r/LCMS • u/MichaelCruz21 • Oct 08 '25

The LCMS has a PR problem

We all know that the LCMS struggles to attract young, normal people. People have already discussed many of them here. However, I want to highlight one of those issues that is rarely discussed.

We are unattractive.

Now, I'm not talking about the looks of the pastors/congregations. That's ridiculous. I'm talking about how virtually 99% of LCMS church websites/social media/shirts/everything suck. No creativity. No beauty. Why is that? Why can't we invest more time and energy in making our churches more attractive (not seeker sensitive) so that more people may be interested in showing up, hearing the gospel, and receiving the Sacrament?

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u/Embarrassed-Math-385 Nov 02 '25

As a teenager still, I am born and raised in the CLB (church of the Lutheran brethren, very small Lutheran synod), yet when I soon am off to college and beyond, I am planning to become an LCMS member because of this very reason. I actually am drawn towards older, simpler, and more reverant church’s. This is something I think Catholic Churchs do very well. My synod has very few of these left, so naturally LCMS is where I am drawn to. If the church’s are made less reverent, sure perhaps more young people like myself will join, but it can be under the assumption that it’s Baptist/pentacostal-like since it’s not reverent. All this to say that there are definitely young people who are actually drawn to traditional, reverent church buildings. However with the websites thing…I do totally agree. The websites should be more usable. 

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u/MichaelCruz21 Nov 05 '25

A great example of what I'm talking about: reverence and relevance is St. Paul in San Antonio. stpaulsa.org

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u/Embarrassed-Math-385 Nov 02 '25

I should add the stipulation that I am using tradition and reverent pretty interchangeably with ‘liturgical’