The church today must know what Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is and recognize that the old Christianity-versus-atheism binary is no longer sufficient or applicable for understanding the religious landscape in America.

Unite Leadership Collective is an organization that seeks change within the LCMS. They are open about it. Through their communications - mainly their podcasts Lead Time and The Tim Ahlman Podcast - they have identified several areas where they believe the LCMS should - if not must - change.

I would say that this post begins another (very) occasional series, but I would hate to raise the hopes of those readers who are eagerly awaiting the second installment of my last (very) occasional series. I will merely note that this may or may not become a (very) occasional series, but there is certainly enough material available for that to happen. Alternate titles could be “Bees in my [Metaphorical’ Bonnet” or “What Really Grinds My Gears.” I proffer these additional suggested titles to soothe the intellectual turmoil of those who may dislike my use of the term “urban legend” in this way, which I mean here to be “an often-repeated story or phrase that has no basis in historical reality, but whose constant repetition has given it a sense of authority in spite of its falsity.”