Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them counted as active participants in their congregations.^[7] It is the seventh-largest religious body^[8] and the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.^[9] The next two largest Lutheran denominations are the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (with approximately 2.41 million members^[10]) and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (with approximately 390,000 members). There are also many smaller Lutheran church bodies in the United States.

History

The ELCA formally came into existence on January 1, 1988, creating the largest Lutheran church body in the United States. The Church is a result of a merger between the American Lutheran Church (ALC), the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC), all of which had formally agreed in 1982 to unite after several years of discussions. The ELCA's three predecessor churches were themselves the product of previous mergers and splits among various independent Lutheran synods in the United States.^[11]

The American Lutheran Church

In 1960 the American Lutheran Church, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church merged to form The American Lutheran Church, with the Lutheran Free Church joining in 1963. The ALC brought approximately 2.25 million members into the ELCA. Its immigrant heritage came mostly from Germany, Norway, and Denmark. It was the most theologically conservative of the forming bodies, having a heritage of Old Lutheran theology.^[12] It joined in fellowship with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and officially held to biblical inerrancy in its constitution, although it seldom enforced it by means of heresy trials and other doctrinal discipline. Its geographic center was in the Upper Midwest, especially Minnesota. Some congregations in the ALC opted not to join the merger and instead formed the American Association of Lutheran Churches.

The Lutheran Church in America

In 1962 the United Lutheran Church in America, the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, and the Danish American Evangelical Lutheran Church formed the Lutheran Church in America. The LCA brought approximately 2.85 million members into the ELCA. Its immigrant heritage came mostly from Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, Denmark and Finland. Its demographic focus was on the East Coast (centered on Pennsylvania), with large numbers in the Midwest and some presence in the Southern Atlantic states. There are notable exceptions, but LCA-background churches tend to be more liturgical than ALC-background churches. Its theological orientation ranged from moderately liberal to neo-orthodox, with tendencies toward conservative Pietism in some rural and small-town congregations. Its theology originated in the Neo-Lutheran movement.^[12]

The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches

In 1976 the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) was formed from congregations that left the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod in a schism precipitated by progressive-traditionalist disputes over higher criticism, academic freedom and ecumenism. Its establishment was precipitated by the Seminex controversy at the LCMS's Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri in 1974. The AELC brought approximately 100,000 members into the ELCA. Its immigrant heritage came mostly from Germany; the complexion of its theology generally resembled that of the LCA, as the dissenting former "moderate" faction of the LCMS.

Organization

The ELCA is headed by a Presiding Bishop, who is elected by the Churchwide Assembly for a term of six years (it was a 4 year term until 1995). To date, three pastors have been elected to the position of presiding bishop of the ELCA. Herbert W. Chilstrom served as the first presiding bishop from 1987 to 1995. He was followed by H. George Anderson (1995–2001), who had previously been the President of Luther College. The current presiding bishop is Mark S. Hanson, who is the past president of the Lutheran World Federation. Hanson began his tenure as bishop in 2001; he was re-elected in August 2007 for a second term.

The ELCA is divided into 65 synods, one of which is non-geographical (the Slovak Zion Synod) and 64 regional synods in the United States and the Caribbean, each headed by a synodical bishop and council.^[13] Within the ELCA the term synod refers to the middle judicatory, which is referred to in some other denominations as "districts" or "dioceses".

Outside of the United States, ELCA also has congregations in the Caribbean region (Bahamas, Bermuda, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and one congregation in the border city of Windsor, Ontario, a member of the Slovak Zion Synod. Before 1986, some of the congregations that form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada were part of the ELCA's predecessor churches.

Within the church structure are divisions addressing many programs and ministries. Among these are support for global mission, outdoor ministries, campus ministries, social ministries, and education. They include the Lutheran Peace Fellowship, Lutheran Women's Caucus, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, and the Lutheran Youth Organization ELCA Youth Gathering. The denominational publishing house is Augsburg Fortress, and the official denominational magazine is The Lutheran. ELCA predecessor bodies established twenty-six colleges and universities now affiliated with the ELCA.

Most local congregations are legally independent non-profit corporations that own their own property. Actual governing practice within the congregation ranges from congregational voters' assemblies to elder-and-council-led, to congregations where the senior pastor wields great, if informal, power (more common in larger churches).^[14]

Beliefs

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is associated with the German reformer Martin Luther, with its official confessional writings found in the Book of Concord. The ELCA accepts the unaltered Augsburg Confession (not the variata) as a true witness to the Gospel. The ELCA is less conservative than the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) or Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), the second and third largest Lutheran bodies in the United States respectively.^[15] Although having a sizable conservative minority, most ELCA Lutherans are theologically moderate-to-liberal. Most other Lutheran bodies in the U.S. hold more strictly to Confessional Lutheranism, Pietism, or a combination of the two, than the ELCA does.

Differences within the ELCA

The ELCA has many differences of opinion among its constituent congregations, which have caused a number of disputes over social and doctrinal issues. In part, this is due to the fact that it assimilated three different Lutheran church bodies, each with its own factions and divisions, thus inheriting old intra-group conflicts while creating new inter-group ones. Differences on issues usually reflect theological disputes between various parties.

The ELCA is a very broad organization. It contains groups of socially conservative or liberal factions with focuses on various topics such as liturgical renewal,^[16][17] confessional Lutheranism, charismatic revivalism, moderate to liberal theology, and liberal activism. The socially liberal segment of the ELCA is represented by independent organizations such as Lutherans Concerned/North America, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, and the Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus A socially conservative Lutheran organization, once within, and now departed from the ELCA opposed to the denomination's stance on openly-gay clergy is the Lutheran Coalition For Renewal (Lutheran CORE). Adherents of Evangelical Catholicism practice High Church Lutheranism and include the members of the Society of the Holy Trinity. Those oriented toward Confessional Lutheranism, Evangelicalism, or an admixture of the two include the WordAlone network and those involved with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ. Members of the Charismatic Movement include congregations and pastors associated with the Alliance of Renewal Churches.

Scripture

The ELCA constitution states:

This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life."^[18]

ELCA clergy tend not to subscribe to a doctrine of Biblical inerrancy, but see validity in various scholarly methods of analysis to help in understanding the Bible.^[19] This is in concord with most moderate Protestant bodies and in contrast to the LCMS and WELS, which practice the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation.

Sacraments

Like other Lutheran church bodies, the ELCA confesses at least two Sacraments, Communion (or the Eucharist) and Holy Baptism (including infant baptism). Confession and absolution is often included as a Sacrament, however, as it is a return to the forgiveness given in baptism, strictly speaking there are only two sacraments. Guidance on sacramental practices in the ELCA is provided in The Use of the Means of Grace, a statement adopted by the 1997 Churchwide Assembly.^[20]

In addition to the two sacraments, ELCA churches also practice the other five sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church — not as sacraments, but as acts that are sacramental in character, or sacramentals. These include confirmation, ordination, anointing the sick, confession and absolution, and marriage. Their practice and their view as "minor sacraments" varies between churches of a "high" and "low" church nature.

Eucharist, also called the Lord's Supper

The ELCA holds to the Lutheran doctrine of the Sacramental Union, that is, that Christ's body and blood is truly present "in, with and under" the bread and wine.^[21] All communicants orally receive not only bread and wine, but also the same body and blood of Christ that was given for them on the cross.^[22] Members of other denominations sometimes erroneously perceive this as a belief in consubstantiation. Lutherans, however, reject the philosophical explanation of consubstantiation, preferring to see the presence of the Lord's body and blood as mysterious rather than explainable by human philosophy. The Lutheran belief in the mysterious character of the consecrated bread and wine is more similar to Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief than most Protestants. In contrast, most Protestant church bodies doubt or openly deny that the true body and blood of Christ is eaten in the Lord's Supper.

Unlike certain other American Lutheran church bodies, the ELCA practices open communion, permitting all persons baptized in the name of the Trinity with water to receive communion. Some congregations also commune baptized infants similarly to Eastern Orthodox practice. The ELCA encourages its churches to practice the Eucharist at all services, although some churches alternate between non-communion services with those containing the Lord's Supper.

Social issues

The ELCA's stances on social issues are outlined in its Social Statements and Messages.^[23] Social Statements, which must be adopted by a 2/3 majority of a Churchwide Assembly, have been adopted on the following topics:

Abortion (1991)

Church in Society (1991)

Death Penalty (1991)

Economic Life (1999)

Education (2007)

Environment (1993)

Genetics (2011)

Health and Health Care (2003)

Human Sexuality (2009)

Peace (1995)

Race, Ethnicity & Culture (1993)

Role of women

The ELCA ordains women as pastors, a practice that all three of its predecessor churches adopted in the 1970s. Some have become synod bishops. The most recent ELCA hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, includes alternate gender-neutral invocations and benedictions in all settings. All of the psalms and many of the hymns and parts of the liturgy have been altered to remove masculine pronouns referring to God.^[24]

Ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered clergy

On August 21, 2009, the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis voted to allow congregations to call and ordain gays and lesbians in committed monogamous relationships to serve as clergy.^[25] By a vote of 559 to 451, delegates approved a resolution declaring that the church would find a way for people in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships" to serve as official ministers. Congregations that do not wish to call these persons to ordained ministry are not required by these policy changes to do so.^[26]

In reaction, Lutheran CORE, which opposed the decision, stated that it would, "initiate a process that we hope will lead to a reconfiguration of North American Lutheranism."^[27] In February 2010, Lutheran CORE announced that it will secede from the ELCA and form a new denomination to be named the North American Lutheran Church (NALC).^[28] As of 2008, 37% of ELCA pastors were found to support same-sex marriage.^[29]

The ELCA, in removing sexual orientation as a bar for candidacy in the professional ministry, joined most of its Lutheran sister churches in Europe, including in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and Austria.^[30] The ELCA is also among a growing number of Christian churches in the United States to make this move.

In contrast, the board of one of the ELCA's partner churches, October 2009, the Evangelical Mekane Yesus Fellowship in North America, voted to declare disunity with the ELCA. A press release stated that the board was no longer "in good conscience" "able to commune and partner with ELCA Church that has willfully disobeyed the word of God and regrettably departed from the clear instructions of the Holy Scriptures" that "marriage is only between a man and a woman."^[31]

In April 2010, The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America adopted revisions to ministry policy documents to bring them in line with the August 2009 vote, as well as adding sections on integrity, substance abuse and addiction.^[32] The release noted that the revised ministry policies would be posted on the church's website by the end of April, 2010.^[32]

Since August 2009, according to the office of the ELCA secretary, over 600 congregations have left the ELCA through January 2011. Income has declined, with a projected income of 48 million in 2011, down from a budgeted 51 million in 2010, and a total budget of 88 million in 2005.^[33]

Creation and evolution

The ELCA has not adopted an official position on creation or evolution, but there is general agreement on interpreting the Bible within its historical contexts and applying critical methods of research.

Reproductive cloning

The ELCA has not yet taken an official position regarding reproductive cloning. However, Task Force on Genetics of the church’s “Church in Society” initiative is studying the theological and ethical issues that the world is likely to face in coming years as a result of Genetic Science. The task force has issued a draft report^[34] for comment and discussion. The draft statement covers a wide range of topics, from genetic testing to GMOs. A section in this report which has been described by an independent reviewer as "a remarkably nuanced analysis and statement regarding a very complex scientific, social, and religious issue."^[35] The task force recommends opposition to reproductive cloning, as almost all religious groups currently do. However, the main theological reasoning is unique. Lewis D. Eigen explains:^[36]

The argument they articulate is not the common but weak argument that it would be “offensive to God,” “against the will of God” or “man encroaching into God’s domain”, but they observe that the clone would be denied the dignity of possessing a unique human genotype. This is an extremely interesting argument—that each and every human being has the right to his or her own uniqueness—particularly a unique genotype.

The draft statement further asserts that any clones that might be created should have full acceptance as human beings and access to rites of the church.

Abortion

The issue of abortion is a matter of contention within the ELCA. In a Social Statement adopted in 1991,^[37] the church set out its position on the matter as follows. The ELCA describes itself as "a community supportive of life," and encourages women to explore alternatives to abortion such as adoption. However, the Social Statement asserts that there are certain circumstances under which a decision to end a pregnancy can be "morally responsible." These include cases where the pregnancy "presents a clear threat to the physical life of the woman," situations where "the pregnancy occurs when both parties do not participate willingly in sexual intercourse," and "circumstances of extreme fetal abnormality, which will result in severe suffering and very early death of an infant." Regardless of the reason, the ELCA opposes abortion when "a fetus is developed enough to live outside a uterus with the aid of reasonable and necessary technology." The ELCA opposes "laws that deny access to safe and affordable services for morally justifiable abortions," and "laws that are primarily intended to harass those contemplating or deciding for an abortion." The statement emphasizes the prevention of circumstances leading to abortion, specifically encouraging "appropriate forms of sex education in schools, community pregnancy prevention programs, and parenting preparation classes."

Practices

Churchwide Assemblies

The Churchwide Assembly meets biennially in odd-numbered years and consists of elected lay and ordained voting members; between meetings of the Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA Church Council governs the denomination. A constitutional amendment passed in 2011 that will switch it to a triennially meeting after 2013.

1987 Columbus, Ohio (ELCA Constituting Convention)

1989 Chicago, Illinois

1991 Orlando, Florida

1993 Kansas City, Missouri

1995 Minneapolis, Minnesota

1997 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1999 Denver, Colorado

2001 Indianapolis, Indiana

2003 Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2005 Orlando, Florida

2007 Chicago, Illinois

2009 Minneapolis, Minnesota

2011 Orlando, Florida

2013 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (schedule)

Church Fellowship

The ELCA is a member of the National Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches, and Christian Churches Together and is a "partner in mission and dialog" with the Churches Uniting in Christ.

Full Communion

The Church maintains full communion relationships with member churches of the Lutheran World Federation (which is a communion of 140 autonomous national/regional Lutheran church bodies in 78 countries around the world, representing nearly 66 million Christians), the Moravian Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion), and the United Methodist Church.

Relations with the Roman Catholic Church

On October 31, 1999 in Augsburg, Germany, the Lutheran World Federation – of which the ELCA is a member – signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church. The statement is an attempt to reconcile an historical theological divide between the two faiths. The Declaration also states that the mutual condemnations between 16th century Lutherans and the Roman Catholic Church no longer apply to those that have signed onto the document.

ELCA and LCMS

The differences between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) arise from theological, historical, and cultural factors. The LCMS was in fellowship with the American Lutheran Church, one of the ELCA predecessor bodies. Although the denominations cooperate through Lutheran World Relief and military chaplaincy, they are not officially in communion with each other.

When the first Lutheran immigrants came to North America, they started church bodies that reflected, to some degree, the churches they left behind in Europe. Many maintained until the early 20th century their immigrant languages. They sought pastors from the "old country" until patterns for the education of clergy could be developed here. Eventually, seminaries and church colleges were established in many places to prepare pastors to serve congregations.

The earliest predecessor synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was constituted on August 25, 1748, in Philadelphia. It was known as the Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States. The ELCA was created in 1988 by the merging of the 2.85 million member Lutheran Church in America, 2.25 million member American Lutheran Church, and the 100,000 member Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. Previously, the ALC and LCA in the early 1960s came into being as a result of mergers of eight smaller ethnically-based Lutheran bodies composed of German, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Slovak, Dutch, and other folk.

The LCMS was established in 1847 by German immigrants fleeing the forced Prussian Union, who settled in Perry County, Missouri. The LCMS is the second largest Lutheran church body in North America with 2.4 million adherents. It differs from the ELCA in that the LCMS prefers a more direct application of biblical teaching to modern times, does not practice the ordination of women, and does not practice open communion. In the mid-1970s the Seminex controversy over use of historical-critical biblical study led to the formation of the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, one of the predecessor bodies of the ELCA.

The ELCA tends to be more involved in ecumenical endeavors than the LCMS, which prohibits its clergy from worshiping in ecumenical gatherings. The ELCA is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches USA. The LCMS rejects these as being unionist.

Results from the Pew Research Center U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of 2008:^[38]

Comparison to LCMS in ELCA's point of view according to the Honoring Our Neighbor's Faith^[39] These conclusions are not agreed upon by the WELS or LCMS.

Ministry

As a Lutheran church body, the ELCA professes belief in the "priesthood of all believers" as reflected in Martin Luther's To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, that all baptized persons have equal access to God and are all called to use their gifts to serve the body of Christ. Some people are called to "rostered ministry", or vocations of church leadership and service. After formation, theological training, and approval by local synods these people are "set aside, but not above" through ordination or commissioning/consecration. The Division for Ministry at the ELCA's headquarters is responsible for the oversight and pastoral care of rostered ministers, in addition to the synodical bishop.^[40] More and more ELCA congregations are employing specialized and even general ministers outside of this national oversight. The ELCA currently has four types of rostered ministers:

Pastors (clergy)

An ordained minister is called to the "office of public ministry" of "Word and sacrament" and considered a "steward of the mysteries" of the Church (i.e., the means of grace). Pastors primarily serve congregations, but this role has been expanded to include other forms of ministry as well (e.g., hospital and military chaplains). Pastors are ordinarily trained at one of eight ELCA seminaries located throughout the United States, although there are alternative paths for ordination to serve particular communities in which it is difficult to provide trained leaders or to allow rostering of clergy transferred from other denominations. Pastors generally hold a Bachelor of Arts degree or its equivalent, as well as a four-year master of divinity degree, are required to learn biblical Hebrew and Greek, and are required to complete a one-year internship of full-time service in pastoral ministry. A bishop is a pastor called to serve either a synod or as presiding bishop of the ELCA. A bishop is only a bishop as long as he or she serves in that office and returns to being known simply as a pastor when service as a bishop ends.

Diaconal minister

Diaconal Ministers are ministers of Word and Service who may serve as a chaplains, youth ministers, or in some aspect of social justice or advocacy work. This is the newest category established by the ELCA. A Diaconal minister is similar to the role performed by permanent deacons in the Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church.

Deaconess

A Deaconess is a lay woman, married or single, who serves the Church in a variety of ways. Traditionally, deaconesses served in the caring professions as nurses, social workers, or teachers.

Associate in Ministry

Serves local congregations, synods or other ministries in a variety of roles as parish administrators, parish musicians, youth ministry leaders, or other positions.

Worship

Published in 2006, Evangelical Lutheran Worship is the main hymnal used in congregations, though some continue to use the older Lutheran Book of Worship, and many use supplementary resources as well. Many ELCA congregations are classically liturgical churches. Their liturgy is rooted in the Western liturgical tradition, though Lutheran-Orthodox dialog has some minimal influence on Lutheran liturgy. Because of its use of the Book of Concord, including Luther's Small Catechism and its retention of many pre-Reformation traditions, such as vestments, feast days, the sign of the cross, and the usage of a church-wide liturgy, there are many aspects of the typical ELCA church that are very catholic and traditional in nature. Many Lutheran churches use traditional vestments (alb, cincture, stole, chasuble, cope, etc.). Since the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, most major parts of the ELCA's popular liturgies are worded exactly like the English Mass of the Roman Catholic Church. Many ELCA congregations use informal styles of worship or a blend of traditional and contemporary liturgical forms.

Springing from its revered heritage in the Lutheran Chorale, the musical life of ELCA congregations is just as diverse as its worship. Johann Sebastian Bach and African songs are part of the heritage and breadth of Lutheran church music. The musical portion of the Lutheran liturgy includes metrical psalter, metrical responses and hymns. Evangelical Lutheran Worship has ten settings of Holy Communion, for example. They range from plainsong chant, to Gospel, to Latin-style music. Congregations worship in many languages, many of which are represented in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Other books used in ELCA churches include the Lutheran Book of Worship, With One Voice, This Far by Faith, and Libro de Liturgia y Cántico.

Demographics

Results from the Pew Research Center U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of 2008:^[41]

See also

• Differences between the WELS & ELCA

References

External links

• Main web site ELCA.org
• ELCA Disaster Response ELCA.org/disaster
• ELCA Global Mission ELCA.org/globalmission
• ELCA Seminaries

A history of many of the bodies that merged to form ELCA:

• Wolf, Edmund Jacob. The Lutherans in America; a story of struggle, progress, influence and marvelous growth. New York: J.A. Hill. 1889.

  Lutheranism portal