July 29, 2025: The ELCA Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations organized a powwow at Churchwide Assembly in Phoenix, Arizona. The powwow featured dancers, drummers and singers from the Native American communities in the Phoenix area.

Well met, good traveler! Thanks for giving me a couple days to get my thoughts together. Welcome to this big, beautiful, diverse family of Christ! I hope you are asking many other people this question about their denominations, because I am of the belief that no man made institution is going to get it all right, and I think truth is best found when refracted through multiple lenses, like light through a prism. I think many traditions have beautiful and unique and important ways to access and commune with God. I love the way Methodists consider the gospel to be lived out— a method for life. The ritual and serious structure of Catholicism appeals to me, as do the aesthetics. The devotion and mysticism of the Orthodox churches are meaningful. Etc and so on. And you’re allowed to dabble! Even after you find a place to call home— I hang out with the quakers sometimes, and go to episcopal mass on the weekdays. My friend’s husband is catholic but he has no problem taking communion from my female Lutheran pastor.

It’s important to note that one of the big reasons I enjoy being Lutheran is because of culture. My family emigrated fairly recently compared to most white Americans (my dad is technically first generation), and we’ve maintained a much stronger German-American cultural identity than many (most?). One of the places I see this preserved and reflected is within the Lutheran church. Like many people, I find the cultural trappings comforting and familiar (as long as they are kept in the proper place), and for me, that has made being Lutheran a somewhat significant part of my identity. However, I have many friends who did not grow up Lutheran but instead find great value in this church despite and because of its contrasts to other denoms. I will be getting their takes for you too!

It’s also important to know that there are quite a few different strains of Lutherans. In America, some can be rather prickly, a lot of it comes down to recent history, how our different Lutheran groups formed and flipped. In America, there are many different immigrant groups that brought their Lutheranism with you, and then had to figure out how they wanted to reconnect their groups that had been separately governed in their countries of origin. The modern divisions exist along two lines: biblical literalism and then, secondarily, other miscellaneous culture war issues like women’s origination and gay marriage. The largest division exists between the Missouri Synod (LCMS), who have a staunch stance of Biblical literalism. This is the group I grew up in, and while it gave me many good things, I struggled against the conclusions of a faith that tries to be very black and white, and very literal, when that is just not how ancient Semitic perspectives functioned. In my experience, it lent itself to a rather timid faith— I ought to make sure I believe every correct thing about the mysterious nature of God, and that it must fit into a specific interpretation, even if the scripture, especially with an understanding of the original languages, says or implies something different. In recent years, this has lent itself to a kind of conservatism that makes it very easy to slide into a general political and cultural conservatism that I find to genuinely be incompatible with Gods law, and, especially the Gospel directives. I know I am offering a very cut and dried critique of this particular strain of Lutheranism, and there is of course nuances here, and I’d be happy to talk about them, but this isn’t actually an answer to you!

As an adult I belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran group in the US. We are a member church of the larger Lutheran World Federation, which is all the various Lutheran churches around the world. There is a wide range of interpretations and theological beliefs around the world, and I find it very beautiful that churches, that exist in different social and political contexts, can balance the tensions around things like women’s ordination and gay marriage, while all agreeing that we must work together to love God and honor the dignity in all our neighbors.

- the ELCA feels very culturally Lutheran, which matters to me

- since de/reconstructing the faith I was handed growing up, I have found a much deeper well of belief and understanding. I have become a better Christian by whatever metric you want to use— praying more often, giving more, reading my Bible more often, etc. There is something powerful to a faith that you are not scared of, and not being scared of where it might take you— that I can come to a conclusion about honoring my queer siblings or committing myself to radical acts of justice without being afraid to rock the boat is kind of the whole point of Jesus’s ministry. I’ve very much found that in my church.

- Lutherans of all kinds embrace questioning. You can’t know what you believe if you don’t examine it, and ask questions of yourself, God, and others. There’s no question you should be afraid of asking because our faith is based on Truth and Gods love, which must be open.

- Lutherans are committed to study and learning. Were known to be the nerds of the denominations, often considered to be one of the most studious groups. I don’t say this as a superiority flex, because it can cause its own stumbling blocks, but as someone with a lot of questions and a motivation to always be consuming and chewing on ideas, it helps to keep my faith active.

- The vein of Lutheranism that I’ve found myself in also values a multitude of interpretations of many things. Obviously, there are objective things in our faith (resurrection, trinity, salvation, etc), but there is also room for reading, exploration, and for each of us to bring our lives to God’s text.

- Our theology focuses on the duality of Law and Gospel. I find that a lot of western Christianity, especially Protestants, tend to struggle with that duality and end up very focused on how terrible we are for breaking Gods law, or on how God’s grace covers us and we don’t have to look too closely at the systems of harm we are involved in. Of course, the Bible is much more dualistic than this, and I very much appreciate how that is approached in Lutheranism. When I inevitably mess up, as I do a million times a day, God picks me up and says, “my child, I love you. If you regret and repent of what you did, then you were forgiven before you could even ask, you were never separated from my love. Also this is not a get out of jail free card, and if Love is motivating you, then you need to go make it right and do better in the future. I’ll be here when you can’t.” It is essential to the Lutheran understanding that our actions are not what saves us. My repentance is not what activates Gods grace. My piety is not what undoes my sin. God’s grace is present with you from the moment you are born; it is a gift, freely given, that we cannot in anyway earn, and we don’t have to. You just have to want it. And this does not erase the importance of the law, or the need to have an actionable faith, in fact, the two fulfill each other. We no longer fulfill the law as a mode to be reconciled with God, but because God first loved us. It’s about spreading that love. There is something to be said for a faith that is about sharing that radical, world-transforming, cosmos-bending love, without worrying about why you must do it. I am saved by grace through my faith, which has freed me to do good recklessly and relentlessly.

- Martin Luther himself had some pretty serious problems and I am not required to lionize him in order to be a part of this church, which is emblematic to me.

- Lutherans in America have a strong history relating to immigration and refugee welcome, which continues into some pretty sizable work today

There are many structural things I enjoy about being a part of this church:

- We are heavily democratic. Our churches are run by elected councils, our bishops are elected, our leaders are elected, there are whole processes to making sure lay people are involved in the running of their own church. Lutheran taught that the priesthood should not only belong to men who are ordained, but to ALL people, which is scriptural important. There are a lot of jokes about how many committees Lutherans like to make and how bureaucratic we can be, and that is definitely not the mode of faith that works best for everyone, but I find it empowering.

- this has lent itself to a lot of transparency, from congregational budgets, all the way up to national office. Our church has strong channels that exist to make reporting abuse and concerns possible and safe, and making sure that people in power are held accountable to the rest of us.

- We have worked hard to continue to reform ourselves and always draw this institution nearer to the gospel. I firmly believe, based on scripture, that women are equally as fit to be ordained and preach with authority, and even though many churches didn’t allow that for a long time, I don’t consider women’s ordination to be the “church progressing” or “getting too modern” but actually a restitution of what the early female apostles and Christian’s were doing.

- there is a strong focus on actually understanding what was going on in biblical times- what the Roman Empire was up to, how tax collectors worked, what laws were in ancient Western Asia, where the churches in the epistles were, etc etc etc, which helps clarify what exactly this faith is telling us to DO, beyond something that just feels good on a personal level

- there’s a lot of justice work happening in the Lutheran church. It’s important that we recognize that Christian’s have done some pretty awful things in the name of Christ, which should have been heretical! And even though we’re not the ones who did it, it’s important to reconcile the harm and undo the damage that has been done in the name of Christendom, because that loving our neighbors! This goes in many directions, including racial justice, Native American/Indigenous reconciliation, and queer reconciliation

- I want a church that is queer inclusive. Not just tolerant, but truly inclusive. This was a bigger theological deal to me than women’s ordination, actually— I just do not see evidence in the Bible that condemns queerness, and in fact, in parts of the Bible, there’s a lot of stuff going on that is much, well, more queer than a rigid, WASP American understanding of gender roles. And I found that here.

- Lutherans are pretty engaged in advocacy. Not as much or as prominently as some groups (both the Quakers and evangelicals have us beat, in opposite directions), but economic justice and care for the poor are important parts of our heritage. Lutherans spend a lot of time witnessing to our faith in the realm of the democratic square. Luther liked to say it is our job to hold our princes to account, just as the Bible promises to cast the mighty down and fill up the hungry, and I’m so thankful that my church is a way I can do that, not an impediment to it.

- I feel like I can bring up anything— any question, any interpretation, any idea or belief and at least have open for discussion, which I believe is the only way to truly let God lead us.

This was incredibly long, but my Lutheranism is a very important part of my life, hahah. I will be asking my friends who did not grow up Lutheran to tell me what they find value in too, and I’ll share it in a reblog. I hope this was helpful to you, and even though my blog doesn’t focus too much on Lutheranism specifically, I’m always open to more questions! I have so many resources and links to share if you want to know more.

Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA)

- Ordains queer & female pastors

- has "Reconciling in Christ" congregations that focus on outreach to communities historically marginalized by the church (especially racial minorities, queer people, and people with disabilities)

- Any baptized Christian is welcome to worship and even take communion at ELCA churches

- ELCA is my top pick for American Lutheran churches as they're the only one I know of that does not suck

- simply do not go to an American Lutheran Church if it is not ELCA

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS)

- does not ordain female ministers; although women are allowed certain leadership roles in the church (e.g. Deaconesses)

- what if we took Catholicism but made it more boring with a larger emphasis on othering

- the source of my special interest in Christian denominations is a sermon from an LCMS pastor who said "only good Missouri Synod Lutherans go to heaven, not other Christians, and especially not those fake ELCA Lutherans"

- while anyone may attend a service, only confirmed Missouri Synod Lutherans may take communion at a Missouri Synod church

Wisconsin Lutheran Synod (WELS)

What denomination are you?

I'm a Lutheran! More specifically, I'm in the ELCA--Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.