This past Sunday, I led an adult forum at Holy Trinity Lutheran, Lancaster, PA, where I've been working this summer, on the differences between the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The forum went very well, and even as I was presenting the information I had, I realized how much my life has changed since I was a member of the LCMS.
I led this forum because there seems to be so much misunderstanding and hurt between these two bodies of Lutherans, who are now growing even further apart due to some recent decisions made by national bodies in recent years. I've been saddened to see the LCMS pulling out of joint social ministries because of decisions made by the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly in 2009. And while I've often thought, since coming to the ELCA, that much of what I heard about them while I was in the Missouri Synod was distorted, there is also much misunderstanding on the part of members of the ELCA about why churches in the Missouri Synod do some of the things they do: mainly in reference to close(d) communion, but also in reference to the non-ordination of women.
So, I was encouraged and happy to see so many people asking questions about the Missouri Synod in the adult forum. Some of them remember Dr. Benke's prayer in Yankee Stadium post-9/11, and having their non-Lutheran friends ask why "the Lutherans" were angry at him, and having to say that they weren't "those Lutherans". I said in response that after the ELCA's social statement on sexuality of 2009, and allowing homosexuals in committed relationships to be ordained, that my grandmother's LCMS church in Tennessee had to say that "We aren't 'those Lutherans'" in response to conservative churches around them who were metaphorically throwing stones at them. And I did my best to explain why the LCMS does not ordain women, and why their understanding of communion is different from the ELCA (this last engendered the most questions from the group), referring them to the LCMS website for further detail on this.
This was an opportunity for me to reflect on my journey and my experiences with both Lutheran bodies. And as I was talking with someone this afternoon about the forum, I realized, and I said, "I love both the ELCA and the LCMS." And it is true. I am so grateful to my Missouri Synod heritage for the value they place on education, and knowing what it is you believe. I am glad for the churches that I served as a deaconess in the LCMS for giving me the opportunity to grow and to challenge me in the work that I was doing. I am thankful for the opportunity to study the Bible in depth at Concordia Seminary and getting my M.A. in exegetical theology. And I'm also grateful to my home congregation of the ELCA, Grace Lutheran in Waynesboro, Virginia, for welcoming me with open arms and loving me as I was discerning where God was calling me and what I believed. I am thankful to my candidacy committee for discerning God's call with me in the last few years of seminary and internship. I am thankful for Gettysburg Seminary welcoming me with open arms without any ostracism because of my Missouri Synod background. And I am thankful to the ELCA for allowing me to follow my call and to be who God truly means me to be, with no restrictions based on gender. They are truly living out Galatians 3:28.
In the years to come, as I go where God calls me to go in ordained ministry, I hope to work for more understanding between these two Lutheran church bodies. If local LCMS churches are willing to work with my congregation on joint social ministry projects, I will be one of those pastors who will be willing to work with them. And I will understand if they feel they cannot work with me because of their beliefs, and while I will be saddened, I will honor those beliefs. And I will pray that one day, there may be greater unity between us.
