North American Lutheran Church

North American Lutheran Church
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Mainline Confessional Lutheran
Theology	Moderate to Conservative
Polity	Mixed episcopal and congregationalist polity
Leader	Bishop John Bradosky
Origin	2010 Hilliard, Ohio
Separated from	Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Congregations	407
Members	c. 141,000
Official website	www.thenalc.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 North American Lutheran Church (NALC) is a Lutheran denomination with more than 400 congregations in the United States and Canada, counting more than 141,000 members. As a Confessional Lutheran church, the NALC believes all doctrines should and must be judged by the teaching of the Christian Scriptures (the Bible), in keeping with the Lutheran Confessions. The NALC is committed to shaping its life around four attributes: Christ-Centered, Mission-Driven, Traditionally-Grounded, and Congregationally-Focused. It was established on August 27, 2010.

The North American Lutheran Church was officially formed in August 2010 as the culmination of a process begun by Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal), a confessional Lutheran organization which crosses denominational lines. This action came in response to the dissatisfaction of theological conservatives within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) who perceived the ELCA as moving away from the authority of the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions. The primary issue of concern for these groups was a 2009 decision by the ELCA which changed its teaching and policy on sexual ethics, allowing pastors to be in committed same-sex relationships. Following Lutheran CORE's national convocation in September 2009, which resolved to pursue the "reconfiguration of North American Lutheranism", the organization's leaders released a plan for organizing the North American Lutheran Church on February 18, 2010. It was felt that a new church body was needed for those Lutheran congregations who declined to join already existing Lutheran groups.

The new church was constituted in Grove City, Ohio, at the Lutheran CORE national convocation of August 26–27, 2010. The convocation was attended by approximately 1000 participants, including representatives of several denominations, such as the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, and the Anglican Church in North America. A constitution was adopted and provisional leaders were elected, including the Reverend Paull Spring of State College, Pennsylvania, a retired ELCA bishop, to serve as provisional bishop of the NALC for its first year. The congregations that joined the NALC elected their own leaders at the church body's first annual meeting on August 11–12, 2011, in Hilliard, Ohio. The Reverend John Bradosky of Centerville, Ohio, NALC General Secretary, was elected as bishop of the NALC at that meeting to serve a four-year term. During the NALC's 2015 Annual Convocation in Dallas, TX, he was re-elected to a second four-year term.

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