Visiting Lutheran Churches-What to look for

[JimfromOhio]

Hello,

I've been browsing this forum for a while as well as WT, and find myself in agreement with most of Lutheran doctrine. My hubby and I are going to start visiting some of the Lutheran churches in our area soon. I am trying to develop a list of sorts of things to look for in a solid Lutheran church and hoping you all could help me with this. I grew up Seventh-day Adventist, and have been attending an evangelical church for the last two years. I have never attended a church service of a mainline protestant church, so I am completely at a loss as far as what to look for. I am also hoping to develop a list of questions to ask a pastor before joining a particular church.

Any suggestions/opinions you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
In Christ,
Breanne

My wife and I are looking for a new home church and so far, there is one possibility that we BOTH enjoy and agree is Lutheran (LCMS). We both want a Church that is CHRIST-Centered, Bible-Centered and really submit to God's will. We are to be part of a local church involves commitment to worship the Lord corporately, edifying brothers and sisters through mutual exhortation and service, cooperating in mission, and holding each other accountable to walk in a manner pleasing to the Lord as a witness to the truth of Christ in the world. Being a part of a local Church and get deeply involved in the participation of a local assembly (Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians. 12:25-31; 14:12, 26; Hebrews 10:24-25; I Tim. 3:14-15) for Worship, Fellowship, Edification and Great Commission. The Scriptures teach every believers to be committed to a local church where he or she is loved and cared for, instructed in the things Christ commanded, encouraged to grow spiritually, and serving Christ effectively. Every believer who attends a Church of faith, commitment, and fruitfulness.

My background is as follows:
My younger days:
1. Various Baptist Churches for about 17 combined years.
2. Went to a Catholic School for 7 years (only deaf school in the area).
3. Anabaptist member for about 15 years (mostly follow Reformed doctrines).
4. The last few years, Presbyterian Church in America and non-denominational who follow mostly reformed theologies.

My wife enjoy Catholic worship but do not agree with Catholic doctrines.

So, in summary, my background is mostly Reformed Theology while my wife is Catholic. However, my wife agree with many of the Reformed theologies more than she agree with the Catholic's doctrines and theologies. She just love the Catholic's form of worship.

In the last 12 months, we visited Lutheran churches for the first time. We were disappointed with ELCA local churches. We didn't feel connected spiritually. We loved the very first LCMS' local Church. Worship is beautiful. The message is Christ-centered and bible-centered. LCMS is Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

I hope this helps.

Jim

 

[BabyLutheran]

Our ELCA congregation is fairly conservative. Male pastors, liturgy followed, traditional hymns all but one service a quarter, weekly communion at both services. Our sermons are all centered on the Gospel reading of that Sunday. I think any LCMS or WELS person would feel comfortable at our service except we have open communion, commune small children, and we have women help with serving communion.

Just telling you there are some good ELCA churches out there.

 

[ricker]

Hello Kae,
Thanks for the welcome. I am in agreement with the idea of close communion and would have no problem explaining that to my family if they were to visit. From what I read on LCMS's website and here, my hubby and I are most in agreement with the LCMS doctrines. There are around 10 LCMS churches in my city, so if we decide to limit our search to LCMS we'll still have a lot to look into.
In Christ,
Breanne

P.S. Praying for you and your kitty!

I come from an Adventist background also, and for what it's worth I feel right at home in a conservative ELCA church. I wanted to distance myself far, far away from the "we're the remant and nobody else is saved" mentality of SDA'ism.
We Lutherans are very Bible based, and have some fine traditions that I find quite beneficial. May God lead you in your search, and CONGRATULATIONS!

 

[breanne]

Thanks so much ricker! We are very excited about visiting congregations and finding a church family to join. I think there are a couple conservative ELCA churches in our area that are on my list as well. It's good to know I'm not the only used to be SDA who found the Lutheran church =)

In Christ
Bree

 

[breanne]

Hello again Jim,
I apologize because I somehow completely missed this post! I'm going to look over these links right now, and am also considering contacting one of the local WELS pastors in the city to maybe address this more thoroughly if needed...I'll get back to you with questions if I have more!

Thank you soo much for taking the time to find all this information for me. I'm sorry I appeared rude enough to ignore your post =(

In Christ,
Breanne

 

[breanne]

Thanks for letting me know! I need lots of help with this process to be honest...I've only attended two church's services (both fundamentalist/non-denom) other than Adventist churches, so I feel completely lost and I'm sure it will be a big change from what I'm used to regardless of the synod I end up joining. There are several ELCA churches in town that seem to be conservative, and we plan to visit those as well.

Thanks again for the help!

In Christ
Breanne

 

[HappyChicken]

hi breanne!

First of all, I would like to tell you that I know what its like to leave a religion and start over. I have done it...more than once. I grew up in a Christian church, and also attended my neighbors church, which was the Mormon church....I eventually joined the Mormon Church, then left it to join an Apostolic Pentacostal church. -Neither the Mormon or the Apostolic church believed in the the Trinity. I STILL STRUGGLE with all that. When I left the apostolic church, I attended a few churches...most of a Baptist/reformed nature. I eventually married my husband, who was Catholic. We churched hopped for a while...then we entered the Lutheran church cuz we heard it was kind of a middle ground between Baptist and Catholic....best of both worlds.

When we first started attending the Lutheran church, we had no clue that there were devides in it. We did not know that there was more than one in town. I found the ELCA church that we attend through a Women's Center, who was holding a Bible study in the ELCA church building. We tried it...loved it. Then, I came on here to read the Lutheran forums that I had never checked out, and seen all the bickering that goes on between the different Lutheran churches. It's really sad, in my opinion.

There are things that goes on in the ELCA church that I don't agree with. I would not attend my church if there was a woman, or gay pastor. I would leave if it ever happened. My church seems to be pretty conservative.

A person can pick apart any church they attend, if they choose to. And it's really hard to be persuaded by other people's opinions if you are freshly leaving another religion. It's true that you have to use discernment when you find a church. You want a sound church, that preaches the Bible.

Had my church been LCMS or WELS, instead of ELCA, I woulda stayed. I love my particular church family. I will not judge my church family over what another church within the ELCA does. There are poor decisions made in every denomination...Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, etc.

I struggle every day with doctrinal confusion. You may struggle with it too. I've come to learn that I have to walk my own walk with God. I have to pray for discernment...and I am willing to go wherever God places me.

I hope that the struggles within the different Lutheran churches has not turned you away from Lutheranism...because I'll be honest, it almost has for me. I have to pray every day about it. Don't be too hard on yourself, or in a rush to pick. I hope that if you check out the ELCA church and like it, that you wont turn away from it just because of what other ELCA churches may be doing.

Welcome to the Lutheran church, I hope you like jello!

 

[QuiltAngel]

I would suggest that you start by reading the what we believe sections of the websites. ELCA is www.elca.org LCMS is www.lcms.org WELS is www.wels.org

People will say that the belong to a church that does not have women pastors or gay pastor, but would leave if they did. The thing is, their particular church at this time does not have one, but the Synod does have them. I feel that by being a member of a Church that is a member of a Synod that allows these things to occur you are endorsing it by being a member of the church in that Synod. What happens on the Synod level does filter down to the individual churches though it may take time.

 

[seajoy]

I would suggest that you start by reading the what we believe sections of the websites. ELCA is www.elca.org LCMS is www.lcms.org WELS is www.wels.org

People will say that the belong to a church that does not have women pastors or gay pastor, but would leave if they did. The thing is, their particular church at this time does not have one, but the Synod does have them. I feel that by being a member of a Church that is a member of a Synod that allows these things to occur you are endorsing it by being a member of the church in that Synod. What happens on the Synod level does filter down to the individual churches though it may take time.

Excellent post, Quilty.

 

[RadMan]

hi breanne!

First of all, I would like to tell you that I know what its like to leave a religion and start over. I have done it...more than once. I grew up in a Christian church, and also attended my neighbors church, which was the Mormon church....I eventually joined the Mormon Church, then left it to join an Apostolic Pentacostal church. -Neither the Mormon or the Apostolic church believed in the the Trinity. I STILL STRUGGLE with all that. When I left the apostolic church, I attended a few churches...most of a Baptist/reformed nature. I eventually married my husband, who was Catholic. We churched hopped for a while...then we entered the Lutheran church cuz we heard it was kind of a middle ground between Baptist and Catholic....best of both worlds.

When we first started attending the Lutheran church, we had no clue that there were devides in it. We did not know that there was more than one in town. I found the ELCA church that we attend through a Women's Center, who was holding a Bible study in the ELCA church building. We tried it...loved it. Then, I came on here to read the Lutheran forums that I had never checked out, and seen all the bickering that goes on between the different Lutheran churches. It's really sad, in my opinion.

There are things that goes on in the ELCA church that I don't agree with. I would not attend my church if there was a woman, or gay pastor. I would leave if it ever happened. My church seems to be pretty conservative.

A person can pick apart any church they attend, if they choose to. And it's really hard to be persuaded by other people's opinions if you are freshly leaving another religion. It's true that you have to use discernment when you find a church. You want a sound church, that preaches the Bible.

Had my church been LCMS or WELS, instead of ELCA, I woulda stayed. I love my particular church family. I will not judge my church family over what another church within the ELCA does. There are poor decisions made in every denomination...Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, etc.

I struggle every day with doctrinal confusion. You may struggle with it too. I've come to learn that I have to walk my own walk with God. I have to pray for discernment...and I am willing to go wherever God places me.

I hope that the struggles within the different Lutheran churches has not turned you away from Lutheranism...because I'll be honest, it almost has for me. I have to pray every day about it. Don't be too hard on yourself, or in a rush to pick. I hope that if you check out the ELCA church and like it, that you wont turn away from it just because of what other ELCA churches may be doing.

Welcome to the Lutheran church, I hope you like jello!

The winds of change blow in every denom and none of them can escape it. They all have been affected by being "relevant to society". Everyone of them. Look at all of them closely and you will see I'm fairly correct. The only ones that seem to experience less change are the ones that dictate to the people and don't allow much change like the RCC, EO and RO. ANd yes we sqabble amoung ourselves just becasue of these errancies invading our denom. THat just shows that we want to keep the pure doctrine and are willing to be adament about it.

 

[wildboar]

The RCC has actually changed quite a bit over time. I was surprised the last time I saw an RCC service that it looked really modern--a lot more modern than my Lutheran church. Congregations have used Vatican II to justify a whole lot of goofy things.

 

[BabyLutheran]

Remember too that this forum is overwhelmingly LCMS and WELS, all the ELCA people have been driven away! Anyone not Lutheran gets an overwhelmingly biased view of ELCA on this forum.

 

[QuiltAngel]

Remember too that this forum is overwhelmingly LCMS and WELS, all the ELCA people have been driven away! Anyone not Lutheran gets an overwhelmingly biased view of ELCA on this forum.

Breanne posted in her post 11 that they are leaning towards WELS and LCMS which is part of the reason why many posts in reply to her are geared that way. She has been getting replies recommending ELCA too. She also stated there are a couple of ELCA churches on her list to visit.

 

[seajoy]

Remember too that this forum is overwhelmingly LCMS and WELS, all the ELCA people have been driven away! Anyone not Lutheran gets an overwhelmingly biased view of ELCA on this forum.

You are very new to Lutheranism. ELCA is what it is. We don't pull punches on that.

 

[breanne]

Hello HappyChicken,

One of the things I quickly discovered when I left the Adventist church is how many different denominations there are and how wide the doctrinal chasms seemed to be. It is very daunting. However, I left the Adventist church in order to find a solid, Biblical church...in doing so I realized that I must submit to the Word of God no matter where it led. I don't pretend to completely understand all of Lutheran doctrine or everything I read in the Bible, but I don't really need to. I just have to believe it and submit to it, because it is Scriptural. I had no idea of the differences between Synods when I first started studying Lutheran theology either, but for me it's no different or more sad than the denominational differences that exist. Unfortunately error exists in the Christian church, and it would in my opinion be foolish to pretend the errors do not matter. Where would we draw the line? This is my current struggle, to understand what fellowship means and what are things we should divide over.

I can understand your frusteration with the divisions and disagreements...its quite different from my upbringing where you toed the doctrinal line and kept your questions to yourself. I find it very comforting to see that pastors in the Lutheran church seem to be okay with answering questions..and that is really helping me get over my aversion to pastors in general (one of the main reasons I attend my current church is that its so big that I would never have to actually sit down and talk with the pastor..my attitude about that has changed a lot in the last two years) So while we don't always agree with each others doctrine as Christians, it is so good to know that one day we will all be in heaven together.

Now that I've rambled too much, I want you to know I really appreciated your post and share the feelings of confusion over the different synods...I'll definetely be taking my time with finding a new church.

And I love jello...it should be its own food group...with a daily requirement.

In Christ
Bree

 

[breanne]

Hello QuiltAngel,

I've spent quite a lot of time on each of those websites over the last couple of months and still have a lot more looking/studying to do. I tend to be very thorough in researching things before taking action.

I really appreciate your comment about Synods...I'm still trying to understand the structure of Synods. It seems like individual churches have a lot of freedom in the ELCA as far as doctrine and faith? Being a member of a Synod, though implies that a church agrees with the stance of the Synod on all matters? Or is it more of a loose association for the mutual benefit of the individual churches? From what I've read, it seems that different denominations(other than Lutherans) place different emphasis on the congregations ability to determine their own doctrine.

I tend to agree with you about endorsing the beliefs of a Synod/denomination...if you weren't endorsing it or at the least saying that you have no serious issues with it, you wouldn't attend or be a member of a particur denomination. As I said in another post, it seems to me the question becomes what is fellowship, and what parameters/restrictions should be placed on it? Where is that line to be drawn?

If I can figure the answer to that out, I'll know what Synod I'll be joining.

Thank you so much for your comment. It really helped me understand some of the things I need to study further!

In Christ,
Breanne

 

[breanne]

Hi BabyLutheran,

Thank you for your comment! It's hard to be the minority, isn't it? I am definetely not excluding the ELCA from consideration, but because my husband and I tend to be very traditional and conservative it might not be a good fit in some areas. I try not to be easily swayed by anyone person's opinion. I just want to have some general ideas about the different things to look for before throwing my hubby and I headlong into a church search...I feel a bit over my head already! Our commitment is not to find a church that gives us warm fuzzies (although a church that makes me feel at home is good), but to diligently search the Scriptures and join the church that is consistant with them...already that has meant that our beliefs have had to change and I've been made more than a little uncomfortable and out of my element already by that. I really appreciate all the different perspectives on the Synods I've received! Thanks again for giving your perspective on the ELCA
In Christ
Breanne

 

[DaRev]

Hello QuiltAngel,

I've spent quite a lot of time on each of those websites over the last couple of months and still have a lot more looking/studying to do. I tend to be very thorough in researching things before taking action.

I really appreciate your comment about Synods...I'm still trying to understand the structure of Synods. It seems like individual churches have a lot of freedom in the ELCA as far as doctrine and faith? Being a member of a Synod, though implies that a church agrees with the stance of the Synod on all matters? Or is it more of a loose association for the mutual benefit of the individual churches? From what I've read, it seems that different denominations(other than Lutherans) place different emphasis on the congregations ability to determine their own doctrine.

I tend to agree with you about endorsing the beliefs of a Synod/denomination...if you weren't endorsing it or at the least saying that you have no serious issues with it, you wouldn't attend or be a member of a particur denomination. As I said in another post, it seems to me the question becomes what is fellowship, and what parameters/restrictions should be placed on it? Where is that line to be drawn?

If I can figure the answer to that out, I'll know what Synod I'll be joining.

Thank you so much for your comment. It really helped me understand some of the things I need to study further!

In Christ,
Breanne

For a congregation to belong to a particular church body (i.e. LCMS, ELCA, etc.), it basically means that they are in full agreement with the official doctrinal positions of that church body.

 

[breanne]

Thanks for clearing this up for me!

In Christ,
Breanne

 

[HappyChicken]

Well, I hope you find whatever you are looking for in a church. It's not easy. I kind of secretly wish my church was LCMS, but its not...and I know that we love Scripture, and my parish does alot in our community and there are "God Things" happening there. I'm not going to debate about it. I had a talk with my pastor today, he knows how I feel about certain things.