Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

"ELCA" redirects here. For other uses, see ELCA (disambiguation).

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
ClassificationMainline Protestant
OrientationLutheran
PolityModified episcopal polity with some powers reserved to the congregation as in congregationalism
Presiding BishopElizabeth Eaton
Associations
RegionUnited States and Caribbean
HeadquartersLutheran Center, 8765 W Higgins Rd, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
OriginConstituting Convention on April 30, 1987, in Columbus, Ohio,[1] operations began January 1, 1988[2]
Merger of
Separations
Congregations8,498 (2023)[3]
Members2,793,899 baptized members (2023)[3]
MissionariesAbout 150 fully supported, including nine evangelists[4]
Official websitewww.elca.org

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it has approximately 2.79 million baptized members in 8,498 congregations.[3]

In 2015, Pew Research estimated that 1.4 percent of the U.S. population self-identifies with the ELCA.[5] It is the seventh-largest Christian denomination by reported membership[6] and the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.[7] The next two largest Lutheran denominations are the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) (with over 1.7 million baptized members[8]) and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) (with approximately 340,000 members).[9] There are also many smaller Lutheran church bodies in the United States, some formed by dissidents to the major 1988 merger. Its members are largely descendants of Scandinavians and Germans who emigrated from countries where Lutheranism was the state religion.

The ELCA belongs to the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, and the Lutheran World Federation. It is in full communion with the Episcopal Church, Moravian Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church.[10]

  1. ^ "ELCA Constituting Convention". Archived from the original on November 2, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
  2. ^ "ELCA Family History 1900s". Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c "Summary of Congregational Statistics as of 12/31/2023" (PDF). Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. August 26, 2024. p. 261. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  4. ^ David Neff. "'It's Not About the Past'". ChristianityToday.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  5. ^ "Religious Landscape Study". pewforum.org. Pew Research. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  6. ^ "National Council of Churches USA". ncccusa.org. March 20, 2012. Archived from the original on August 30, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2019.. As of 2012, churches with more members were the Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church of God in Christ, and the National Baptist Convention, USA.
  7. ^ "Quick Facts". ELCA. Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007..
  8. ^ "2023 Annual Report". Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  9. ^ "WELS ANNUAL REPORT 2022". Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  10. ^ "Full Communion Partners". ELCA.org. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2016.