Like Lutheranism in general, The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod is experiencing a divergence in teaching and practice.
Many find that they want classical Lutheran Church teaching and practice but aren't sure where to find it. You can find
it at Gloria Christi. It may not be exactly as you knew it at your home church growing up, but we are seeking to keep
continuity with the Church of the Augsburg Confession and the historic liturgy of the Lutheran Church as it has been known
in the better times of Lutheran history. On this page you'll find some resources for thinking through the issues in
Lutheranism and the LCMS today.
Gloria Christi is a traditional Lutheran church. We stand
out from many other Lutheran churches in that we still follow the historic Lutheran liturgy with reverence and joy in God's
presence. We hold the Bible to be the inspired, errorless, Word of God, that is also powerful its it proclamation
to others. We hold to the Catechism and the other Lutheran Confessions as faithful summaries and applications of God's
Word and that they are therefore normative for our teaching and practice. We recognize that the Church is in the world,
but not of the world, yet while each of us serves God faithfully in our various daily callings (stations) in life (not only
in "church work"). We seek to address the modern, cutting-edge, issues of the day, with the unchanging truth of
God's Word and the historic creeds and confessions of the Church.
We certainly acknowledge that there
will be no outwardly perfect church body or synod on this side of heaven. We
do not believe the Book of Concordmerely represents "what we as Lutherans believe" nor what Lutherans at one time believed. We believe them to be a faithful
articulation and confession of belief and practice which is both entirely evangelical and catholic in the best and original
senses of both terms. In the sound confession of Christ the Holy
Spirit, calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps her with Jesus Christ in the
one true faith. No additions of man can improve upon the Word of God or make it more effective.
Concern for sound doctrine is not merely
a matter of being “conservative” or “liberal” (as if doctrine is on a sliding scale) or about the
purity of a political ideology. It is about truth versus falsehood, orthodoxy vs. heterodoxy, what creates and nurtures
faith versus what destroys false and grounds it in a false object. It is about nutritional food for the soul vs. no
nutrition or even poison. Jesus warned about the leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees? How little leaven (yeast)
can radically change a lump of dough? Even the Great Commission instructs us to teach “all things” Jesus has commanded.
Therefore we cannot pit doctrine and missions (or evangelism) against one another. Evangelism, then, is something
deeper and more profound than "recruitment" or "attracting visitors."
Even though the Church is scattered throughout the whole world, it is One in Christ
Jesus. It exists where the Word of God is taught in truth and purity and where the Sacraments are administered according to
Christ's institution. Confessional Lutheranism understands itself as historic Christian faith and life, nothing
less, nothing more. As the centuries of church history have moved along, various questions have arisen. The Lutheran Confessions
are a set of documents that set forth Biblical answers to those questions. This is why we seek to hold course rather
go the route of generic protestantism as many have unfortunately gone. There are many others, too, who seek to hold
to the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (Many of them are listed here.)
WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISSUES THAT SHOW DIVISION WITHIN THE LCMS?
1. Close(d) vs. Open Communion practice; and whether we may have joint-worship with congregations
or clergy of other confessions/denominations.
Gloria Christi upholds the Scriptural and confessional teaching of closed communion, where full unity in teaching
precedes unity in the Lord's Supper.Altar fellowship is church fellowship.
2. Worship Practices - Whether faithful Lutherans adopt the worship practices of Baptists, Assemblies
of God, or other protestants without harm, danger or watering-down of teaching. Whether all "Christian music" or even
secular music suitable for the context of the church's liturgy
Gloria Christi holds that we may not import the ceremonies, songs, and practices of non-Lutheran church bodies where
they would undermine sound doctrine and practice and give the impression our confession does not differ much from other church
bodies or confessions. We believe that music for the Divine Services of the church should remain distinct from the music
of the world and avoid secular or emotionalistic connotations and that the words should not only teach the truth, but also
that they are Christ-centered rightly applying law and gospel. We believe that the Scriptures do not leave reverence
as an optional thing in liturgy.
3. The service of women in certain church tasks (elder, lector, communion distribution assistant,
president/chair, adult Bible class leader).
In accordance with the teaching of Scripture and our Lutheran Confessions on the order of creation and vocation,
Gloria Christi holds that women may serve in various capacities in the church except those that directly and public assist
the office of pastor by the Word and Sacraments, that are responsible for oversight of doctrine, or such that would comprise
teaching or authority in the church assemblies over adult men.
4. Whether a layman take up the duties of the pastoral office without
call and ordination.
We believe in accordance with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions that no one should publicly preach or administer
the sacraments without being rightly called to the office of the holy ministry.
5. Whether the Word of God is powerful and effective to grow the Church and keep her one, holy, and
apostolic, or whether man-made additions in the realm of marketing, entertainment, and such things are necessary to be "successful."
We believe in accordance with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions that the Word of God is sufficient to bring
growth to the church and keep her one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Turning the Divine Service into entertainment,
a concert, and making the church function like a business franchise is contrary to sound Scriptural teaching regarding the
Gospel and the Church. It is contrary to the New Testament to pit missionary zeal against concern for sound teaching
and reverence. Disciples are made by baptizing and teaching all things that the Lord has given. We recall
that the Lord fished with a net and not a hook and bait. Witnessing chiefly happens when each member of the congregation
lives faithfully in word and deed in their various vocations in life. If we would not speak God's Word to our
neighbor in our daily life, why would we expect them to come to church with us?
There are other issues at stake that all impinge upon the Gospel of Christ. But this are the larger issues at the
forefront of the LCMS. In the ELCA there are even more basic issues at stake. We cannot imagine that we are immune
from the temptations of the devil, the world, and our own flesh, even as we have seen terrible things happen in other church
bodies. We cannot afford to trust in personalities, nostalgia, "Lutheran culture," or just avoiding the critical
issues and hard study of God's Word and our Lutheran Confessions. Otherwise we would be left as a body without an immune
system. A body with no fight is without an immune system.
And so we contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints for the sake of the Gospel (Jude 3).
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word!
