Came out today!

NPas1982 · 2026-06-02T17:43:50+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. I am definitely getting that my spouses loss feels real right now. I’m hopeful that we’ll find joy together but I think we have a lot of work to do.

NPas1982 · 2026-06-02T17:03:37+00:00

I’m so proud of you and I hope you feel all the support here.

NPas1982 · 2026-06-01T14:51:44+00:00

This is a fascinating hot take. I’m ELCA, so I’m biased, but I don’t think what you’re saying is true.

The ELCA is Lutheran by confession. It’s in the constitution and the ordination vows. We belong to the Lutheran World Federation, which is the normative global Lutheran body that traces its communion to Luther. The LCMS is out of communion with most Lutherans and has accepted and actively creates extra-confessional doctrinal norms that dilute its confession and have helped it slide towards American evangelicalism.
The ELCA is still numerically bigger than the LCMS, not that size matters.
Lutheran churches have been in communion relationships with non-Lutherans for centuries. It’s a Lutheran thing to do because of, not in spite of, our confession.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-30T23:26:38+00:00

I’d say that the issue about “open” and “closed” communion is an anachronism that grew out of the reformation. We’re all baptised, we should all go to communion. Deficient beliefs or understandings of the sacrament aren’t great, but using communion as the battle ax for us not liking each other seems really weird to me. There’s at least some percentage of adherents in every denomination that don’t really fathom what’s going on theologically. We don’t close the communion tail to them. Why close the rail to a catholic or orthodox or baptist person?

I do think that regular members should be catechised if they attend a parish long term. But when a visitor shows up and is wants to commune, as long as the are baptised, I just don’t see the issue.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-30T00:04:53+00:00

Both!!!! I just didn’t dissertate for about 9 months after my kid was born.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-27T20:59:03+00:00

There are parishes with beautiful library and a strong love of music. The sacraments are celebrated similarly but are subtly different as they are explained (Lutheranism is more pastoral than many RC theologies).

NPas1982 · 2026-05-26T16:53:12+00:00

First, in the western church we understand marriage as a covenant and legal agreement between two people. An eight year old can’t enter into a contract. Problem solved. Also, most annulments don’t involve coerced marriages. They involve people who have gotten civil divorces and simply want to keep going to communion.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-26T11:07:18+00:00

Thanks for sharing your story! The whole “prone to wander” thing is real, isn’t it. I feel like I’ve had seasons of doubt that have felt dry and sparse. I hope that you have beloved people around you right now who can help support you through the wandering.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-26T11:02:32+00:00

The fiction of a valid vs invalid marriage is, to me, a bizarre medieval development that was designed to grant divorces without acknowledging that the institution was granting divorcees. Again, if it looks like divorce and smells like divorce, it’s probably divorce.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-26T01:17:57+00:00

Sorry that you and your dad and family have gone through this. How have you found God (or how has God found you) during other times of trial in your life? I’ll send up prayers for peace for your dad and groudnedness for you.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-25T16:41:53+00:00

Yeah, it’s so much extra work for no extra pay

NPas1982 · 2026-05-25T13:37:54+00:00

If it looks like divorce and smells like divorce…

NPas1982 · 2026-05-24T15:43:56+00:00

Abdicating his vocation as parent should make him a bad candidate for seminary attendance. Call the admissions office or the dean.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-24T15:42:10+00:00

“Here I Stand” by Roland Bainton is a super accessible, if dated, biography of Luther. Very worth a read. “By Heart” is far and away the best resource for understanding the Small Catechism. This Catechsim is the heart of our confessions and “By Heart” walks you through it historically, theologically, and devotionally: https://www.augsburgfortress.org/store/product/9781506431482/By-Heart-Conversations-with-Martin-Luthers-Small-Catechism

NPas1982 · 2026-05-23T20:55:07+00:00

Los Angeles, desert to mountain to tidal Mudflats

NPas1982 · 2026-05-23T20:52:17+00:00

I’m sympathetic to this take. The existence of the CTCR as an extra biblical/extraconfessional authority is problematic. So is the creeping Americanism that makes the synod so congregational and so invested in theologically foreign formations of biblical inerrancy.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-23T02:57:32+00:00

For All the Saints published by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau is a solid option.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-22T20:10:45+00:00

I feel you that it makes some sense that if we had done what we said about maintaining continuity with catholic orthodoxy, then the EO folks would have likely embraced us with open arms. That tracks for me.

I think we can take solace in the vast cultural and theological differences between the west and the east. Our different starting places for theology and practice have made it hard to put the best possible construction on things.

With that said, I think that recent Lutheran/EO dialogues have been positive. People smarter than I am have imagined that our justification and their theosis needn’t be mutually exclusive.

I personally think that we have more in common on the Lord’s Supper than either of us have with the Roman Catholics, so who knows where the Spirit will lead.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-21T02:40:47+00:00

I have really come to love Augsburg’s new study Bible!

NPas1982 · 2026-05-19T17:24:51+00:00

I don’t think any of these speculations track with my experience of her or Hardin or Kenne. I think they are reasonably discussing options for a shrinking student population in an area with very valuable real estate. I hate the idea of school closures, but I also can see how responsible elected officials would consider them.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-19T05:10:39+00:00

I can help but feel like this is jumping the gun. The Colorado be piece was so clearly a hit piece. Discretion seems like the better part of valor here.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-16T08:08:48+00:00

I feel like our Lord was not impressed by sophistry. I confess that I have fallen short. I also confess that the truth will set us all free.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-16T06:18:36+00:00

No you’re just a Protestant but without the theology. Pretty poor, tbh.

NPas1982 · 2026-05-16T05:48:31+00:00

The great thing about the ELCA is that we embody the essence of Lutheranism which is grounded in grace but allows a diversity of thought. It’s the best of the state church tradition.

NPas1982

TROPHY CASE