u/Fun_Grapefruit0789

Hello all,

I am a lifelong LCMS member. There's lots of things I love about the LCMS (along with things I really don't...). I had been away for a while during my adult life but I've been attending different Lutheran churches (LCMS) in my area lately to start getting involved in Lutheranism and church life again. I am a married woman in my 30s. My husband was raised Roman Catholic though he is not much religious anymore.

As I've been telling him more and more about the LCMS, he has expressed to me that he is deeply uncomfortable with some of the teachings and positions of the LCMS, which I completely understand. I told him that I should be a saner and slightly more liberal voice in the LCMS - you know, deeply controversial things (/s) like affirming evolution to be part of God's plan and that women can read the Bible during Divine Service and hold other church positions like Cantor and Acolyte (😵‍💫), and that abortion can be okay sometimes depending on the situation, and we should be accepting of queer people. But he said he still very uncomfortable, both with the LCMS and with me trying to "be a hero" in the church, and that he would much rather me search for a church that is more aligned with how we live. I tried to tell him church should be about God and the Sacraments anyways and not lifestyles, but he is really insisting that I at least entertain the idea of leaving the LCMS.

I suppose I have several hesitations of the ELCA:

• Ingrained bias. I know, dumb. Especially since I fully recognize I am way more aligned with the ELCA when it comes to social/lifestyle issues and politics. But as a lifelong LCMS, it's something I am hoping talking more with ELCA people (which I intend to do even regardless if I end up joining the ELCA or not) with help get rid of this dumb bias.
• Theological issues - I am definitely a bit more theologically conservative. I know I shouldn't judge solely from things online, but I would fully expect my pastors, deacons, fellow congregants, etc. to at least affirm the Nicene Creed, The Apostles' Creed, and the Lutheran understanding of the Eucharist. I would fear that the Eucharist is not legitimate if the pastor does not share these views, and everything else (if the pastor is a woman or queer or whatever) doesn't matter, but they'd need to affirm real presence and the basic tenets of Christianity. I suppose I am okay with a loose adherence to the Book of Concord but there should be SOME TYPE of adherence to the Book of Concord otherwise why even be Lutheran.....
• Church Tradition - I am also just...very Lutheran. Not in terms of conservative social issues like who can be a pastor or what "type" of person is welcome. But I guess I really devoutly subscribe to "Lex orandi, lex credendi" - church liturgy and church theology are deeply and inextricably connected. Adhering to liturgical, musical, aesthetic traditions aren't JUST aesthetic, they are a reflection of what we believe and who we are as Lutherans. Church history is important to pass down for our identity.
• Sermons - again, I shouldn't judge online stuff but I do go to church to hear God's word and receive his Sacraments and to do so with others who believe the same. I don't go for it to be a substitute country club, and I don't go to hear a political speech which I could just do in my own separate time. I come to church to feel like I am already in heaven.

And I will say the last two points are things I've actually discussed about the ELCA with other Lutheran ELCA members who are queer and have the same issues. From purusing the websites of local ELCA churches near me, it seems more like a community center and a lot of stuff they do outside of church and barely anything about actual church. This is honestly deeply discouraging to me.

I guess I am asking for advice, or maybe even commiseration, and of course I humbly ask that if I have assumed anything wrong, to please gently correct me as I am certainly open to the truth and I am simply a visitor here on your terms!

Thank you so much for your time.

“That angels are with us is very sure, and no one should ever have doubted it.” - Martin Luther (Michaelmas Sermon, 1534)

I grew up LCMS and now as a 30-something wanting to go back to church life, I am looking into LCMS, ELCA, and even maybe trying to retain my Lutheran identity at Episcopal churches.

The Lutheran church closest to me is LCMS but I had to really go digging into the depths of their website to find the information. "Lutheran" is even in the church name itself but it doesn't seem like it at all. Their main pastor wears a freaking suit on Sundays and I have never seen any evidence of them wearing any sort of traidional Lutheran garb, preaches from a stage, has a modern worship band. All their online stuff looks like professional corporate branding or focusing all on the pastor himself instead of on the members of the church or what the church is actually doing. Apparently there IS a "liturgical" service with a junior pastor but again you have to dig for that information and there's zero emphasis or zero pictures/videos on any of that. There seems to be zero discussion on actual Lutheran theology either on any of their social media as far back as I have been able to dig.

How can this church even call itself Lutheran? No Lutheran theology, no Lutheran traditions, no Lutheran values, not even the bare minimum Lutheran aesthetics.... Just become non-denominational and be done with it. ​

Sorry, want a good rant for the day apparently! ​

Hello, a few days ago I posted and mentioned my mom was nearing the end. She has entered into the Kingdom of Christ. Her final words were "I see angels."

The words heartbroken and devatastated and shocked don't beging to describe what we are feeling as a family. She wad only 65 and I had to watch my grandma say goodbye to my mom.

I have kept up a facade of being a Christian to keep my mom happy and I am glad I did it. But I haven't been a Christian in a long time.

This makes me want to return to the faith.

Even though the church we grew up in was very conservative, and it spoiled my mind against Christianity, my mom was the one fighting for them to be better.

She was friends with and dating other races in the 70s when cops would pull her over asking if she was being kidnapped or hurt, and she would say "no, these are my friends." She was always trying to push for more church support for the poor and the sick. She had a special connection to the elderly and always tried to serve them. She truly believed in seeing others as if they were Jesus himself. She was all about making people comfortable and happy, even if it was at the detriment of herself. Even at the end she was telling the doctors she is in no pain. But the hospice experts said her body language was consistent with extreme anxiety and discomfort, but they felt she didnt want anyone worrying about her. ​​

I need prayers. I need peace and strength to do life without my mom, which seems absolutely impossible. ​I need peace and strength for the rest of my family - especially my dad who just lost his own mom a few weeks ago and now his spouse. And I need direction - this is making me very confused and i don't know what to do in terms of my faith or lack thereof.

One thing that I struggle with in Christianity, having been raised as a lifelong Christian and as an adult being back-and-forth atheist and agnostic - it has not necessarily been the existence of God, it has not been the lifestyle, or anything like those typical things. It all goes back to.....you are so evil, you need saving. In fact, so totally evil that the creator of the universe needed to go through the extreme sacrifice of sending his own son to die FOR YOU AND YOUR EVILNESS. And this includes babies, and toddlers, and children! And we must live with this guilt hanging over our heads of this sacrifice all of our days.

So what exactly is in the human soul that needs saving? What about me at age like 13 was so dastardly bad that I needed to remember scenes from Passion of the Christ representing Christ sacrifice for me to save me. Why did I need saving? Why do I still need saving?

Hypothetically I could say yes, I believe in God and I believe the moral lessons in the bible.....but I can't believe that we are so evil and need saving. Not as the only way I've ever known it to be. But are there other ways of seeing it?

*Full transparency - this is a genuine question and not meant to be aggressive. My mom, who is devout and raised me in the church, is currently in end-of-life care and I am trying desperately to see a glimmer of goodness in the faith.

My mom may pass tonight. I'm not even 35 yet. She just turned 65.

About 5 years ago, she went through a procedure that many other people go through as fairly routine and heal up quickly. But she never healed up. She has lived in pain and severe discomfort with very frequent hospital visits and falls requiring fire department help. My dad basically turned into a full-time caregiver, with the past year my mom needing 24-hour care and help with EVERYTHING.

Now we are waiting for some test results and based on these, we may be looking at making a late night visit to the hospital to say goodbye.

I struggle with knowing how to help my dad - like...I know practically. But emotionally? He just lost his mom last week! What on earth could I say or do? Nothing. And the thought that the last time my mom hugged me was maybe the LAST time I would ever get a hug from my mom and I didn't even know it. I hear similar stories from coworkers who are in their late 60s with their 90-year-old parents and thinking we could have had so much more time ahead. I had begged and pleaded with my mom years prior to take better care of her health, and she made the decision every day not to do it.

I also struggle with the good, the bad, and the in-between of who she was as a parent and as a person. I just struggle seeing what my future looks like without my mom.

Thanks for listening. :(

Hi everyone,

I know I've commented about this before and I've seen other people comment as well. Would anyone else who is interested in combining Epicureanism and Non-Theistic Paganism be interested in connecting, maybe getting together on a discord or something?

Non-Theistic Paganism is having a ritualistic life revering the cycles of nature and science, abstains from worshipping literal spiritual beings (although many do "worship" deities symbolically and don't believe they are actual real entities), reject superstition, and sometimes will practice SASS witchcraft (stands for Skeptical, Agnostic, Atheist, and Science Seeking; basically believing spells and such are good psychologically for mental health and do not believe that anything supernatural or mystical is happening).

Hopefully this is allowed, I feel like these two things are very compatible but it's not necessarily everyone's cup of tea, so maybe it would be useful to have a separate place for us to discuss things without having to clog up this subreddit which is probably mostly people who would not be interested in this. 🤷‍♀️

Merry meet,

I was wondering if anyone would care to share on if and how your Wiccan spirituality affects your relationship with technology? Not just social media or AI, but other technology too.