Not exactly, Auggie. I'm not familiar with the Wisconsin Synod, but the group of churches that identify themselves as Missouri Synod tend to be quite conservative, both theologically and politically. And they aren't just confined to Missouri. There is a Missouri Synod Lutheran church a few blocks north of where I live. Among other things, they will not allow anyone but a member of a Missouri Synod church to take communion there. Lots of rules. Kinda stiff all the way around. I think they even have a dress code.

My wife used to be a member of a Missouri Synod church while she grew up in the Mid-West (her family didn't have much choice because that's all there was locally), and she says that they were pretty stiff-lipped and rigid.

Now, she goes to a church a few blocks south of where we live; Central Lutheran Church, which is affiliated with ELCA. Most ELCA churches tend to be pretty liberal (despite the word "evangelical"), again, both theologically and politically. At Central, anyone who wishes to take communion there is welcome to do so, even if you are a Catholic, a Jew, a Muslim, a Druid, or a Rastafarian—if you want to. It is also a signatory of the "Affirmation of Welcome" document, that states that anyone is welcome "regardless of race, age, gender, marital status, physical and mental abilities, sexual/affectional orientation, national origin or economic status." In addition it's also the national headquarters of the Lutheran Peace Fellowship.

From Missouri Synod pastors I have talked with, they tell me what it's all about and I'm expected to listen and nod. With ELCA pastors I've talked with, I can have long, drawn out discussions of theology and philosophy with them, and speculate about all kinds of different things, include how authoritatively or "literally" the Bible really should be taken. Most people who have pre-conceived notions about what pastors are like would be flabbergasted at how open-minded most ELCA pastors are (beware generalization, however).

Both of these churches are Lutheran, but there is a huge difference in belief, focus, and the way they go about things.

Don Firth