A new Lutheran denomination. Please welcome the North American Lutheran Church (NALC) which will join the ELCA, LCMC, LCMS, and the WELS in America's Lutheran universe. At least the Lutheran alphabet soup has some rational behind it. The name Lutheran notwithstanding, they all have serious doctrinal differences.
So what's our excuse again?
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Serious ethnic differences?
Ouch.
This is a prefectly superfluous Lutheran body, whose only coherent raison d'etre is to accomodate those supposedly "orthodox Lutherans" in the eLCA who support the ordination of women (WO) but oppose sanctified sodomy (SS) or the blessing and acceptance of homosexual "partnerships." Those Lutherans who oppose both of these enormities have an aboudance of Lutheran bodies to choose from already in the United States, such as the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the American Association of Lutheran Churches and about nine other denominational bodies. In fact, those Lutherans who support WO and oppose SS already have a place to go to: the Lutheran Congregations for Mission in Christ (LCMC), a body of pastors, parishes and layfolk who split from the ELCA in 2001 over the ratification of the "concordat" between the Episcopal Church and the ELCA, an agreement that required the eLCA to restrict the performance of ordinations to its bishops whereas formerly pastors could oprdain, as well as bishops), to accept the "historic episcopal succession" from the Episcopalians, and to retain retired bishops in the rank of "bishops" (rather than as simply pastors, as previously with the ELCA and as with a body like the United Methodist Church).
However, the LCMC is very "Protestant Lutheran" in its theological outlook, and rather "congregationalist" in its polity, so I imagine that this NALC will appeal more to those that favor a more "Catholic-lite" style of "churchianity," will accepting WO -- and so very much analogous to the ACNA that split from the Episcopal Church a couple of years ago. However, I do not expect the NALC to make any formal provision for the cohabitation of those in favor of WO and those against the vicious practice as the ACNA has done.
In fact, I rather imagine that the NALC and the ACNA will come to their own "intercommunion agreement," paralllel to that between the ELCA and the ECUSA, for after all, while the latter are liberal bodies, the former are bodies that profess "yesterday's liberalism" rather than today's. Orthodox and Catholics should applaud such a rapprochement between the NALC and the ACNA, as it may well serve to reveal to those more "Catholic-minded" Anglicans in the ACNA that they have "boarded the wrong boat" and should move towards the exit ramps as soon as they can do so.
William Tighe
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