Finding a Church Home

Dear Pastor Harris,

I was formerly an Episcopalian. Last year I joined my local LCMS church because of the liberal trends in my former denomination and also because after reading the Augsburg Confession and reflecting on the matter further I came to disbelieve in the Doctrine of Apostolic Succession. Not that it matters to many of the liberals in the Episcopal Church anyway.  To get to the point though, I have just moved to a small town.  There are no LCMS churches nearby.  Its about an hour to the nearest one. We do have an ELCA church and a small Episcopal Church. I've visited both and both are traditional parishes which do not support the direction their denominations are taking.  So, my dilemma is this: I work two jobs which keeps me busy 7 days a week. I'm able to attend church Sunday morning but I have to be at work early afternoon on Sunday so it doesnt leave me time to drive to the closest LCMS in another city. I value Truth and clarity in essential dogma. That is what brought me to the LCMS. So now I don't know whether I should attend the next closest thing (ELCA or conservative Episcopal Parish) or what to do? Is it a sin to do so if I am only in fully doctrinal agreement with the LCMS? Any advice?


Dusty,

I am sad to say that this is a common dilemma today, especially in the wake of recent ELCA decisions. First of all, let not your conscience be burdened as to simply "attending" a church. The Catechism teaches that we are to hold God's Word as "sacred and gladly hear it and learn it." If your only options are between not going to church at all and regularly visiting a "heterodox" congregation for the purpose of praying the liturgy and hearing the word proclaimed, I would suggest the latter.

However, the situation does get more sticky when it comes to actually "joining" a church and participating in the Sacrament of the Altar. To do so is to publicly declare that you are in "full doctrinal agreement" with the "public confession" of that congregation. In other words, you are saying, loud and clear, that you agree with the beliefs they have signed to, in black and white, in their official confession of faith.

Perhaps a simple solution would be to join the LCMS church and try to attend there when you can to receive the Sacrament, while generally "attending" Divine Service at one of the other churches without "joining" or taking communion. I understand that this arrangement may be difficult or impractical. It may also cause some to see you as "divisive" or "unloving". I would encourage you to use this as an opportunity to share and publicly confess Christ and him crucified as you have come to know him in the Scriptures.

There are no easy answers. Some chose to stay as members of their own heterodox church body as an individual or congregation under a "statu confessionis". This may be something beneficial to read into for your own personal edification but I see it as a gray area and a less than ideal situation. Some congregations within the LCMS, for example, have confessed statu confessionis against certain false teachers and leaders in their own ranks but not against others. This opens a big can of worms!

I suppose the only concrete advice I can give you is to try to receive God's gifts of Word and Sacrament as often and richly as possible while also making a bold and clear confession of your faith and hope, according to your conscience. I'll leave you with a bit of Luther:

“…my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, God help me. Amen.”

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Harris