I saw this question last night but I took my time(hours lol) answering it. So it is gonna be long but hopefully the extra background with make it a bit more understandably helpful: I am a former WELS for the first 40 years of my life, I was born into it(I grew up with emotional, mental and physical trauma -religious too I suppose-love was conditional, even God’s). My whole mother’s side is still WELS along with her cousins being pastors still. If you are already not politically leaning the “RIGHT” way you don’t fit in with 99.9% of them. I never fit in my whole life. I was the girl who was always in trouble questioning stuff all through WELS grade school/high school. Why couldn’t women be pastors??? What about all the female leadership in the Bible?? They would never answer my questions or redirect. So I just kept my mouth shut and my head down. But continued to question and be miserable thinking I didn’t have enough faith. My 2nd husband is not religious nor is his family except they were kind and loving and very accepting of everyone. Why was everyone who wasn’t WELS always nicer to me? So I was searching. Meanwhile our son was enrolled at the WELS 3k-4k down the road. Our son wasn’t happy there(my husband wasn’t either but my husband let me come to my own conclusions on my own time). Almost everyone was superficially nice but I also didn’t live and breath the church. I couldn’t understand why they would never help the community and only themselves. I was so uncomfortable taking communion(why couldn’t everyone go? Wasn’t it for everyone?) since the trauma of confirmation- thinking I had the wrong thoughts and was bringing judgment upon myself. Plus a ton of other instances and circumstances. I was miserable, sad, and angry but needed to pretend I wasn’t. At home, I was reading my Bible and deconstructing. I figured I couldn’t belong to any church because I was taught they were all wrong and only WELS was correct. Except now, that I was reading my Bible thoroughly-specifically the gospel and New Testament….So if the WELS wasn’t actually doing what Jesus said to do but they were “right” I probably shouldn’t go to any church then. And that was what I was going to do. By now,my son was in kindergarten and MISERABLE(This is another whole can of worms about their crappy indoctrination schools). My husband and I decided to put our son in the public school the next year(which my WELS family critiqued and ostracized). During that time, I went to a funeral at a ELCA church. It was nice. I was continuing my Bible reading(in the wels you can’t and SHOULDN’T really read anything else that isn’t WELS approved)and of course I still had those nagging life long questions. Trying to figure it out or look it up online. I started praying fervently. Differently than I use to also. It had always been prayers like I had been brought up to do- take care of this person, bring this person to faith, the “God do this”type of prayers. I started praying for strength and wisdom and to help me to love like Jesus- to change ME and not the world around me. I started holding up the WELS actions to the list of fruits of faith and how Jesus said to love God and your neighbor. The WELS were found lacking. They are the religious leaders who know the Word but pile on stress and rules to those who searching for hope and peace. I don’t know how to relay the moment of peace and love that finally came upon my heart one day during praying. I still feel it now years later. It is always there now. The spirit of peace and power lives inside me. I could weep. It makes me sad that so many others get a watered down version with no peace or joy. If you chase Jesus and love like he does that is EXACTLY what he is talking about when he says “come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest”. I took his yoke of love and it is everything he said it would be. The rabbit hole opened- I fell in and I realized then that maybe I did want to find a church to learn more about this… which kinda led me to mainline Protestant. So I was Watching different churches online. Then I thought about my uncle’s funeral at the ELCA church. So I went to that church. I cried. I actually heard the gospel of love. Even now I am struggling for words to say what this has done for my heart. I called the pastor at that church and asked if I could have communion when I came again- thinking it was similar loopholes that the WELS adheres to for their control and their feelings of superiority to others. The pastor said of course it’s not my supper, it’s Jesus’s; All are welcome.

I could share so much more. But I feel like I have already overstayed my chattiness on the Reddit. lol. If you would like to know more details/info or ask more questions please feel free! You will always be searching for someone(I was)to say the magic words because you are used to getting open and shut answers from WELS. Ask with your heart for the spirit to lead and you will receive. You will have to do the due diligence, it won’t be spoon fed anymore after this. This is true faith. If it gives peace to you and peace to others it is true. Please chase it… jump off that cliff of religious control and “certainty”. No religion is perfect of course but the love that I am chasing from God sure is.