Church of Latvia

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Lutheranism
Polity	Episcopal
Primate	Jānis Vanags, Archbishop of Riga
Associations	Lutheran World Federation, World Council of Churches, Conference of European Churches, Porvoo Communion (observer)
Region	Latvia
Origin	1517
Separated from	Roman Catholic Church
Congregations	293
Members	250,000 (2013)
Official website	http://www.lelb.lv/

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas evaņģēliski luteriskā baznīca, or LELB) is a Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the church harshly before religious freedom returned to Latvia in 1988. Unlike Estonia, where state atheism and the ongoing European secularization reduced the once 80% Lutheran majority to almost 10% by 2011, the Latvian Lutheran church had dropped to around 20% but has recovered slightly and now includes approximately 30% of the population.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia sees itself as being in a continuous tradition of Christian life since the earliest recorded Christian missionary work in the area, in the 12th century. Latvia was highly influenced by the Reformation and the style of Lutheran church which emerged followed the more Protestant German-type Lutheranism, rather than the episcopal or Nordic-type Lutheranism that emerged in Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Finland. However, following the establishment of the Republic of Latvia (1918) the church moved towards a more historical catholic polity, and accepted consecration of bishops by the Church of Sweden. Along with the Church of Sweden, the ELCL now claims full apostolic succession. In 1975 the church, despite heavy opposition, decided to ordain women as pastors, but since 1993, under the leadership of Archbishop Jānis Vanags, it no longer does so. This position was confirmed in 2016, by a synodical resolution that only men may be ordained as priests. The vote required a supermajority of at least 75%, and narrowly achieved this with a 77% vote.

Since the fall of communism, the church has experienced massive growth and expansion. A special Synod in April 1989, following the return to post-communist independence, established a network of revived congregations, and put in place an almost entirely new leadership.

The Church is episcopal and synodical. This means that it is led by a Council of Bishops and governed by a Synod composed of clergy and laity. The Synod elects a Consistory which has a smaller membership and meets more frequently, to carry on the work of Synod between its formal meetings.

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