The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Free Church of America

I recently asked Dr. Martin Noland, a pastor, historian, author and theologian, for his opinion on the similarities and differences between the LCMS and the EFCA.  Below is his response.

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The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) have some similarities, but are quite different doctrinally.

SIMILARITIES:

1. Both churches came out of the conservative reaction to the liberalization of European churches, universities, divinity schools, and mission agencies in the 19^th century.  LCMS was a German conservative response; EFCA was a Scandinavian conservative response (Swedish and Danish-Norwegian).
2. Both churches were founded in the USA by emigrants from their respective countries, and remained essentially an ethnic enclave until the 20^th century.
3. Both churches remained in touch, in several ways, with their conservative counterparts in the state churches of Europe, many of whom founded independent, i.e., free church, synods or associations, in Europe.
4. Both churches were distrustful of church hierarchies, and laid great stress on the autonomy of the local congregation.
5. Both churches were, at their founding, organized at the synodical level in order to train pastors and train and support missionaries.  Overseas mission work became a defining focus of their work, energy, and budget.
6. Both churches were European-Protestant, which meant that they had little love for the Roman Catholic church and were suspicious of its agencies, were even more suspicious of Liberal Protestants and their agencies, and were often ambivalent with regard to conservative American church-bodies and fundamentalism—because they were, well, American. 😊  That attitude began to change in the later 20^th century, at least in the LCMS.
7. Doctrinally, it appears that they agree on the doctrines of:
1. The inspiration of Scripture
2. The Trinity
3. Jesus’ deity
4. Jesus’ incarnation by the virgin Mary
5. The vicarious atonement as the basis of justification
6. The bodily resurrection of Jesus
7. The exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God after his ascension
8. The creation of man in God’s image and the loss of that image
9. Man’s need for rebirth through faith in the work of Christ, through which faith they are born of the Holy Spirit (LCMS emphasizes baptism at this point) and become God’s children.
10. The bodily resurrection of believers to everlasting life and bliss, and of unbelievers to judgement and everlasting conscious punishment.

DIFFERENCES:

1. LCMS has a full-bodied and strict confessional subscription for all its rostered church-workers and member congregations.  EFCA has a 12 point doctrinal statement, and I don’t know how members of that church confess it or subscribe to it, if they do.
2. LCMS subscribes to the 1580/1584 Book of Concord, which includes the three ecumenical creeds, which confessions determine all of its binding doctrines.  EFCA has only the 12 point doctrinal statement, which contains the points noted in #7a-j above, plus a few others, otherwise it has an aversion to creedal commitments.
3. LCMS confesses that the work of the Holy Spirit is only through the means of the Word and Sacraments.  EFCA apparently does not confess that, but does affirm the work of the Holy Spirit.
4. LCMS confesses that baptism is a means of grace by which faith and the Holy Spirit are given.  EFCA says that baptism is a necessary ordinance, but is not a means of grace or of the Holy Spirit.
5. LCMS confesses that the Lord’s supper is a means of grace, by which our Lord’s body and blood are received orally to all who eat the bread and drink the wine, to the spiritual benefit of those who discern Christ’s body and blood, and to the spiritual judgment of those who do not discern it.  EFCA says that the Lord’s supper is a necessary ordinance, but is not a means of grace, nor is there any “real presence” of His body and blood but it is only a memorial, thus following the Zwinglian view.
6. LCMS confesses with Article VIII of the Augsburg Confession that hypocrites and unbelievers may be present in a local congregation or the church-at-large, and that if this is discovered and confirmed, they should be removed from membership.  EFCA restricts membership in the local congregation to only members of the true church, and I am not sure how that works out in practice.
7. LCMS rejects both the Calvinist and Arminian doctrinal positions, confessing a third position detailed in the Book of Concord.  EFCA tolerates doctrinal positions of both Calvinists and Arminians.
8. LCMS follows the positions on divorce and remarriage found in Luther’s writings of 1522 (Luther’s Works 45:11-50) and 1530 (Luther’s Works 46:259-320) and developed over the years in the German-Lutheran church orders and Pastoral Theologies, although since the advent of no-fault divorce in the USA, most congregations are reluctant to enforce those positions.  EFCA takes no official stand on divorce and remarriage.
9. LCMS has always permitted its members to drink alcoholic beverages of all types and to use tobacco.  Some EFCA congregations prohibit, and all strongly discourage, the use of alcohol and tobacco.
10. LCMS has always rejected all forms of millennialism, on the basis of Augsburg Confession Article XVII.  EFCA has found millennialism, especially dispensationalism, to be agreeable to its theology.
11. LCMS has not formed unions or formal associations with American conservative Protestants, Fundamentalists, or Evangelicals, though our theologians and synod presidents may participate in some of their conferences and alliances for specific purposes, like opposition to abortion.  EFCA intentionally strives to bring together these sorts of conservative Protestants.
12. LCMS listens to the history of Christian theology, specifically the orthodox tradition of Lutheranism, starting with Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemitz, going through the end of the 17^th century, with a revival of the same in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  Our theologians learn German and/or Latin in order to have access to these older theologians.  We also listen to the orthodox tradition of the early church, as late as Augustine, but read the medieval theologians much more critically.  EFCA seems to only have interest in its own roots from the 19^th century, but that could be just an impression.
13. LCMS has trained its preachers and pastors to be especially mindful of the distinction between the Law and Gospel, so that the Gospel always predominates in preaching and pastoral care.  I don’t know if that is true in the EFCA, so cannot say on that point.

I think these are the major points of agreement and disagreement.  You can share this message with your friend or others.

Yours in Christ, Martin R. Noland

May 22, 2020