LCMS, WELS, ELS release report on years of informal discussion

Newtheran

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LCMS, WELS, ELS release report on years of informal discussion

Although this article is a little older, I'd love to see the reunification of the three orthodox confessional Lutheran synods into one body. Christians face enough difficulty in the world today as it is.

If you are LCMS, WELS, or ELS what barriers do you see to this? If you're ELCA, kindly refrain from contributing to this topic.
 
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Newtheran

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They don't let women vote in congregational matters, don't let them hold any position where there could be a perceived "authority over men."

Ah. Well I'm LCMS, and fully agree with the authority part. I'd have to think about the voting...I'll have to say that at first glance I'm philosophically inclined to agree with it. If you look at recent church history in the United States, the feminist influence on the church has been sort of a gateway drug to all sorts of heresy.
 
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TKA_TN

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I'm LCMS, too. I haven't seen many examples, but my church just issued a call for an associate pastor and women that are members were allowed to vote on whether or not to issue a call. I'm honestly not sure what other congregational issues would be voted on since I haven't seen anything else. Personally, I didn't have an issue with the women members being included in a vote to issue a call.

Agree with the authority part as well, but I don't see LCMS allowing for women elders any time soon.
 
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Newtheran

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We just had a church meeting, we practice closed communion. The members who spoke out in changing to an opinion communion policy were exclusively female. The overwhelming majority that spoke out in favor of maintaining the status quo were male. The scriptural argument that the motive behind a closed communion is so that the uncatechized do not inadvertently eat and drink damnation unto themselves made not a dent in the open it up crowd.

It remained closed. Just an observation: speaking in generalities, women do seem to be driven more by emotion. This isn't bad, it's how God created men and women...the end result is that we are each better suited for different tasks.

I have almost no tolerance for a faith that professes...

"Just as I am, without one plea
I'll change your church so it suits me..."

If that's the only thing preventing unification, I'd favor the LCMS adopting the ELS/WELS stance.
 
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TKA_TN

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I wish my church was a little more strict on Communion. We put a message up that says "if you're baptized and believe that Christ is truly, bodily present in the elements, we welcome you to commune with us."

I don't like that as it opens the door so to speak. I know there's nothing you can do to totally stop someone from partaking, but it'd be nice to have the pastor mention it rather than a message on the screen.

Granted, we're a pretty small church and don't see many visitors that often, but still.
 
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kdm1984

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I'm female and wouldn't change the closed communion policy.

I'm also autistic and oblivious to emotion.

I wonder if this is why the pastorate recommended me to consider authoritative positions over other women (deaconess, I think it's called here?) despite my autism...heh. I used to think of my condition as something of a curse because it prevents me from relating to other women over their various "issues," but it might be of benefit in other cases.

But I also think I'd be prone to arrogance and wield my intellect and lack of feeling over other women unkindly.
 
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twin.spin

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I'm WELS and these questions appear more frequently in recent years in our q\a portion of the WELS web site.
The answer that is usually given begins with:
"The main differences (between WELS and LCMS) fall in the categories of church and ministry, the application of fellowship principles and the roles of men and women.

and I leave this ending commentary from a q\a:

A 2013 synodical convention resolution that addressed this matter resolved:
“That we encourage our leadership in conjunction with the Commission on Inter-Church Relations (CICR) to continue discussions with the LCMS to strive for true unity based on full agreement in doctrine and practice, and that we pray for the Holy Spirit to guide and bless these efforts to God’s glory and for the benefit of his church.” That remains our prayer.
 
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Julian of Norwich

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I'm a woman and LCMS. Although I do think women should be allowed to vote, I agree that women shouldn't have positions of authority over men (I really like the idea of an all male episcopal polity tho'). As far as HC, I do think it should be open to baptized Christians who believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist.
 
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Paladin7

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These discussions should continue on the basis of the Word of God. I would not be in favor of any merger of the WELS with the LCMS, until such time that the LCMS cleans house and returns to their Confessional Theology as evidenced by their practice.
It doesn't matter what I think about the issues of Women Voting, Closed Communion, Church Fellowship or the Office of the Public Ministry. What matter is what the Word of God says and our Churches being faithful to that Word. Real fellowship can only be seen, it can never be achieved through compromise.
 
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LizaMarie

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We just had a church meeting, we practice closed communion. The members who spoke out in changing to an opinion communion policy were exclusively female. The overwhelming majority that spoke out in favor of maintaining the status quo were male. The scriptural argument that the motive behind a closed communion is so that the uncatechized do not inadvertently eat and drink damnation unto themselves made not a dent in the open it up crowd.

It remained closed. Just an observation: speaking in generalities, women do seem to be driven more by emotion. This isn't bad, it's how God created men and women...the end result is that we are each better suited for different tasks.

I have almost no tolerance for a faith that professes...

"Just as I am, without one plea
I'll change your church so it suits me..."

If that's the only thing preventing unification, I'd favor the LCMS adopting the ELS/WELS stance.
I'm WELS. Was raised and confirmed Missouri Synod, did not attend church in my 20's had a strong re-conversion in an evangelical non-denominational at 30, went back to a nearby Lutheran Church(ELCA in the late 80's to 92, got married to a Baptist, moved and joined our current church(WELS) because it was a confessional Lutheran church my husband became a catechumen and joined. Anyway, the closest LCMS church to our small town is 45 minutes away which is why we instead chose WELS. the only thing I disagree with is I wish female members could vote. I returned to my Lutheran faith for many reasons most of which have to do with the Eucharist, and outside of the RCC and EO, the Lutheran church is the only other church(that I know of) that teaches the Real Presence.
I am a strong supporter of closed communion. My Baptist and evangelical relatives who have visited church with us have been somewhat insulted with the closed communion policy. ( I prefer they attend with us when there is no communion). I have tried to explain to them why, and also point out that the RCC and the Eastern Orthodox also do not have open communion either. I did not know that some LCMS were considering open communion? When I was ELCA we did have open communion as long as one was a baptized Christian.
 
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