Free Lutheran Church
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[edit] Free Lutheran Churches
Free Lutherans trace their roots back to Martin Luther and the Augsburg Confession.
The Free Lutheran Church exists today outside North America and is not an incorporated synod, or church body, but are free Lutheran congregations. A Free Lutheran congregation directs its own affairs, subject only to the authority of the Word and the Spirit of God, and they acknowledge no other ecclesiastical authority or government above themselves. Free Lutheran congregations have no right to demand that other Free congregations submit to their opinion, judgment, will, or decision; therefore, domination by a majority can not happen.
Free Lutherans seek to worship God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23). From church to church, and in multiple services of some local congregations, varieties of worship styles may be found. Yet, the heart of worship is to glorify God and receive biblical instruction.
The goal of Free Lutherans is to represent Jesus Christ in their daily living. They do this both through the way they live and in sharing the gospel's good news with others. Not known to be "hard sell" in their witness, they seek to be humble and winsome in showing forth Christ through their lives and lips.
"The mission of the Free Lutheran Church is to make known to all people everywhere God's call to wholeness through forgiveness and holiness in Jesus Christ, and to invite into membership and equip for ministry all who respond in faith.
The first Lutheran Free Church in America was founded in 1897 by two Augsburg Seminary professors, Georg Sverdrup and Sven Oftedal. However by the 1950s, there was a growing desire by many of those Free Lutherans to join their small Free Lutheran congregations into a larger body. In the end however, those congregations lost there freedom and became subject to the authority of a central council or synod. On the other hand, a few Free Lutherans did not join the new Lutheran church body and in 1962 formed the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations. Today AFLC congregations can be found in most parts of the U.S. and Canada.
