Questions for lutherans of all kinds?

[JesusIsMyTicket]

Hi there,
So first hand, I am actually a baptized Catholic. However, after struggling with the community and conflicted about certain small doctrines, I stopped going to church and have more less floated as a non-denominational again. I began going to a Lutheran church about 2 months ago.
I love the community. There is many opportunities for charity work as well which I love. However, my mother knows a Lutheran and she asked about my church, and she said my church isn't a real die-hard Lutheran church.

I guess my question is: what exactly is the difference between mine (which I see is an ECLA) and a traditional Lutheran church? Is there any difference besides it is a little more liberal?

Thank you for any answers.

 

[SkyWriting]

Hi there,
So first hand, I am actually a baptized Catholic. However, after struggling with the community and conflicted about certain small doctrines, I stopped going to church and have more less floated as a non-denominational again. I began going to a Lutheran church about 2 months ago.I love the community. There is many opportunities for charity work as well which I love. However, my mother knows a Lutheran and she asked about my church, and she said my church isn't a real die-hard Lutheran church.I guess my question is: what exactly is the difference between mine (which I see is an ECLA) and a traditional Lutheran church? Is there any difference besides it is a little more liberal?Thank you for any answers.

Impossible to say. A conservative Elca congregation may be more conservative than a liberal Missouri Synod.
And on some issues and maybe not others. Traditional or modern service may change the feel of either.
My wife was in a wheel chair and we visited any church that was accessible as a mater of personal interest.
The service or people inside were never well indicated by the sinage outside.

 

[Tangible]

It might be better if you requested this to be moved into the general Lutheran forum.

 

[grasping the after wind]

There are numerous differences. Just a few of those differences would be the ELCA allows for female Pastors, committed, monogamous same sex relationships for rostered clergy, individual conscience on same sex marriage, apostolic succession for Bishops and newly ordained Pastors by way of the Episcopal Church's claim to a direct apostolic succession. Those would be some of the more controversial positions the ELCA has taken as seen by the other Lutheran church organizations like the WELS and LCMS . I would say overall the ELCA is significantly more liberal than the WELS or the LCMS. As an earlier poster noted the individual congregation may vary greatly in the degree of their liberality but the bureaucratic structure and those empowered to set policy for the ELCA as a body of believers is definitely very liberal minded. Some approve of this liberal mindedness and others do not. I think it is best to be informed of exactly what the particular stands of any church organization are when one wants to decide whether one is interested in participating with that group. Some things are more important to particular individuals than others and it is not likely that there will be 100% congruence between any church organisation's views and any particular individual's on all matters. I say find a church body that you can feel fairly comfortable with and don't expect to completely agree with every policy or pronouncement that the national ( or global) leadership adheres to. One can always advocate for one's own position even if that position is not the accepted one. I would only leave my current church home if I became uncomfortable with the local congregational leadership or with the members of the congregation itself. I would not do that without attempting to resolve the problem first.

 

[JesusIsMyTicket]

There are numerous differences. Just a few of those differences would be the ELCA allows for female Pastors, committed, monogamous same sex relationships for rostered clergy, individual conscience on same sex marriage, apostolic succession for Bishops and newly ordained Pastors by way of the Episcopal Church's claim to a direct apostolic succession. Those would be some of the more controversial positions the ELCA has taken as seen by the other Lutheran church organizations like the WELS and LCMS . I would say overall the ELCA is significantly more liberal than the WELS or the LCMS. As an earlier poster noted the individual congregation may vary greatly in the degree of their liberality but the bureaucratic structure and those empowered to set policy for the ELCA as a body of believers is definitely very liberal minded. Some approve of this liberal mindedness and others do not. I think it is best to be informed of exactly what the particular stands of any church organization are when one wants to decide whether one is interested in participating with that group. Some things are more important to particular individuals than others and it is not likely that there will be 100% congruence between any church organisation's views and any particular individual's on all matters. I say find a church body that you can feel fairly comfortable with and don't expect to completely agree with every policy or pronouncement that the national ( or global) leadership adheres to. One can always advocate for one's own position even if that position is not the accepted one. I would only leave my current church home if I became uncomfortable with the local congregational leadership or with the members of the congregation itself. I would not do that without attempting to resolve the problem first.

thanks for this. This helps a lot.

 

[Newtheran]

Hi there,
So first hand, I am actually a baptized Catholic. However, after struggling with the community and conflicted about certain small doctrines, I stopped going to church and have more less floated as a non-denominational again. I began going to a Lutheran church about 2 months ago.
I love the community. There is many opportunities for charity work as well which I love. However, my mother knows a Lutheran and she asked about my church, and she said my church isn't a real die-hard Lutheran church.

I guess my question is: what exactly is the difference between mine (which I see is an ECLA) and a traditional Lutheran church? Is there any difference besides it is a little more liberal?

Thank you for any answers.

Unless you left Catholicism looking for an organization that took a more liberal stance on social issues, as a former Catholic one of the major issues you may have with the ELCA is their stand on abortion:

"Shortly thereafter I accessed online the ELCA’s Social Statement on Abortion (SSOA), and as I read it my faith in the ELCA was shaken to the core.

The first statement that bowled me over was, “A developing life in the womb does not have an absolute right to be born…

...Upon further investigation, I read the following in an analysis issued by Lutherans for Life: “A member of the ELCA inquired of the Board of Pensions as to whether they would pay for an abortion for the purpose of sex selection. The board stated that they would pay for an abortion for that purpose. The secretary of the ELCA confirmed this conclusion.””

The ELCA and Abortion - Catholic Stand