I have Lutheran neighbors. When we moved into our new home 14 years ago the Mrs. came over to excitedly invite me to an Alpha program that her church was offering. Alpha, she explained, was a way to introduce people to Christianity. I thanked her for the invite, but told her I was already a Christian and, coincidentally had just been confirmed Catholic.
"You don't need to confess to a priest", she said.
I bring this up as an example because so many times I feel like what is presented as a simple sharing of one's beliefs is actually a veiled attempt to undercut the Catholic faith.
I looked into the Alpha program and one has to pay for it to know what it entails. My Catholic friends tell me that it isn't necessarily friendly to Catholicism, that it taught against the authority of the Church the seven sacraments, etc. etc.
It's nice to hear about the unity of Lutheran/Catholic beliefs. As I understand it the LCMS has rejected the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, at least the last I thing read they had some very strong negative reactions to it. My complaint is that it's exhausting distinguishing the nuances between the ELCA the LCMS and the rest of the alphabet soup. The tradition of protestantism promotes individualism to such an extent that in order to under stand protestants, the Catholic has consider each one on a personal basis.
In other words, we're going to have to pick you off one by one.
Thanks for being a mensch. If you were my neighbor, it would be great to get to know you.