Lutherans and Masons.

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Can a Lutheran be a member of the Masons and remain in good standing in the Church?
 
MaryT777 said:
Can a Lutheran be a member of the Masons and remain in good standing in the Church?
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Yes. This has not always been the case – and I’m not certain that it is true for all Lutheran bodies. It was a serious issue back in the early twentieth century. The congregation I serve was founded, in the 1920s, by a group of people who left another congregation because of a disagreement over lodge membership. However, that issue has disappeared here.
 
gcnuss said:
Yes. This has not always been the case – and I’m not certain that it is true for all Lutheran bodies. It was a serious issue back in the early twentieth century. The congregation I serve was founded, in the 1920s, by a group of people who left another congregation because of a disagreement over lodge membership. However, that issue has disappeared here.
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Wrong.The LCMS actually forbids membership,though I’m sure just like Catholics, many disobey:(. They sight many of the same reasons Catholics do against the order. I read this in their handbook which can be found online.
 
WildCatholic said:
Wrong.The LCMS actually forbids membership,though I’m sure just like Catholics, many disobey:(. They sight many of the same reasons Catholics do against the order. I read this in their handbook which can be found online.
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Actually, I said that I don’t know the practices of other Lutheran bodies. I’m not at all surprised that the prohibitions still exist. I can only speak to the situation in the ELCA. And, I’m sure you are correct in saying that individuals (Catholic, Lutheran, or whatever) don’t always follow their churches’ teachings in this matter.
 
The LC-MS prohibits it - I’ve asked my pastor for permission to remain in my lodge and he’s granted it provided I leave immediately if I find anything objectionable. I won’t become an officer of the Lodge, and I haven’t visited in over six months now.

God’s sense of humor: One of the Masonic oaths is “frequent your house of worship and be in good standing.” Over the course of several years, that lead me to a faith and eventually the LC-MS.
 
Bklynguy said:
I would echo what many other posters here have said: Bylaw 3.925 of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s handbook forbids membership in the freemasonry. The WELS do as well: wels.net/news-events/forward-in-christ/march-1989/masons-draw-fire-churches?page=0,0.

The limited research that I have done indicates that the ELCA does not forbid freemasonry. However, if you talk to the LCMS and WELS, they would contend that the ELCA aren’t even true Lutherans.
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I would not say that ELCA members are not true Lutherans. Many are, as Pastor Gary is an excellent example. They certainly have problems at the leadership level, and in some of their more recent innovations.

Jon
 
I recall being instructed in catechism that we can not join the Masons. I don’t know any Lutherans who are members of the Masonic Lodge.
 
When I joined the LC-MS, I resigned from the Masons as requested by the pastor. For years I was a Mason and a member of an ELCA congregration and I knew ELCA pastors that were Masons.
 
In my piles of stuff, I have a monograph put out by the LCA, one of the predecessor bodies that merged into the ELCA, that prohibits membership in the Masons. As others have pointed out, there is a great distance between the leadershiop and many of the membership of the ELCA.
 
JonNC said:
I would not say that ELCA members are not true Lutherans. Many are, as Pastor Gary is an excellent example. They certainly have problems at the leadership level, and in some of their more recent innovations.

Jon
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Interesting…my wife is ELCA. One think that strikes me is that you can walk into two different ELCA churches (in our case, two blocks away from each other) and find different services. Is that common with LCMS, or are the services fairly uniform?

In fact, one ELCA church in our area combines service with the United Methodists.
 
MaryT777 said:
Can a Lutheran be a member of the Masons and remain in good standing in the Church?
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No. I just posted in a thread titled, "Why can’t Catholics be Masons?

The sin involved in Masonry is idolatry and involves the rejection of Jesus Christ as our only Savior.

The false gods replace Jesus Christ. For example, the false Egyptian gods, Horus, Set, and Isis are invoked at the 31st Degree. With each degree, the confusion and idolatry increase, until Lucifer himself becomes part of the initiation.

For this reason, if you have been part of the Masonic religion, whether you are Catholic or Protestant, you need to repent and to renounce your involvement at each of the levels in which you have taken part. Also prayer for deliverance from the effects of Masonry may also be needed.

PRAYER OF RELEASE FOR MASONS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS:

christianhealingmin.net/media…onicPrayer.pdf

This prayer should be prayed out loud in the presence of a witness, besides God as your witness.
 
=Bklynguy;10704302]Interesting…my wife is ELCA. One think that strikes me is that you can walk into two different ELCA churches (in our case, two blocks away from each other) and find different services. Is that common with LCMS, or are the services fairly uniform?
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Some LCMS parishes offer a “contemporary” service. Thankfully, not mine. Lutheran liturgical worship is so good as it is, I can’t understand the need to make it “contemporary”.
But Lutheran worship, regardless of music, should include those things that make the Lutheran divine worship: invocation, Absolution, scripture readings, creeds, sermon/homily,
sacrament, benediction.
In fact, one ELCA church in our area combines service with the United Methodists.
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The ELCA has full altar and pulpit fellowship with the UMC, I believe, so this would not surprise me.

Jon
 
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