What's a conscientious Lutheran to do?

This is the third post in a series looking at the reasons why some Lutheran pastors left the LCMS for Eastern Orthodoxy. The focus is an article written by the Reverend Thomas L. Palke in 1999 entitled “MY JOURNEY TO THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH ESTABLISHED BY JESUS CHRIST: A Son of the Reformation Enters the “Mighty Fortress” of the Orthodox Church.”

Considering all the problems in the LCMS, what's a conscientious Lutheran to do?

Rev. Palke has an answer. He states:

"What's a conscientious Lutheran to do, given these circumstances? Some say, stay and fight. But I'm convinced politics in the church is not the solution. I personally had to come to the realization that Lutheranism no longer chooses to consciously be what it was intended to be--a movement for reform in the West. And I still think that Lutheranism, as it is portrayed in its confessional portfolio is the best of the houses on the western side of the street.

But Lutheranism has no sense of “holy tradition” that can keep its house intact. In five hundred years Lutheranism has changed. Some Lutheran townhouses are barely recognizable as “Lutheran” when compared to the blueprint of the Confessions. In fact Lutheranism changed radically shortly after Luther's death, with unchurchly, non-sacramental Pietism and the anti- supernatural Rationalism “gutting out” the structure. And so, given these changes, even in the conservative Missouri Synod, I had to ask myself--what sort of spiritual legacy would I leave to my children? Could I be sure they would find a conservative, confessional, liturgical church somewhere? Should I leave the Missouri Synod and join a more conservative group, such as the Wisconsin Synod? If Missouri's doctrine of the ministry is shaky, the Wisconsin Synod has an even lower view of the ministry! Romophobia still afflicts Wisconsin, which recently has also become enamored with the “church growth” movement. And, believe it or not, a recent news report indicated that Wisconsin has come out with a new, contemporary hymnal that contains “inclusive language.” It appears to me that Wisconsin is copying some of Missouri's rebuilding techniques.

Or, I could join a new church body that may or may not be created when Missouri experiences another “walkout” by disaffected conservatives. This I can no longer do. This is because my experience with such “conservatives,” be they Baptist or Lutheran, is that they will later find another issue upon which to split. Their shibboleth is always “come out from among them and be ye separate.” Meanwhile, Christianity is fractured even more, in total disregard to our Lord's high priestly prayer that we be one in Him as He is in the Father (John 17). And, frankly, I no longer wish to belong to a church named after one man or one doctrine. My study of church history showed me that the church was larger than one person. If Lutherans were honest, they would have to admit that they have granted to Luther, in significant measure, what they refused to grant to the pope."