The ELCA is the newest, largest and most progressive of the Lutheran denominations. It was formed in 1988 as a merger between some Swedes (LCA), Norwegians (ALC) and some renegade Germans (AELC). As a denomination, the ELCA has just over 9,000 congregations and 3.4 million members. In our denomination, women can become pastors (and bishops!); science is embraced (including climate change and evolution); and the LBGTQ community is received as full partners in ministry.
Evangelical. The modern use of this word has political baggage. We focus on the original meaning of the word: Gospel-centered. This church has a desire to live out the love of Jesus Christ. As we live the love of Jesus, we live out the Gospel.
Lutheran. Our “middle name” comes from Martin Luther, the 16 th century priest, professor and agitator. We do not follow Martin Luther. We follow Jesus of Nazareth. But we like what Luther helped us see—the importance of God’s grace. God is not so hell-bent on destroying us, as God has a perpetual desire to have us be born anew.
Church. We are not a social club. We are a community of Jesus. The church as two functions: to gather together and to send out. We gather together in many ways but most visibly on Sunday mornings. Every time we gather, we are sent out to make a difference in this world that God loves.
in America. Every person has a country. Every country is a gift. Our country has many gifts. One of the gifts is that even though we are many, we are one (e pluribus Unum). In this church we are many cultures. We have many languages and many backgrounds. What makes us One is not that we are the same, but that we all gather under the canopy of the love of God in Jesus.