Old Apostolic Lutheran Church
| Old Apostolic Lutheran Church | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | OALC |
| Classification | Lutheran |
| Region | United States |
| Origin | 1890s |
| Members | 15,000 |
| Official website | www |
The Old Apostolic Lutheran Church of America (OALC) is a Firstborn Laestadian church in North America. Firstborn Laestadians are a subgroup within Laestadianism. The Old Apostolic Lutheran Church was born in the 1890s. In the Nordic Firstborn Laestadian revival the movement works inside the Church of Sweden, also called "Lutheran Folk Church", which is the official state church of Sweden. The Church of Sweden has since long recognized the Laestadian movement and has allowed them to hold their own services, frist in the State Churches and even after the desperation Of Church and state. In America it is an independent church and has no interrelationship with the Lutheran Folk Church of Sweden.
The OALC believes in the Trinity: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and referred to as the Triune God. It confesses the Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New testaments, as the only unchangeable Word of God for salvation and the standard by which all doctrines of salvation should be examined. The OALC accepts the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and original doctrine of Martin Luther, Lars Levi Laestadius, and the elders of this church in Swedish Lapland in this era (known as the Church of Firstborn).
The Old Apostolic Lutheran Church has approximately 15,000 members and is the largest Laestadian/Apostolic Lutheran (as they are called in America) church in America. In the beginning, it was a small group near the turn of 19th and 20th century, when the Laestadian movement in America was splintered, giving rise to the "New Apostolic Lutheran Church" and the "Old Apostolic Lutheran Church." Originally, the OALC had only a few church buildings and services were usually held in homes. During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries the Old Apostolic Lutherans have become a rapidly growing church. The main reasons for its growth are the belief in, and creation of, large families. The church also grows from marriages to people of other faiths, who then IF by the Grace of God are given the grace to believe, become Old Apostolic Lutherans. The Old Apostolic Lutheran Church of America is the American parent, nationwide ecclesiastical association, which has member congregations in the following states: Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Carolina, Delaware, Wyoming, Montana and Wisconsin. The most significant membership is in southwest area of the state of Washington, with approximately 6,000 members. Other large congregations are located in Lake Norden, SD (2000) Hancock, Michigan (800); Minneapolis, Minnesota (1200); and Detroit, Michigan (800). The OALC also has congregations in Canada and in Alaska. In the Battle Ground area of Washington, churches now exist in Brush Prairie, Lewisville, Heisson, and Woodland. A future church is being planned for Yacolt. This large number of Old Apostolic Lutherans is concentrated in the central and northern sections of Clark County, Washington. The OALC has a growing number of church facilities in the United States and in Canada. In the Columbian's interview Dale Schlecht, who is the preacher at the Clark County church, said there is no way to ascertain the exact number of members, because the church does not keep a roster of membership.
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