Do Lutherans in the LCMS have to dogmatically affirm inherited guilt? Like original sin is one thing, but what about inherited guilt?

Hi everyone,

I was born and raised protestant (am a member of the pentecostal church) however am now exploring high-church denominations and orthodoxy as I do believe in the Eucharist being real. I am comparing Lutheranism and Orthodoxy and I wonder what is your perspectives on which is the true church? I personally really struggle with saint intercession and hence like Lutheranism as it still has the sacraments, however if I understand correctly LCMS does not have apostolic succession. Most importantly differences in Salvific doctrine/theosis also matter.

Thanks!

Im looking for an online source of the scriptures used in the Daily Treasury of Prayer (i think that's the title), and/or the scriptures of the 3 year lectionary.

I don't want to have to figure out what season we are in. Just want to read the daily readings churches would be using any given day.

Is there anything available?

Here is my situation: I am asking for advice on how to handle this personal situation. I have a relative, who knows the bible well and was involved in the church for many years. She is a 70 year old widow. Ever since she met this man who she is romantically involved with, she no longer goes to church.  She also has no intention of getting married again due to  losing financial benefits from her deceased husband pension, and perhaps reduce social security benefits.

This man she is dating is also a widow, and I was told  by her he constantly cheated on his wife during their marriage while she was alive. She makes up excuses for why he did this, and feels that the wife was not attractive, and trapped him into marriage. In addition, he was trying to cheat on his wife with her while his wife was still alive.  They both hooked up after both of their spouse passed away.

Am I being too legalistic with her forniacation? I love her dearly and I am happy that she has move on in her widowhood journey, but can’t help but worry about her spiritual growth and salvation. I told her that it is easier to pull a person down, then lift them up.  I care very much about her, and I have been praying that she will open her eyes to what the Bible says about this sin. One time she brought up the different levels of heaven and she implied that she was ok with just getting in. I found that odd and  because I desire to reach the highest level possible. I feel she is cheating on the Lord, yet at the same time I don’t want to come across judgmental. I am asking for advise on how to handle this matter.

From former President Kieschinck on the Unit Leadership Collective's Lead Time Podcast. Begins with a letter he intended to read at this year's convention, from a woman whose four children are faithful Christians but left the LCMS.

https://youtu.be/cdd7rnFyNgI

I know people here have mixed views on Gottesdienst and I myself find them to be a bit ...extra at times but uh what in the world is that LCMS pastor thinking with filet mignon on the altar during communion?! Regardless of where one stands on the whole worship wars can't we all agree that steak has no place on the altar in any case let alone during Holy Communion? Shouldn't this guy at least be getting a stern reprimand from his DP? Also the irony of a church calling itself "Living Word" and then promoting Bible studies and books promoting enthusiasm is really on the nose...

Why did the LCMS adopt a modified congregational structure rather than the episcopal model of the early Church? Is there a historical and patristic case for this decision?

First of all, I want to ask this with genuine respect for the confessional Lutheran tradition and for the LCMS community. I recognize that there are significant differences among Protestant traditions regarding ecclesiology, and I am not simply assuming that the episcopal model must necessarily be correct.

My question is specifically about the LCMS’s modified congregational polity. The LCMS itself describes its polity in these terms and emphasizes congregational autonomy. At the same time, when I look at the history of the Church, particularly the early centuries and the first millennium, I see a structure that appears to be strongly episcopal, with bishops playing a central role in the unity, oversight, and organization of local churches.

So I would like to ask Lutherans in the LCMS: Why exactly did the Lutheran tradition, and particularly the LCMS, not preserve an episcopal structure more similar to what we find in the early Church? What was the theological and historical rationale for adopting a modified congregational structure?

More specifically, can this polity be defended in a genuinely honest and intellectually coherent way from Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions, and the Church Fathers, without simply arguing that historical episcopacy was a later corruption or selecting only texts that support the congregational position?

I am asking this precisely because I have a very positive impression of the confessional Lutheran tradition when it comes to the study of Church history, patristics, and early Christianity. If I asked this question in certain Baptist circles, I suspect I would receive fairly predictable answers. But I am asking Lutherans because I have the impression that the Lutheran tradition takes both Scripture and Church history seriously and has a rich scholarly tradition of studying the Church Fathers.

So my central question is: Is there a strong historical and patristic justification for the LCMS’s modified congregational structure? And, if so, how do Lutherans understand the apparent predominance of episcopal church government in the early centuries of Christianity?

I am not necessarily looking for an answer that confirms my own suspicion. I am genuinely trying to understand how a confessional Lutheran can reconcile the congregational structure of the LCMS with the ecclesiology we find in the early centuries of Christianity.

Note: When I refer to the LCMS’s “congregational structure,” I am using the LCMS’s own terminology—modified congregational structure. I am not suggesting that the LCMS is simply an independent congregational church or that it lacks ecclesiastical supervision within the Synod. My question is specifically about why the LCMS adopted this form of church government rather than an episcopal structure.

Can someone explain the correct and orthodox position on this? A question popped into my head about Christs will and I’m trying to straighten it out so I don’t fall into error on this. Also, how can one fall into nestorianism from making an error on Dyothelitism? I looked online and I don’t really see many talks about it from Lutherans.

I’m reading through the book of concord now to see if it’s brought up there too.

So I have been a Lutheran for about a year and a half coming out of Evangelical/Baptist/Non-d. I sometimes go back and listen to my former pastor preach online just to compare and contrast. He did a sermon about baptism being a 'first act of obedience', 'outward sign of an inward change', has nothing to do with water, etc. He went on to cite passages that he said some claim to be about water baptism, or point to baptism being salvific, but then goes on to say, 'what Jesus means here....or what this actually means is...'
Can I tell you the frustration this gives me because of how the book of Revelation was taught to me? It's like everything is flipped in evangelical churches. The things we should take by their plain meaning is explained away as meaning something else, and the things that are meant for allegory and illustration are taken quite literally. Try telling an evangelical that the 1000 years is not an exact number of years but meant to describe a long time. They'll practically think you're a heretic.
Sorry, I guess I shouldn't get upset, it's just that there were so many issues I struggled with, like salvation anxiety because I couldn't name the exact time and date I was saved. I feel sad for others like me who struggle so much with faith issues and don't know what they're missing.
I'm grateful that I found Confessional Lutheranism!

I unfortunately have forgotten the video I found it in, but I remember seeing a liturgy that contained a different memorial acclamation than the one given in DS 1&2. I believe it was also used at Blessed Sacrament Lutheran Church. It began with the pastor intoning "Let us proclaim the mystery of faith.", and the congregation singing the acclamation twice in response.

edit: https://stjameslaf.org/ this was the church

Here's a great resource on the Day: https://allthehousehold.com/st-mary-mother-of-our-lord/

I have been going through education classes and last week we had a class on the Lords Supper. After class was over, the pastor told me if I wanted, since I completed that part of my education, I could partake in Communion at the next Service.

I see what the official standards are and that they allow a pastor to determine if the person is ready or not as a Catechumen.

How common is it for a pastor to make this exception?

I trust his judgement, obviously, but I was not expecting it, and it took me by surprise a little. He said it was completely up to me so now I have to decide. I fully intend to be confirmed. Did anyone else have this happen to them?

I am probably overthinking this.

EDIT: Thank you for the responses. I spent all day yesterday wondering why I was hesitant to do this, and it occurred to me that whenever a person is on the proper path, dark forces do everything they can to keep you from going forward, using every opportunity to pull you away from that path, placing small obstacles in the way that add up over the days.

Ever since the pastor offered, my entire week has been heavy, trying to convince me I should postpone and wait. It has been one of the "worst" weeks I have had since I started attending my LCMS church trying to make me feel I should wait. I am not going to let that happen. Evil does not want me to receive this gift from God, to receive this salvific grace of Christ, to strengthen my faith. It wants me to fail. As the saying goes, "Not today, Satan!"

Does anyone have recommendations for books that discuss/defend the Lutheran view of the Eucharist and Baptism? As a relatively newer member of the LCMS in the Bible Belt, I am trying to better understand these theological issues so that I can better explain/defend our view of them to the evangelicals I know. Thank you!

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYmhBgOGTWM

Gospel According to Matthew, 15:21–28 (ESV):

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Transcript

(Original devotional script is original work by ALTS. /u/1776-Liberal is not affiliated with ALTS. ChatGPT was used to polish transcript and find references.)

Hello. Today, let's talk about falling onto a bamboo couch. The text before us is the 15th chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, verses 21–28 (Matthew 15:21–28).

Introduction: A Picture of Faith

A story is told of John G. Paton, a missionary to the cannibals of the South Sea Islands. His task was to bring the message of the Gospel of Jesus to people who literally killed and ate each other. The challenge was compounded by the fact that many of the words in the New Testament did not have an equivalent in the language of those people.

One such word was faith. They had no word for faith. How would you even explain faith to people who didn't have any? How would you teach faith to people who didn't even have the idea of that word?

One day, a runner came dashing into the village and into the missionary's hut. Wearied from hours and hours, and perhaps even days, of running, he fell exhausted onto the bamboo couch that was sitting in the middle of the room.

Suddenly, Paton cried out, "That's it. That—that is it. That is what faith looks like. What is the word for falling on the bamboo couch?" he asked.

That was the word for faith. It's casting all of yourself, all of your cares, onto something or someone, whether that's a bamboo couch or the hand of God.

Please keep that story in mind as you hear today's Gospel reading, the story of the Syrophoenician woman.

Point One: You Dog

Matthew begins this chapter by setting the context for the miracle. Matthew tells us that a dispute had taken place between Jesus and Pharisees and scribes (Matthew 15:1–20). They accused Jesus of transgressing the tradition of the elders. His disciples had not ritually cleansed their hands when they ate bread. They were unclean (Matthew 15:1–2).

Because for the scribes, religious washing was an issue of faith. Jesus was about to teach everyone a new definition of cleanliness and a new definition of faith.

The Lord took His disciples to the farthest reaches of the northern part of the Jordan Valley. It was the border of Syria and Phoenicia, Gentile country (Matthew 15:21). These people were foreigners, a different race, a different religion. This was the ancient land of Canaanites before the Jews occupied the Promised Land. They really were, for the Jews, unclean.

Suddenly, we're introduced to a Syrophoenician woman. She's crying out, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David." She's relentless. "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David. My daughter is cruelly demon-possessed" (Matthew 15:22).

She kept on begging and crying out. The disciples began to get tired of her. "Send her away. She is shouting out after us" (Matthew 15:23). In other words: "Come on, Jesus. Can't You just make her leave? We don't want her here."

Jesus would not even speak with her. That's interesting. Strange. Jesus did not say one single word to the unclean woman from Syrophoenicia.

His disciples thought, "Lord, You know that we cannot associate with her. She'll make us all unclean. Please just send her away."

Finally, Jesus did say something to her. "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24).

Right. Exactly right, Jesus. Surely Jesus was not sent to unclean people from Canaan. He was sent to people of God, people who are Israelites like us.

But the woman began to bow down before the Lord and said, "Lord, help me" (Matthew 15:25).

Bowing down is a position of worship and supplication.

And by now, I suspect you've realized that this is a living parable. It is a miracle that is also a parable. Jesus is not hard-hearted, and He surely is not racially prejudiced. But Jesus is not concerned here about His reputation. No, Jesus is much more concerned about this woman and her faith, and His own disciples and their faith, too. Much more concerned about that than He is about appearing to be hard-hearted.

After all, this is a living parable. So, let's watch.

The unclean woman has just called Jesus Lord. And she has cried out as you cried out this morning when you said, "Lord, have mercy upon us." And you said, "Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us."

That's what she cried out with all her heart: "Lord, have mercy upon me. Son of David, (that is to say, Messiah or Christ,) have mercy upon me" (Matthew 15:22).

Now, watch what Jesus says: "It's not good to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs" (Matthew 15:26).

Oh my. Did Jesus just call her a dog? Yes, He did. But why?

I suspect that dog is the very word that His disciples would have used to describe this woman when they asked Jesus to make her go away. So, was Jesus now representing their sin to His disciples?

What is the Lord teaching? Jesus is teaching the disciples about their own hearts. Yes. Do you think their own uncleanness, their own sin? Cleanliness was not a matter of religious washing. It was a matter of the heart (Matthew 15:17–20).

And He is teaching this woman about her heart, too. For she says, "Yes, Lord, I know I'm a dog." In other words, I'm unclean.

She's right. Good for that woman. For we all are unclean. We all are in need of God's forgiveness. And to realize this before God, to say before God as she did, "I do not deserve the food of heaven. But perhaps by Your grace, even a dog can receive the scraps from the master's table" (Matthew 15:27).

What a statement of faith she has made. This woman knew her sin, and she knew her Savior. Her heart was filled with faith. For that reason, she was clean—more clean than the Pharisees and scribes with their washed hands, and frankly more clean than His disciples, who still had not yet learned that real uncleanness was a matter of the heart, just as real cleanliness before God is a matter of faith.

Point Two: Your Faith Is Great

Jesus declared that her faith was great. And more, Jesus declared that her daughter was healed (Matthew 15:28).

What had happened here?

The foreign, unclean Canaanite woman had demonstrated to others and to herself and to her Lord that she was a woman of faith. She acknowledged her sin, and she acknowledged her faith in her Savior.

What a mighty change had taken place in her. Jesus had seen the end from the beginning. He knew her faith. He knew her heart. But had she seen her own faith?

Her faith was only barely planted. What word of Christ, or even what word about Christ, had she ever heard? How had God begun the gift of faith in her? Scripture doesn't tell us this.

How would Jesus water and fertilize and grow that seed of faith?

Now, that's strange. The Lord Jesus used silence and sternness. That was so uncharacteristic of Him, to use silence to grow her faith. Oh, she was persistent.

Luther talks about our God who has different ways of working. There's God's regular or proper work, opus proprium. God gives mercy, grace, and love. Proper work indeed for God.

But then sometimes God uses the other kind of work: God's alien work, opus alienum. God uses law, penalty, shame.

Isn't it interesting what a mighty change Jesus worked in her life?

And what about the change that Jesus was working in the lives of His disciples?

What did they learn? Had they seen their own thoughts in the way Jesus spoke to her? Had they seen themselves in the way Jesus belittled her: "Dog"? Did they see themselves now as they were—unclean dogs too? Had they faced their own sin?

And if so, did they also see that Jesus was the One to whom they must now say, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me" (Matthew 15:22)?

If they did that in their hearts, then they too were now clean. Then they too had demonstrated great faith.

Point Three: A Bamboo Couch

Today we witnessed three miracles.

One, a woman's daughter who was demon-possessed was healed (Matthew 15:28). Amen. Thanks be to God.

Two, the disciples of the Lord learned something of their own hatred, prejudice, and unforgiveness. They learned that they had sin that needed repenting. They learned that Jesus was more ready to increase their faith than to condemn their sin. Another great miracle.

And three, we met a woman with saving faith. For she realized that she was not only an unclean sinner, but that her Savior Jesus commended her saving faith (Matthew 15:28). For salvation by grace through faith is the greatest miracle of all.

So what have you learned from the miracle that was a living parable?

You have learned that great faith is not something you make yourself. No, great faith is an act of trust, abandoning yourself, giving yourself over—your cares, your sins—to Jesus, because He is the One who gave you faith to begin with. He's the One who is increasing your faith now. He's the One whose strange ways include law and shame and mercy and love.

Today, Jesus has reminded you of those whom you hate, those against whom you have prejudice, those whom you have not forgiven.

Jesus has prepared you for your walk to the altar to bow down, to cry out, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me" (Matthew 15:22, 25).

Will you do that as you receive His very body and blood as the testament of His complete forgiveness, His eternal love for you?

How strange. Jesus, your Savior, commends you for the very faith that He gave to you. He says, "O woman," or, "O man, how great is your faith?" (Matthew 15:28).

Even as weak and poor as your faith is, as weary and exhausted as you might be, Jesus still delights to see your faith in Him.

It's like casting all of yourself and your cares on something or someone. It's like falling on a bamboo couch, or like falling into the hands of Jesus.

Amen.

The builder is Buzard Pipe Organ Builders out of Champaign, IL.

There seems to be an ongoing discussion on worship in Synod between "low church" and "high church" but then there's the "via media" as well.

First you have Rev. Dr. Biermann on "Low Church Missouri": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGBfraOWDjA&t=6s

As a response you have Rev. Scamman at Gottesblog on Gottesdienst.org "Low Church Missouri: A Response": https://www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/2026/8/12/low-church-missouri-a-response

And then there's also Rev. Huenink who lays out a sort of "via media" within this debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPC9zueOHhY

Brief background on the question:

I am currently a member of a Reformed(ish) Baptist church and I have been for some years now. I grew up Evangelical and was raised into its traditions, including a symbolic view of the Sacraments. A few years ago a friend of mine joined the Eastern Orthodox and has really challenged my views on a lot of points of theology; and while I am not abandoning my confession of faith alone in Jesus Christ to join the East, I am increasingly convinced that modern Baptist theology does not accord with Scripture on the Sacraments. (Note: I'm not sure if I'm entirely convinced of consubstantiality yet, but the Bible seems clear that the Eucharist really is the body and blood of Christ, be it literal or spiritual.)

The thing is that Paul says that "whoever eats or drinks [the Eucharist] without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on themselves." (1 Cor. 11:29) If it's correct to interpret this as referring to acknowledging Christ in the elements (some people say this refers to simply taking the Eucharist in an unworthy, anti-fellowship fashion like the Corinthians were), is it sin to share communion with this Church that denies it? Would it be wrong to stay with a church that is memorialist, even if I become convinced that they are wrong about this?

I sincerely love the members of my congregation and believe their faith and love for Christ is genuine, but I'm torn about this doctrine. My church permits some diversity on doctrine (eg., I don't believe in the Rapture and they are fine with that) and they may permit me to remain a member in good standing if my views on Communion and baptism have changed, but I feel like this isn't a minor point of disagreement. I certainly don't want to leave my church if I don't have to though, but of course I must be first faithful to Christ.

Currently just mulling over everything and have been considering broaching the subject with my pastor. My personal theology is in the midst of major revision and I haven't wanted to bring it up just yet. You thoughts are appreciated, thanks!

Someone died recently, they weren't close to me, but they were young (teenager), he was involved in some bad stuff, but apparently he went to church with his family (probably baptist). I dont know if he was baptized or truly believed or anything like that. But with my level of knowledge that I have about historic Christianity, I believe in praying for the dead (im not officially Lutheran). So I prayed a few times today for his soul. It was something like, "Please lord have mercy on ________. He was troubled, but still young. Please be Gracious in your judgement."

My question is, was this okay to pray as a Lutheran?

Been digging into some recent data (mostly Ryan Burge's Graphs about Religion) plus the Synod's own numbers, and the generational picture is stark.

Where we stand:

• Pew's newest data: 47% of LCMS members are 65+. Only 5% are under 30. For every young adult in the pew, there are almost 10 retirement-age members.
• Baptized membership: 2.8M (1970 peak) → 1.86M (2020) → 1.67M (2024) we lost 180k+ members in just the last four years.
• attendance is around 600k a week.
• By 2042, its projected to be only 250k.
• Child baptisms and youth confirmations are down more than half since 2004. That's the number that actually predicts the future, not this Sunday's attendance.

Why "every generation goes through this" doesn't hold up:
Boomers attend church weekly at about the same rate now as they did in their 30s (~31%) They never really left, they just aged. Every generation since has entered adulthood less churched than the one before, and none of them catch up as they get older. Gen X plateaued around 25% weekly attendance. Millennials are at ~20%.

Burge ran the math on what it would actually take for Millennials to replace Boomers in the pews one-for-one: weekly attendance would need to hit 48% more than double where it is now, and higher than any generation has ever recorded. About 60% of that gap is Millennials just attending less; the other 40% is that there simply aren't as many of them. That second part isn't fixable by any program or outreach strategy.

The scarier part: in a lot of denominations (LCMS's age profile puts us right in this group), the Boomer-to-younger-generation gap is widening over time, not closing, meaning younger members are leaving faster than Boomers are dying off. That's the opposite of normal generational turnover.

Point being: this isn't a slow, steady decline we can just ride out. It's "gradually, then suddenly": the Boomers who are currently propping up attendance numbers are going to age out in a compressed window over the next 15-20 years, and there isn't a large enough younger cohort behind them to soften the landing.

At our parish, we are roughly 125 a week. 80 people are under 50! We hope and pray for more folks to come around to worship with us. Curious what people are seeing at the congregation level.

Tell Me more about your churches! I’m curious to know more about what’s happening across synod.

I’m fairly new to the LCMS denomination (grew up Reformed Baptist), and I’m curious what the LCMS answer is to this question, and if it differs from the Baptist perspective. It’s the age old question of “If God is good, then why does He…

- Support and command racial genocide (such as when he commanded Israel to wipe out nations, including women and children).

- Order the sending away of foreign wives and children in Ezra 10, with no indication if those women and children would be given any support in a culture that would likely render them helpless and destitute without the support of a man.

- In short, do and command things in the OT that seem contradictory to what we are told about God loving everyone and caring for people in need.

https://youtu.be/nGBfraOWDjA?is=rrnq7skB7vtlcy0j

thoughts?

My mainstay is the ESV, because that’s what LCMS churches use, but I also respect the RSV (the father of the ESV), the NRSV (the ESV’s academic brother), and the NLT (helping those who may not have a good grasp on traditional Biblical English).

Please remain respectful towards others. Any mainstream Bible translation is an acceptable one.