In reply to Lüzia Trexler.

Luzia, I agree totally with your "insular" description of a typical LCMS member. Shortly after my wife and I were married 46 years ago, due to a confrontation with my home church minister concerning her beliefs concerning baptism and communion, we left the LCMS and joined an evangelical congregation. We stayed in that denomination for almost 25 years before joining a large ELCA congregation. We came back to the LCMS 4 years ago and I feel as if the life is being drained out of me. I no longer feel the joy at knowing Jesus that I knew in those 30 years. It is almost like venturing into a black hole. The LCMS has a handle on theology and God's Word but the laity is so caught up in liturgy and 16th century german hymns that we forget that we are the only Bible that an unbeliever will ever read. Who wants to be a part of such a joyless group?