Table of Contents
When did the Evangelical Lutheran Church start?
January 1, 1988
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America/Founded
The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of 2019, it has approximately 3.3 million baptized members in 8,972 congregations.
When was the LCMS formed?
April 26, 1847, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod/Founded
Who founded the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America?
Martin Luther
The largest is known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Martin Luther founded Lutheranism, a Protestant religious denomination, during the 1500s.
What is the future of the ELCA?
According to projections from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) Office of Research and Evaluation, the whole denomination will have fewer than 67,000 members in 2050, with fewer than 16,000 in worship on an average Sunday by 2041.
Where did the Evangelical Lutheran Church come from?
The Evangelical Lutheran Synod traces its history back to 1853 when the ” Norwegian Synod ” was organized in the Midwestern United States. They practiced “fellowship”, a form of full communion, with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) during the 1850s and 1860s.
When did the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod split?
In 1866, the General Synod further split over theological issues when the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America was formed by dissatisfied members of the General Synod. Before these secessions, the General Synod claimed 164,000 communicants. This was about two-thirds of the entire Lutheran population in America.
When was the General Synod of the Catholic Church formed?
The General Synod was organized in 1820 at Hagerstown, Maryland, as a union or federation of four regional synods: the Pennsylvania Ministerium, the North Carolina Synod, the New York Ministerium, and the Synod of Maryland and Virginia.
Is the ELS in fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Synod?
The ELS is in fellowship with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and is a member of the international Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC). The Evangelical Lutheran Synod teaches that the Bible is the only authoritative and error-free source for doctrine.