Can someone explain Evangelical versions of Liturgal Faiths?

[xDreamerx]

I don't get it. I mean, I've heard of Charismatic Catholics and Evangelical Lutherans, but I don't get how this works? Is it some sort of hybrid where they are "born again" but also partake in and believe in the Sacraments? Isn't that kind of theology mindfuck? I'm not putting it down or insulting anyone, I just literally don't understand how this can work out. What's a typical service like? Apparently Presbyterianism into two (or maybe more) branches where one is more Evangelical than the traditional kind? It also confuses me because didn't this splintering already happen with Methodism and Wesleyanism? Why make more? What is the distinction? etc.

I'm hoping some FJer can clarify this for me. I knew a girl who was Lutheran in high school, but she was Evangelical Lutheran. I tried to ask her about her about it but she was sort of shy. Her family was probably the closest to fundie family I ever knew (though not by FJ standards). They went to church every Sunday without fail, they had a filter on their internet and the parents monitored it, she listened almost exclusively to Christian rock and Christian praise music, she was very careful about what movies she saw etc. She talked to me about laying hands on people and seemed to believe this might work. She married young. But in later years when I went to visit her she offered me a drink so maybe she relaxed a bit out of her parents home. Is this sort of conservatism a good example of the above hybrids or do they tend to lean more liberal?

[snozzberry]

I don't think that you can draw conclusions on liturgical faiths simply because they have the word "Evangelical" in their name. For instance, was she ELCA (elca.org) or ELS (evangelicalluterhansynod.org)? There's a pretty big difference between the two. My suspicion is that she was ELS.

I grew up in the ELCA - I was also a member of the EFCA and went to a fundie-lite Bible college. Though both the EFCA and ELCA both have "Evangelical" in their name that's where the similarities ended. I found the ELCA to be quite liberal (female pastors and social justice) not to mention the fact that they now ordain teh gayz. It likely also depends greatly upon the congregation in particular as to how conservative or liberal they trend. It's...complicated.

As far as why there are so many different splits, as Brian McLaren likes to point out (he has a chapter on it in "A Generous Orthodoxy"), that's what Protestants do. I think if Protestants stopped protesting what others are doing they'd probably run out of things to do.

[Turtle]

I don't know too much about it, but I once went to a charismatic catholic service while in college and it was about the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life. There was random dancing, guitars and speaking in tongues. Lots of arm flailing too. My guess is that, since Protestantism is more popular in the U.S., some Catholics wanted the touchy-feely, jammin for Jesus experience so they just incorporated into their services.

[Soldevi]

I was evangelical lutheran, well, I was infant baptized to be one like majority of Finns and religion is mandatory subject in schools... Local evangelicat lutheranism has only two sacraments: baptism and Holy Communion. Church is liberal: female pastors, gays and multidivorcees as priests (even transsexuals), social caring (you don't need to be member of congregation to get help), bible is not interpreted literally etc. Sola fide, sola gratia. Good deeds are for other people, not for salvation.

I think this site says it better than I ever: http://evl.fi/EVLen.nsf?openDatabase〈=EN

[Dinorah]

I know that Charismatic Catholics claims to have the gifts of the Apostles, and thus be able to heal (hence try to proselytize in hospitals) and to speak in tongues, which they do at services. For a long time they were viewed suspiciously by mainstream Catholicism (it was an event when John Paul II met a Charismatic leader) and might still be. I got most of this info from this very interesting book I read a few years ago

http://www.amazon.com/American-Catholic ... 9742212got

which has a section on Charismatics.