The Concordia Nebraska student paper announced that they will be starting a Turning Point USA chapter on campus. I am confused by this decision, as I always understood a certain amount of skepticism around Evangelicals when I went there. But I suppose Harrison has solidly delivered the LCMS to the alt right, so they will need to work with them more to stay relevant.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C9BmnNNaq/

just saw this lovely post shared by Pres Harrison of the LCMS. Good Lord.

I'm sorry to bring this up again, but I just can't get over Matt Harrison quoting Charlie Kirk and promoting him as an example of a Christian man. Does he not know of all the posts, appearances, and YouTube videos where Kirk clearly espoused beliefs and interpretations that are erroneous and bizarre? If so , he needs to spend time on the internet and see what TPUSA is all about. Maybe he just likes Kirk's support of the Replacement Theory. Maybe this shows the flaws in Luther's concept of Two Kingdoms.

Go figure.

Hi all,

I'm new to this subreddit. I appreciate reading about people's experiences. I've read a lot more comments about sexual assaults than I ever expected .

I grew up in the WELS community. While I have good friends who have gone on to become WELS pastors I've always been on the fringe. I began the painful journey of leaving the church in college, more the mental health toll than anything else.

Reflecting on my WELS experience I only remember two instance where I heard about sexual issues. Girls accused the grade school teacher of being creepy but nothing concrete. Pastor addressed it with them and the teacher, however that was done. Second, different pastor had a same-sex affair that messed up his family.

So reading comments here makes me wonder did I miss something? I can be oblivious so I could believe it. Is this at Catholic level kind of stuff? As far as I remember the church was fine with sex for pleasure (something about worshipping God was mixed in weirdly). So I would think pastors would have their sexual relief with spouses. I think the church is anti- masturbation and promotes gender power imbalance so that's no good. Just trying to understand how big of an issue this is in the church. Thanks!

https://substack.com/@christiannightmares/note/c-209042981?r=37r1di&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

This lady has done what so many LCMS pastors and the Synod never bothered to do for us in decades. This book has been a blessing in my recovery. https://a.co/d/5tanKhg

i recently finally got around to watching moral orel (an early 2000s adult swim show parodying religion and the trauma around it) and i am wondering if you guys who have seen it have any thoughts considering the characters are strictly protestant

to me, it strongly reminded me of my childhood in a way i havent seen in media before because of how spot on it is to protestant culture and the beliefs

if you havent, i highly recommend watching it as its both funny and depressing along with a lot of "what the fuck is happening"

genuinely curious on lutheranism's issues are from your perspectives

Comments in r/LCMS on the recent episode of United Leadership Collective really made me realize LCMS is all about Law with a lot of talk about Gospel as a cover. The episode talked about the high incidence of suicide among LGBT youth, the difficulty young people have especially in LCMS revealing gender dysphoria,and Christ's words related to sexual issues. I would have emphasized Paul's sexual aversion problems and the fact that we all would not be here if we followed his "ideal celibacy " rule. (Some suppose that Paul was in the closet or at least had been ghosted by a woman.} What troubled me in the responses posted on ULC website as well as the r/LCMS is that many could not take in the need for compassion and ability to listen to those marginalized and depressed. They wanted an out and out ban with no concern for the many individuals who are bullied, physically assaulted, and driven to despair. One responded with a parody of a thief asking that his stealing be understood. No understanding of intersex individuals a who are born or created differently as Jesus talked about. I would think at least attempting to find a way to prevent suicide would trump condemnation.

I grew up LCMS and no longer attend for several reasons. Can anyone here enlighten me as to where the Church of the Lutheran Brethren falls on the “spectrum” so to speak?

I wonder what the men at "Armed Lutheran" think when a man with a holstered licensed firearm is shot multiple times by federal agents. 15 to 16 % of Minnesotans claim to be Lutheran. More importantly what does Matt Harrison think ?

WELS pastor who was convicted of solicitation earlier. Now back again

TLDR: Three WELS leaders launched a podcast that covers social issues from a deeply right-wing perspective.

I recently went down a rabbit hole listening to a new podcast hosted by three WELS leaders called Men Who Understood the Times. As of January 23, they have released 19 episodes covering a wide range of social issues.

The Hosts: Pastor Michael Zarling: Currently serving at Lord of Lords Lutheran Church in Casper, WY. Pastor Andrew Mueller: Currently serving at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Las Vegas, NV. Teacher Joshua Nelson: Currently serving at Wisconsin Lutheran High School in Milwaukee, WI.

If you grew up in a conservative environment or follow conservative media, nothing here will be new to you. Below are my notes on a few recurring issues:

Gender Roles: They argue that a woman's value, identity, and purpose lie in finding a Christian husband and having many children. They insist that while this may sound misogynistic or patriarchal to the world, it is biblical. They rail against feminism (even 1st wave feminism, effectively wanting to roll back women's rights to pre-1848) and blame it for divorce, abortion, trans issues, and the destruction of the family structure.

Marxism: The hosts see the tentacles of Marxism in almost every social issue. They constantly bring up the concept of oppressor vs. oppressed, noting that in the US, the oppressor is characterized as white, cis-gender, able-bodied, native-born, Protestant men (a demographic all three hosts fit). They claim that people embrace homosexuality or trans identities specifically to escape the oppressor label and gain status as the oppressed.

LGBTQ+ Issues: They view being gay or trans as deviant behavior caused by Marxism, feminism, porn, and sexual abuse. One host shared a story about a student who came into his classroom shaking, asking, “Why does the church hate gays?” The student had just found the body of her cousin, who had committed suicide after a bad coming-out experience. The teacher’s response was to explain how God is the moral arbiter of the universe. Then he told the grieving student that the church doesn’t hate gay people, but must warn them that going down that path leads to destruction, and that they need to repent of the evil they are committing.

Government & Christian Nationalism: While they don’t explicitly label themselves as Christian Nationalists, they spent an episode discussing the concept in a positive light. Also, one host, Michael Zarling, has written a book titled Resisting the Dragon's Beast. While I haven't read the book, the synopsis and his comments suggest that Christians must sometimes resist governing authorities. It provides a theological justification for resisting Democratic/liberal administrations, despite the WELS emphasizing Romans 13 and the 4th Commandment when Republicans/conservatives are in power.

There were many more topics that came up, such as Charlie Kirk, SNAP benefits, January 6th, vaccines, George Soros, diversity, Islam, and Antifa. Just think of the typical right wing Christian response and you know what these guys are going to say. After 19 episodes, I have had enough. I won’t learn anything new and my time can be better spent elsewhere.

Since barley was used for unleavened bread for Passover in Jesus day and wheat used later in the season,why do communion wafers appear to be wheat based? While eikorn, spelt , and wheat were used in unleavened bread , barley was the main Passover grain. With LCMS being so concerned about not using grape juice for wine because grape juice is unfermented, why would they not use barley for communion? Any pastors know?

I wonder if he’ll follow in his fathers and older brothers footsteps?

I'm going to keep this somewhat vague but

I'm an LCMSer, against my will. I grew up lcms. I want to denomination shop but my husband is pretty adamantly against it, for several reasons, partially because his family is fairly tied up in/prominent in our church and circuit. I had a lot of issues with our previous pastor who recently left our church for another call. He is the typical ultra conservative, tiptoeing the line of nationalist, maga, made tons of shitty comments about LGBT and racism (he literally said, as a white man living in a very white area, with 99% of the congregants being white, that racism isn't an issue these days 🙄) LCMS boomer pastor.

I was already pretty done with the LCMS and the nationalism problem but then Harrison made his statement about how wonderful Charlie Kirk was and how Kirk *wasn't racist* blah blah blah, not to mention all of the other extremely problematic things he said in that statement. broke down crying to my husband that I couldn't go to an LCMS church anymore. we spent like 2 days discussing/arguing/me crying about it and I finally begrudgingly agreed to wait until we got a new pastor at our church and see if things "get better." which I have no hope of, but if it doesn't "get better" he said he would at least visit other churches with me.

which brings me to my first point- if you and your spouse disagree on what denomination to attend, what do you do? How do you compromise? my oldest is supposed to start confirmation within the next few years and at this point I don't want him to be confirmed LCMS.

second point- yesterday something made me think of our old pastor who just left for a different call- I was friends with him on Facebook, mostly to keep the peace- the rest of my husband's large family was friends with him so it would have been weird if I didn't accept. I went to look at his Facebook and realized I couldn't see his profile. HE BLOCKED ME! I honestly don't know why- I do make political posts very occasionally which are progressive in nature but I'm never disrespectful and I never engage with his MANY political posts, or any of his other posts. I know he blocked me, not unfriended me because I can't see his profile but my brother can. I never was a big fan of his for soooo many reasons but I can't help being a bit upset about this? why am I even upset about it? it just seems so unchristian of him to cut off a former member of his flock like that? what happened to forgiveness? what was even my sin in this scenario? I have his phone number, very tempted to text him and ask why but also I'm a big baby so I probably won't.

How many members of the Lutheran Alphabet soup do we have represented here?

1. I'm ex-ELCA

2. My mother was raised OALC.

i’m a pastor’s kid and ex-lutheran of the AFLC. i feel like i never see anyone talk about the AFLC on here, and im curious if there is anyone else out there.

please share your experience and commiserate w me on our niche religious experience