WELS People Wig Out about Traditional Worship - Warning the Blogger and Others. WELS Documented Blog

So Lutherans are catholic because they wear albs?
I would ask you to be consistent then and agree that the following people are not part of the universal or catholic church:
So Luther was not a catholic?
Neither were any of the signers of the book of concord?
Neither was Paul?
Neither was my grandfather? (A very faithful preacher who I doubt had ever heard of an alb.)
Were there no catholic churches at all until the alb was standardized (in the Roman church, not the Eastern church yet) until a council in 1215 declared them standard?
This seems to be a very strange and difficult position to defend.
I disagree with almost your entire list of what makes a church "catholic" but pointing out the flawed thinking of this particular point was the easiest.
Stephen

Curious as to who compiled this post? Was it one of the blog administrators or another source? Thank you!

Stephen,

You've missed the differentiation between Catholic (capital C) and catholic (small c). Without this differentiation, I'm sure this article was blur. This article is not saying that Lutherans are capital C Catholic. That would be saying that Lutherans hold to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Instead, this article is simply showing Lutherans to be small c catholic. That is, part of the universal church in which all of these traditions have been used for many centuries.

In other words, someone may choose to wear an alb, have ashes placed on his forehead on Ash Wednesday, receive Holy Communion weekly, and conduct private confession and absolution and still be called Lutheran and not Catholic, all because these are things done in the church catholic. I believe if you re-read the above post with this in mind, you'll see it in a much different light.

WD2

You might want to reconsider an article that links to any ELCA church and uses their material to describe what a confessional Lutheran is: http://www.holytrinitychicago.org/about/lutheran

Is there a better example of a church body that is NOT a confessional Lutheran chrurch? Do the outward forms make them confessional?

I have to add my voice to the brotherly critics. Say that these practices are good and beneficial. Say that they are wise. Say that they are loving expressions of the truth. Do NOT say or even imply that they are what make Lutherans confession or catholic. Your last paragraph is perfectly accurate. But following as a conclusion to a whole list of outward practices would lead the reader to think that the preceding list is what demonstrates faithfulness to the apostles' teaching. If you did not mean to give that impression, then you need to be much more clear in what you write. Legalism, even when dressed in the finest historic practices and traditions, is still legalism.

You are doing a disservice to those who want to uphold the traditions of the historic Lutheran liturgy and other historic practices by implying that they are somehow required for genuine confessional Lutheranism. Those who want to jettison the liturgy and move toward non-Lutheran forms of worship will be encouraged by pointing to peopel such as you who claim that confessional Lutheranism is somehow based on outward rites, traditions, and ceremonies.

Encourage such things by teaching, not by implying that they are somehow the shibboleths of confessional Lutheranism.

In other words, just stop.

Coming from a place in my former WELS experience from 2003-2011, I would have to ask the last three pastors I had; "What is your motivation to move away from the traditional forms of worship?" If they were honest with that question, I think you would be shocked. The Rick Techlin case is a microcosm of what is wrong in the WELS. They won't deal with it subjectively, nor will they deal with it objectively; and church growth methods continue to grow like a cancer. They are no longer Lutherans...catholic for that matter, but just another protestant sect in America.

My theory is that the WELS pastors that started the trend away from historic catholic practices were bored with their own church experience when they were young adults. These pastors convinced themselves that it's partly their fault that thousands are dying each day without faith and it is up to them to remove the barriers that hinders the Holy Spirit. The first problem with this is that everyone has different barriers and one can not remove them all. I am confident that the Holy Spirit is able to work through any obstacle even through our sin might get in the way.