Journal of Lutheran

Mission September 2015 | Vol. 2 | No. 4

Table of Contents
Sermon: A Song of Joy by Michael Kumm...................................................................................................... 2
Luther’s Truths: Then and Now by Robert Kolb....................................................................................... 5
Reformation in New Lands and Tongues by Lawrence R. Rast, Jr...................................................... 16
The Message of the Reformation by Matthew C. Harrison................................................................ 23
Reformation Jubilees: Is There Cause for Celebration in 2017?
by Werner KlÄn .................................................................................................................................................. 26
Decline in American Lutheranism: A Study by James Arne Nestigen .............................................. 44
The Lutheran Reformation’s Continuing Importance for the Church Today:
Celebrating the Reformation Rightly — Repentance — An African Perspective
by Joseph Ochola Omolo................................................................................................................................. 52
The Reformation and Asia: Another Battleground of Confession
and Liturgy by Naomichi Masaki.................................................................................................................. 62
Europe: Deflection from the Confessional Base and New Signs of
Its Vitality by Darius Petkunas.................................................................................................................... 67
Reformation Truth in the Global Church: Latin America by Ricardo Rieth............................. 72
The Lutheran Reformation and the North American Inheritance by Gerhard Bode.............. 76
From Repentance to Rejoicing by Albert B. Collver III ...................................................................... 80
Enduring Hope: The West and Beyond by Roland Gustafasson......................................................... 85
Celebrating the Reformation Rightly: Remembrance, Repentance and Rejoicing
by Joseph Makala................................................................................................................................................ 88
Lutheran Witness in Turkey by Ville TyppÖ............................................................................................. 91
The Lutheran Church in Africa: Thirty Years of Growth by Mike Rodewald............................ 95
Book Review and Commentary: The Forgotten Ways— Reactivating the Missional
Church by Alan Hirsch and The Permanent Revolution: Apostolic Imangination and
Practice for the 21st Century Church by Alan Hirsch and Tim Catchim
by Albert B. Collver III.................................................................................................................................. 105

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 As Lutherans, we have a history that
dates back to Wittenberg and long
before; as preachers, teachers and

Decline in American evangelists, we are called to bear

witness in the present.

Lutheranism: A Study
by James Arne Nestigen

T
hank you very much for the delightful invitation The melting pot
and the welcome that has gone along with it. It is a From the beginning of trans-Atlantic migration, as
joy to actually be in Wittenberg. Europeans began settling in North America, the Chris-
Before beginning, I would like to make a couple of tian Church has faced a particular challenge. In Europe,
comments about my method. There are wide spread whether Roman Catholic, Protestant or even radical or
perceptions of a decline in American Lutheranism. But left wing, the Church had been able to rely on the coercive
perception isn’t necessarily reality. The question is how to power of the State. As Sidney Earl Mead1 pointed out in
measure or document the losses. a classic essay some years ago, con-
When I was working on my doc- The ELCA’s problem ditions in America undermined the
toral dissertation some years ago, I
has been its left wing; use of coercion, forcing the Church
became convinced that the health to rely on persuasion. The frontier
of the Church could be measured Missouri’s challenge
was always close enough to hand so
by its use of the Book of Romans. has come from its right, that dissenters faced with coercion
Paul’s letter has driven several major which pounces on simply moved, evading attempts to
reforms, such as the Lutheran. In suggestions of variance silence them. The disestablishment
times of decline, his letter disappears
as proof positive of clause of the American Constitution,
into the background. So between which prohibits the use of legal coer-
1225 and 1275, the high medieval corruption, to be dealt
cion to maintain the Church, simply
reform, there were five or six major with coercively, with tar ratified the reality geography had
commentaries on Romans, including and feathers. imposed.
that of Thomas Aquinas. Between Adapting to this new circum-
1275 and 1450, there was one and that was derivative, a stance, the Church was forced to market itself, developing
collection of the comments of the fathers. appeals that would encourage voluntary association, the
Evaluating the vitality of American Lutheranism, condition of membership. Already in the early eighteenth
instead of using Romans, I am going to look at the way century, preachers such as Jonathan Edwards — a strict
the churches have treated Luther. The Confessions have Calvinist — were promoting awakenings, vivid styles of
a prior authority; Luther’s authority is less formal, giving preaching and other strategies that sought to move hear-
a wider range of possibility. He has enough standing to ers to an emotional pitch in which they would make
demand a reading by Lutherans, but subscription to commitments to the congregations. George Whitfield,
Luther’s theology is not formally required. Consequently, one of the great Methodist preachers of this new style,
there is a little more range of interpretation. stopped in Philadelphia and visited with Henry Melchior
Secondly, like Hermann Sasse, I believe that the Muhlenberg, who had been sent from Halle to minister to
Church’s good health requires a balance between the past Lutheran immigrants to the new land. The Great Awaken-
and the present. As Lutherans, we have a history that ing, as it came to be called, swept across the eastern third
dates back to Wittenberg and long before; as preachers, of the country, originally in the eighteenth, then again in
teachers and evangelists, we are called to bear witness in the early nineteenth century. Not being able to rely on the
the present. This sets up a dialectic in which fidelity to our
heritage expresses itself in the willingness to engage pres-
1 Sidney Earl Mead, The Lively Experiment (New York: Harper and Row,
ent cultural challenges.
1963).

44 Journal of Lutheran Mission | The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

State to perpetuate itself, the Church used the awakenings lages left Germany and the Scandinavian counties seeking
to fill its pews. In the process, it developed a peculiarly new opportunities. Sometimes, like the Saxon migration
American structure, the denomination, to organize and to Missouri, they brought their pastors with them; com-
affect it mission, relying on revivalism to stir people to monly the immigrants came first and then began seeking
commitment. Lutheran pastors who could serve them.
The Calvinists were the first to give evidence of the As they settled, the immigrants recoiled against the
impact of this shift. The early Calvinists arrived with vivid denatured or neutered American Lutheranism proposed
memories of the Synod of Dort in 1618-19, which had by Schmucker and earlier settlers. There were some old
been convened in the Netherlands to deal with Arminian- Lutheran holdouts who had held the confessions dear. But
ism, a movement that emphasized the role of the human as the nineteenth century moved into its second third, the
will in conversion. The new American situation, promot- immigrants arrived from Lutheran churches in the old
ing free association as a basis for membership, shifted countries that had recently become more aware of their
the emphasis back in the direction that Dort had just confessional heritage. The Prussian Union, remembered
repudiated. Free assent, a decision for Jesus, became the in the United States as “the evil Prussian Union,” had con-
hallmark of awakened faith. Calvinists broke into conflict, tributed to a confessional revival, particularly in Germany
the Old Lights seeking to maintain historic characteristics but with influence in Norway and other Scandinavian
of their faith; the New Lights, favoring the methods of the nations. The immigration that produced The Lutheran
awakenings, sought to give more credit to the will. Church—Missouri Synod came out of these sources.
Lutheran immigrants faced the same challenge that the They arrived hoping to find a place where they could be
Calvinists had encountered before them, the forces of the Lutherans in America, maintaining their heritage intact.
American melting pot. It is a loose sociological structure From the beginning of large-scale immigration, the
developed over the years to temper ethnic, political and Lutheran Confessions had a critically important function
theological differences among the new arrivals, mitigating for new American Lutherans. There were confessionally
potential conflicts by softening the edges, moving tradi- committed Lutherans left in America from earlier immi-
tions toward a more acceptable middle. Doctrines such as grations. For example, the Tennessee Synod was born
predestination and the bondage of the will, for example, fighting the acculturation of the North Carolina Synod.
have sharp theological elbows, generating conflicts with David Henkel, one of its founders, worked with his broth-
a religiosity shaped by free association. The real presence ers to publish the first American edition of the Book of
of Christ in the Sacrament was also found provocative. Concord. But the recently arrived immigrants turned the
The corrosive forces of the melting pot cooked down the tide against acculturation, at least for the time being. In
differences. So Lutherans who had adapted to American addition to the Small Catechism, they commonly arrived
public life, such as Samuel Simon Schmucker of Gettys- with three books in hand, the Bible, the Concordia and
burg Seminary, proposed what he termed an “American a hymnal, all in their mother tongue. Sometimes, com-
Lutheranism,” shorn of the offensive doctrines, more monly enough, they also brought copies of Luther’s
amenable to the Methodism that had come to dominate Galatians Commentary. They were determined to keep
nineteenth century American religious life. Schmucker’s the faith they had brought with them.
proposal, in fact, recognized what was already happening Because they spoke the language of the nations they
in the congregations. Lutheran identity was being dis- had left behind, the newly settled Americans drew their
placed by American identity. scholarly resources from Germany and the Scandinavian
Another problem the immigrants faced was linguistic. countries. Using such sources, the immigrant churches
Arriving in the new land, they generally settled among produced a rich deposit of confessional studies. C. F. W.
those who shared their language. In these linguistic com- Walther led the way, particularly with his lectures on Law
munities, as small as neighborhoods in the larger cities, and Gospel. Charles Porterfield Krauth in Pennsylva-
but among Lutherans more commonly rural villages nia took up the matter of confessional authority. Others,
and towns, the settlers attempted to replicate what they such as Matthias Loy in Ohio, wrote extended studies on
had known at home. Often they were poor and under- individual confessions. Later generations continued the
privileged, migrating in hopes of economic and social work. George J. Fritschel’s study of the Formula of Con-
improvements. But as the immigration grew, whole vil- cord, produced in Dubuque, Iowa, still sets a benchmark

Journal of Lutheran Mission | The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 45

as does J. Michael Reu’s study of the catechisms. these publications to the “Luther readers,” remembering
For the immigrant churches, the language transition individuals and small groups in Scandinavia who learned
began where it usually does among arriving language to know Luther through his published sermons, clearly
groups, between the original generation, eager to preserve hoping people would follow their precedent on the Amer-
contact with what had been left behind, and their chil- ican side of the Atlantic.
dren, equally eager to speak the languages of schools and A more systematic approach to Luther translation was
playgrounds. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod had undertaken in Pennsylvania by pastors and professors
a resource to deploy in this conflict: the parochial schools. whose families remembered Charles Porterfield Krauth
Even into the l960s, long after English had become the and the earlier American Lutheran controversy with
language of the Church, Missouri’s educational system Schmucker. His legacy was concentrated at what is now
was strongly Germanic. the Lutheran School of Theology in Philadelphia. Charles
But the Scandinavians weren’t always so careful. As M. Jacobs gathered a small group of translators who pro-
their children became more and more at home in English, vided six volumes worth of Luther’s occasional writings,
they gradually pushed a transition to English for the now remembered as the Philadelphia Edition. Many of
family, the school and the church. Still, it took a long these translations were carried over, with some revision,
time. In 1949, King Haakon of Norway traveled from the into the American Edition of Luther’s Works, now the
eastern to the western border of North Dakota, stopping main source of Luther’s works in English.
at virtually every crossing to greet Norwegian Ameri- The American Edition, originally 55 volumes now
cans who had supported Norway being supplemented with further
during World War II. Those who translations, was developed coop-
Can the LCMS
traveled with him reported hearing eratively by publishers that had
virtually every dialect of Norwegian exercise the theological previously been active in bringing
from the people who came to greet leadership that Lutheran books to English speak-
the king. But within a year, in 1950, Lutherans in America ers. One was Concordia Publishing
Norwegian as a public language and across the globe so House in St. Louis — it published
had virtually disappeared in public the first 30 volumes, devoted to
desperately need?
circles. Fresh memories of the war Luther’s exegetical work, including
made Yankees of every stripe hostile the Genesis, Psalms and Galatians
to Germanic sounding languages. commentaries. Fortress Press, originally Muhlenberg and
the heir to the Philadelphia Edition, published volumes
Luther comes to North America
31–55, Luther’s occasional and polemical writings, includ-
North American Luther research began with the language ing the Bondage of the Will. Helmut Lehman, originally
transition, as originally European Lutherans translated to from the Canadian prairies in Saskatchewan, finished a
help their children and grandchildren face the pressures doctorate at Erlangen in 1939. He was one of the general
of the theological melting pot. There were remaining editors along with Jaroslav Pelikan, a student of Wilhelm
instances of purely Germanic scholarship. When it was Pauck’s who after early prominence in the field, left Luther
published in St. Louis, Johann Georg Walch’s edition of scholarship and eventually left the Lutheran Church for
Luther’s works made them widely available in America in Eastern Orthodoxy.
the original languages for the first time. In addition to his work with the American Edition,
The first priority for American Luther scholarship was Helmut Lehmann led the way in commissioning trans-
translating Luther into English. Originally, it was not an lations of German and Scandinavian Luther scholarship,
organized process, but hit or miss, with individuals or publishing a significant number of important texts in
small groups of individuals publishing various volumes. Philadelphia, at what was then Muhlenberg Press. Paul
Matthias Loy published a translation of one of Luther’s Athaus’ Theology of Martin Luther and Lennart Pinomaa’s
postils in 1869. J.N. Lenker, associated with a group called Faith Victorious became particularly important. They
“Luther in All Lands,” translated others of the postils, were joined by works of Gerhard Ebeling, Regin Prenter
publishing them as “Luther’s Sermons on the Gospels” and Gustaf Wingren. Following in the same tradition,
and “Luther’s Sermons on the Epistles.” He dedicated Augsburg Fortress Press — succeeding out of Muhlenberg

46 Journal of Lutheran Mission | The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

and then Fortress Press — in 1999 published Bernhard 1960s, the congresses welcomed American Roman Cath-
Lohse’s masterful introduction to Luther studies, Martin olic scholars, such as Jared Wicks and Harry McSorley, a
Luther’s Theology: Its Historic and Systematic Develop- close associate of Heinz Otto Pesch, who led the way in
ment. Though some of the earlier publications were Germany.
published jointly with SCM and other English publish- Several German Luther scholars immigrated to the
ers, using translators from England, there were enough United States, leaving a rich legacy of doctoral students
of the Scandinavian language speakers left into the 1960s to carry on the research. Wilhelm Pauck was perhaps the
and 1970s to find American translators. So J.M Jensen, a most influential. Born in Westphalia, trained by Karl Holl
Danish immigrant who served in both Canada and the and Ernst Troeltsch at Berlin, Pauck began his teaching
United States, translated Prenter; a Finnish American, career in Chicago, but served on several other faculties,
Walter J. Kokkenen, translated Pinomaa. most notably Union Seminary in New York. There he
When common usage of languages spoken in Europe became doctor father to a number of important American
by Lutherans begin to die off in America, in the aftermath Luther scholars, such as Pelikan, Lewis Spitz, Hans Hiller-
of World War II, American Lutheran seminaries contin- brand and William G. Lazareth, who worked in Luther’s
ued to produce people capable of reading Luther’s Latin ethics. George Wolfgang Forell, originally from Breslau,
and German. Commonly, these scholars did their grad- spent his academic life at the University of Iowa. He made
uates studies in Germany or Scandinavia and kept up a deep impression at a Luther Congress in Erfurt, before
close relationships with their teachers and other scholars the fall of the wall that separated Germany, setting out the
with whom they had studied. The faculty at Erlangen wel- freedom of the Gospel. Heiko Oberman left the Nether-
comed a number of American candidates. Paul Althaus, lands to teach at Harvard University in the 1960s. When
Werner Elert and Herman Sasse, who eventually immi- he left Harvard for Tübingen, several of his doctoral
grated to Australia, all maintained strong influence in the students became prominent in American Luther stud-
United States. Sasse was closely interested in Lutheran- ies, including Scott Hendrix of Princeton and Kenneth
ism in America and kept up an extensive correspondence Hagen, who taught at Marquette in Milwaukie, Wiscon-
with, among others, Herman Preus at Luther Seminary in sin. Oberman returned to the United States toward the
St. Paul, Minnesota. But he left his legacy primarily in the end of his vocation, teaching in Tucson, Arizona, where
LCMS, with faculty members and now the president of his wife enjoyed better health. Gerhard Forde, who did
the church. his doctoral work at Harvard, has sometimes been asso-
Edgar M. Carlson, the long time president of Gustavus ciated with Oberman but didn’t actually study with him.
Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, led the way in He was more closely related to scholarship from Lund,
bringing Swedish Luther research to American students. Gustaf Wingren and Lauri Haikola originally, and in his
The son of Swedish immigrants to Wisconsin, he grew later years, Leif Grane at Copenhagen.
up speaking his mother tongue. Though he did his aca- In recent years, the most influential German Luther
demic degree in Chicago, he used his family’s language to scholar in America has been Oswald Bayer, now retired
become closely familiar with the work of the theologians from the Tübingen faculty. Forde’s students, such as
at Lund, in Sweden, where Anders Nygren, Gustaf Aulen Steven Paulson of the Luther faculty in St. Paul and Mark
and Ragnar Bring had established one of the centers of Mattes of Grandview College in Des Moines, Iowa, have
Luther research. Carlson’s book, Luther Reinterpreted, been particularly drawn to him.
opened up the scholarly connections that gave Gustaf There were several fine Luther scholars identified
Wingren and his Danish co-worker Regin Prenter strong with the LCMS, particularly Lewis Spitz, who came from
influence with an emerging generation of American one of the outstanding families of Synod. He taught at
Lutheran theologians. Stanford, where he served as doctor father to a number
The International Luther Congresses, meeting every of other American Lutheran scholars, including James
five or six years in Europe as well as occasionally, the Kittelson, who finished his career teaching at Luther Sem-
United States, has fostered direct working relationships inary in St Paul, and Robert Rosin at Concordia, St. Louis.
between European and American Luther scholars. One In more recent years, Robert Kolb has through extensive
of the congresses met at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis; publications been a leader in American Luther scholar-
later, one assembled at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. In the ship. Kolb has also been very interested in Melanchthon

Journal of Lutheran Mission | The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 47

research, working with Timothy Wengert, a student of Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are no longer pro-
Forde’s who taught at the Lutheran School of Theology in ductive. There the forces of acculturation are particularly
Philadelphia. Kolb and Wengert together led the team of evident. Confessional course work has been significantly
translators who produced a recent, authoritative transla- reduced, pushed to the margins or eliminated; where
tion of the Book of Concord. The faculty at Concordia, Luther scholarship survives, it is in heavy contention. As
Fort Wayne, has also included some a recent survey of American Luther
fine Luther scholars, including Nao- studies demonstrates, the primary
michi Masaki and John Pless. remaining interest is not so much
Can [the LCMS] be
Arthur Carl Piepkorn of the Con- Luther and his theology but what
cordia faculty in St. Louis was also
faithful to both its own might be called “clientele studies,”
identified with Luther studies. But he theological heritage and 2Luther’s possible implications for
made a sharp distinction between the the cultures in which is the particular group with whom the
theology of the Lutheran Confessions, serves without falling scholar identifies, such as feminists
which he taught as authoritative, or gay liberationists. Some scholarly
into a separatism that
and the theology of Luther, which disciplines may be still evident in
he treated more distantly. He was
would isolate it? Can it these studies, some insight might be
also strongly committed to liturgical actually be close without gained, but the value of such studies
reform. Consequently, his legacy has becoming closed? for the Church or the community
appeared more in ecumenical work, outside of the selected target group
particularly in relation to Catholi- is an open question. Using Luther
cism. Ecumenical scholars, such as George Lindbeck of studies as a indicator, the decline of much of American
Yale, Robert W. Jenson, now retired and living in Prince- Lutheranism is indisputable.
ton, New Jersey, and Carl Braaten, also retired and living
in Arizona, have taken an approach to Luther something Assessing the decline
like Piepkorn’s, de-emphasizing his theological contri- Working through the history of American Lutheran-
butions to stress ecumenical reconciliation. Jenson and ism, two different approaches to the relationship of the
Braaten have been particularly interested in the work of Church and culture can be distinguished. They may be
Tuomo Mannerma, who carried on Pinomaa’s legacy at more differences of degree than of substance; American
the University of Helsinki. Mannerma died this spring. Lutherans, like their European forebears, share a gener-
In recent years, American Luther scholarship has ally positive view of the culture, valuing images of critical
fallen on difficult times. The generation that mediated the participation in public life. Still, American Lutherans have
findings of Luther scholars in Germany and Scandinavia, differed on the particulars. One tradition has maintained
who led the way with their own research, has by and large a more critical distance from the culture, seeking to pre-
died or gone into retirement. There are still some strong serve its theological heritage over and against forces that
scholars scattered among various seminary and college might dilute it; the other has sought more convergence
faculties. Their work can be found in such publications as between its heritage and the culture, welcoming a more
the Lutheran Quarterly and the Luther Digest, an Annual open-ended conversation.
Abridgement of Luther Studies. But the prestigious The outlines of the division between these two
American universities whose graduate schools were so approaches already emerged in the Predestination Con-
important to developing the next generations of Lutheran troversy, dating back to the late nineteenth century. The
seminary faculties have by and large pushed theological Prussian Union, enforcing Calvinism in self-consciously
education into the sidelights, dropping or marginalizing Lutheran communities in Germany, had produced more
Luther studies along the way. Denominational seminaries, skepticism about public culture among the Saxon immi-
according to authoritative surveys, have in recent years grants that, with some few others, made up The Lutheran
suffered dramatic enrollment losses; with rare exception Church—Missouri Synod. Their deeper loyalties to the
the schools are virtually all in financial crisis.
While LCMS faculties have continued to produce 2
Christine Helmer, “The American Luther,” Dialog 47:2 (Summer,
graduate students, the seminaries of the Evangelical 2008).

48 Journal of Lutheran Mission | The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Formula of Concord — with its doctrine of predestina- report, church officials in the headquarters at Chicago
tion in Article XI — clashed with American assertions recently discussed the possibility of ELCA membership
of free will, reinforcing cultural suspicions. Carefully bottoming out at about a million.
preserving their own distinctiveness, the Missourians Further, evidence of theological acculturation has
joined with the Wisconsin Synod and a smaller group of also accumulated on both sides of the historic division.
Norwegians loyal to Formula of Concord X to form the The LCMS went through a period in the late 1950s and
Synodical Conference. These churches did not merge, 196os when in one apt description, it was not sufficiently
among themselves or with others, but set in place mecha- Missouri. The faculty at Concordia in St. Louis spoke the
nisms to prevent dilution of their witness. language of the Church in public, but in the classroom
C. F. W. Walther’s careful exposition of the doctrine of taught practices perceived as undermining it. When Mis-
predestination set off a storm of controversy among the souri drifted, the Synodical Conference broke apart, the
Norwegian immigrant churches in the late nineteenth Wisconsin Synod and the ELS going their separate ways.
century. Philippist advisors to the Danish king in the The remainders of the St. Louis faculty that turned up on
sixteenth century had sabotaged his subscription to the the doorstep of the ELCA turned out as problematic there
Formula; consequently, it had less practical value among as they had been in the LCMS. As much as the self-styled
the Norwegians and Danes who immigrated. Other “exiles” despised J.A.O. Preus, in the end they proved
German speaking churches more adapted to American his point.
visions of personal freedom joined in the opposition to The prominence of the church growth movement in
Walther and the predestinarians. Significantly, one of Missouri points in the same direction. When institutional
the Norwegian synods called itself “the Anti-Missourian growth claims pre-eminence over the Church’s heritage,
Brotherhood.” free will theologies multiply and the Church declines, even
Among the churches that opposed the conference on if it succeeds enough to be able to rejoice in its crowds.
predestination, a century of mergers began. At first, they The melting pot does not respect synod boundaries.
took place along ethnic lines — in 1917, for instance, the Valuing openness and the rhetoric of tolerance, the
three Norwegian church bodies merged to form the Nor- ELCA has had a substantially greater problem theolog-
wegian Lutheran Church in America, agreeing to disagree ically. The trouble appeared before the church began.
on predestination. Mergers across ethnic lines followed A well-placed feminist on the Committee for a New
among several others. The United Lutheran Church, for Lutheran Church, which negotiated the merger, argued
example, brought together Germans and Swedes. Finally, that the doctrine of the Trinity is inherently sexist and
in 1989, invoking images familiar from European folk brought it up for a vote. Reportedly, for all of the ecumen-
church Lutheranism, the one great merger long hoped for ical significance of the doctrine of the Trinity, it barely
took place in the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran survived.
Church in America. The merging churches spoke the folk One of the commonly argued grounds for the merger
church language of inclusiveness in its American political was that the combined numbers would give Lutherans
form and immediately set in a place a system of quotas more influence in public life and culture. The size of the
which sought to give all and sundry opportunities for full church lost some of its magic when church officials, set-
participation in its governance. ting up offices in that city, discovered that it was about the
The coercive forces of the American melting pot same size as the Roman Catholic diocese of Chicago. But
have proven their power on both sides of the divide over there were still any number of advocates eager to capture
approaches to public culture. To begin with, the numbers the perceived influence for their ends. Ecumenists took
are down across the boards. In the past decade, Missouri the first swing at it, urging Roman Catholic consensus
is said to have lost a half million members, down to 2.2 against prized characteristics of the Lutheran heritage.
million, percentage-wise a loss almost as large as that in But there were more troublesome issues to come. Social
the ELCA. With greater numbers at its origin, roughly advocates, who commonly devalued the church’s theo-
some five and a half million, the ELCA has had the greater logical heritage in favor of claims to peace and justice,
numerical losses. Attrition and departures induced by joined forces to push the gay agenda. Church officials lent
church conflicts have combined to reduce the member- a hand, changing the rules, until finally in 2009 a national
ship to about three and a half million. By one reliable church assembly ratified the ordination of practicing

Journal of Lutheran Mission | The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 49

homosexuals. Bishops quickly assured congregations that controversial, bringing complaints with the accolades.
they were not compelled to comply in their parishes. But When Jacob A. O. Preus, who took some considerable
the die was cast. pride in his Norwegian heritage, took over as president
The ecumenical consequences of the 2009 vote have of the Missouri Synod in the late 1960s, he brought the
unfolded slowly, with only occasional drama. Clearly, forces of the melting pot down upon himself and his
however, the ELCA and with it the Lutheran World alliance. Vituperated by his opponents within the Synod
Federation, have broken out of a prevailing standard on and the public press alike, he was described as a “funda-
sexual practice that has held since the days of the New mentalist” bent on enforcing an antique form of Lutheran
Testament, isolating themselves from the formal policies orthodoxy far out of touch with contemporary life. In
of both Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, fact, “Jack” — as he was commonly called — was like his
together the overwhelming majority of the world’s Chris- brother, Robert, deeply anchored in the theology that
tians. The decision has also led to a break with national marked Missouri in its origins. Well after his critics lost
churches in Africa, Asia and other parts of the world that interest, he was still busy rebuilding the Concordia, St.
continue to hold with the authority of the biblical Word. Louis faculty and the Church. Though the controversy
Not surprisingly, American church officials have invoked remains, he has been vindicated historically. His oppo-
a variety of cultural images familiar from the melting pot nents, who left the Synod posturing as harbingers of a
to support its decisions — the myth of progress, advances new order, proved as divisive in their new home. Missouri
in human knowledge, the cultural relativism of the Scrip- recovered its balance.
tures themselves, and so forth. To no one’s great surprise, Matthew Harrison, who has led a second recovery as
these appeals have been joined with naked power plays the current president of the LCMS, has attracted the same
involving western funds. Imperialism can take several kind of criticism. Opponents within the Synod and out-
identities. side of it have portrayed his administration pejoratively as
Thus the first quarter century of the ELCA’s history power driven and exclusive. But like Preus, Harrison has
presses a question. In all the talk of openness and toler- been shaped theologically by the forces that have moved
ance that it has generated, welcoming everyone, can this Missouri throughout its history. Herman Sasse, whose
church — so called by its own officials — tolerate the three volumes of letters to American church leaders,
tradition that historically brought it into being? Can it edited by Harrison, were distributed to participants, was
accept itself? Is there any room within it? — in its offices, an extraordinarily perceptive observer of the American
on its faculties, in its parishes — for those who identify church at the same time that he was a closely disciplined
themselves biblically with Luther and the confessions? theologian. While serving on the faculty at Erlangen,
In fact, there are significant numbers of pastors and con- he recognized the threat of Nazism as early as 1934, far
gregations remaining within the ELCA tucked away in before others. From his later position in Adelaide, he
pockets where they can maintain traditional loyalties. But served the proclamation of the Gospel in Australia by his
the continuing decline of Lutheran seminary faculties, the teaching and in the United States with his letters. Har-
election of successive presiding bishops with little or no rison’s use of Sasse lays the groundwork for a creative
formal theological education in either the Confessions or engagement between the Church’s theological heritage
Luther, combined with the similarly declining quality of and the cultures in which it serves.
synod bishops, all come together to render doubtful the To be sure, there are elements within the LCMS that
survival of such pockets for long. Consequently, some show evidence of enclosure. The ELCA’s problem has
four hundred congregations have left the ELCA to form been its left wing; Missouri’s challenge has come from its
the North American Lutheran Church; more than double right, which pounces on suggestions of variance as proof
that number have affiliated with Lutheran Congregations positive of corruption, to be dealt with coercively, with tar
in Mission for Christ. Enthusiastically in and also of the and feathers. It is as though the Eighth Commandment
world, the ELCA appears to be salt that has lost its sting. has been suspended for theological discussion. The out-
While both the ELCA and the LCMS have had their sider becomes an enemy to be overcome rather than a
troubles with the coercive forces of the American melting neighbor to be engaged.
pot, Missouri has in a couple of instances demonstrated its Thus there are questions that remain. Given the course
capacity to regenerate its tradition. Each of them has been of the ELCA, can the LCMS exercise the theological lead-

50 Journal of Lutheran Mission | The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

ership that Lutherans in America and across the globe
so desperately need? Can it be faithful to both its own
theological heritage and the cultures in which is serves
without falling into a separatism that would isolate it?
Can it actually be close without becoming closed? Can
it maintain sound doctrine without falling into a doctri-
nalism in which the doctrine displaces Christ Jesus as the
agent of justification?
These are challenging questions. This conference, like
its predecessor a few years ago in Atlanta, provides evi-
dence that they can all be answered positively. Carrying
on from here is the mission to which all of us, from the
corners of the earth, are called.

The Rev. James Arne Nestigen is professor emeritus of

Church History at Luther Seminary.

Journal of Lutheran Mission | The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 51