The church names, sounding so much alike, are often confused. When reduced to their popular abbreviations, ELS and ELCA, the confusion only grows. Peeling back the covers, we can see some important similarities and some even more important differences.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is the largest Lutheran church body in the United States. ELCA is the result of a giant merger of Lutherans back in 1988. In that year, the old Lutheran Church in America (LCA), the American Lutheran Church (ALC), and the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC) all merged. At the point of merger, the new church body numbered nearly 5.5 million members. In comparison, the next largest Lutheran body at the time, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, numbered less than 2.5 million. The WELS was about 450,000. The ELS numbered about 25,000.
The Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) did not enter the merger. In fact, the ELS traces back its origins to 1917, which was the year of an earlier, mega-Lutheran merger. That merger brought together a large majority of Lutherans of Scandinavian tradition, including the old Norwegian Synod. But a few of the pastors and congregations of the old Norwegian synod rejected the new merger for doctrinal reasons. In 1918, these holdouts constituted the continuation of the old Norwegian synod. Known as the “Little Norwegian Synod” for years, this church adopted the title Evangelical Lutheran Synod in 1956. Our church body, our ELS, is the continuation of that old synod.
Our ELS is rich in Norwegian culture and tradition, from lefse and lutefisk dinners to our forms of worship and hymns. This culture we share with many in the ELCA. The predecessor bodies to ELCA were also steeped in Norwegian and Scandinavian tradition. Sadly, that’s where the similarity ends today. Regarding Christian doctrine and practice, we are very far apart.
The ELCA is a member of both the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches and participates in many ecumenical endeavors. It has declared itself in full communion with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ since 1997; the Moravian Church and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America since 1999; and the United Methodist Church since 2009. Under these arrangements, the ELCA and each of the churches with which it is in full communion recognize the authority of each other’s clergy and performance of the sacraments of baptism and holy communion, and members of each church are free to worship and commune in the other. Female ordination, practiced by all three predecessor bodies in the 1970s, was recognized from the beginning of the 1988 organization of ELCA.
ELCA has also been very progressive regarding the issue of sexual orientation. Since the 1991 Churchwide Assembly (the general meeting of ELCA congregations), the ELCA has affirmed that homosexuals are “individuals created by God” who are welcome to participate in congregational life. Subsequent assemblies resolved that human sexuality is an issue that warrants study and theological reflection. After rejecting a resolution in 2005 that would have allowed the ordination of homosexuals in noncelibate monogamous relationships, the Churchwide Assembly in 2009 voted to permit church members in “lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships” to join the clergy. In response, more than 200 congregations left the ELCA the following year. Former ELCA members were among the founders in 2010 of the new North American Lutheran Church (NALC), which claimed 18 founding congregations and quickly attracted others. NALC now numbers over 144,000 members in 420 congregations.
Meanwhile, the ELCA has continually declined in membership, from 5.5 million in 1988 to an estimated 3 million today.
The ELCA has 65 synodical leaders known as bishops who are elected to six-year terms. In 2021, the church elected its first openly transgender bishop, Megan Rohrer, to serve its Sierra Pacific synod. Rohrer was the first transgender person to hold the role of bishop in any major American Christian denomination.
The ELS has been confronted with the same societal and cultural pressures over the years. By the grace of God through faithful leaders and members, our doctrine has remained unchanged since the synod’s inception. Unlike the progressive ELCA and her fellowship church bodies, we believe that doctrine does not change. Doctrine, simply put, is the teaching of Scripture. The Scriptures do not change; therefore, our doctrine does not change. “I am the Lord. I change not” (Malachi 3:6). “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Jesus, Matthew 24:35). We share this solid stance on Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions with our sister synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).
What would it take to unite these two divergent church bodies? We can only unite in complete agreement in the Word of God. ELCA theologians bristle at the terms “inerrant” and “infallible” Scripture. To them, the Word of God must change in understanding and application, even as the times change. So also the Lutheran confessional documents of the Book of Concord—which have historically identified true Lutherans—are described as faithful expressions of truth in their time. But today they, too, stand in need of new interpretation and modern application. We disagree. We stand on the Lutheran Confessions as true and accurate explanations of the unchanging Word of Scripture. We stand on Scripture, no matter how difficult or unpopular, as the unchanging truth of God in the world. On this basis alone, we can consider working at unification of our church bodies. Under present conditions in ELCA, it is difficult to imagine the arrival of that day anytime soon.
One last thing. Many ELS members have friends and family in ELCA congregations. Many of the older generation especially do not agree with the progressive beliefs and practices endorsed by ELCA. Some personally believe very much like you and me. They would fit well in an ELS church. But history, tradition, family connection, or sense of obligation makes it very difficult to leave one’s church. One hangs on to the memories of what the grand old church once was and to dreams of what might be in a better, clearer day to come.
Rev. K.J. Anderson