010, 03:26 PM

I tried to dig a little more and I have a question. Do WELS believe that Deacons are an appointed/called office from Scripture?

Would a WELS pray with a non-WELS?

Could a WELS woman vote ( assuming the WELS would have something to vote on )?

alexnbethmom · #4 29th September 2010, 03:36 PM

one of my very dearest friends is WELS, and we pray together all the time (i'm LCMS), and in fact, i go to her dad's church's bible study!

i actually JUST had this very same conversation with someone on here, regarding WELS women voting - basically, WELS women can vote in public elections (POTUS, state governor, etc etc etc), but cannot vote in church elections (voting for their synod's president, for example)....

someone who is WELS would be able to answer this MUCH better than i could, obviously.....but that's what i know, in a nutshell....

Zecryphon · #5 29th September 2010, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by tagyourit

I tried to dig a little more and I have a question. Do WELS believe that Deacons are an appointed/called office from Scripture?

Would a WELS pray with a non-WELS?

Could a WELS woman vote ( assuming the WELS would have something to vote on )?

Perhaps this article from the WELS site will help answer your first question:

Offices of the ministry | Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)

The official position of the WELS on praying with others is that we do not pray with a person or church body that we are not in full fellowship with. So the position of the WELS is that we are not to pray with those who are non-WELS.

The WELS has plenty of issues to vote on, but women are not allowed to vote one issues concerning WELS churches. In fact at the last voter's meeting I attended, I did not see one woman present.

tagyourit · #6 29th September 2010, 03:45 PM

Thank you both, quite helpful.

Zecryphon · #7 29th September 2010, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by tagyourit

Thank you both, quite helpful.

You're welcome.

alexnbethmom · #8 29th September 2010, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by Zecryphon

The official position of the WELS on praying with others is that we do not pray with a person or church body that we are not in full fellowship with. So the position of the WELS is that we are not to pray with those who are non-WELS.

i spoke with my pastor (LCMS) and my friend's dad's pastor (WELS), and neither thought there was any problem at all with me attending these bible studies (in which we not only study, but pray at the end) - so should i not be attending these bible studies then?

tagyourit · #9 29th September 2010, 04:08 PM

alex, from my summary reading, I would think that would not be allowed.

Zecryphon · #10 29th September 2010, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by alexnbethmom

i spoke with my pastor (LCMS) and my friend's dad's pastor (WELS), and neither thought there was any problem at all with me attending these bible studies (in which we not only study, but pray at the end) - so should i not be attending these bible studies then?

If you wanna have a little fun, ask the WELS pastor to explain their fellowship policy. I did this to my pastor a couple of times and he couldn't do it due to time constraints. I guess he wasn't free for the next 10 years.

It's a very complex matter and I still have yet to find a detailed and clear teaching on it.

But let me start off by saying that the WELS teaching on fellowship is not something that can be covered in something as brief as an internet post. Are you WELS or LCMS? I would say keep going to the Bible study, if you're WELS you're gonna have to decide for yourself if you will follow the position of the Synod on prayer with those we are not in fellowship with. I've asked my pastor what I should do in regards to praying with people we are not in fellowship with and he said I should not pray with them.

However, many a time I have not followed the Synod's position on this or my pastor's advice. My parents are Presbyterians and I pray with them when I'm at their house and the blessing for the meal is said. I pray with them because I would not be honoring them, as I am commanded to do by the 4th commandment if I got up and left the room. Some WELS people do that, when their family members belong to churches that they are not in fellowship with. When I visit my parent's church and the pastor says a prayer, I do not pray along with the church. I say my own prayer to God at that time.

The question is, does Bible Study constitute worship? If it does, then the position of the WELS is that you should not pray with those who are not WELS. I think this rule is extreme and goes too far, but what are ya gonna do? However, I also think that the WELS is just trying to protect itself from falling into error. I believe they think that if we pray with people who believe falsely then we are approving of their teachings. Just like we don't receive Communion at churches that teach it is something we do for God and symbolic in nature, because by receiving Communion in a church that teaches that, we are saying we are in agreement with them on that, when we are in fact, not in agreement with them on that issue.

In the end, I think each person has to decide for themselves the best way to behave in regards to this matter and also how best to live out their faith. I take praying with those I am not in fellowship with on a case-by-case basis. Others do not.