WELS and Bible translations

Allow me to address a couple of misconceptions in the question.

WELS does not have and has not had an official Bible translation. Congregations are free to use the translation of their choosing. The recent discussions in our church body over Bible translations have dealt with which translation to use in our publications. The current approach is an “eclectic” one, meaning that publications might use a particular translation based on the preference of the author or editor.

When it comes to Bible translations, you will want to keep in mind that the King James Version (1611 A.D.) was based on about 100 manuscripts of the New Testament that dated from approximately 900 to 1500 A.D. In the past century or so, numerous manuscripts have been discovered that date back to 200 to 500 A.D. This means that more recent Bible translations will utilize the manuscripts that were available to the translators of the King James Version and the earlier manuscripts.