Mainline Protestant theology constantly emphasizes the same theme as UOJ -
Do not make faith a contingent - if we believe. Because that destroys the concept of grace.
UOJ is exactly the same as mainline liberal theology, which can easily be traced from Halle University - starting with the double justification of Georg C. Knapp and the single justification (everyone forgiven) of Schleiermacher.
But let us focus on the Synodical Conference today. Like all Pietists, the question is not what we believe (adiaphora) but what we do. That is the contingency.
They do not care what someone teaches or another believes, as long as they belong to the right sect.
The LCMS, ELS, and WELS are almost the same, but they mutually condemn one another while working together with ELCA. The Big Boys can handle such temptations. They can separate the wheat from the chaff, or at least the good chaff from the bad chaff.
So the SynCons do not teach Lutheran doctrine because they do not know it. The little they know is used to condemn Luther's doctrine and to reject or make obsolete the Confessions.
But they do teach shunning. They have elaborate mechanisms of shunning, from pre-shunning (double secret probation) to excommunication (with ardent prayers for your repentance).
So Mark and Avoid Jeske can teach his borrowed New Age boosterism, whether in WELS or LCMS, because both sects recognize his delusions as valid and edifying. But that does not lead from a doctrinal merger to an actual merger.
