Lutheran Pastor Meets Pope Francis in Rome

[qui_est_ce]

I think the body you are referring to is the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, which is the supposedly “Lutheran” portion of the larger state-affiliated Evangelical Church in Germany. In reality, it is a “union” church that uses some historic Lutheran hymns and liturgies while practicing a faith that is decidedly more liberal and certainly outside of orthodox Lutheranism. Of course, there may be individuals in those bodies that still practice Lutheranism…

To find an actual, Confessional Lutheran church in Germany, one would need to look to the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) which, as the name implies, is independent of government intrusion.

Just to paint how bad the “unification” was for Lutherans… “The confessional Lutherans were persecuted during the first half of 19th century by the state. Many of them were not allowed to hold church services or have their children baptized or confirmed according to the liturgy of the Lutheran Church. In some areas of Germany, it took decades until the Confessional Lutherans were granted religious freedom.” SELK wasn’t officially formed until the 1970’s and has just 36,000 members in Germany.

Thanks.

This is the church I attend when I visit my aunt:

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Blankeneser_Kirche

They do some really Catholic things there like lighting candles.