As an WELS Lutheran I am dismayed that Missouri would ponder fellowship with a denomination that has so many doctrinal differences. WELS suspended fellowship with Missouri in the 60's because of it's departure from pure doctrine that even their own spiritual leader Walther would have abhorred. Yet rather than return to a conservative course that would bring it back to a God pleasing dialogue with fellow conservative Lutherans, it chooses instead to chase after denominations that do not even subscribe to the Book of Concord. This is very disappointing, yet I will continue to pray for Missouri to one day to return to its strong position of orthodoxy that it held when it guided a small synod called the WELS into a conservative denomination.