Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran
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The Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran (ECCL) is a Church in the Lutheran Evangelical Catholic tradition. It was founded in 1997 by former members of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Its headquarters is in Kansas City, Missouri. The ECCL has two theological seminaries: Wittenberg Lutheran Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and The Alcuin Institute of the Trans-Pecos in Alpine, Texas.
The Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran considers Lutherans to be Roman Catholics in a temporary, involuntary schism imposed on it by the Roman Catholic Church when Father Martin Luther's attempt to start a renewal movement within and for the Roman Catholic Church slipped out of his control. This Church teaches that Lutheranism in general is a form of non-Roman Catholicism; and considers other Lutheran Churches to be "Protestant" only to the extent that they have accepted insights from the Calvinist and Zwinglian phases of the Reformation.
The Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran has four Archdioceses and one Missionary District in the United States, two non-geographic Archdioceses serving sub-Saharan Africa and sub-Saharan African immigrants in the United States, and a non-geographic Archdiocese serving Vietnamese immigrants in the United States. It is organized and active in Canada and Sudan, and is a member of the Augustana Evangelical Catholic Communion, The Sudanese Council of Churches U.S.A., and the Sudanese Council of Churches.
The Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran accepts the "Unaltered Augsburg Confession," and the "Apology of the Augsburg Confession" to the extent that they are in accord with the Gospel and Authentic Catholic Faith and Tradition. The Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran respects the remainder of "The Book of Concord (1580)" as historic Lutheran documents but does not consider them to be binding.
This Church is unique among Lutheran Churches in that it accepts as additional confessional documents, the "Articles of Religion" from the "Book of Common Prayer" as interpreted by John Henry Cardinal Newman in "Tracts for the Times" (insofar as they do not conflict with authentic Catholic faith and tradition), the Roman Catholic-Lutheran "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" (Augsburg, Germany, 1999); "The Catechism of the Catholic Church," and the documents and decrees of the Ecumenical Councils recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Where there are differences between the doctrinal documents accepted by this Church, the final authorities are (1) the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church and (2) "The Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church."
The Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran accepts Papal Primacy and Papal Infallibility, but as an Evangelical Catholic Lutheran Church, it is not under Papal authority at this time. The Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran is theologically and socially conservative, with the same view of the nature and authority of Scripture as the Roman Catholic Church as stated in the Pontifical Biblical Commission's document, "Interpretion of the Bible in Church" (http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PBCINTER.htm).
The polity of Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran is episcopal rather than congregational, and follows the model of the Roman Catholic Church. This Church has never had female clergy, and has placed a moratorium on the ordination of women until such time as it is ordered by a Pope (for the Diaconate) or an Ecumenical Council (for the Priesthood and Episcopacy,) and it has the same polity on the ordination of homosexuals as does the Roman Catholic Church. This Church does not permit the blessing of same-sex unions.
The clergy of Evangelical Community Church - Lutheran have been ordained (or re-ordained) in the historic Apostolic Succession, which it obtained from the Ecumenical Catholic Diocese of the Americas and the Apostolic Episcopal Church. The primary Apostolic Lineage of the The Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran is the Duarte Costa branch of the Rebiban or Vatican Succession. All ordinations are performed using the most current edition of the Ordinal from The Pontifical of the Roman Catholic Church set within a celebration of the Mass using the Eucharistic rites of the Roman Catholic Church.
The worship of Evangelical Community Church - Lutheran is dignified and sacramental. It differs from most other Lutheran Churches by recognizing and celebrating seven sacraments, and its primary liturgy is the Roman Catholic Anglican Use "Book of Divine Worship." Any other Rites approved and authorized for use by the appropriate Congregation of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church may be used by ECCL clergy.
