tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post522390703189690071..comments2024-03-29T04:31:15.219-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Close(d) CommunionPastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-82827040940653898622014-09-15T08:00:09.323-05:002014-09-15T08:00:09.323-05:00Unlike the ELCA where the publishing house DOES pu...Unlike the ELCA where the publishing house DOES put out their hymnal, the LCMS prepares, approves in convention, and publishes its own hymnal internally, CPH takes on only the practical stuffing of getting it on paper, bound, and sold.Lutheran Lurkernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-4308633036625609982014-09-14T20:23:42.985-05:002014-09-14T20:23:42.985-05:00"...closed communion never was predicated upo..."...closed communion never was predicated upon membership but on faith and confession." I can scarcely believe that you wrote that, Pastor Peters. That I could agree with, but I have been told by numerous LCMS clergy and members that it is ALL about membership.<br /><br />Their arguments usually go along the lines, "If you believe the same things we do, then you would be a member of the LCMS. Since you are not a member of the LCMS, you, a priori, do not believe the same things we do." A nice tight circle!<br /><br />The sticking point, as I see it is the phrase, "believe the same things we do." I dare say that I do believe the same things that faithful member of the LCMS believe about the nature of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross, the reality of His presence in the Communion elements, and a host of other theological concerns. My views of the sacrament are at least as high as any I have ever heard expressed by the LCMS. I disagree with the congregational polity of the LCMS, the way that the theology changes whenever Concordia Pub. house decides to put out a new hymnal, and hence a new version of the service (Lex Credendi, Lex Orandi).<br /><br />No, I think it is ALL about membership. To make it about belief would be simply too messy, too demanding, too difficult, for the typical pastor and parish to deal with. It is easier to tell other to simply drop dead, as I have been told.<br /><br />Fr. D+<br />Anglican PriestAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-69275299030915702452014-09-14T14:19:27.060-05:002014-09-14T14:19:27.060-05:00This would require the pastor to be involved in th...This would require the pastor to be involved in the lives of the congregation. Maybe that's why the argument is reframmed, to avoid this inconvenience. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-71986448370750550122014-09-14T13:35:03.102-05:002014-09-14T13:35:03.102-05:00So unless a pastor hears the private confession of...So unless a pastor hears the private confession of a communicant prior to each Communion that person should not be communed? To do so would make that pastor/congregation/synod non-confessional. The LCMS is clearly a non-confessional church.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com