That depends...LCMS is hardly monolithic these days, with its “Ablaze” movement and emphasis on “seeker worship” containing a very broad pietistic streak.
If you consider the dominant mark of Pietism to be a passion for souls, then NALC is definitely pietistic, especially through the influence of the Ethiopian Mekana Jesu church.
If you consider the dominant mark of Pietism to be anti-clericalism.
I’ve pinged this to an LCMS Pastor in hopes that he will weigh in.
>>My understanding has been that the Pietists pretty much junked the Lutheran confessions and began the process of blurring the lines with the Calvinists.
I’ve understood Pietism to emphasize feelings over doctrine. The Lutheranism I was taught as a kid was hardly Confessional Lutheranism.
I didn’t really know what Confessional Lutheran was until I got to college and started reading when I got sandwiched between Catholicism on one side and Evangelicalism on the other.
I was content to be an “Evangelical Catholic” until I idealistically wrote Bishop Chilstrom at ELCA headquarters, and he wrote me back with a very negative letter regarding the differences between the ELCA and the Catholic Church.
Strange as a reform movement within a reform movement may sound, there is a pan-Lutheran (Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) oratory of biblically conservative, liturgically steeped clergy that has gathered for mutual support and to resist the tide of modernity.
I encourage you to check out the website of the Society of the Holy Trinity http://www.societyholytrinity.org Read the page on "The Rule" http://www.societyholytrinity.org/rule.htm, paying particular attention to the section entitled "Parish Practices".Members of the Society are deeply committed to the weekly Eucharist, Private Confession and Absolution, and the public recitation of the Daily Office
Then look at the membership directory http://www.societyholytrinity.org/stswebdirectory.htm to see if there are any STS members serving a congregation within a reasonable driving distance. Although not every parish is practicing every aspect of the Rule at this time, most subscriber clergy are committed to working toward those goals and have a deliberate plan to achieve them incrementally. These clergy would be delighted to receive visitors and/or new members who share those commitments.