A Church as well has congregations in the Caribbean region. Prior to 1986, some of a congregations that form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada were part of the ELCA's predecessor churches. A ELCA is one of a big Christian demominations in the United States. A next 2 big Lutheran denominations come a Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (with more or less Two.6 million members) & a Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (with around 410,000 members). There are several little Lutheran church bodies in the United States.

A headquarters of the Church come placed at 8765 West Higgins Road, Chicago IL 60631.

Organization and structure

the ELCA is headed by a presiding bishop, elected by the Churchwide Assembly for the term of sextuplet years. A Churchwide Assembly meets around odd-numbered years & consists of elective lay & ordained vote members; between meetings of a Churchwide Assembly, a ELCA Church Council governs the Church. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson was elected in 2001. A virtually all recent Churchwide Assembly was held around August, 2005 in Orlando, Florida.

A Church is divided into of these favorite synod (the Slovak Zion Synod) and 64 regional synods or even dioceses in the United States & the Caribbean, both headed by a synodical bishop and council. A ELCA utilizes a term synod otherwise than a Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod or the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, which are separate denominations.

Inside a church structure come divisions addressing numbers of software download & ministries. Among which are actually trend lines for missions, outdoor ministries, campus ministries, social ministries, and education. There are twenty-28 colleges and universities affiliated with a ELCA throughout a United States.

Watch List of ELCA colleges and universities, List of ELCA seminaries, List of ELCA synods.

Predecessor churches

A ELCA formally inherit being in January 1, 1988, creating the big Lutheran church immune system in the United States. a Church occurs as effect of a merger between the Lutheran Church in America (LCA), The American Lutheran Church (ALC) and a Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC), all of which experienced formally agreed around 1982 to unite after many years of discussions. A ELCA's triad predecessor churches were themselves a product of last mergers & splits among various independent Lutheran synods in the United States.

A U.s. Lutheran Church In 1960 a Our contries Lutheran Church, a United Evangelical Lutheran Church, & A Evangelical Lutheran Church merged to form The American Lutheran Church. A Lutheran Free Church joined within 1963. A ALC brought close to Ii.25 million members into a ELCA.

A Lutheran Church within America In 1962 a United Lutheran Church around Us, a Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, a Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, & a Our contries Evangelical Lutheran Church formed the Lutheran Church in Us. A LCA brought just about Two.85 million members into a ELCA.

A Association of Evangelistic Lutheran Churches In 1976 a AELC was formed from congregations that left the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod over issues of biblical literalism, academic freedom and ecumenism. Its establishment was precipitated per Seminex controversy at the Lowest common multiple's Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. A AELC brought or so 100,000 members into a ELCA.

Presiding bishops
Herbert W. Chilstrom 1988-1995 H. George Anderson 1995-2001 Mark S. Hanson 2001-

Beliefs and practice
A ELCA occurs as Christian church person holding to the teachings of Protestant reformer Martin Luther. A ELCA's school of thought is less conservative and its requirements for entry less stringent than people of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) or Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), the 2nd & third big Lutheran bodies in the United States.

Interpretation of Scripture: Typically speaking, ELCA clergy come less probably to require a Bible literally than those in the Least common multiple or even WELS. ELCthe seminaries & colleges typically teach a form of historical-critical method of biblical analysis, an approach that, broadly speaking, seeks to read a scriptures & a run of canon formation by using information to historical & social context. For the brief description, look at [http://www.elca.org/questions/Results.asp?recid=17 What is the Bible?] on the ELCA site.

Sacraments: Prefer more Lutheran church bodies, a ELCA practices ii Sacraments, Communion (or a Eucharist) and Holy Baptism (including infant baptism). A ELCA, along by owning virtually all more Lutherans, holds to the doctrine of the Real Presence, in more words, a belief that Christ is truly present – person, soul, humanity & divinity – "in, with and under" (Augsburg Confession) a Bread & Wine, then that communicants receive two, the elements & Christ himself. More denominations every now and againside mistakenly perceive this as a belief in consubstantiation. A ELCA, even so, rejects a belief of consubstantiation & regards tries to tell you within terms of philosophic metaphysics how else a Eucharist "works" when awless of the Sacrament's miraculous & mysterious character. A Roman Catholic Church believes in transubstantiation, while numbers of more Protestant church bodies doubt the Real Presence in the elements of communion. Unlike virtually all more Western Lutheran church bodies, ELCA congregations practice open communion, inviting all baptized souls to receive communion in their congregations.

Ministerial step by step training & ordination: Pastors come trained at one of eight ELCA seminaries placed throughout a United States. It typically hang on to the Bachelors of Arts degree or even same, too as a masters degree within divinity, and come mandatory to view biblical Hebrew and Greek. Pastors come ordained by bishops under terms of Called to Common Mission, a good-communion agreement between the ELCA & The Episcopal Church which calls for the ELCA to adopt apostolic succession in its ordained ministers. Since the passage of CCM, the little total of pastors use elective for presbyteral ordination like than episcopal ordination, under a [http://www.elca.org/ecumenical/fullcommunion/episcopal/ccmresources/Ordination_Unusual_policy.pdf bylaw exception] passed per 2001 Churchwide Assembly. Around more words, around certain circumstances these are allow a pastor, like than the bishop, to ordain the pastor in the ELCA, by having the understanding that this particular pastor would non exist as eligible for service in the Episcopal Church.

Worship styles: Worship styles could deviate – from either "traditional," where anthem date back pre-Reformation days as much as a present day come utilized, to "contemporary," in which modern day gospel music is incorporated. A ELCA occurs as liturgical church, and its services would exist as familiar to a Roman Catholic or even Episcopalian, including features like the "sign of the cross," a apply of Latwithin-Rite vestments (alb, waistb&, & stole; a chasuble & header is seldom worn, although virtually all bishops tend to have on the two), & the traditional liturgical colors: white, red, green, and purple – although in recent years, blue is worn for Advent, ruddy for Holy Week, gold for Easter Sunday exclusively, & blacken, a traditional color for mourning, is okay, single worn for Ash Wednesday. A principle book of worship is the Lutheran Book of Worship. More official resources include By owning Of these Voice, This Far by Faith, & Libro first state Liturgia y Cántico . A church is presently engaged in the [http://www.renewingworship.org/ Renewing Worship project], a 5-year/five-phase run to determine & respond with the "next generation" of comprehensive worship resources that might succeed a Lutheran Book of Worship.

Rostered ministry
As a Lutheran church immune system, a ELCA professes belief in the "priesthood of all believers", or that a lot baptized souls come confessedly ministers of the Church. Occasionally population come known as to "rostered ministry", or even vocations of church leadership & service. When how to videos & certification by local synods these humans come "set aside, but not above" across ordination or even commissioning/consecration. A ELCA presently has quaternity types of rostered ministery: Pastor: Every bit explained in the last subdivision, this is an ordained minister of "Word and sacrament". Deaconess: the lay woman, married or even lone, world health organization serves the Church around a kind of ways. Traditionally, deaconesses served in the concerned professions when nurses, social workers, or teachers. Associate inside Ministry: Service local congregations, synods or even even more ministries within the kind of roles when parish administrators, youth ministry leaders, or more positions. Diaconal minister: The minister of Word world health organization could help as a chaplain, youth minister, or even around a select few aspect of social justice or protagonism function. This is the freshly category established per ELCA. The Diaconal minister is similar to the role performed by lasting deacons in the Episcopal Church.

A Section for Ministry at a ELCA's headquarters is responsible the oversight & pastoral care of rostered ministers, additionally to the synodical bishop. Info on the Section's act & a various types of rostered ministry may be detected at a [http://www.elca.org/ministry/ Division's webpage].

Ecumenical relations

A ELCA occurs as member of the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches and is a "partner in mission and dialog" sustaining a Churches Uniting in Christ.

A Church maintains full communion relationships with a Lutheran World Federation (which includes many automomous national/regional Lutheran church bodies throughout a world), the Episcopal Church, the Moravian Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church in America, and a United Church of Christ. Within 2005, a ELCthe approved a probationary agreement by having the United Methodist Church called "A Proposal for Interim Eucharistic Sharing", which is the number one step toward reaching fully communion therewith denomination by 2008.

In October 31, 1999 in Augsburg, Germany, the Lutheran World Federation – of which the ELCA occurs as member – signed a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church. A statement is an attempt to narrow a theological divide between them faiths. A Declaration likewise states that a reciprocal condemnations between 16th century Lutherans & a Roman Catholic Church there are no hanker use.

Social issues
Generally, a ELCA occurs as moderately liberal body that emphasizes social justice among its core values. But, there is a peachy treat of diversity of opinion among its constitutive congregations, &, so, a ELCA has been a arena for a total of rough-&-tumble on top social and doctrinal issues around the period of the years since it inherit being in 1988. Around a portion, this is due to a fact that the ELCA assimilated troika different Lutheran church bodies, every by owning its have factions & divisions, so inheriting old intra-internal conflicts when creating newly inter-class action ones. In a main, still, the ELCA has avoided major schisms, partly by engaging inside hanker periods of learn & interactional deliberation prior to adopting freshly stances.

A ELCA's stances in social issues include:

Role of women: Unlike virtually completely of the more Lutheran denominations in the United States, the ELCA ordains women when pastors, a practice that all 3 of its predecessor churches adopted in the 1970s. A select few develop be synod bishops since a formation of the ELCA.

Gender: ELCA policy documents state that "marriage is the appropriate context for sexual intercourse."

Creationism/evolution: A ELCA doesn't keep around an official positiin on creation or evolution.

Queerness: A church has officially welcomed homosexuals within its congregations since 1991. All a same, its stance & in-going deliberations on homosexualism use been the subject of sharply clashes. Groups like Lutherans Concerned/North America are presently advocating for greater strides toward full acceptance & equality for homo, when groups like Solid Rock Lutherans seek to reverse moves in this counsel.

Within language number 1 proposed per church's Conference of Bishops around 1993 and formally adopted by the Churchwide Assembly inside 2005, the ELCA holds "there is basis neither in Scripture nor tradition for the establishment of an official ceremony by this church for the blessing of a homosexual relationship. We, therefore, do not approve such a ceremony as an official action of this church’s ministry." But, within acknowledgement of a complex nature and severity of this issue, the Churchwide Assembly likewise expressed its "[trust in] pastors and congregations to discern ways to provide faithful pastoral care for all to whom they minister." Though a few in two sides of the issue stand noticed this position to become silent permission for equivalent-sex blessings by single pastors, there is no allowance is bring such blessing services in the church's governing documents, & a Churchwide Assembly declined to vary church policy to provide for such services.

A ELCA doesn't presently permit a rostering of active gay. The guide considered per Churchwide Assembly would use typically maintained this stance, when providing the run for exceptions to become play people around the committed homosexual relationship, in the out break-by-individual basis. When good deal debate, a guide failed to meet them-thirds supermajority involved for its adoption, & was defeated.

Abortion: A issue of abortion has also been contentious inside a ELCA. A church, witharound documents approved in 1991, set retired its position on the matter when follows. A ELCA describes itself as "a community supportive of life," & encourages women to choose option to abortion like adoption. But, the church states that there are certain circumstances under which the guide to prevent a gestation may be "morally responsible." These include subjects in which a maternity "presents a clear threat to the physical life of the woman," situations in which "the pregnancy occurs when both parties do not participate willingly in sexual intercourse," & "circumstances of extreme fetal abnormality, which will result in severe suffering and very early death of an infant." Irrespective of the understanding, the ELCA opposes abortion while "a fetus is developed enough to live outside a uterus with the aid of reasonable and necessary technology."

Abuse case

Inside March & April 2004, the ELCA agreed to pay the largest by the capita payout within a church abuse outbreak in the United States up to now. a payment was the combination of the jury award & a separate cash settlement, two stemming from either civil lawsuits filed by xiv complainant against the ELCA, a member synod, many church officials, one of the church's seminaries, & one of its congregations. the complainant charged that it experienced been sexually abused by an ELCA minister at a church around Marshall, Texas, & that the suspect experienced been negligent in their oversight and evaluation of the wrongdoer. Looking for to reassure member congregations, the church representative afterwards noted that "ELCA bishops do not have authority to reassign clergy, and they do not move known perpetrators to other ministry locations." A offending minister was convicted & sentenced to prison inside 2003, and flushed from either a ELCA's clergy roll.