User:Stannepacelli/Conservative Lutheran Church

The Conservative Lutheran Church (CLC) is the largest Protestant denomination of Western Christianity, claiming 100 million active members. It is the largest of two Lutheran denominations in the world, the other being the a|Liberal Lutheran Church. The church was formed in 2004 due to a schism initiated by its bishops, and considers itself to hold the same doctrine as identified by Martin Luther.

In 2009 the Conservative Lutheran Church developed the understanding that it was both Protestant and Catholic:


 * Protestant in that it has been shaped by the doctrinal principles of the 16th century Protestant Reformation, in particular in the Book of Concord as written by Martin Luther.


 * Catholic in that it views itself as a part of the universal church of Jesus Christ in unbroken continuity with the early apostolic church.

Founding
On April 19, 2004, Very Rev. Dr. Larry Hanover, bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in the United States, announced his retirement. The normal procedures of the hierarchy of the Cathedral of the Diocese electing the successor took place that day. The hierarchy appointed Very Rev. Timothy Morton, a priest in the Archdiocese of New York. During his press conference, however, Morton publicly announced that he was gay. The hierarchy of the archdiocese then contemplated with their decision o electing Morton for 12 days. They announced on May 1 that they would put his orientation aside, regarding him as a "servant of God", and ,thus, allowing him to the office any way. Upon hearing the hierarchy's decision, conservative bishops and clergy where astonished. So much that the Rev. Dr. Edward Schmidt, bishop of the Archdiocese of Berlin, contacted every individual diocese in the world and asked their opinion on the matter.

On May 4, 2004, Schmidt scheduled a press conference in Berlin. He delivered the following message: (translated into English) My brothers and sisters, today we have a problem in the Church. The Archdiocese of New York in the United States has ordained a homosexual bishop to their diocese. Myself and many other members of the clergy consider this to be a sinful act. The Book of Concord states that "homosexuality is not permitted under any circumstances". I have contacted the bishop of every Lutheran diocese in the world today and 65% of them have agreed with me that homosexuality is sinful and not permitted. Through the acts of the Church hierarchy we have made a decision. Myself and 151 conservative Lutheran bishops hereby announce a schism in the church regarding the homosexual theology. I have spoken to Reverend Morton of New York and he has agreed to contact the liberal bishops of the church to be on his side in the situation. Reverend Morton later informed me that he agrees that the Church is at odds with itself. I hope to speak more on this issue in the coming days. God bless you all.

Later that week, Schmidt released the following statement on his personal website: Friends in Christ, I come to you today with sad news. The Lutheran Church, which has been one since 1523, will divide into two separate Christian denominations. After myself and my conservative bishops negotiating with Reverend Morton of New York and his liberal bishops, we came to terms today. We have agreed that the church will be separated into two denominations: the Conservative Lutheran Church and the Liberal Lutheran Church. It will be up to the individual diocese's hierarchy to decide which denomination they will join. I am deeply sorry about the current issue and continue to pray about it. God's blessings. In the months following this announcement, the hierarchy of every Lutheran church in the world made the decision to join either the Conservative Lutheran Church or Liberal Lutheran Church. A survey conducted in 2005 by Lutheran World Federation (a non-profit organization that intermingles with the two denominations) shows that 64% of the Lutheran churches joined the Conservative Church and the remaining 36% joined the Liberal. Rev. Dr. Edward Schmidt was elected by the other bishops of the newly-formed church as the president. He still holds the position.

Full communion with Catholic Church
On July 9, 2009, it was announced by Rev. Dr. Schmidt that the Conservative Lutheran Church was seeking full communion with the Catholic Church. This announcemet was confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI via the Vatican website. Schmidt visited with the pope in August of that year. He then initiated a vote among the bishops of the church for full communion with the Catholic Church. The results were 86%-24%. Schmidt said that it has time to "bring [the Church] back to its Catholic roots". This led to a change of terms within the CLC, including the calling the priest "father" and the Sunday service "Mass".

Proposed merge with Catholic Church
It was annoucned in late 2009 that Schmidt was seeking to merge into the Catholic Church, meaning that all CLC members would become Catholic. However, being that the CLC ordains married men, this led Schmidt to change the ordinance of married clergy, thus making it where no married men can enter the seminary. This ordinance was passed in December 2009. The merge was postponed, however, because Schmidt said that the CLC will not be able to merge until every married priest and bishop retires. As of 2011, the CLC seminaries are still no accepting married men.

Doctrine
Conservative Lutheran beliefs are summarized in the Nicene Creed and detailed in the Book of Concord. Based on the promises of Christ in the Gospels, the Church believes that it is continually guided by the Holy Spirit and so protected infallibly from falling into doctrinal error. The Church teaches that the Holy Spirit reveals God's truth through Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium. Sacred Scripture consists of the 73 book Luther Bible. This is made up of the 46 books found in the ancient Greek version of the Old Testament—known as the Septuagint—and the 27 New Testament writings first found in the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209 and listed in Athanasius' Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter.

Sacred Tradition consists of those teachings believed by the Church to have been handed down since the time of the Apostles and passed on from the Catholic Church. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are collectively known as the "deposit of faith" (depositum fidei). These are in turn interpreted by the Magisterium (from magister, Latin for "teacher"), the Church's teaching authority, which is exercised by CLC president Rev. Dr. Edward Schmidt and the bishop, priest, and deacon of the local diocese.

Trinity
The Conservative Church holds that there is one eternal God, who exists as a mutual indwelling of three persons: God the Father; God the Son; and the Holy Spirit, which make up the Trinity.

The CLC believes that Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity, God the Son. In an event known as the Incarnation, the Church teaches that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God became united with human nature when Christ was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Christ is believed, therefore, to be both fully divine and fully human. It is taught that Christ's mission on earth included giving people his teachings and providing his example for them to follow as recorded in the four Gospels.