Attending an LCMS church on Sunday!

MyChainsAreBroken said:

My husband and I are making the move from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism. We will be attending a traditional LCMS church this Sunday and going to their pre-service catechism class for those interested in membership. The pastor has been very welcoming and helpful, which is so wonderful after years in parishes where no one even bothered to say hello. I've been reading about Martin Luther and what he taught and it feels like I'm finally coming home. I've been struggling so much with my faith lately and now it's like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I just wanted to share how excited I am.

- Allison

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MyChainsAreBroken said:

My husband and I are making the move from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism. We will be attending a traditional LCMS church this Sunday and going to their pre-service catechism class for those interested in membership. The pastor has been very welcoming and helpful, which is so wonderful after years in parishes where no one even bothered to say hello. I've been reading about Martin Luther and what he taught and it feels like I'm finally coming home. I've been struggling so much with my faith lately and now it's like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I just wanted to share how excited I am.

- Allison

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MyChainsAreBroken said:

What led you to convert, if you don't mind sharing?

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SalusaSecundus said:

I left for lots or reasons all amounting to I didn't believe any of the distinctive Catholic dogmas anymore. I was raised non religious but became Christian and Catholic in college. I was drawn to its history and intellectual tradition. There were a few things I couldn't quite accept but on direction from my spiritual advisor he told me to practice the faith and those things would fall into place. They never did. Ten years later I was trying to practice my faith that was getting more dead and moribund by the day. I was going through the motions and getting more and more resentful of the church. Yet my resentment was making me terrified of my salvation. I laid awake at night terrified that my contrition was not perfect or if I even had it at all. I did confession because it was an obligation. It gave me no comfort. I went to mass because I was obligated and it gave me no comfort. I bought every book Catholic Answers put out and read all their tracts. I went and crossed swords with Protestants in real life and online. I was not trying to convince them, I was trying to convince myself. I realized all my "answers" were pathetic.

I started to hate all the obligations of the church. I hated going to mass. I hated going to confession. I pretended to be on the same page as everyone else. Even though they looked as miserable as me. They all ran out of the church so fast after mass that you would think the building was on fire. My dismal and dead faith offered me no peace, no comfort. It became a source of pain in my life. I was in a state of spiritual torture and agony, I had to make it stop.

All this coupled with some very negative experiences at my local parish, where I was a lector and my wife a Eucharistic minister. I finally told her on the way home from church that I wanted to check out somewhere else. I related all this to a coworker who was feeling very bad about his Reformed baptist church. We both decided to check out a local tiny confessional Lutheran parish in my town. The pastor told me the Lutheran Law Gospel distinction. He offered to baptize my daughter free of charge with no strings attached. Folks actually stayed after church and enjoyed each other's company. It was like coming up for air. I recently moved and found a new small confessional lutheran parish similar to the first. I was confirmed in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod late last year.

Working with my pastor I have let go of my anger towards my former church. Turns out I may have something called scrupulosity. Something that my hero Luther also may have had. His writings on the issue felt so close to home. I can relate. Now I actually respect my former church more now than a year ago and half ago. I believe that the Catholic Church preaches the word and administers the sacraments, I believe it is a legitimate coequal, co blessed by God, beloved Christian Church home to many Christians. But its simply not for me.

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MyChainsAreBroken said:

Thank you both

Random, but this evening I started researching my German ancestors on a whim and found out one built a Lutheran church in PA back in 1745 and that there have been a lot of pastors on that side of my family. They actually came to America because their father was Catholic and disowned them for converting.

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MyChainsAreBroken said:

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I almost felt like I could have written some parts of it. I really started doubting when I learned that the EO didn't believe in many of the doctrines I had trouble with and had a better claim to being the original early church. This opened the door to all my hidden dissatisfaction about the complete lack of fellowship, the crazy legalism, indulgences, the Marian visions, etc. And I'd already been fed up with "the spirit of Vatican II" pretty much since I became a Catholic. But I discerned that the EO wasn't the "true church" either, so I kept looking and found the Lutherans!

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MyChainsAreBroken said:

We actually got confirmed a few weeks ago at the LCMS church! Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement!

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MyChainsAreBroken said:

Oops...haven't been on in a while! Fixed it

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Jim47 said:

I hope you find comfort in the arms of Jesus your Savior.

You may see the worship service is similar, but different. Our worship is all of God. Saints, Mary and all the others are not objects of our worship. The only thing that matters is Christ Jesus our Savior, and we never get tired of thanking and worshiping Him.

I'm a former active member here, but haven't been active in a few years or more. No problems just lost interest in message boards I guess.

By the way, Hello Lil Lamb. I tried replying to your message but its either turned off or full. If you want to write me see if you can fix it.

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