I strongly disagree. Perhaps the LCMS would do well to read the Book of Acts again -- this time for comprehension. And they might hearken also to the words of Jesus Himself:
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Jesus did not instruct the LCMS to stay at home rubbing elbows with the other Scoovies. And "all nations" did not include a noticeable proportion of Missouri Synod Lutherans. "All nations," in fact, consisted entirely of the sorts of non-Christians that the LCMS seems to want to avoid.
You can't fulfill the Great Commission if you're not willing to go and speak of Christ among non-Christians. From the sounds of it, Benke did precisely what he should have done.
The LCMS is completely out of line with this one.
Scripture also says that when your evangilism is met with hardness of the heart, you should "knock thier dust off your shoes and continue down the road where you might do some good".
Glad you are where you are.
No, you don't fulfill the Great Commission by going and blending in with non-believers. If he wanted to participate as a Christian, he should have gone and preached the Gospel. I am not Lutheran, but I applaud their courageous action, and would hope my denomination would take the same stand. God's glory is far more important than public opinion.
Did you read what this said? Was the pastor at the prayer meeting to convert these "other nations" to Christianity? If yes that would be good but was not the case. He was there to join them in lifting prayer to a multitude of gods and for a Christian to even participate in something like that, to lend any kind of credibility to the notion that the path is wide and not narrow, is repulsive to the Christian God.