#missouri synod

I found this meme today, and it made me smile, so I thought I'd share it. (I don't know who created it, unfortunately, or I'd credit them.) However, some of the comments below the post (it was on a Facebook meme page) were pretty negative, and it made me sad to see such anger over something designed to be funny and relatively inoffensive.

For me, the meme is funny because while there are obviously differences between the Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Synod, LCC (Lutheran Church in Canada, which also has some churches in the Northern US, if I'm not mistaken, which I might be) and the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, my denomination), we agree on most things and the liturgy is essentially the same. We are all Lutherans, after all. The differences between us are mostly on how the church should be run as an organization, how it should interact with the world, and what its stance on social issues should be. There are some doctrinal differences, but many of them aren't really scripturally based (though this is obviously a point of contention, as I'm sure some people would argue that they are, as is their right, since we are all called to study and believe in the Bible for ourselves) and to me, they're not as important as the things we agree on.

So for me, this meme is funny because we actually agree on most things, but yet we still tend to act very insular. To me, it's funny the same way that horror over a Catholic-Protestant marriage is funny. Obviously, it may not be as easy as a marriage where both people are the same denomination, but it's perfectly doable, and many people do it sucessfully. And yet, some people still panic about it. Similarly, within the Lutheran church, we tend to get rather aggressive about our sub-denominations, even though we have little reason to.

I was having a wander through some meme pages and Facebook groups related to Christianity, and I was surprised to learn that almost of the Lutheran ones were explictly or implicity for Missouri Synod or Confessional Lutherans, and some contained memes making fun of the ELCA. (All in good fun, and mostly inoffensively, I think one of them was about how we're afraid of crucifixes, which is a fair point, we kind of are.) Within the rules and posting guidelines of one of the pages, there was something about not posting anything anti-Confessional Lutheran, with the admins saying that some people from the ELCA had been attempting to post things making fun of the Confessional Lutherans. The way it was written implied the the ELCA had somehow snuck in to sabatoge the page. This struck me as hilarious, mostly because in my experience, no group of people have less of an agenda than the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I like to jokingly say that the ELCA really took Matthew 6:5-6 to heart (for those interested:  And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.) Many of the Lutheran churches I know do incredible work in their communities and in collecting for charities like Lutheran World Relief, and never publicize either of these things. We generally keep a very low profile, both online and irl, and I would argue that we’re not hurting anyone by quietly and politely disagreeing with the Missouri Synod et al. 

Despite this, people from these meme pages seemed to veiw the ELCA as at best, slightly misguided, and at worst, actively undermining the faith.  In general, there seemed to be a vibe of paranoia about the ELCA as “ruining” Lutheranism and trying to drag everyone down with them, despite the fact that the ELCA is the largest and most widespread Lutheran denomination in the US, and from our perspective, is mainstream Lutheranism. Many ELCA Lutherans (especially those who do not live in the Midwest) are only peripherally aware of the other denominations, so the idea that we are some sort of insidious faction is a little ridiculous. The idea that one group of Lutherans are the “real” Lutherans and all the others are wrong is also a little ridiculous. Do I disagree with most of the other Lutheran denominations? Of course I do. I didn’t, there wouldn’t be a need for different denominations. Do I think they are wrong about some things? Yes, very strongly. But are they still Lutherans? Of course they are. Because of this, the amount of online negativity coming from these groups is really disheartening, particularly since it’s just bouncing around in a echo chamber of people who already are predisposed to think that way. If this were part of a larger inter-denominational dialogue, that would be one thing, but since the ELCA has such a minimal online presence, and is actively banned from some of these groups, it just serves to amplify negativity. 

At Scholastica, we are trying to carve out our niche in the health sciences field. We do it because that’s what’s going to bring in more students and put our names on the charts.

At Concordia, it seems like they’re trying to carve out their own niche in the discrimination game. They’re getting publicity for it. Everyone is standing by their decisions. Almost like this really who they want to be. Honestly.

Why not just come out with it full force. Have a banner that proclaims yourself as “THE LAST STRONGHOLD AGAINST THE QUEERS” or some bullshit. Make sure that all your representatives include it in their speeches they give at local high schools. Put it on your website. Put it in your flyers. 

This Sunday is the birthday of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod!  St Paul will be celebrating this day with a special Temple Talk, led by Pastor Tom Noon.

Please join us at 9:30 in the Fellowship Hall!

  Oh, and since Mr Gaddis broke the griddle, maybe this is how he’ll be making breakfast…

http://www.lcms.org/faqs/lcmsviews

A:  While The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod holds Martin Luther in high esteem for his bold proclamation and clear articulation of the teachings of Scripture, it deeply regrets and deplores statements made by Luther which express a negative and hostile attitude toward the Jews. In light of the many positive and caring statements concerning the Jews made by Luther throughout his lifetime, it would not be fair on the basis of these few regrettable (and uncharacteristic) negative statements, to characterize the reformer as "a rabid anti-Semite." The LCMS, however, does not seek to "excuse" these statements of Luther, but denounces them (without denouncing Luther's theology). In 1983, the Synod adopted an official resolution addressing these statements of Luther and making clear its own position on anti-Semitism. The text of this resolution reads as follows:

That's my peeps, ELCA Lutherans*--Liberal and open-minded and a bit much to take in large doses. ;)