Pr. Hannah, thank you for your kind words in Reply #30 about my posts on the livestream of the recent WELS convention. One may want more information about the NALC convocation. The ELCA, LCMS, NALC, and WELS all appear to have three common concerns:
1. A demographic trend of falling membership which perhaps in the case of the NALC is limited to an aging pastoral roster.
https://thenalc.org/projects/meet-bishop-elect-dan-selbo/#1565403259487-bd42b8e6-39cd -- What Challenges Do You See Facing the NALC?
2. Financial funding is tight requiring spending investment income or cash reserves. The NALC budget plans to use cash resources.
https://thenalc.org/wp-content/uploads/NALC-Convo-Insert-2019.pdf3. Ongoing dialogues with other Lutheran church -bodies which may have no clear future outcome -- ELCA with NALC, for NALC add also the LCMS, for the LCMS add also the ELS/ WELS, and for the WELS add also the Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC). If you took the ends of this chain of ongoing dialogues; the ELCA and the CLC the differences in doctrine and practice is so great that any attempt at dialogue would be meaningless.
“In accord with a Churchwide Assembly resolution in 2013, the ELCA maintains regular contact with the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). Together with leaders from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), Presiding Bishop Eaton and others have met several times with NALC leaders in order to build relationships, exchange information and discuss difficult issues.”
ELCA report on Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations
Rev. Dave Benke – Reply #42: “My estimation is that the most endangered of the three in the Missouri Synod … is the evangelical catholic group. … My pessimism about that taking place leads me to ask more about the NALC as safe harbor and future flagship.”
Rev Benke’s comment raises the thought that these ongoing dialogues with other Lutheran church-bodies could lead to some restructuring among American Lutherans in the future.
The NALC using cash reserves to cover its budget reminds me of the history of the 1970s Lutheran synod Federation of Authentic Lutherans (FAL) which left the LCMS because of declared church fellowship with the ALC. The FAL tried to expand too fast which eventually led its congregations to join either the ELS or the WELS. I am not saying this is the case with the NALC. One needs to consider that all four church bodies wrestle with the question of how much clarity do they wish to give the general public about their internal challenges. I think that Rev. Johnson’s and Rev. Sauer’s reporting provided an excellent comparison of the ELCA, LCMS, and NALC.