I like this thought experiment. It is not all that unrealistic. For instance, assume that you are an individual who had limited exposure to churches. Let's expand on this experiment. You have got this strange notion to go "church shopping". By the way, this is not all that uncommon. You go to an ELCA church with a woman pastor. Then you go to an LCMS congregation that has a Bible study before the service. This study is based upon a part of the Lutheran Confessions. The service that follows is liturgical. Then you finally go to a Contemporary worship service at a WELS "campus". After these three different experiences, what do you think of the word "Lutheran"? You could ask each pastor, "why should I want to come back again?".
In reality, isn't this what the Church Growth Movement is all about? What about all that blather about reaching the unchurched masses? Why not just be honest about all of this? Why call yourself Lutheran? As one pastor at a district convention many years ago asked, "why are we ashamed of being Lutherans?". More than one WELS pastor that I know is downright afraid to teach anything from the Book of Concord. Is it any wonder that Vernon made the observation about complacency in the previous posts? The normalcy bias is fairly common with lifelong members in the WELS. I will bet that some will just say, "we are not like those 'other Lutherans'".
In reality, isn't this what the Church Growth Movement is all about? What about all that blather about reaching the unchurched masses? Why not just be honest about all of this? Why call yourself Lutheran? As one pastor at a district convention many years ago asked, "why are we ashamed of being Lutherans?". More than one WELS pastor that I know is downright afraid to teach anything from the Book of Concord. Is it any wonder that Vernon made the observation about complacency in the previous posts? The normalcy bias is fairly common with lifelong members in the WELS. I will bet that some will just say, "we are not like those 'other Lutherans'".
Anonymous said...
WELS promotes that it is superior to the LCMS because it claims to possess the correct doctrine about church fellowship and church and ministry. WELS leadership then sends their pastors to various Church Growth seminars led by non-denominational leaders.
Got it.
Got it.
For a confessional pastor to have any future in the WELS, two things have to happen. First, congregations must bypass the district pope powerbrokers and take control of the call process by identifying their own candidates and interviewing each one face to face before issuing a call. Second, confessional congregations, if there even is such a thing in the WELS, must organize themselves into a non-geographic district akin to Missouri's English or Slovak Districts.
Anonymous said...
Oops, three things. He also must be in control of his own health and retirement plans. Hahaha...
Anonymous said...
Isn't the fly in the ointment, to a greater or lesser degree, the retirement plan?
