The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Position on Prayer Fellowship: How It Contributed to the Break in Fellowship between WELS and LC-MS As Chronicled in the Pages of Theologische Quartalschrift

Abstract

Jason Baldwin’s essay explores the doctrinal controversy surrounding prayer fellowship that contributed significantly to the eventual break in fellowship between the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Drawing extensively from articles and essays published in the Theologische Quartalschrift (later Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly), Baldwin traces the theological developments from 1938 to 1961, highlighting Missouri’s shift toward a “levels of fellowship” approach. This shift, particularly evident in Missouri’s 1944 Saginaw Resolution and subsequent practices, conflicted with WELS’s scriptural understanding of fellowship as a unit concept requiring full doctrinal agreement. The essay details the patient admonition by WELS theologians, including Edmund Reim, John P. Meyer, and Carl Lawrenz, and the eventual decision to suspend fellowship in 1961. Baldwin emphasizes the importance of doctrinal clarity and unity, and the enduring legacy of those who defended the integrity of confessional Lutheranism. —Abstract prepared by Microsoft Copilot (GPT-4)