Advice from My Peritus

 Note the meaning of success.
Weep and moan, sectarian splinter groups.

My peritus has offered some advice, which is really for the good of others.

He reminded me that I have the Apostolic Succession, which they utterly lack. Yes, I was ordained by a pastor of the Augustana Synod, whose pastors were ordained by the Church of Sweden. They trace their ordination back to the Apostles.

Catholic Encyclopedia - McCain's Source for All Wisdom:
The principle underlying the Roman claim is contained in the idea of succession. "To succeed" is to be the successor of, especially to be the heir of, or to occupy an official position just after, as Victoria succeeded William IV. Now the Roman Pontiffs come immediately after, occupy the position, and perform the functions of St. Peter; they are, therefore, his successors.

Sweden and Apostolic Succession:

The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History states that "In Sweden the apostolic succession was preserved because the Catholic bishops were allowed to stay in office, but they had to approve changes in the ceremonies."^[97]

What made the Church of Sweden an evangelical-catholic church was to Archbishop Söderblom the fact that the Reformation in Sweden was a 'church improvement' and a 'process of purification' which did not create a new church.

We knew Dr. Conrad Bergendoff quite well. He was a protoge of  Archbishop Söderblom.

My bride, whose birthday is today, even wore the traditional Swedish bridal crown at our wedding, a gift from a Swedish jeweler to Augustana College. She says the King of Sweden brought the gift to our college.

Sadly, the Missouri sect can only trace its ordinations back to thin air. They lost their bishop when CFW Walther organized a mob to threaten, rob, and kidnap him. CFW put on a big show about being a layman and a sorrowful felon - until he assumed the airs and the infallibility of a pope. Habemus papam!

Wisconsin's sect is not much better, as a collection of union congregations that had Reformed services one week, "Lutheran" services the next, even two kinds of confirmation. Fortunately, for the sake of unity, they have switched to Reformed only, under the wise and highly trained Fuller staff and professors. So they trace their ordination back to the Apostates.

Unbidden, a friend from Moline appointed me the Pope of Donuts, but I abdicated for fear of being connected with the ELDONUTs.

Instead, I am just another pastor in the Church of the Augsburg Confession. We are quite large in size, but there are no fees, dues, membership fees, or meetings. We include all those who agree with the Augsburg Confession. That includes the famous statement on the Chief Article, so our organization by definition excludes the leaders of Missouri, WELS, ELS, CLC sic, etc.

Luther considered himself a theologian of the Augsburg Confession; the editors of the Book of Concord shared that identification.

The real issue is being faithful to the Word, but since the skunkpatches specialize in externals, such as which seminary they attended, or who their grampa was, let them consider the Sucession.

My neighbor from Moline married a Greek Orothodox man, so she reminds me when my name day comes around - 
St. Gregory the Theologian.