Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) (French: Eglise Evangelique Lutherienne au Canada) is Canada's largest Lutheran denomination, with 182,077 baptized members in 624 congregations.[citation needed] It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches, and the World Council of Churches.
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[edit] History
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada came into being in 1986 through the merger of two predecessor bodies the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada (started in 1966 by Canadian congregations of the American Lutheran Church) and three synods of the Lutheran Church in America, called the Canada Section. In 1988 these two US church bodies ceased to exist as they merged into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the ELCIC's sister denomination in the United States.
[edit] Constituting Convention
- 1985 Winnipeg, Manitoba
[edit] National Conventions
- 1987 Ottawa, Ontario
- 1989 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- 1991 Edmonton, Alberta
- 1993 Vancouver, British Columbia
- 1995 Winnipeg, Manitoba
- 1997 Toronto, Ontario
- 1999 Regina, Saskatchewan
- 2001 Waterloo, Ontario
- 2003 Camrose, Alberta
- 2005 Winnipeg, Manitoba
- 2007 Winnipeg, Manitoba
[edit] Doctrine
The Church derives its teachings from the Bible and the Book of Concord[1] which includes the three ecumenical creeds of the Christian Church--that is, the Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is in full communion with the Anglican Church of Canada under the Waterloo Declaration. Waterloo Lutheran Seminary and Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon are the seminaries owned by the church.
[edit] Organisation
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is composed of five synods (similar to a diocese in Anglican polity). The presiding officer and chief pastor of each synod is a bishop.
- The British Columbia Synod
- The Synod of Alberta and the Territories
- The Saskatchewan Synod
- The Manitoba/Northwestern Ontario Synod
- The Eastern Synod
This structure is identical to the synod structure of the ELCA, except that the Canadian synods cover one or more entire provinces, whereas some ELCA synods cover the whole or part of a metro area and some cover several states. Like the ELCA a presiding bishop serves as its head, but in the ELCIC, this bishop is known as the "National Bishop."
[edit] National Bishops
- Rev. Donald Sjoberg, 1986-1993
- Rev. Telmor Sartison, 1993-2001
- Rev. Raymond Schultz, 2001-2007
- Rev. Canon Susan Johnson, 2007-
[edit] Same-sex unions
In 2006, the Eastern Synod voted to allow individual pastors and congregations to conduct blessing of same-sex unions, prompting a dispute between the synod and the national church over which body has the authority to make such a decision. The national church had previously voted against blessings, and the ELCIC's full communion partner, the Anglican Church of Canada, had voted to defer a decision. On June 23, 2007, at its National Convention, the ELCIC voted, by a 200-181 vote margin, against authorizing the Synods to devise individual mission strategies in regard to ministering to people who live in committed same-sex relationships, including the possibility of blessing such unions [2][3]. The Eastern Synod Council, while affirming its jurisdiction in the matter, agreed not to proceed with the blessing of same-sex unions for the time being.
