Gladfelter...
It seems there is some baggage that's inherited when you subscribe to this quasi-monastic rule of the STS (like asking for a WordAlone ordination). . . Many STS members that I have met have come across as liturgical moralists . . .
I don't believe in being a bulldozer when it comes to local liturgical practices . . . The STS pastors I have met don't take congregational history into account and simply reply matter-of-factly "Well, they're wrong (the congregation)." My seminary friend who joined STS believed fervently that he was "ontologically changed" when he was ordained. This kind of an attitude will not endear yourself to a congregation, especially if they were an ALC congregation!!
To sum up, I must respectfully disagree with the suggestion that "most" STS members favor (or acknowledge) women's ordination. This hasn't been my experience with STS members
There are so many sweeping generalizations and inaccuracies here that one hardly knows where to begin.
First of all, indicting a group because "my experience" with "many of them whom I've met" is the basest kind of stereotype. It's sort of on a par with "most of the French I have met have been . . ." and ergo "the French are . . ." Are there, within the STS, pastors who are pastorally insensitive liturgical moralists? Of course there are. Those same pastors, by the way, are also "in the ELCA" or "in the LCMS" or "in the ELCiC," but you aren't making conclusions about the whole on the basis of the few you say you have met.
When I first became acquainted with the STS, my reaction was, "Well, there are a few kind of odd ducks involved with this . . . but on balance, not much odder and not in any greater proportion than, say, my average synod or conference meeting."
As for making changes in congregational worship, the fact of the matter is that on occasion a new pastor comes to a congregation and finds some liturgical practices that are so egregious that it is appropriate simply to terminate them. When I came to my present call, the previous pastor had practiced what he called "quiet communion" one Sunday a month--that is, anybody who felt they wanted or needed to receive Holy Communion more often than the once a month it was offered could just linger after church, come up to the altar and he'd give them a little bread and wine. Sorry, but that's not a practice I'm going to respect or continue. Other liturgical matters--probably most liturgical matters--ought to thoroughly discussed and understood before changes are made, and I'm sure the large majority of STS pastors are sensitive to that.
As for STS being "quasi-monastic," that shows an ignorance both of the STS and of monasticism. What convinced me to subscribe to the STS Rule was precisely the opposite: the words of subscription include the phrase "for the sake of my ordination vows." This is not a new vow, or a "super vow," and has nothing whatsoever in common with Word Alone's demand for non-episcopal ordination. It is an expression of intention to take seriously the vows I have already made as an ELCA pastor--not "more seriously than anyone else" but "more seriously than I have heretofore done."
As for being "ontologically changed" in ordination, your sarcastic reference to this shows clearly that it is a view of ordination you don't personally hold, and that of course is an opinion that is shared by plenty within the Lutheran community. It is not the ONLY understanding among Lutherans, however, and those who have a different view than yours include plenty of people who have no connection with STS.
STS members are those who have subscribed to the Rule of the Society--period. There is diversity of opinion within the Society about virtually any other issue you might name, beyond those addressed by the Rule. There are women who are active members; one chapter dean is a woman. I think for the overwhelming majority of us who are members, the Society provides a sense of "ministerium" and "collegiality" which is simply lacking in our institutional associations.
For anyone not familiar with the Society, I suggest you look at the Rule and other materials available online at
www.societyholytrinity.org.