Never heard anything so bizarre. That is not the LCMS I grew up in or that I belong to today. Not even close. That sounds almost cult-like.
I don't have an answer for that one except that it must have been some very ultra-conservative congregation of some kind into some sort of uber-Protestantism. (Sola Scriptura, Sieg Heil!). That, however, is not the typical LCMS Church I don't think, and it's certainly not the one I know. Not at all. I would have left that church too.
The flip side is, the Catholic Church parish near me, that I have looked into, seems uber-liberal. Like, "liberation theology" liberal. I could never belong to that kind of Catholicism.
I utterly reject liberation theologians too. They disgust me as well.
Hmmm....we have areas of agreement.....
Makes me glad I don't live in the northeast, where such liberal priests are prominent.
It's the one thing I've come to understand over the years, watching news and reading articles of corrupt priests and elders across multiple denominations; no matter what your particular brand of Christianity, Satan will go for the head.
Cut off the head, and the body will follow.