vicarbob is not a Lutheran whom I would recognize as a fellow Lutheran.
How did I miss this posting 
Thus far, I have been declared by "some" as not "Catholic' in Faith, now not Lutheran.
Do I dignify the poster with a response.
NOT
To my brother Matthew, thank you and keep up the studies. The Church has need of shepherds like you and your Dad.
I too use the Orthodox Study Bible and find it most helpful.
For the record, I have the highest regard for the LC-MS and have been mentored by some of Her pastors. I have counted LC-MS deacons as collegues and friends. I have been blessed to have come to know the LC-MS throughtout the years and have referred "seekers" Her way. One soon will be consecrated as a deacon.
In the posters attempt to be dismissive of Matt as a "youngster', any of us who have read Matt's sharing on this Forum are blessed by his faithfulness, maturity and his love and passion for ministry. His understanding of the Confessions is beyond his years and is not doubt been because of his parents, pastors, teachers and a host of other saints.
Lastly brother Lutherman, if being a "pewsitter with a checkbook" any way describes your understanding of being a Lutheran-Christian, then your pastor has his work cut out for him. Being a Christian has nothing to do with sitting on your butt and a checkbook.....ain't gettin' ya into heaven. The price has been paid and it wasn't written by you!
Please bear in mind that in the ELCA, being a Lutheran is not a requirement. Being a Lutheran doesn't mean that you've signed up for membership somewhere, being a Lutheran means embracing the Lutheran confessions, culture, and traditions. The ELCA is such a big tent that those three things are not a requirement for membership. The full communion agreements that the ELCA has entered into, plus the recent decisions at the CWA, are proof that one need not be a Lutheran to be a member of the ELCA or even to be an ordained minister in the ELCA.
Your posts over the time I've been reading them indicate that you want to be a clergyman. They also indicate that you're not too fussy about being a Lutheran clergyman, it's just that the ELCA was the organization that accepted you for inclusion in their training program. Your posts about things like the position of Mary and your insistence that you will be a "presbyter" instead of a minister or pastor give evidence that deep down inside, you'd prefer to be a Roman Catholic Priest, but you're settling for becoming an ELCA clergyman.
There's nothing wrong with that.
You feel called to serve God as leader of a congregation of Christians. That's a good thing. You're working through an organization that is empowering you to achieve your goal. That's a good thing. Technically speaking, you'll be ordained as a "Lutheran" despite not really buying into the whole Lutheran thing, but that's not a big deal in the ELCA. Given our full-communion agreements, there could be clergy serving ELCA congregations who are Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Mennonites, or members of the UCC. None of them are "recognized" as Lutherans, but it doesn't stand in their way of serving God by serving as leader of a congregation. So, when you become a "presbyter" instead of a Lutheran Pastor, that will be a good thing. If your congregation accepts you as their Minister, what difference does it make if you're really Lutheran or not? If the ELCA doesn't care that you aren't really a Lutheran, why should you feel offended if other people don't recognize you as Lutheran?
The truth be told, there are some graduates of Lutheran seminaries who've been ordained in the ELCA (or a predecessor body) and who are on the roster of the ELCA who are even less "Lutheran" than you. But that also doesn't matter. The ELCA doesn't enforce any rules requiring its clergy to be "Lutheran", so it clearly doesn't matter.
