Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Mainline Lutheran
Theology	Combination of Old and Neo- Lutheranism with Confessing Movement, Evangelical Catholic, High Church, Haugean, Pietist, charismatic, progressive, Christian left, Christian feminism
Polity	Modified episcopal polity with some powers reserved to the congregation as in congregationalism
Presiding Bishop	Elizabeth Eaton
Associations	Lutheran World Federation Christian Churches Together Churches Uniting in Christ National Council of Churches World Council of Churches
Region	United States and Caribbean
Headquarters	Lutheran Center, Chicago, Illinois
Origin	Constituting Convention on April 30, 1987, in Columbus, Ohio, operations began January 1, 1988
Merger of	Lutheran Church in America American Lutheran Church Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches
Separations	Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ Lutheran Confessional Synod Alliance of Renewal Churches North American Lutheran Church
Congregations	9,320
Members	3,668,034 baptized members (2015),
Missionaries	About 150 fully supported, including 9 evangelists
Official website	www.elca.org

Lutheranism in the United States
Mainline Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Evangelical Mekane Yesus Fellowship in North America Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Lithuanian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Diaspora Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ North American Lutheran Church
Heritage of the Synodical Conference of North America Association of Confessional Lutheran Churches Church of the Lutheran Confession Concordia Lutheran Conference Evangelical Lutheran Synod Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheran Churches of the Reformation Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference Protes'tant Conference United Lutheran Mission Association Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Heritage of the LFC or ALC American Association of Lutheran Churches Association of Free Lutheran Congregations Evangelical Lutheran Conference & Ministerium of North America Conservative Lutheran Association Lutheran Ministerium and Synod - USA
Heritage of the Awakening Apostolic Lutheran Church of America Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America Laestadian Lutheran Church
High Church Revival Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church Evangelical Catholic Church Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America International Lutheran Fellowship
Charismatic Revival Alliance of Renewal Churches

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of 2015^[update], it has approximately 3.7 million baptized members in just over 9,300 congregations. In 2015, Pew Research estimated that 2.1% of the U.S population self-identifies with the ELCA and mainline Lutheranism. It is the seventh-largest religious body and the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. The next two largest Lutheran denominations are the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) (with approximately 2.1 million members) and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) (with approximately 370,000 members). There are also many in the United States, some of which came into being composed of dissidents following the major 1988 merger. The ELCA belongs to the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation. The ELCA 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.

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