HomeArchivesSpeakingAudio / Video The ExchangeLifeWay ResearchLifeWay Research Team
Home
Home
Facebook RSS Twitter Vimeo YouTube
Click here to have Ed's RSS feed on your site
Topics
  • Articles
  • Bible
  • Blog
  • Books
  • CPLF
  • Church
  • Church Planting
  • Church Revitalization
  • Church sign of the week
  • City Studies
  • Contextualization
  • Culture
  • Evangelism
  • Gospel Project
  • Humor
  • International Missions
  • Interviews
  • Kick-Starting the Plateaued and Declining Church
  • Leaders
  • Lifeway
  • Meanings of Missional
  • Megachurch
  • Ministry
  • Missiology
  • Missional
  • Missional Manifesto
  • Morning Roundup
  • Multisite
  • Personal
  • Politics
  • Pornography
  • Preaching
  • Presentations
  • Research
  • SBC
  • Seminars
  • Social Media
  • Teaching
  • The Missional Reader
  • Theology
  • Thursday Is for Thinkers
  • Top Issues Church Planters Face
  • Transformational Church Spotlight
  • Transformational Small Churches
  • Video
  • Web
  • Weekly Wrap
  • Worship
Series
  • Guide to the Blog
  • The Meanings of Missional (5 Parts)
  • Multi-site Churches
  • Young Adult Dropouts
  • Calvinism and the SBC
Leadership Interview
  • Thom and Sam Rainer: Essential Church
  • Brad Waggoner: The Shape Of Faith To Come
  • Jared Wilson: Your Jesus is Too Safe
  • Tullian Tchividjian: Unfashionable
  • Skye Jethani: The Divine Commodity
  • Mark Liederbach & Alvin L. Reid: The Convergent Church
  • Scott McConnell: Multi-Site Churches w/ Scott McConnell
  • Steve Ogne & Tim Roeh: TransforMissional Coaching
  • Alan Hirsch & Michael Frost: ReJesus
  • Kary Oberbrunner: The Fine Line
  • Steve Addison: Movements That Change The World
  • John Avant: If God Were Real
  • Geoff Surratt: Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing
Most Popular Posts
  • How Should We Talk About Sex?
  • Gabe Lyons and the Next Christians
  • John 3:16 Ad from the Broncos / Patriots Game
  • New Research on the Views of Protestant Pastors in Regard to Evolution and Creation
  • Can Mega Be Missional?
  • Martin Luther King Jr.: A Letter to American Christians in 1956 (and Today)
  • Church Signs of the Week: Roll Tide and Tim Tebow
  • Update on The Gospel Project with some FAQ's
  • Church Journeys: Skyline Wesleyan - La Mesa, Ca
  • Morning Roundup - January 12, 2012
Alltop - Best of the Best
 

Who are Missouri Synod Lutherans?

Tuesday April 28, 2009   ~   8 Comments

Yesterday, I spoke to the North American Mission Executives (primarily the district leaders) of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. I was impressed with their passion for the God's mission and desire to reach those without Christ. We talked primarily around issues of the missional church and a bit about church planting. Earlier this week I mentioned their Ablaze! outreach strategy. And, I shared a bit last year about the LCMS when I spoke at Concordia University in Irvine, CA.

Several of my friends asked (via Twitter and Facebook), "What makes a Lutheran a Missouri Synod Lutheran?" For many non-Lutherans, they may not be aware of the different groups in Lutheranism, but there are some important distinctions.

You can find an official introduction to the LCMS here. I have included some excerpts from Wikipedia that I found helpful. 175px-LCMS_Logo_Cross.JPG

First, some basic information about the LCMS from Wikipedia:

The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod (LCMS), founded in 1847 in Chicago, is the eighth largest Protestant denomination in the United States, and the second-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is a moderate conservative, Confessional Lutheran denomination with German immigrant roots.


They have 2.4 million members, making them the second largest Lutheran group, behind the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (and, in this case, "Evangelical Lutheran" is not the same as the designation "an evangelical" in common use today). The ELCA would generally be classified as a more liberal denomination than the conservative LCMS.

The LCMS (along with several other groups) are Confessional Lutherans (an important distinction and the link is worth following to understand the nuances of that term).

To understand Lutheranism, you have to understand the Book of Concord. Wikipedia explains:

One of the signature teachings of the Lutheran Reformation is the teaching named Sola scriptura--"Scripture alone." The Missouri Synod believes that the Bible is the only standard by which church teachings can be judged. It also holds that the Holy Scripture is explained and interpreted by the Book of Concord--a series of Confessions of faith composed by Lutherans in the 16th century. Missouri Synod pastors and congregations agree to teach in harmony with the Book of Concord because it teaches and faithfully explains the Word of God. The Missouri Synod also teaches Biblical inerrancy, the teaching that Bible is inspired by God and is without error. For this reason, they reject much--if not all--of modern liberal scholarship.


Wikipedia explains the Lutheran view of salvation:

The Missouri Synod believes that justification comes from God "by divine grace alone, through faith alone, for Christ's sake alone." It teaches that Jesus is the focus of the entire Bible and that faith in him alone is the way to eternal salvation. The synod rejects any attempt to attribute salvation to anything other than Christ's death and resurrection.


One of the important distinctions of Lutheranism is the "means of grace." Methodists use the same term, but differently.

Wikipedia explains:

The Synod teaches that the Word of God, both written and preached, and the Sacraments are means of grace through which the Holy Spirit gives the gift of God's grace, creates faith in hearts of individuals, forgives sins for the sake of Christ's death on the cross, and grants eternal life and salvation. For Missouri Synod Lutherans, sacraments are actions instituted by Jesus and combine a promise in God's Word with a physical element.


I am no expert on Lutheranism, but I am blessed they would allow me to come and share with their leadership and hopefully encourage them in some way.

The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod official website is here.

Posted on April 28, 2009 at 5:37 PM   ~   8 Comments

Tagged with: lutheran

Subscribe via RSS or Follow us on Twitter
Follow us via RSS Follow us On Twitter

Share This Post
Facebook
del.icio.us
StumbleUpon
Digg
TwitThis
Mixx
Technorati
NewsVine
Reddit
Google
LinkedIn
co.mments
YahooMyWeb

8 Comments

By Troy Neujahr on April 28, 2009 6:39 PM

Not bad at all, Ed! You've actually called this one pretty good for not being one of us! :)

By Ed StetzerAuthor Profile Page on April 28, 2009 6:59 PM

Thanks, Troy, I appreciate it.

I don't know much, but I try to do a little reading before I speak to a denomination to be respectful as respectful as I can. I wish I could have done more, but I found Lutheranism particularly interesting.

Not many of us low church evangelicals are "up" on these nuances, so I am glad I could learn some things along the way.

God bless,

Ed

By Don on April 28, 2009 7:08 PM

Thanks Ed. I had seen the LCMS previously mentioned in print and online articles but never knew any of their distinctives.

By Matt Phillips on April 28, 2009 9:10 PM

As a former charismatic Baptist, who thankfully God converted to the biblical faith expressed in the Lutheran Confessions I would invite you to take a look at the url I linked above.

By the way, thank you for your presentation of the LCMS on the website. It was fairly accurate.

We actually have significant differences with Baptists and American Evangelicals on the sacraments. We believe, teach and confess that God saves and grants faith through baptism and that Christ gives us his true body and blood for the forgiveness of sins in the Lord's Supper. Did any of these significant differences come up in your discussions with our Synod's leaders?

By Ed StetzerAuthor Profile Page on April 28, 2009 9:15 PM

Matt,

No surprisingly, they did not ask me to speak on the sacraments. ;-)

Thanks,

Ed

By Brad on April 29, 2009 9:54 AM

Ed, thanks for the time at the Acts 29 quarterly as well. Where are the slides you mentioned would be on your website? I haven't been able to find them....

Thanks!

By Mike Wagner on April 30, 2009 8:28 AM

fascinating to hear of your ministry opportunity with the LCMS.

that is my religious background having gone to a LCMS school for my first 8 years of education.

then I disappointed a lot of folks and went to Dallas Theological Seminary.

yet, I've always been profoundly thankful for my LCMS heritage.

thanks for stirring things up.

keep creating,
Mike

By Ed StetzerAuthor Profile Page on April 30, 2009 8:38 AM

Brad,

Good to hear from you. See the next post and be more patient. ;-)

Mike,

It is never a disappointment when someone goes to a good school like Dallas Seminary!

But, I was glad to be there and spend the day talking about the "missional church" emphasis with passionate people.

Ed

Comment Policy

Comments are welcome on discussion posts.  Comments are not moderated but do require a keyword to avoid spam.  If this is your first time commenting, please review the comment policy.

Leave a comment


 
Recent Comments
  • Ed Stetzer commented on Who are Missouri Synod Lutherans?.
  • Mike Wagner commented on Who are Missouri Synod Lutherans?.
  • Brad commented on Who are Missouri Synod Lutherans?.
  • Ed Stetzer commented on Who are Missouri Synod Lutherans?.
  • Matt Phillips commented on Who are Missouri Synod Lutherans?.
  • Don commented on Who are Missouri Synod Lutherans?.
Comment Policy
Twitter Feed
    My Books
    Compelled by Love Comeback Churches   Breaking the missional Code
    Planting Missional Churches 11 Innocations in the Local Church   Spiritual Warfare and Missions
    Mission Shift Lost and Found   Viral Churches
    Small Group Resources

    Install Flash

    Get Adobe Flash player

    Schools Where I Teach
    Compelled by Love

    Ministry Partnerships
    Christianity Today Outreach magazine
    Catalyst Monthly Facts and Trends
    Christian Post
    imb connecting Baptist Center
    LifeWay: Research - Biblical Solutions for Life
    LifeWay: Biblical Solutions for Life
    Noteworthy Items
    Noteworthy Items
    • The Death of Steve Jobs Shows That We Are All Fundamentally "Religious"
    • Gospel Notes: Suffering and Our Savior
    • Be Humble Scholars of Christ
    • A Magazine is an iPad that Doesn’t Work
    • Why Your Community is More Diverse… or Soon Will Be
    • The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
    • Between
    • Celebrate your “Rivals”