That is the subject of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod president Matthew Harrison’s fund appeal of March 9, 2026. you may ask why I who haven’t been a member of the LCMS for 7 years would even know about this letter? Because the ever inept LCMS bureaucracy sent me the letter.
Let me right off the bat answer President Harrison’s question: have we believed in vain? Not in the promises and power of our Lord Jesus Christ but certainly, certainly in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, its bureaucracy, and even more certainly in its leaders.
The letter is the kind of fundraising appeal you receive from many different organizations. It lets you know how many out of the way, remote, disadvantaged, downcast people are being reached, maybe just by ones and twos, but by your dollars given to the Missouri Synod. To be polite, that is a load of hooey. The metrics have changed. The onus for fund raising is placed more on the individual missionary. However, the last time I did the math of how much of your dollar contributed to what at the time was called “World Missions” eventually made it into a missionary’s pocketbook it was ten cents on the dollar.
What cannot be escaped is the fact that it is Pastor Timothy who’s directed by St. Paul to fulfill his work as an evangelist. You would not have aided Pastor Timothy by sending money to St. Paul or for that matter to the Jerusalem Church or the church in Antioch or any other institution.
So, if you want to further the work of evangelism give a special offering to the Confessional Lutheran pastor who is doing that work, and know that you support the institution, the corporation Lutheran Church Missouri Synod to the full extent required by you when you support their Concordia Plans in general.
You should know, however, that if you are supporting the LCMS in any way you are supporting a false fellowship. [This is not the pot unwittingly calling the kettle black as I will show below.] The LCMS is a false fellowship because: It no longer upholds its restrictions against unionism and syncretism. It accepts open communion and closed communion as merely different ways of practicing Holy Communion. It is at best soft on the doctrine of creation and certainly on the order of creation. When we support the LCMS we are running afoul of St. John’s warning in his Second Epistle: ” if someone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house. Do not even wish him well. For the one who wishes him well shares in his wicked works ” (2 John 10-11).
Let me back off a little here. For 36 years I was in the false fellowship of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. It took me that long to separate myself from what I knew to be wrong at least for 10 years prior. So don’t let this rant pulverize your conscience.
The occasion for this rant was not so much Harrison’s putting the physical arm on individuals using spiritual blackmail but a memory of former members. This delightful couple almost every Advent and Lenten season would send me a sincere thank you and present of some sort telling me they realized the extra work I had put in and we’re thankful for it. Such a gesture would do more to further the gospel than sending your gift to the lukewarm Lutheran Church Missouri Synod which is dying on the Vine at best and worthy of being spat out of our Lord’s mouth at worse (Rev. 3:16).
Have you believed in vain? Not if you believe in the holy Christian Church which not even the gates of hell, let alone the open gates of Missouri Synod Communion altars, can prevail against. You have only believed in vain, vanity, and futility if your faith is in any way, shape, or form in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. To paraphrase Linda Ronstadt: Poor, poor, pitiful you which by the by Terri Clark sings better. Give it a listen. I did buy this one.
