Reunion of Union Churches

The Wisconsin Synod and Michigan Synod began as union (Reformed and Lutheran) denominations. The old Lutheran Church in America had a long history of union churches. At one point the LCA was dividing union congregations in Pennsylvania and splitting the assets.

St. Paul's in Columbus (which is not WELS but pretends to be) was begun as a union congregation. The big but shrinking WELS church in New Ulm was a union church. I think St. John's in Milwaukee (Vliet) was also union. The title of these churches was normally "Lutheran-Reformed."

A union church might have Reformed and Lutheran catechism separately, Reformed and Lutheran communion separately.

When WELS became more Lutheran, thanks to leaders like Hoenecke, the parting of the ways began. A typical response was to have the Reformed group get in a huff and march off, forming their own congregation, which is now United Church of Christ (pan-religious, politically active).

Suddenly, the LCA/ELCA put the brakes on splitting churches and said, "Union churches are good." They began forming union churches, sometimes with the Reformed, sometimes with Roman Catholics. The Lutheran/Roman Catholic parishes have two separate clergy, two different names, but the same building. One photo showed a priest eyeballing his new Lutheran pastor co-tenant, a strikingly beautiful woman. My intuition sensed a new definition of union church.

WELS never gave up its union ways. That explains how the Church Growth Movement did so well. The Synodical Conference in general felt that danger came from Rome and from anti-inerrancy liberals. They did not have the sense to deal with the Reformed and Pentecostals who said, "You are just like us. We can teach you how to grow like us. You only have to throw off those silly little liturgies, creeds, and funereal hymns."

This came from a WELS pastor's consecrated and consecrating lips, "David Valleskey cannot help himself. He was an abused child. His father made him read all that Reformed garbage." He loves the Church Growth Movement, went to Fuller Seminary, bragging about it and denying it as necessary.

If you look around at the favored pastors of various synods - Tiefel in the CLC, Jeske in WELS, Kalstad in ELCA, Werning in the LCMS - you will see unionists at work. These clever chameleons will pretend to be Lutheran when it suits them, but they really loathe Lutheran doctrine and worship. Proof is their demonic hatred toward anyone who is Lutheran. That is the third stage of false doctrine, identified about 16 centuries ago by St. Augustine.

The various synods are union synods because the leadership cannot or will not deal with doctrinal issues. They are pragmatists, and pragmatists are ultimately apostate.
They will do what is easier in the long run. Confessional Lutherans are rather passive and accepting, eager to believe the next deception. Unionists are like feral cats on meth. They will bite and claw whenever the kingdom of their Father Below is threatened. So the leaders will always cater to the unionists.

God's Word could solve these problems, but the efficacious Word must be applied, not simply used as a rabbit's foot. That is why I remain pessimistic.