There is an irony to the subtitle to this. Lutherans have always been evangelical in the true sense of the word. We have always been motivated to bring the Good News of Christ. It's why Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg and started the Reformation. The Gospel was being hidden.

We believe, though,that sharing the Gospel is not a list of methods you use, but that loving our neighbor is a natural result of receiving the love of Christ. Rev. Matt Harrison is truly evangelical. Most of his work throughout his ministry has been reaching out through mercy work. Reaching out with the love of Christ is his passion. Despite all the programs and systems that Pres. Kieschnick put in place, I truly believe that President Elect Harrison will be MORE evangelical -- more driven to share Christ with those who are suffering and who don't know Him.

There are two distinctiveness of the LCMS that have put them at odds with the majority of other Evangelicals. Consubstantiation (The real presence of Christ's body and blood in the bread and wine) and infant regeneration. I wonder how these two issues will play into the future of the denomination?

@RPW:There are two distinctiveness of the LCMS that have put them at odds with the majority of other Evangelicals. Consubstantiation (The real presence of Christ's body and blood in the bread and wine) and infant regeneration. I wonder how these two issues will play into the future of the denomination?

I'm sure these two will always remain in the forefront of the LCMS. Our understanding of God's grace and promise breaking into the sin of our lives is clearly demonstrated in God's promise to be present in the Lord's Supper and his gift of new life in Baptism to all.

@Basil: While we Lutherans do believe in the presence of Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper, we have never believed in consubstantiation. Consubstantiation is a philosophical construct that attempts to describe the "how" of Christ's words, "This is My body... This is My blood." The Lutheran Confessions (specifically the Formula of Concord, Article VII) speak of this as a sacramental union, where Christ's body and blood are truly present, but since God has not revealed the details of "how," we cannot answer any further than simply believing the words of our Lord: "This is My body... this is My blood." If you want the fancy Latin term for the Lutheran teaching of this, it is unio sacramentalis -- sacramental union.

You're right in saying that the Lord's Supper and Holy Baptism separate the Lutheran church from what are today called Evangelical churches. Perhaps a more succinct way to put it is that the Lutheran faith is sacramental, and Evangelicalism is not. Not only can we not reverse our beliefs on these, we cannot even consider the question -- the Sacraments define who we are in Christ. Lutheran doctrine is predicated on the belief that the work of salvation starts and ends with God. He acts first, and He finishes the work in us. We contribute nothing, because we are born dead in sin. In that respect, adults and infants are spiritually alike; they are sinners incapable of saving themselves, and in need of salvation. Our salvation is all a gift -- won for us by Christ's atoning death on the cross and delivered to us through His Word (preached and written), through the washing of regeneration in Holy Baptism, and through Jesus' body and blood given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins. It defines who we are -- sinners justified by grace alone.

Despite the uncertainty of how synodical restructuring and a shift in power will affect the confession and mission of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, this sacramental understanding of man's relation to God cannot and will not change. It doesn't mean we won't engage in discussion with Evangelicalism, but it does mean that we won't be watering down our confession of what God gives to us in His sacraments anytime soon.

It means nothing other than the conservatives managed to get more delegates than the moderates. Whatever happens at LCMS conventions, the trends losing "denomination distinctiveness" continues in LCMS churches. Just visit one, or see how many people in the pew agree with Harrison's theology, or have a clue of what's in the Augsburg Confession.

Welcome to life in the LCMS. Bitter rivalries, brother devouring brother, and 45% vs 55% vote splits. And both sides wait for the next convention with eschatological hope that they'll get the 55%.

That's the way it is when a denomination is ruled by majority vote.

'There are two distinctiveness of the LCMS that have put them at odds with the majority of other Evangelicals.'

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Lutherans don't consider themselves to be evangelicals in the American post-WWII meaning of the word, not at all. We're closer to Anglicanism than we are to modern evangelicalism.

I suggest you pick up a copy of "A Theology to Live By," by Herman Preus that goes into more detail about the distinctives of Lutheranism.

EX LCMS, what a sad and cynical view you have. I'll take majority rule any day over the cowboy authoritarianism I experienced during 25 years as an evangelical, before I became a Lutheran. I saw plenty of people ruined emotionally and spiritually because of the "my way or the highway" evangelical pastoral point of view. Have seen none of that in my 7 years as a Lutheran congregant.

'(s)ee how many people in the pew agree with Harrison's theology,

Come to our LCMS church. The answer would be, most.

Aside from the use (mis) use of the term consubstantiation, the LSMS does believe that the bread and wine is the body and blood of Christ. This was drilled into me through 12 years of education in the Lutheran school system and churches.

Of course I realize the diversity of personalities among LCMS pastors and churches.Some emphasize the distinctives within the LCMS and others do not. Some look more Catholic and others more like a Willow Creek style churches.

The article does raise a question for me of what the LCMS will be like in the next 10-20 years. One wonders if a split is on the horizon?

"Aside from the use (mis) use of the term consubstantiation, the LSMS does believe that the bread and wine is the body and blood of Christ. This was drilled into me through 12 years of education in the Lutheran school system and churches."

I'm afraid you misunderstood or were misinformed. Perfectly understandable as this subject has many nuances. All the substantiations attempt to define the union of Christ and the echurist in metaphysical terms. LCMS leaves it "sacremental union", as Christ said. The actual mechanism of the union? Who knows.

Elected presidents bring different skills to the office. Kieschnick used political persuasion and Harrison will use theological persuasion.

I'm overjoyed that Herrison is to be our next Synod President. But I haven't heard any dissenters give their point of view yet, except for EX LCMS, and I don't think that counts.

Therefore, I offer some suggestions pertaining to the other side of the coin. I am attending seminary Concordia Theological, Fort Wayne. While there, I feel the heavy weight of Lutheran culture. At home, in Iowa, I am surrounded by evangelicalism (at my church, on the radio, with co-workers, etc.) Not just one of these, but both, can get very obnoxious. One the homefront is evangelicalism, the anti-denominationalism that sometimes marauds gratuitously as anti-religion, without distinction of law and gospel, without scriptural recognition of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, without theologically-apt teachers. At seminary there are the students who know how to mock contemporary worship, but know not how to engage it, who miss the mark on simple Bible readings due to overzealous division of Law and Gospel, and who are engimatically comfortable rehearsing theological formulae instead of expounding them.

So, assuming that, in the long run, LCMS imperfection will maintain even with different manifestations, I propose we might be seeing this latter kind of annoying foibles in more LCMS members.

Years ago I heard a Lutheran prof answer the question: "What happens to a baby that dies unbaptized." His answer was a disappointing - "I don't know." I don't question his honesty or knowledge about the bible, but I do question his understanding of it. The Lutheran doctrine of infant baptism/regeneration is unbiblical and provides no gospel assurance for grieving parents of unbaptized babies. Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

The concern in the LCMS is not primarily the theological, but more existential. Will the LCMS be around in the nest 30 to 40 years. We had difficulty making the transition from German to English. We are facing a more difficult problem of making the transition from traditional worship to contemporary worship styles. Walther thought that the gospel could not be translated into English and thought that the church would die if we switched. Many traditional LCMS people think the same thing will happen if we translate the Gospel into the language of the common people who do not respond well to ancient (1400-1700 AD) hymns and liturgy. Most of the traditional LCMS churches are inward focused - we need to become outward focused.

I was raised in an LCMS school & church. My son is a LCMS pastor. I got to a point where the sameness of the creeds, the songs, the messages became very frustrating. The need for more of the bible became suffocating! I left, and have been attending an Evangelical Free church. For the first time the bible is alive to me. Instead of a sermon being on a topic with a scheduled bible verse sprinkled in, messages take a chunk of the bible and go in depth about it and how it applies to us today. To me, this is huge! Yes, the music is very emotional, and the worship is alive, but the biggest difference for me is learning how everything written thousands of years ago is relevant to day - and how Christ is at the center of it. God does not change - and regardless of who is president or whether they baptize infants or not - His will will be done.

There is a goldmine of insight in the above two comments, which succinctly state the reasons why the LCMS is not and will not grow or be a significant force in Christianity. I was born and raised LCMS and graduated from a synod college. I greatly admire its doctrinal precision. But in general, the worship and preaching are stultifying, and outreach consists mainly of spaghetti suppers and Vacation Bible School. Yes, I miss liturgy, which many churches have simply abandoned. But I'd rather have thorough, expository preaching, a pervasive commitment to missions and to the Body of Christ, and worship using modes that people can relate to. (I love the old hymns, but I also love modern praise and worship. I want both!!)

Lutherans are Evangelisch, not loosey-goosey evangelicals. When will you Pietest people learn that, as Luther said in another context, you are of a different spirit? Pietism has always led to Liberlaism and apostasy. I hope President Harrison steers the LCMS away from further involvement with pietists.

Kieschnick was a classic baby-boomer President and hurt the cause of Lutheranism. Lutherans are different. We believe that our "hearts" can easily lead us astray, therefor we focus on the objective means of grace, i.e. Word and Sacrament. We should eschew contact with all false Christians, whether they be Rick Warren, Peter Enns, Billy Graham or Sepp Ratzinger.

The end is near for those that choose to live in isolation. That there might be those with differing opinions on how to grow a church, is one thing. But to make an enemy of those that choose to use "progams," to stimulate growth is sadly comical. I have been there when those in favor of these various programs are talked about. Much the way Republicans talk about the socialist Democrats. And pride is what feeds those conversations. And an air of superiority is antithetical to the servant model exemplified by Christ. You are not mature is Christ when you run around pointing to the Church Growth people and accuse them of trying to destroy your "beloved church." You are more like a jealous sibling running to daddy and trying to get your brother or sister in trouble. Stop trying to defend God, which He does not need anyone's help, and share Him with all. Time to really grow up, and grow a church.

You sound so vitreolic Tony. Better to "live in isolation" than to be a part of the lukewarm church that God is going to spit out of His mouth someday. Why does it bother you so much? If you are a believer, they believe in the same essentials, but there is much more of a feeling of true worship in a Lutheran-Missouri synod church than some of the evangelical churches today. Many of the evangelical churches of today are much more about "me" and self-improvement, and how to help your marriage, and how to help your business, rather than the worshipping God, which is what it's supposed to be. The Lutheran church-Missouri synod doesn't compromise their true biblical beliefs to be politically correct, like many evangelical churches do. I just also want to add that I am not lumping all the evangelical churches together, some are very good and are truly worshipping God, while others are mostly about "me" rather than God, and are more like big self-help conventions. Most Lutherans love the old hymns that their parents, grandparents, and gr-grandparents enjoyed. Each verse has meaning, and each verse is about God, unlike the songs of today that seem to be all about "me". After singing such wonderful hymns for much of my life, that are to God and about God, I can't stand most of the songs today that are so extremely repetitious, and are not about God, and seem totally meaningless.

The same can be said of the sermons of many evangelical churches, which can be about anything from boating to improving your marriage or improving your business. The sermons I've always heard in Missouri synod church are about God. People who are members there were either raised in the faith, or took classes about the Bible and God and the basic doctrines, like the Trinity before joining. In many evangelical churches, you don't know what they believe when you walk in. But you do know that when you go to a Lutheran church Missouri synod, that you will hear sound doctrine. I don't agree with their eschatology but that is not an essential at all. You need to know that it's important to stand for the truth even if you are alone! Even if I am the last person alive that follows true Biblical doctrine, so be it, I'll follow it to my death. I don't go to a Lutheran-Missouri synod church right now, but I do go to a biblical church, and I don't understand your anger. God says that the body of Christ is made up of arms, and legs, etc, we're not all supposed to be identical, but we can worship God with the same beliefs, and not hate each other. Your anger is really misplaced, they don't spend any time at all talking against other churches. Church is for worshipping God.

Barbara, perhaps I am angry. But it is born of the experience of working as a Director of Christian Outreach for the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and being present when Church Growth people were talked about by church leadership. The hubris and lack of respect for something that was not fully understood by the people who were supposed to be christian was appaling. It is fear that breeds such ignorance. Do you really believe that those that want to see the church grow want its destruction? Do you not see that there are reasons that they do what they do that can be directly related to what christ wanted fo the church? These leaders really don't want to see the church inviting the "others" inside. They are afraid of the different and the other, the ones that I was trained to reach. Pure gospel means nothing if there is no on there to here it Your stand is really based on spiritual immaturity. I know, because I was just like you. It was all about the beloved LCMS, and protecting her at all costs. But then I decided not to be a pastor and pursue being a DCO, and then had sem students from Fort Wayne tell me that my standing as a commisioned minister would not be recognized by CFW Walther. Or a teacher and Concordia, Ann Arbor, grab his balls, and tell students that "we need more pastors with these." I would hope if you saw what I have seen that you would be angry. Pride born from mainling righteousness is what will destroy your pure and beloved church. Jesus turned tables because he was feeling happy? Are you saying that being angry is a bad thing? Open your eyes to the truth that you are still a little girl trying to please your heavenly father by tattling on your peers. I did have one very wise teacher at Concordia tell me that" God does not need me to defend Him. He knew that christians are being distracted by trying to prove God's existence, and are leaving broken people behind just so they can be right. Grow up, and learn to accept that you may be wrong. Zoee

many of us in the wisconsin lutheran synod were happily surprised
that Pastor Harrison is now the spokes men for this large denomiation . human votes can only vote for spokespeople no human vote or human has any right to trump what the bible says .. Pastor Harrison is a pastor that knows that ..

congratulations lc-ms on your choice for a new spokesmen..