Private Confession seems to be on the rise in the LCMS these days, well, at least in some circles :). My questions is this, does the LCMS have a stance on confession booths? I have a great friendship with my pastor, but for my sake, I would like to confess my sins to God without having my face shown to a fellow sinner (pastor). I just feel as though a confession booth is more inviting. Is this a bad attitude? ~K
Dear K,
To answer your question outright: no, your attitude is not bad for wanting some anonymity. However, I’d offer the following thoughts for your consideration. There are really no “rules” (so to speak) concerning the environment in which confession and absolution is conducted, save two: 1) It should be isolated enough to be truly private, and 2) it should be a space that is appropriate for receiving the Lord’s gift of forgiveness in His proclaimed Word.
As to your question about a “booth” for the purpose of preserving your anonymity, I can speak to that from personal experience. I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church at a time when such confessional booths were still common in that tradition. In more recent times the Roman Catholics (at least in the US) have gone to “face to face” confession and absolution, which is traditional in Lutheranism. As one who has experienced both, I have two things to say about the booths:
1) I have found that there was really not anonymity in the booth setup, as the pastor/priest who knows his people as he should knows the sound of their voices anyway.
2) I found the booth to be cold and impersonal; and though I didn’t realize it at the time, this contributed to my loathing of the practice of confession/absolution as a Roman Catholic.
Yes, your pastor is a fellow sinner, but this is a good thing because he is hearing your confession as one who understands what it means to be a sinner. As a sinner himself he is not going to be thinking “judgement” as he hears your confession; rather he will be eager to share with you the same life-giving Word that he himself has received as a sinner in repentant faith and joy. The pastor being a sinner means he knows all too well the depth of sin and as a pastor he knows the power of the forgiveness of sins in Christ and has been called to bestow that forgiveness upon all who come to him in repentance.
In a pamphlet he created years ago (lcms.org/Document.fdoc?src=lcm&id=1087), our sainted former LCMS President, Al Barry quoted a Lutheran pastor as saying, “The pastor’s ear is a tomb. What goes in never comes out.” I once heard Rev. Bill Cwirla (an LCMS Pastor in southern California) say, “You don’t need to worry about me judging you. I’ve heard it all, and I’ve done half of it.” (Paraphrase). All this to say that the pastor’s hope is that his people would not feel intimidated or fearful of confessing their sins to him, but instead would come with the anticipation of leaving in the peace and joy of the forgiveness of their sin in Christ. As you struggle with your concerns here, I urge you to sit down with your pastor and candidly share these concerns you have. This will allow you both to talk about it and perhaps find an arrangement to allow for you to receive the Holy Absolution you desire in a non-threatening environment.
Peace in Christ,
+Rev. Jeffrey Ries
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tacoma, WA
