1.
Protestantism
–
Protestantism is a form of Christianity which originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the three divisions of Christendom, together with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The term derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 1529 against an edict of the Diet of Speyer condemning the teachings of Martin Luther as heretical. Although there were earlier breaks from or attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church—notably by Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Protestants reject the notion of papal supremacy and deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Five solae summarize the reformers basic differences in theological beliefs, in the 16th century, Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and Iceland. Reformed churches were founded in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and France by such reformers as John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, the political separation of the Church of England from Rome under King Henry VIII brought England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement. Protestants developed their own culture, which made major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts, some Protestant denominations do have a worldwide scope and distribution of membership, while others are confined to a single country. A majority of Protestants are members of a handful of families, Adventism, Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Reformed churches, Lutheranism, Methodism. Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, independent and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, the edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. During the Reformation, the term was used outside of the German politics. The word evangelical, which refers to the gospel, was more widely used for those involved in the religious movement. Nowadays, this word is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions in Europe, above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in the German-speaking area, such as the EKD. In continental Europe, an Evangelical is either a Lutheran or a Calvinist, the German word evangelisch means Protestant, and is different from the German evangelikal, which refers to churches shaped by Evangelicalism. The English word evangelical usually refers to Evangelical Protestant churches, and it traces its roots back to the Puritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to the United States. Protestantism as a term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian traditions, i. e. Roman Catholicism. Initially, Protestant became a term to mean any adherent to the Reformation movement in Germany and was taken up by Lutherans. Even though Martin Luther himself insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ, French and Swiss Protestants preferred the word reformed, which became a popular, neutral and alternative name for Calvinists
2.
Mainline Protestant
–
Some make a distinction between mainline and oldline, with the former referring only to denominational ties and the latter referring to church lineage, prestige and influence. However, this distinction has largely been lost to history and the terms are now nearly synonymous, Mainline Protestants were a majority of all Christians in the United States until the mid-20th century, but now constitute a minority among Protestants. The term mainline has also applied to Canadian Protestant churches that share common origins with their US counterparts. In Mexico, the Anglican Church is historically tied to and formed from the US Episcopal Church, the term is also occasionally used to refer to historic Protestant churches in Europe, Latin America, and South Africa. Mainline churches share a liberal approach to issues that often leads to collaboration in organizations such as the National Council of Churches. Because of their involvement with the movement, mainline churches are sometimes given the alternative label of ecumenical Protestantism. These churches played a role in the Social Gospel movement and were active in social causes such as the civil rights movement. As a group, the churches have maintained religious doctrine that stresses social justice. Politically and theologically, mainline Protestants are more liberal than non-mainline Protestants, members of mainline denominations have played leadership roles in many aspects of life, including politics, business, science, the arts, and education. They founded most of the leading institutes of higher education. Nominee Merrick Garland adheres to Judaism and nominee Neil Gorsuch was raised and educated as a Catholic, from 1854 until at least 1964, Mainline Protestants and their descendants were heavily Republican. In recent decades, Republicans slightly outnumber Democrats, Mainline denominations peaked in membership in the 1950s and have declined steadily in the last half century. From 1965 to 1988, mainline church membership declined from 31 million to 25 million, a Pew Forum statistic revealed the same share in 2014. The term mainline Protestant was coined during debates between modernists and fundamentalists in the 1920s, several sources claim that the term is derived from the Philadelphia Main Line, a group of affluent suburbs of Philadelphia, most residents belonged to mainline denominations. Today, most mainline Protestants remain rooted in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, in the US, Protestantism is generally divided between mainline denominations and evangelical or conservative denominations. In other parts of the world, the term mainline Protestant is not used, instead, the term ecumenical is used to distinguish similar churches from evangelical denominations. Hence in christological and doctrinal reference mainstream Christianity is often equivalent to Trinitarianism, in the United Kingdom and Australia, the term mainline Protestant is not used, and mainstream does not mean progressive Protestant. The largest US mainline churches are referred to as the Seven Sisters of American Protestantism
3.
Lutheranism
–
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity which identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer and theologian. Luthers efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone and this is in contrast to the belief of the Catholic Church, defined at the Council of Trent, concerning authority coming from both the Scriptures and Tradition. In addition, Lutheranism accepts the teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils of the undivided Christian Church, unlike Calvinism, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, or Lords Supper. Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in Christology, the purpose of Gods Law, the grace, the concept of perseverance of the saints. Today, Lutheranism is one of the largest denominations of Protestantism, with approximately 80 million adherents, it constitutes the third most common Protestant denomination after historically Pentecostal denominations and Anglicanism. The Lutheran World Federation, the largest communion of Lutheran churches, Other Lutheran organizations include the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as independent churches. The name Lutheran originated as a term used against Luther by German Scholastic theologian Dr. Johann Maier von Eck during the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other Catholics followed the practice of naming a heresy after its leader. Martin Luther always disliked the term Lutheran, preferring the term Evangelical, which was derived from euangelion, the followers of John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked to the Reformed tradition also began to use that term. To distinguish the two groups, others began to refer to the two groups as Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed. As time passed by, the word Evangelical was dropped, Lutherans themselves began to use the term Lutheran in the middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as the Philippists and Calvinists. In 1597, theologians in Wittenberg defined the title Lutheran as referring to the true church, Lutheranism has its roots in the work of Martin Luther, who sought to reform the Western Church to what he considered a more biblical foundation. Lutheranism spread through all of Scandinavia during the 16th century, as the monarch of Denmark–Norway, through Baltic-German and Swedish rule, Lutheranism also spread into Estonia and Latvia. Since 1520, regular Lutheran services have been held in Copenhagen, under the reign of Frederick I, Denmark-Norway remained officially Catholic. Although Frederick initially pledged to persecute Lutherans, he adopted a policy of protecting Lutheran preachers and reformers. During Fredericks reign, Lutheranism made significant inroads in Denmark, at an open meeting in Copenhagen attended by the king in 1536, the people shouted, We will stand by the holy Gospel, and do not want such bishops anymore. Fredericks son Christian was openly Lutheran, which prevented his election to the throne upon his fathers death, however, following his victory in the civil war that followed, in 1537 he became Christian III and advanced the Reformation in Denmark-Norway
4.
Episcopal polity
–
An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. Churches with an episcopal polity are governed by bishops, practicing their authorities in the dioceses and conferences or synods, bishops are considered to derive their authority from an unbroken, personal apostolic succession from the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Bishops with such authority are said to represent the historical episcopate or historic episcopate, Churches with this type of government usually believe that the Church requires episcopal government as described in the New Testament. In some systems, bishops may be subject to higher-ranking bishops and they also meet in councils or synods. These gatherings, subject to presidency by higher ranking bishops, usually make important decisions, for much of the written history of institutional Christianity, episcopal government was the only known form of church organization. The definition of the word episcopal has variation among Christian traditions, there are subtle differences in governmental principles among episcopal churches at the present time. To some extent the separation of episcopal churches can be traced to these differences in ecclesiology, for some, episcopal churches are churches that use a hierarchy of bishops that regard themselves as being in an unbroken, personal apostolic succession. Episcopal is also used to distinguish between the various organizational structures of denominations. For instance, the word presbyterian is used to describe a church governed by a hierarchy of assemblies of elected elders, similarly, episcopal is used to describe a church governed by bishops. Self-governed local congregations, governed neither by elders nor bishops, are referred to as Congregational. More specifically, the title Episcopal is applied to several churches historically based within Anglicanism including those still in communion with the Church of England, many Methodist churches retain the form and function of episcopal polity, although in a modified form, called connexionalism. All orthodox Christians were in churches with a government, that is, one Church under local bishops. Writing between ca.85 and 110, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Patriarch of Antioch, was the earliest of the Church fathers to define the importance of episcopal government. Assuming Ignatius view was the Apostolic teaching and practice, the line of succession was unbroken and passed through the four ancient Patriarchal sees, Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch, some organizations, though aloof from the political wranglings of imperial Christianity, nevertheless also practiced episcopal polity. The single Roman Empire was divided between two autonomous administrative centers, Roman and Constantinopolitan, West and East, Latin speaking and Greek speaking. This remained the status quo through the fourth century, a deep chasm developed between the East and West, becoming critical around 350, known as the Aryan, or Nicene controversy. The Eastern Christian Churches were thought by Constantine to believe against the Trinity, Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, France, believed that the Eastern Church should be given the opportunity to, at least, be educated on the subject. Constantine, in his wisdom, and upset by disagreement, banished Hilary to the East and this truth became known in the West, though some differences lingered
5.
Lutheran World Federation
–
The Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran churches headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of Lund in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1947 to coordinate the activities of the many differing Lutheran churches. Since 1984, the churches are in pulpit and altar fellowship, with common doctrine as the basis of membership. The LWF now has 144 member church bodies in 79 countries representing over 72 million Lutherans, the Department for World Service is the LWFs humanitarian arm. It has programmes in 32 countries, the LWF is a member of ACT Alliance. On October 31,1999, in Augsburg, Germany, the Lutheran World Federation signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church, the statement is an attempt to narrow the theological divide between the two faiths. The Declaration also states that the mutual condemnations between 16th-century Lutherans and the Roman Catholic Church no longer apply, a similar event took place in Lund Cathedral at the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation when Pope Francis visited Scania, Swedens southernmost province that originally was Danish. More than 80% of member churches ordain women as ministers, the federation was organized at Lund, Sweden, in 1947. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, it replaced the more informal Lutheran World Convention, a key leader was Executive Secretary Sylvester C. Michelfelder, representing the American Lutheran Church and he had been a leader in organizing $45 million in American help for the rebuilding of Protestant churches in Germany after 1945. By the time of his death in 1951, the federation represented 52 churches in 25 countries, the 20 largest member churches are, The President is the federations chief official representative and spokesperson. He or she presides at meetings of the Assembly, Council and Meeting of Officers, the Lutheran World Federation Council elects the General Secretary, who is appointed for a seven-year term. The person appointed is eligible for re-election and this map shows the global distribution of Lutheranism based on The LWF2013 membership data. Sorted by country in alphabetical order Some member denominations recognize same-gender relationships through marriage, international Lutheran Council Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference List of the largest Protestant denominations World Council of Churches Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. In Jordan J. Ballor and Stephen J. Grabill, eds, Ecumenical Babel, Confusing Economic Ideology and the Churchs Social Witness pp, 29+ Schjørring, Jens Holger, et al. eds. From federation to communion, the history of the Lutheran World Federation Wenz, Lutheran World Federation, in Julius Bodensieck, ed. The encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church
6.
Churches Uniting in Christ
–
It is the successor organization to the Consultation on Church Union. CUIC is the organization to the Consultation on Church Union. The original task of COCU was to negotiate a consensus between its nine member communions, however, it never succeeded in this goal, despite making progress on several ecumenical fronts. At COCUs 18th plenary meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, each member communion voted to join CUIC over the next few years. Heads of communion from each member of COCU inaugurated the group on the day before Martin Luther King and this particular location highlighted the groups focus on racism as a major dividing factor between and among churches. The Coordinating Council of CUIC created three task forces, Ministry, Racial Justice, and Local and Regional Ecumenism, each task force represented an important part of early CUIC work. Local ecumenical liturgies were encouraged, and excitement initially built around pilot programs in Denver, Los Angeles, the Racial Justice task force created gatherings and discussions on racial justice. The Ministry task force received much of the attention from church structures, the group had been given a mandate to complete work on reconciliation by 2007, and in 2003 began working on a document entitled Mutual Recognition and Mutual Reconciliation of Ministries. One of the most difficult issues concerning recognition and reconciliation of ministries was that of the historic episcopate and this was one of the issues that defeated proposals for union by COCU as well. CUIC released the seventh and final draft of the MRMRM document in June 2005, much work was done in 2006 on this document, which focused on Episkope, the oversight of ministry. The work culminated in a consultation on episkope in St. Louis in October 2006 involving the heads of communion of the members of CUIC, the nine churches which inaugurated CUIC in 2002 were joined by the Moravian Church, Northern Province. The Moravians had been partners in mission and dialogue since 2002, in 2007, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church withdrew from CUIC. Neither body sent representatives to the CUIC plenary on January 11–14,2008 and they felt the other churches were not doing enough to counter the history of racial injustice between black and white churches. In response to this, the churches in CUIC decided in 2008 to suspend their work while they seek reconciliation with these churches. This work began with a group of representatives who revisited the 1999 document Call to Christian Commitment and Action to Combat Racism and this also meant eliminating the position of Director as well as the suspension of the work of the CUIC task forces. As of 2012, CUIC no longer has physical offices, opting instead for a virtual office, although the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church has not rejoined the group, efforts have continued to bring this communion back into membership. Staccato Powell, an AMEZ pastor, preached at the 2011 CUIC plenary in Ft. Lauderdale, combating racism has again become a priority of CUIC. Concerns over the historic episcopate have been sidelined since 2008, though they may re-emerge, the groups focus on mutual reconciliation of ministries has been revisited in the light of racism and the impact that racism may have on exchanging ministers between denominations
7.
National Council of Churches
–
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches, is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is a partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member communions include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, Josephite, together, they encompass more than 100,000 local congregations and 40 million adherents. It began as the Federal Council of Churches in 1908, the first efforts at ecumenical organization emerged in 1908 with the creation of the Federal Council of Churches. The FCC was created as a response to problems that arose during the rapid industrialization of the U. S. The primary concern was the protection of workers in a host of areas including wages, working conditions, child labor, and a six day work week. During the next 40 plus years, FCC remained engaged in the social problems of the day as well as international problems that threatened to draw the U. S. into war. Its progressive social program along with support of conscientious objectors to World War II garnered stiff criticism from Christian fundamentalist circles, by 1950, numerous programs and efforts of social uplift had formed in addition to the FCC. Seeking greater unity, a dozen ecumenical bodies gathered in Cleveland, out of this meeting, via the merger of the Federal Council of Churches with several other ecumenical bodies, emerged the NCC. The Councils 38 member communions include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, Josephite, individual adherents of more than 50 Christian faith groups actively participate in NCC study groups, commissions and ministries. These communions covenant with one another to manifest ever more fully the unity of the Church, relying upon the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, the communions come together as the Council in common mission, serving in all creation to the glory of God. The Social Creeds Since its founding in 1950, one of the activities of NCC has been to effect positive change for the betterment of society. Adopted in December 1908, The Social Creed of the Churches was a statement by members of the Federal Council of Churches against what it described as industrial problems, the NCC in Washington For a number of years the NCC maintained a separate policy advocacy office in Washington, DC. Its work centered on areas mentioned in the creeds but also focused around two programs, Eco-Justice and the Ecumenical Poverty Initiative. Both of these programs have been spun off into separate independent organizations since NCC restructuring in 2013, the Council helped launch the Let Justice Roll grassroots anti-poverty campaign that has been successful in raising the minimum wage in more than 20 states since 2005. NCC and the Civil Rights Movement NCC was closely aligned with leaders in the civil movement, including Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The NCC was an important link to mainline churches for the civil movement and it consistently condemned segregation during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The NCC continued to be intertwined with the civil rights movement throughout the 1950s and 1960s
8.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
9.
Caribbean
–
The Caribbean is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 700 islands, islets, reefs and cays. These islands generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea, in a wider sense, the mainland countries of Belize, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are often included due to their political and cultural ties with the region. Geopolitically, the Caribbean islands are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. From December 15,1954, to October 10,2010, there was a known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five states. The West Indies cricket team continues to represent many of those nations, the region takes its name from that of the Caribs, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of the Spanish conquest. The two most prevalent pronunciations of Caribbean are KARR-ə-BEE-ən, with the accent on the third syllable. The former pronunciation is the older of the two, although the variant has been established for over 75 years. It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer KARR-ə-BEE-ən while North American speakers more typically use kə-RIB-ee-ən, usage is split within Caribbean English itself. The word Caribbean has multiple uses and its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to slavery, European colonisation, the United Nations geoscheme for the Americas accords the Caribbean as a distinct region within the Americas. Physiographically, the Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea, to the north, the region is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the east and northeast. To the south lies the coastline of the continent of South America, politically, the Caribbean may be centred on socio-economic groupings found in the region. For example, the known as the Caribbean Community contains the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands, which are in the Atlantic Ocean, are members of the Caribbean Community. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is also in the Atlantic and is a member of the Caribbean Community. According to the ACS, the population of its member states is 227 million people. The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies, Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin and these islands include Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, the Bahamas, and Antigua
10.
Chicago
–
Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
11.
Illinois
–
Illinois is a state in the midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1818. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, the word Illinois comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word. For decades, OHare International Airport has been ranked as one of the worlds busiest airports, Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics. With the War of 1812 Illinois growth slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier, mineral finds and timber stands also had spurred immigration—by the 1810s, the Eastern U. S. Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s, and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois, as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets. Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other states from the tyranny of water transport. By 1900, the growth of jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars, the Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago, who created the citys famous jazz and blues cultures. Three U. S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only U. S. president born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official slogan, Land of Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the capital of Springfield. Illinois is the spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers name for the Illinois Native Americans. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant man or men in the Miami-Illinois language and this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for man is ireniwa and plural men is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also said to mean tribe of superior men. The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa he speaks the regular way and this was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe·. The French borrowed these forms, changing the ending to spell it as -ois. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, the Illinois name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation
12.
American Lutheran Church
–
The American Lutheran Church was a Christian Protestant denomination in the United States and Canada that existed from 1960 to 1987. Its headquarters were in Minneapolis, Minnesota, upon its formation in 1960, the ALC designated Augsburg Publishing House, also located in Minneapolis, as the church publisher. The Lutheran Standard was the magazine of the ALC. The ALCs immigrant heritage came mostly from Germany, Norway, and Denmark, theologically, the church was influenced by pietism. It was slightly more conservative than the Lutheran Church in America, while it officially taught biblical inerrancy in its constitution, it was seldom enforced by means of heresy trials and the like. The ALC was a member of the Lutheran Council in the United States of America. The ALC cooperated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in many ventures, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, established in 1917 and known from its founding until 1946 as the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America. The NLCA had itself been formed from a merger of the Hauge Synod, the Norwegian Synod, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, founded in 1896, and known until 1946 as the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church. The UDELC had been formed from a merger of the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Association in America, the Lutheran Free Church, which had broken away from the United Norwegian Lutheran Church in 1897, joined the ALC on February 1,1963. S. The ALC began ordaining women as ministers/pastors in December 1970, when the Rev, barbara Andrews became the second woman ordained as a Lutheran minister in the United States. The first Native American woman to become a Lutheran minister in the United States, at the time of the merger, the ALC was the third largest Lutheran church body in the United States, behind the Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. In 1986, just before its merger into the ELCA, the ALC had 7,671 pastors,4,959 congregations, the ALC brought approximately 2.25 million members into the ELCA. Twelve conservative ALC congregations that did not want to participate in the formed the American Association of Lutheran Churches. 1960–1970 Fredrik A. Schiotz 1971–1973 Kent S. Knutson 1973–1987 David W. Preus Use of the presiding bishop as an alternative for the term general president was approved in 1980. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota Texas Lutheran University, Seguin, Texas Wartburg College, Waverly, nichol All These Lutherans History of the bodies that eventually joined into The ALC Wolf, Edmund Jacob. The Lutherans in America, a story of struggle, progress, influence, note, The below papers reflect the viewpoints of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, a conservative body opposed to ecumenism. The American Lutheran Church Today by Martin O. Westerhaus
13.
Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches
–
The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches was a U. S. church body that existed from 1976 through the end of 1987. The AELCs forerunner was Evangelical Lutherans in Mission, a caucus within the LCMS that opposed the Synods more conservative turn in the early. ELIM was formed when, in the wake of conservative victories at the Missouri Synods 1973 convention, in 1975, presidents of eight LCMS districts were threatened with removal from office for allowing their congregations to ordain Seminex graduates as ministers, and four were removed in April 1976. In the wake of the Seminex controversy and these removals, a movement to leave the Synod took shape among dissident congregations and church officials, the largest number of departures came from the LCMSs non-geographical English District, which had joined the LCMS in 1911. In the end, approximately 250 congregations left the Missouri Synod, in December 1976, these congregations banded together to form a new, independent church body, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. The AELC was a disappointment in some respects, since it garnered far fewer dissident Missouri Synod congregations than its leaders had initially expected, with congregations totaling about 100,000 members, the AELC represented less than 4% of the membership of the 2. 7-million-strong Missouri Synod. The AELC was the third U. S. Lutheran church body to ordain a woman as a minister, following similar moves by the American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church in America in 1970. Will L. Herzfeld, an associate of Martin Luther King, Jr. and former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conferences Alabama chapter, served as the AELCs second and he was the first African American to lead a U. S. Lutheran church body. The AELC did play an important role in efforts toward Lutheran unity in the United States and it drew on the expertise of C. Thomas Spitz, who was Executive Director of the Lutheran Council in the United States of America. These two churches, both also more moderate than the Missouri Synod, agreed along with the AELC in 1982 to unite as one church, the three bodies officially completed their merger on January 1,1988, thereby creating the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA today is the largest and most liberal Lutheran church body in the United States, note, The designation used for the AELC leader was initially president, although the title was later changed to presiding bishop. The Doctrinal Situation of Three Merging Churches by John Baumgart
14.
Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ
–
Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ is an association of Lutheran congregations in the United States. It describes itself as an affiliation of autonomous Lutheran churches and not a denomination and it began in 2001 in response to some liberal views of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. LCMC is characterized by the stances it takes on Lutheran polity, biblical authority, LCMC was started by the WordAlone Network as an alternative for local churches who no longer felt that they could remain in the ELCA and work to reform it. In 2001 the organization began with 31 congregations as charter members, as of July 2016 membership was reported as 934 congregations, including 734 US congregations in 41 states, the U. S. Territories of Guam and Puerto Rico, as well as over 100 congregations in 17 other countries, LCMC is now the fourth largest Lutheran group in the United States, after the ELCA, LCMS, and Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. LCMC is congregational in structure, rejecting the historic episcopate of the ELCA, the beliefs of the LCMC are based on the Bible and the Lutheran confessions in the Book of Concord. On one important issue, LCMC stands apart from other conservative confessional Lutheran denominations, it permits, some congregations constitutions and bylaws allow only men to be installed into the Office of Holy Ministry. LCMC does not bless same-sex partnerships or permit congregations to be if they have non-celibate gay pastors or call and install a non-celibate homosexual pastor. The LCMC has a catholic and charismatic strand. Many congregations hold to liturgical forms and vested celebrants when leading worship, the LCMC brings together the Sacramental, Evangelical and Charismatic nature of the church into one fold. Confessing Movement Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ
15.
Alliance of Renewal Churches
–
The Alliance of Renewal Churches embraces the evangelical, charismatic, and sacramental streams of the Christian Faith. Members of the ARC celebrate, not merely tolerate, the presence of the Holy Spirit. The network is kingdom-driven while appreciating a shared Lutheran heritage, growing in safe-place authentic relationships is a critical value in the ARC. Leaders in the ARC relate to one another as a band of brothers and sisters who are on mission together, the group assumes a conservative, Lutheran theological base, but is not issues-oriented. Congregations and/or individual church leaders can join, congregations can retain membership in other groups while belonging to the ARC or they can belong exclusively to the ARC. The movement has two annual gatherings per year, one in the Southwest and one in the Midwest, worship in ARC churches tends to be very expressive and uninhibited and the messages tend to be followed by ministry time where those attending the service can come forward for personal prayer
16.
North American Lutheran Church
–
The North American Lutheran Church is a Lutheran denomination with more than 400 congregations in the United States and Canada, counting more than 140,000 members. As a Confessional Lutheran church, the NALC believes all doctrines should and must be judged by the teaching of the Christian Scriptures, the 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 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. It was felt that a new 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 congregations that joined the NALC elected their own leaders at the church bodys 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 NALCs 2015 Annual Convocation in Dallas, TX, he was re-elected to a second four-year term. It accepts the creeds and the Lutheran Confessions as true witnesses to the Word of God. The North American Lutheran Church officially disapproves of homosexual relationships and same-sex marriage, the North American Lutheran Church became associated with Lutherans For Life, the pro-life ministry of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, for the promotion of pro-life activism. The membership of the North American Lutheran Church is composed of congregations, provided that member congregations beliefs and practices are compatible with the NALC, congregations can simultaneously affiliate with other Lutheran church bodies. Ministers and elected lay delegates represent their congregations in the annual convocation and this body elects the bishop, executive council, and other leadership positions. It also approves budgetary items and teaching statements, the North American Lutheran Church is divided into 24 mission districts, usually based on geographical groupings of congregations. Regional deans, who may serve as pastors of local congregations, work with the bishop to provide oversight and pastoral care to pastors. The bishop is an ordained minister elected by the convocation, the bishop serves as pastor for the pastors and congregations of the NALC and as the churchs chief executive officer. Together with the council, the bishop authorizes all ordinations. The bishop serves for a term and is eligible to serve for a maximum of three consecutive terms. The general secretary is appointed by the bishop and confirmed by the executive council and this officer manages the day-to-day administrative functions of the NALC. The executive council consists of the bishop, four clergy and four lay members and its duties include implementing the work and policies of the NALC in between sessions of convocation, and its actions are subject to review by the convocation. A seven-member Court of Adjudication, elected by the convocation, has jurisdiction to decide appeals of church disciplinary actions and has authority to interpret church governing documents
17.
Missionary
–
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to proselytize and/or perform ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development. The word mission originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin missionem, meaning act of sending or mittere, meaning to send. The word was used in light of its usage, in the Latin translation of the Bible. The term is most commonly used for Christian missions, but can be used for any creed or ideology, a Christian missionary can be defined as one who is to witness across cultures. The Lausanne Congress of 1974, defined the term, related to Christian mission as, Missionaries can be found in many countries around the world. Jesus instructed the apostles to make disciples of all nations and this verse is referred to by Christian missionaries as the Great Commission and inspires missionary work. The New Testament-era missionary outreach of the Christian church from the time of St Paul expanded throughout the Roman Empire and beyond to Persia, in 596, Pope Gregory the Great sent the Gregorian Mission into England. In their turn, Christians from Ireland and from Britain became prominent in converting the inhabitants of central Europe, about the same time, missionaries such as Francis Xavier as well as other Jesuits, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Dominicans started moving into Asia and the Far East. The Portuguese sent missions into Africa and these are some of the most well-known missions in history. While some missions accompanied imperialism and oppression, others were relatively peaceful, contemporary Christian missionaries argue that working for justice forms a constitutive part of preaching the Gospel, and observe the principles of inculturation in their missionary work. Over time, the Vatican gradually established a church structure in the mission areas, often starting with special jurisdictions known as apostolic prefectures. The two 9th-century saints Cyril and Methodius had extensive success in central Europe. The Byzantines expanded their work in Ukraine after a mass baptism in Kiev in 988. The Serbian Orthodox Church had its origins in the conversion by Byzantine missionaries of the Serb tribes when they arrived in the Balkans in the 7th century, Orthodox missionaries also worked successfully among the Estonians from the 10th to the 12th centuries, founding the Estonian Orthodox Church. The Russian St. Nicholas of Japan took Eastern Orthodoxy to Japan in the 19th century, the Russian Orthodox Church also sent missionaries to Alaska beginning in the 18th century, including Saint Herman of Alaska, to minister to the Native Americans. Quaker publishers of truth visited Boston and other mid-17th century colonies, the Danish government began the first organized Protestant mission work through its College of Missions, established in 1714. This funded and directed Lutheran missionaries such as Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg in Tranquebar, India and he also got to know a slave from the Danish colony in the West Indies. Within thirty years, Moravian missionaries had become active on every continent, and they are famous for their selfless work, living as slaves among the slaves and together with the Native Americans, the Delaware and Cherokee Indian tribes
18.
Christian denomination
–
A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity, identified by traits such as a name, organisation, leadership and doctrine. Individual bodies, however, may use alternative terms to describe themselves, groups of denominations—often sharing broadly similar beliefs, practices, and historical ties—are sometimes known as branches of Christianity or denominational families. Individual Christian groups vary widely in the degree to which they recognize one another, several groups claim to be the direct and sole authentic successor of the church founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD. Others, however, believe in denominationalism, where some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs. Because of this concept, some Christian bodies reject the term denomination to describe themselves, however, the Catholic Church does not view itself as a denomination, but as the original pre-denominational church. This view is rejected by other Christian denominations, Protestant denominations account for approximately 37 percent of Christians worldwide. Together, Catholicism and Protestantism comprise Western Christianity, Western Christian denominations prevail in Western, Northern, Central and Southern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas and Oceania. The Eastern Orthodox Church, with an estimated 225–300 million adherents, is the second-largest Christian organization in the world, unlike the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church is itself a communion of fully independent autocephalous churches that mutually recognize each other to the exclusion of others. The Eastern Orthodox Church, together with Oriental Orthodoxy and the Assyrian Church of the East, Eastern Christian denominations are represented mostly in Eastern Europe, North Asia, the Middle East and Northeast Africa. Christians have various doctrines about the Church and about how the church corresponds to Christian denominations. Both Catholics and Eastern Orthodox hold that their own organizations faithfully represent the One Holy catholic and Apostolic Church to the exclusion of the other, sixteenth-century Protestants separated from the Catholic Church because of theologies and practices that they considered to be in violation of their own interpretation. But some non-denominational Christians do not follow any particular branch, though regarded as Protestants. Each group uses different terminology to discuss their beliefs and this section will discuss the definitions of several terms used throughout the article, before discussing the beliefs themselves in detail in following sections. A denomination within Christianity can be defined as an autonomous branch of the Christian Church, major synonyms include religious group, sect, Church. Some traditional and evangelical Protestants draw a distinction between membership in the church and fellowship within the local church. Becoming a believer in Christ makes one a member of the universal church, a related concept is denominationalism, the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. Protestant leaders differ greatly from the views of the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, each church makes mutually exclusive claims for itself to be the direct continuation of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, from whom other denominations later broke away. These churches, and a few others, reject denominationalism, Christianity can be taxonomically divided into five main groups, the Church of the East, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism
19.
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
–
The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is a North American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwaukee, as of 2015, it had a baptized membership of 373,022 in 1,269 congregations, with churches in 47 US states and 4 provinces of Canada. It is the third largest Lutheran denomination in the United States, the WELS school system is the fourth largest private school system in the United States. WELS is in fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and is a member of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, WELS and ELS are independent Lutheran denominations and are not part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is structured to have synods within the denomination. The WELS subscribes to the Lutheran Reformation teaching of Sola scriptura—Scripture alone and it holds that the Bible is the final authority by which church teachings can be judged. It also holds that the Holy Scripture is explained and interpreted by the 16th century Book of Concord because it teaches, as such, pastors and congregations within the WELS agree to teach in accordance with it. The WELS also agrees with the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy, the doctrine that the Bible is inspired by God and is without error, for this reason, they reject much of modern liberal scholarship. The main facets of doctrinal difference between WELS and the LCMS include, Fellowship – WELS teaches that all forms of Christian fellowship require complete unity in matters of doctrine. Thus, according to LCMS doctrine, members of different church bodies can engage in greater or lesser degrees of fellowship depending on the extent of their doctrinal disagreement, doctrine of the ministry – The WELS believes that there are many different forms of one, divinely established Ministry. These forms of the Ministry include pastor, Christian day-school teacher, staff-minister, the LCMS teaches that only the pastoral office is divinely established, while all other church offices are human institutions. Role of women in the church – The LCMS and WELS agree that Scriptures reserve the pastoral office for men. In This We Believe, published in 1999, WELS states that women may participate in offices and activities of the public ministry except where that work involves authority over men. This means that women may not serve as pastors nor participate in assemblies of the church in ways that exercise authority over men, WELS does not allow women suffrage in congregational matters that would exercise authority over men. Scriptural interpretation – WELS confesses that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God, the meaning of a portion of Scripture is discerned by paying careful attention to grammar, syntax, vocabulary and context. In this regard, the historical setting forms part of the context of Scripture, the ELCA, on the other hand, has been open to Historical-Critical Methods of Biblical interpretation which seek to understand the scriptures with primary reference to historical and social context. Most other specific doctrinal differences between the two stem from this overarching disagreement. Sexuality – WELS teaches that extramarital sex and homosexual relations are sins, while the ELCA, the ELCA officially permits the ordination of monogamous non-celibate homosexuals and the blessing of homosexual couples. In 2008, 67% of ELCA pastors were found to support same-sex marriage and it thus practices fellowship with a handful of other mainline Protestant denominations
20.
Religion in the United States
–
Religion in the United States is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices. Various religious faiths have flourished within the United States, a majority of Americans report that religion plays a very important role in their lives, a proportion unique among developed countries. Historically, the United States has always marked by religious pluralism and diversity. In colonial times, Anglicans, Roman Catholics and mainline Protestants, as well as Jews, Eastern Orthodoxy has been present since the Russian colonization of Alaska. Various dissenting Protestants, who left the Church of England, greatly diversified the religious landscape, the Great Awakenings gave birth to multiple Evangelical Protestant denominations, membership in Methodist and Baptist churches increased drastically in the Second Great Awakening. In the 18th century, deism found support among American upper classes, the Episcopal Church, splitting from the Church of England, came into being in the American Revolution. Pentecostalism emerged in the early 20th century as a result of the Azusa Street Revival, Unitarian Universalism resulted from the merge of Unitarian and Universalist churches in the 20th century. Beginning in 1990s, the share of Christians is decreasing due to secularization, while Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam. Protestantism, historically dominant, ceased to be the category of the majority in the early 2010s. The majority of Americans identify themselves as Christians, while close to a claim no religious affiliation. The same study says that other religions make up about 6% of the population. According to a 2012 survey by the Pew forum,36 percent of Americans state that they attend services every week or more. From early colonial days, when some English and German settlers came in search of religious freedom and that influence continues in American culture, social life, and politics. It guarantees the free exercise of religion while also preventing the government from establishing a state religion, however the states were not bound by the provision and as late as the 1830s Massachusetts provided tax money to local Congregational churches. The Supreme Court since the 1940s has interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment as applying the First Amendment to the state and local governments. President John Adams and a unanimous Senate endorsed the Treaty of Tripoli in 1797 that stated, the survey report stated that the results showed America having a greater similarity to developing nations than to other wealthy nations, where religion plays a minor role. In 1963, 90% of Americans claimed to be Christians while only 2% professed no religious identity, in 2014, the percentage of Christians was closer to 70% with close to 23% claiming no religious identity. The United States federal government was the first national government to have no official state-endorsed religion, however, some states had established religions in some form until the 1830s
21.
Episcopal Church (United States)
–
The Episcopal Church is the United States-based member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The current presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is Michael Bruce Curry, in 2014, the Episcopal Church had 1,956,042 baptized members. In 2011, it was the nations 14th largest denomination, in 2015, Pew Research estimated that 1.2 percent of the adult population in the United States, or 3 million people, self-identify as mainline Episcopalians/Anglicans. The Episcopal Church describes itself as Protestant, yet Catholic, the Episcopal Church is an apostolic church, tracing its bishops back to the apostles via holy orders. The Book of Common Prayer, a collection of traditional rites, blessings, liturgies, the Episcopal Church was active in the Social Gospel movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since the 1960s and 1970s, the church has pursued a more liberal course. It has opposed the death penalty and supported the civil rights movement, some of its leaders and priests are known for marching with influential civil rights demonstrators such as Martin Luther King Jr. The Church calls for the legal equality of gay and lesbian people. Due to the process of editing or making additions to the Prayer Book, the BCP still describes marriage as being the union of a man. The Episcopal Church ordains women and LGBT people to the priesthood, the diaconate, in 2003, Gene Robinson was the first non-celibate openly gay person ordained as a bishop in documented Christian history. There are two names of the Episcopal Church specified in its constitution, The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The latter is the commonly used name. In other languages, an equivalent is used, until 1964, the only official name in use was The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. In the 19th century, High Church members advocated changing the name and they were opposed by the churchs evangelical wing, which felt that the Protestant Episcopal label accurately reflected the Reformed character of Anglicanism. After 1877, alternative names were proposed and rejected by the General Convention. A commonly proposed alternative was the American Catholic Church, by the 1960s, opposition to dropping the word Protestant had largely subsided. The 66th General Convention voted in 1979 to use the name The Episcopal Church in the Oath of Conformity of the Declaration for Ordination, the evolution of the name can be seen in the churchs Book of Common Prayer. The alternate name The Episcopal Church in the United States of America has never been a name of the church but is commonly seen in English
22.
Moravian Church in North America
–
The Moravian Church in North America is part of the worldwide Moravian Church Unity. It dates from the arrival of the first Moravian missionaries to the United States in 1735 and they came to minister to the scattered German immigrants, to the Native Americans and to enslaved Africans. They founded communities to serve as bases for these missions. The missionary messengers were financially supported by the work of the laborers in these settlements, currently, there are more than 60,000 members. Eager to learn more, the Mahican chiefs Tschoop and Shabash invited Rauch to visit their village to teach them, in September 1740, they led him to Shekomeko, where he established a Moravian mission. The two Indian chiefs converted to the Christian faith, by summer 1742, Shekomeko was established as the first native Christian congregation in the present-day United States. Over the next two years, the Moravians endeavored to reconcile the ancient Indian traditions with the new ways of the western society and they made a center for missions to the native peoples. Within the next two years, several more missionaries along with their wives began to settle in the area, among these were Gottlob Buettner and his wife, Anna Margaret Bechtel, daughter of a minister. Meanwhile, European settlers who opposed the Moravians defense of Native Americans spread rumors that they were secret Catholic Jesuits allied with the French, such settlers finally were successful in persuading the colonial governor Clinton to restrict the missionaries efforts. Buettner died at Shekomeko early in 1745, and the colony dwindled away soon after, the Moravians were more successful in Pennsylvania, where the charter of the colony provided religious freedom. The towns of Bethlehem, Nazareth, Emmaus, and Lititz, graceham, Maryland was founded as a Moravian Community on October 8,1758, organized by Bishop Matthew Hehl. Later, colonies were founded in North Carolina, where Moravians led by Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg purchased 98,985 acres from John Carteret. This large tract of land was named die Wachau, or Wachovia, other early settlements included Bethabara, Bethania and Salem. Bethlehem emerged as the headquarters of the church, and Winston-Salem became the headquarters of the southern church. The Moravian denomination continues in America to this day, with congregations in 18 states, the highest concentrations of Moravians exist in Bethlehem and Winston-Salem. The denomination is organized into four provinces in North America, Northern, Southern, Alaska, Northern Province,1021 Center Street, Bethlehem, PA18018 Southern Province,529 S. Philips • Trinity • Union Cross South Carolina Spartanburg, The Palmetto Moravian Fellowship Virginia Ararat, Willow Hill Cana, the Moravian emphasis on openness and tolerance, combined with the conversion experience of new birth, undermined ethnic homogeneity and provided a source of communal cohesion. The primary intermingling and intermarriage was between Germans and English, but 12 nations and territories were represented in the population of Wachovia by the early 19th century
23.
Presbyterian Church (USA)
–
The Presbyterian Church, or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. A part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U. S. the denomination had 1,572,660 active members and 20,077 ordained ministers in 9,642 congregations at the end of 2015. This number does not include the members also affiliated. Its membership has been declining over the past several decades, the PC remains the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States. In 2015, Pew Research estimated that 1% of the U. S population self-identify as PC, in 2012–14, when all members were included, it was reported to have 2.8 million total. The PC is a member of the National Council of Churches, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the World Council of Churches, denominational offices are located in Louisville, Kentucky. The WCC reports that the PC has a possible number of 1.9 million members. Presbyterians trace their history to the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, from Calvins headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the Reformed movement spread to other parts of Europe. John Knox, a former Roman Catholic Priest from Scotland who studied with Calvin in Geneva, took Calvins teachings back to Scotland, because of this reform movement, the Church of Scotland embraced Reformed theology and presbyterian polity. The Ulster Scots brought their Presbyterian faith with them to Ireland, immigrants from Scotland and Ireland brought Presbyterianism to America as early as 1640, and immigration would remain a large source of growth throughout the colonial era. Another source of growth were a number of New England Puritans who left the Congregational churches because they preferred presbyterian polity. In 1706, seven ministers led by Francis Makemie established the first American presbytery at Philadelphia, the First Great Awakening and the revivalism it generated had a major impact on American Presbyterians. Ministers such as William and Gilbert Tennent, a friend of George Whitefield, emphasized the necessity of a conversion experience. Disagreements over revivalism, itinerant preaching, and educational requirements for clergy led to a known as the Old Side–New Side Controversy that lasted from 1741 to 1758. In the South, the Presbyterians were evangelical dissenters, mostly Scotch-Irish, spangler argues they were more energetic and held frequent services better atuned to the frontier conditions of the colony. Presbyterianism grew in areas where the Anglicans had made little impression. Uneducated whites and blacks were attracted to the worship of the denomination, its emphasis on biblical simplicity. Some local Presbyterian churches, such as Briery in Prince Edward County, the Briery church purchased five slaves in 1766 and raised money for church expenses by hiring them out to local planters
24.
Reformed Church in America
–
The Reformed Church in America is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 223,675 members, with the declining in recent decades. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed Church, in 1819 it incorporated as the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. The current name was chosen in 1867, the RCA is a member of the National Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches, Christian Churches Together, and the World Communion of Reformed Churches. Some parts of the denomination belong to the National Association of Evangelicals, the Canadian Council of Churches, the early settlers in the Dutch colony of New Netherland first held informal meetings for worship. In 1628 Jonas Michaelius organized the first Dutch Reformed congregation in New Amsterdam, now New York City, called the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, during Dutch rule, the RCA was the established church of the colony and was under the authority of the classis of Amsterdam. Even after the British captured the colony in 1664, all Dutch Reformed ministers were still trained in the Netherlands, services in the RCA remained in Dutch until 1764. In 1747 the church in the Netherlands had given permission to form an assembly in North America, in 1754 and this American classis secured a charter in 1766 for Queens College in New Jersey. In 1784 John Henry Livingston was appointed as professor of theology, in the early 18th century nearly 3,000 Palatine German refugees came to New York. Most worked first in English camps along the Hudson River to pay off their passage before they were allowed land in the Schoharie, there they created numerous German-speaking Lutheran and Reformed churches, such as those at Fort Herkimer and German Flatts. Thousands more immigrated to Pennsylvania in the 18th century and they used German as the language in their churches and schools for nearly 100 years, and recruited some of their ministers from Germany. By the early 20th century, most of their churches had joined the RCA, one source indicates that defections may have occurred as early as 1737. Desolation pervaded many of the churches, whereas prior to 1737 good order was maintained in the churches, and peace, a spirit of amnesty made possible the churchs survival after the war. The divisiveness was also healed when the church sent members on a foreign missions program in the early 19th century. In 1792 the classis adopted a constitution, and in 1794 the denomination held its first general synod. Following the American Civil War, in 1867 it formally adopted the name Reformed Church in America, some members owned slaves—the most famous of whom was Sojourner Truth—and the church did not support abolitionism. In rural areas, ministers preached in Dutch until about 1830–1850, then switched to English, at the time finally dropping the use of many traditional Dutch clothing. Although some ministers favored revivals, generally the church did not support either the First or the Second Great Awakenings, Immigration from the Netherlands in the mid-19th century led to the expansion of the RCA into the Midwest
25.
United Church of Christ
–
The United Church of Christ is in historical continuation of the General Council of Congregational Christian churches founded under the influence of New England Puritanism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC and these two denominations, which were themselves the result of earlier unions, had their roots in Congregational, Christian, Evangelical, and Reformed denominations. At the end of 2014, the UCCs 5,116 congregations claimed 979,239 members, in 2015, Pew Research estimated that 0.4 percent, or 1 million adult adherents, of the U. S population self-identify with the United Church of Christ. The UCC maintains full communion with other mainline Protestant denominations, many of its congregations choose to practice open communion. The denomination places high emphasis on participation in interfaith and ecumenical efforts. The national settings of the UCC have historically favored liberal views on issues, such as civil rights, LGBT rights, womens rights. However, United Church of Christ congregations are independent in matters of doctrine and ministry and it is self-described as an extremely pluralistic and diverse denomination. The United Church of Christ was formed when two Protestant churches, the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 and this union adopted an earlier general statement of unity between the two denominations, the 1943 Basis of Union. At this time, the UCC claimed about two million members, in 1959, in its General Synod, the UCC adopted a broad Statement of Faith. The UCC adopted its constitution and by-laws in 1961, there is no UCC hierarchy or body that can impose any doctrine or worship format onto the individual congregations within the UCC. Within this locally focused structure, however, there are central beliefs common to the UCC, the UCC often uses four words to describe itself, Christian, Reformed, Congregational and Evangelical. While the UCC refers to its characteristics, it springs from mainline Protestantism as opposed to Evangelicalism. The word evangelical in this more closely corresponds with the original Lutheran origins meaning of the gospel as opposed to the Evangelical use of the word. UCC is generally liberal, and the denomination notes that the Bible, though written in specific historical times and places. The motto of the United Church of Christ comes from John 17,21, the denominations official literature uses broad doctrinal parameters, emphasizing freedom of individual conscience and local church autonomy. As expressed in the United Church of Christ constitution, The United Church of Christ acknowledges as its sole Head, Jesus Christ, Son of God and it acknowledges as kindred in Christ all who share in this confession. It looks to the Word of God in the Scriptures, and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit and it claims as its own the faith of the historic Church expressed in the ancient creeds and reclaimed in the basic insights of the Protestant Reformers. It affirms the responsibility of the Church in each generation to make this faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God
26.
United Methodist Church
–
The United Methodist Church is a mainline Protestant denomination, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor—the Methodist Church—was a leader in Evangelicalism and it was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, United States, by union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the movement of John. As such, the theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces both liturgical and evangelical elements and it has a connectional polity, a typical feature of a number of Methodist denominations. The United Methodist Church, with at least 12 million members as of 2014, is the largest denomination within the wider Methodist movement of approximately 80 million people across the world. In the United States, the UMC ranks as the largest mainline Protestant denomination, the largest Protestant church after the Southern Baptist Convention, and the third largest Christian denomination. In 2014, its membership was distributed as follows,7.2 million in the United States. It is a member of the World Council of Churches, the World Methodist Council, the movement which would become The United Methodist Church began in the mid-18th century within the Church of England. A small group of students, including John Wesley, Charles Wesley and George Whitefield and they focused on Bible study, methodical study of scripture and living a holy life. Other students mocked them, saying they were the Holy Club, eventually, the so-called Methodists started individual societies or classes for members of the Church of England who wanted to live a more religious life. In 1735, John and Charles Wesley went to America, hoping to teach the gospel to the American Indians in the colony of Georgia, instead, John became vicar of the church in Savannah. His preaching was very legalistic and full of rules. After two years in America, he returned to England dejected and confused, Peter believed a person is saved solely through the grace of God and not by works, and John had many conversations with Peter about this topic. On May 25,1738, after listening to a reading of Martin Luthers preface to Romans, John finally understood that his works could not save him. For the first time in his life, he felt complete peace, in less than two years, the Holy Club disbanded. John Wesley met with a group of clergy, the ministers retained their membership in the Church of England. Though not always emphasized or appreciated in the Anglican churches of their day, their teaching emphasized salvation by Gods grace, three teachings they saw as the foundation of Christian faith were, People are all by nature dead in sin and consequently, children of wrath
27.
Lutheranism by region
–
Lutheranism is present throughout various regions of the world. With an estimated 74.2 million adherents, it one of the largest Protestant branches. Namibia has the highest proportion of Lutherans of any country in Africa, indeed, it is the only country outside Europe to have a Lutheran majority. Other African countries with significant Lutheran populations include Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, according to the Lutheran World Federation list of member churches, thirteen Indonesian Lutheran churches or synods associated with the LWF claim more than 6 million members. The largest of these is the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan which comprises almost 4.2 million members, Lutherans in India number more than 3.5 million, the largest being the 2. 5-million-member Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church. Smaller Lutheran communities exist elsewhere, including Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Church attendance on Sundays is no longer the norm. Often, people attend religious services only for baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals, traditionally, the Lutheran youth would receive preparatory confirmation classes for 1 to 2 years around age 14, to introduce them to Christian doctrines. A large confirmation service is once the series is completed. In some areas confirmation is now delayed until the end of the high school, except in Northern Europe, Germany and Austria, very few seminaries are state-supported. The training for students in theology embraces a range of theologies including modern and contemporary movements in biblical criticism. Due to agreements like the Leuenberg Agreement, most Lutheran churches in Europe have church fellowship with other churches arising from the Reformation, such as the Reformed, the Lutheran faith was first established in some states of the Holy Roman Empire now located within Germany. After the Thirty Years War ended in 1648, the Lutheran, Reformed, the ruler of each principality was given the right to choose one of these three denominations to become the state church of his principality. Some German states became Lutheran, some became Reformed, while others remained Catholic, the regional Protestant church bodies accept each other as equals, despite confessional differences. This is a rather unusual in most other countries. Since World War II, the Lutheran, Reformed and United Protestant regional churches have been members of the umbrella Evangelical Church in Germany, the SELK is a member of the International Lutheran Council. The SELK is separate from the church bodies and has 35,642 baptised members as of 2008. The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church, primarily located in the lands of the former East Germany, has 1,470 baptised members, the German parishioners of the Moravian Church, which is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, are also confessionally counting as Lutherans. Lutheranism is the church in most of the Nordic countries including Denmark, Norway, Sweden
28.
Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
–
The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Lutheran church in Estonia. EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe and it is also a member of the Porvoo Communion, putting it in full communion with the Church of England and other Anglican churches in Europe. The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church was constituted in 1949, when the church hierarchy, Eesti Evangeeliumi Luteriusu Kirik. World War II later brought devastation to many church buildings and it was not until 1988 that church activities were renewed when a movement for religious tolerance began in the Soviet Union. Although women had studied theology at Tartu University in the 1920s and some had sought ordination as priests, it was not until 1967 that the first woman, in 2014, the church reported that there were 169 men and 43 women serving as ministers. The Church of Estonia is episcopal in polity, and is led by five bishops, during the Soviet occupation of Estonia, the Archbishop went into exile, which resulted in the formation of a parallel church, the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad. Until 2010 this body was independent, with its own Archbishop based in Canada, in 2010 the two churches reunited, and the former overseas church became a diocese of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, known as the Extra-Estonian Diocese. The current bishop of diocese is Andres Taul. As of February 2009, the EELC reported approximately 160,000 baptized members, a previous figure broke down the EELC Abroad into 3,508 members with 12 clergy in the USA and 5,536 members with 11 clergy in Canada. In 2014, the Lutheran World Federation reported the number of registered members as being 180,000, the church reported that it had served 143,895 communicants. The church is divided in church circles into conservatives and liberals. the Lutherans leaned toward opposing the death penalty, although they took no official stance, and the church does not have a committee dealing with social-political questions. Http, //www. eelk. ee/english. php The History Files Churches of Estonia Map of Church in Tallinn Map of Church in Tartu
29.
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
–
The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is a Lutheran denomination in Ethiopia and the largest part of the Lutheran World Federation. From these joint efforts the church was instituted as a national Church on January 21,1959, taking its name from the first congregation in Addis Ababa, EECMY has a motto of Serving the Whole Person which was developed in the 1970s. This holistic ministry theme of the Church has helped her to out her ministry in evangelism. The EECMY was founded by Northern European missionaries in the late 19th and these missionaries concentrated their work in southern Ethiopia where the Orthodox Christian influence was less profound. The strategy of the missionaries and evangelists to implant a Protestant church in Ethiopia was one of development, at a time when Emperor Haile Selassie was looking to modernize and promote progress in the state, foreign and domestic missions were some of the most productive agents. In fact, Selassie wrote in his autobiography that he only “permitted missions because of their efforts in the field of education and it was through development that the evangelical church was able to first establish a presence in the 19th and 20th centuries. The EECMY church was beginning to gain legitimacy in the eyes of at least a few. This was made evident when the Mekane Yesus church became “legally registered” on February 13,1969, in assigning an official name to the Lutheran offshoot, semantics became a key point of contention. The patriarch of the EOC at the time was opposed to the word “Ethiopian” being attached to the church’s name, as he claimed it was nothing but an organization. He was also against it being registered as a church. After much debate however, the name was established as the “Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus in Ethiopia” and it was changed to its current title “Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus in 1978. The Patriarch’s perspective represents a general sentiment especially present among orthodox followers that the Mekane Yesus church was not truly a native church, one of the prominent early Ethiopian evangelists, Onesimos Nesib was crucial in this spread. This in itself was a step for the EECMY. Because of Nesib’s work, the ECMY was able to gain a large constituency outside the Orthodox centers, the Orthodox Church has always represented the greatest institutional obstacle for the growth of the EECMY, when not actively, then by its mere presence and dominance in the public sphere. However, the EECMY has seen opposition from Muslims as well, although the EECMY has been attended by suspicion. Additionally, the labels of outsider, colonist, enemy, the persecution of the church was evident before the socialist revolution, and was only augmented during the war. The Reformed section of the denomination was founded by the United Presbyterian Church in 1869, dr. Thomas Lambie a missionary of the United Presbyterian Church begun work in the western part of the country. During the Italian occupation missionaries were forced to leave, but Bethel Evangelical Church was founded with native believers, in become an independent Church in 1947
30.
Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
–
The Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a Lutheran denomination, formed in 1957 as a federation, and reorganized in 1975 as a formal denomination. In 1978 Lauma Lagzdins Zusevics was ordained as the first woman to serve as a minister for the LELBA. In 2014 she became the first female Lutheran bishop in Latvian history, as of 2007,12,000 congregants and 68 congregations of the church were present in the United States. It is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad Latvian congregation in Washington D. C. Latvian congregation in New York Latvian, Latviešu evangeliski luteriska Baznica Amerika
31.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania
–
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania is a Lutheran church body comprising congregations in Lithuania. The ELCL is a member of the Porvoo Communion and the Lutheran World Federation, reflecting its conservative confessional Lutheran stance, in 2000, the ELCL declared itself in full fellowship with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. In 2013 the ELCL reported having 20,000 active members, there are 52 congregations, and around 30 ordained clergy, including the bishop and two deacons. The current Bishop of the church is the Rt Revd Mindaugas Sabutis, around 0. 56% of the population of Lithuania are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania. The abbreviated name for the church is in Latin, Unitas Lithuaniae or in Polish, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania dates back to the Reformation, when Kaunas, a large town in Lithuania, accepted the Augsburg Confession in 1550. A united reformed church organization in Lithuanias church province can be counted from the year 1557 at the Synod in Vilnius on December 14 of that year. From that year the Synod met regularly forming all the provinces of The Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It sent its representatives to the General Polish/Lithuanian Synods, however in its administration it was in fact a self-governing Church, the first Superintendent was Simonas Zacijus. In 1565 the anti- Trinitarian Lithuanian Brotherhood who rejected the learning of the Trinity separated from the church, the parish network covered nearly all of The Grand Duchy. Its district centers were Vilnius, Kedainai, Biržai, Slucke, since 1525 Lutheranism started spreading among Lithuanians in Lithuania Minor, which comprised about a quarter of Ducal Prussia, the first state to officially adopt Lutheranism as state religion. Ducal Prussia emerged from the Roman Catholic Teutonic Prussia, which, however, only had superficially missioned the rural, mostly Lithuanian population and thus only erected few churches. Already on 18 January 1524 Bishop George I of Pomesania, who had converted to Lutheranism in 1523, the widespread pagan worship of Perkūnas, symbolised by the goat buck, was forbidden in the same year, and repeated in 1540. The Church Order provided for visitations of the parishioners and pastors, the principal usage of the native language secured the survival of the Lithuanian language in Prussia. At the same time the Counter-Reformation reduced the number of Protestants in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, right in 1544 Duke Albert appointed Lutheran pastors, who had fled anti-Protestant oppression in the Grand Duchy, as professors at the Albertina, namely Stanislovas Rapolionis and Abraomas Kulvietis. More refugees from Lithuania proper followed and became pastors in various parishes, such as Martynas Mažvydas, until 1531 more parishes were founded, several of them were supervised by an archpriest on behalf of the bishop or the Pomesanian Consistory, after giving up the episcopate in 1587). Between 1529 and 160031, mostly simple structured, Lutheran churches have been erected in Lithuania Minor, between 1700 and 1918 another 51, usually more massive churches were erected. The king established a fund granting scholarships for eight students at Albertina, kristijonas Donelaitis, alumnus of Albertina Lithuanian Seminary and Lutheran pastor, became a famous poet who wrote a masterpiece of early Lithuanian literature. The archpriests of Lithuania Minor were based in Tilsit, Ragnit, Insterburg, Schaaken in Prussia/Šakiai, Memel, Wehlau, in 1751, Pomesanian Consistory and Sambian Consistory were merged in the Prussian Consistory in Königsberg, led by general superintendents since 1812
32.
Church of the Lutheran Confession
–
The Church of the Lutheran Confession is a conservative Christian religious body theologically adhering to confessional Lutheran doctrine. Founded in 1960 in Minnesota, it has approximately 85 congregations in 24 U. S. states, and missions in Canada, India, Africa, Nepal, and Myanmar. The CLC maintains its headquarters at its college, Immanuel Lutheran High School, College & Seminary in Eau Claire. Various Lutheran congregations left their synods during the 1950s and were independent at first and they began meeting together in 1957. The Church of the Lutheran Confession was formed around the time of the break-up of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America in 1963, while there were joint talks in the 1990s between the CLC and the WELS and ELS to resolve the dispute, no resolution was reached. Recently, the WELS and ELS have been in discussions with the CLC over doctrinal issues. The goal of these discussions is to restore fellowship with each other, the CLC teaches that the Bible is the only authoritative source for doctrine. It subscribes to the Lutheran Confessions as a presentation of what Scripture teaches. It is strongly linked to the concept of sola scriptura—scripture alone, fellowship between the CLC and other church groups is established only upon investigation and confirmation that both church groups hold complete unity in scriptural doctrine and practice. The CLC is currently in fellowship with several worldwide synods, some founded through mission work by the CLC, the CLC Bookhouse is the official publishing house for the CLC. It is devoted to publishing Christian literature and CLC related religious materials, the CLC Bookhouse also offers books and items from other publishing houses
33.
Concordia Lutheran Conference
–
The Concordia Lutheran Conference is a small organization of Lutheran churches in the United States which formed in 1956. It is the successor of the Orthodox Lutheran Conference. The current president is the Reverend Edward J. Worley, pastor of St. Lukes Lutheran Church in Seattle, all members of the board of directors serve one year terms. It is in fellowship with 7 mission congregations in Russia and Nigeria, the Conference describes itself as orthodox, with special emphasis on the inerrant, literal interpretation of the Christian Bible. The Concordia Lutheran Conference subscribes to the Book of Concord and the Brief Statement of the Doctoral Position of the Missouri Synod in its doctrinal stance, the Conference is a gathering of churches to engage in tasks that would be hard for any one church to perform. This includes the training of pastors in their seminary program
34.
Evangelical Lutheran Synod
–
The Evangelical Lutheran Synod is a US-based Protestant Christian denomination based in Mankato, Minnesota. It describes itself as a conservative, Confessional Lutheran body, the ELS is in fellowship with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and is a member of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod teaches that the Bible is the only authoritative and it subscribes to the Lutheran Confessions not in-so-far-as but because it is an accurate presentation of what Scripture teaches. There are approximately 19,945 baptized members in 142 established congregations and 12 mission churches, the current president is the Rev. John Moldstad, M. Div. S. T. M. who has been serving since 2002, note that the ELS uses the term synod differently from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is a separate denomination. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod traces its history back to 1853 when the Norwegian Synod was organized in the Midwestern United States and they practiced fellowship, a form of full communion, with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod during the 1850s and 1860s. In 1872, they along with the LCMS and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod formed the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America. In 1917, the Norwegian Synod merged with two other Norwegian Lutheran groups and formed the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, later named the Evangelical Lutheran Church and this led to disagreement among members of the Norwegian Synod. The people who became the ELS had concerns regarding fellowship with those who did not share the same doctrine, the Norwegian Synod had taught that conversion and salvation were entirely the work of God without any cooperation from humans. The new merged church allowed that conversion depended in some degree on humans accepting Gods grace, in 1955 the ELS suspended its fellowship with the LCMS over doctrinal disagreements, and in 1963 it withdrew from the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America. It retained its fellowship with the WELS, bjug Harstad George Gullixson Christian Anderson Helge M. Tjernagel Norman A. Madson Christian A. Moldstad Henry Ingebritson Norman A. Madson Adolph M. Harstad C. The Norwegian heritage of the ELS is evident in this hymnal, the cover of this hymnary is black with a gold imprinted logo on the front cover. The logo used is a Latin cross with budded arms superimposed over a lyre, prayers are included as well as four different rites of The Divine Service. Other services included here are The Office of the Prime, Matins, Vespers, Compline, a Service of Private Confession and Absolution is also included. Psalms, canticles, and other resources are found here. While most American Lutherans are familiar with a joint confession of sins followed by a spoken absolution from the pastor, this hymnary features an optional Individual Absolution. Before each worshipper hears the word of absolution, the pastor says, Upon this your confession, come forward to the altar of the Lord, the communicants come forward and kneel at the altar rail. A total of 602 hymns appear in this work, some appear merely as lyrics with only a suggested tune listed, others include musical notation
35.
Lutheran Churches of the Reformation
–
The Lutheran Churches of the Reformation is an association of Lutheran congregations. The LCR has its roots among groups of Lutherans that broke with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod in the middle of the 20th century, Church services are generally traditional and reverent in the style of the mid-1900s conservative Christians. The Lutheran Churches of the Reformation teaches that the Bible is the only authoritative and it subscribes to the Lutheran Confessions not in-so-far-as but because it is an accurate presentation of what Scripture teaches. The Lutheran Churches of the Reformation publishes One Accord, a devotional and news magazine, and The Faithful Word. The Martin Luther Institute of Sacred Studies, or M. L. I. S. S. in Decatur, Indiana is the seminary, the LCR is governed through annual conventions where delegates of the congregations vote. Doctrinal resolutions must be unanimous, or those in the minority will be suspended from the LCR, the day-to-day business of the LCR is run by the Council, whose members are elected to three year terms, commissions, and committees. For missions, the LCR has a missionary-at-large to serve those who have moved away from their congregations, abroad, the LCR supports congregations in Nigeria and Kenya and has trained pastors for the Lutheran Churches of the Reformation in Nigeria. The LCR has also held seminars to train pastors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as of March 2009, about 1,300 people are baptized members of LCR congregations. The congregations in the LCR and the Concordia Lutheran Conference were organized as the Orthodox Lutheran Conference, or OLC, the OLC split in 1956 after Prof. Paul E. Kretzmann, suspended church-fellowship with some congregations after they charged him with teaching error in class. The Fellowship of Lutheran Congregations, FLC is a group of congregations left the LCR in 1979 after a dispute concerning the proper procedure of excommunication. The congregations of the FLC joined the Concordia Lutheran Conference circa 2004, for a time in the 1990s, the LCR was in official church-fellowship with the Illinois Lutheran Conference, or ILC. There was controversy between the ILC and the LCR regarding the appearance of evil and the doctrine of Church, the LCR severed the fellowship because of differences discovered during the controversy over the appearance of evil. This led to accusations of female suffrage by one side and legalism by the other, the LCR was never asked by both sides of the congregation to adjudicate the division. Another LCR position paper titled Liberty or Death written to draw attention to different kinds of legalism was subsequently adopted in July 2007 and those congregations that withdrew membership with the LCR have declared church-fellowship with each other and have since organized the Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference or OLCC. A sixth congregation, in Hudson, MI, later withdrew from the LCR over the same issues, the LCR believes that the local congregation is the only divinely ordained church organization, and does not refer to synods or denominations as churches. This separates the group from other conservative Lutherans such as the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The congregations of the LCR use the King James Version of the Bible for all uses, the 1943 Blue edition of Luthers Small Catechism in confirmation instruction. Congregations of the LCR follow 1 Timothy 2,12 in practicing male-only suffrage in congregational voters assemblies, official LCR website Interchurch Relations in Recent Years by Edward C
36.
Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference
–
The Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference is a group of independent Lutheran congregations. The OLCC was organized in 2006 after their congregations left the Lutheran Churches of the Reformation. The OLCC consists of independent Lutheran congregations who are united in doctrine and it has no political structure, treasury, or form of government. The pastoral conference has a chairman who serves as a point of contact for outside groups, the OLCC professes that the Book of Concord is in complete agreement with the teachings of the Bible. In Lutheranism, this is known as a quia subscription, the following beliefs distinguish this group from others which likewise profess a quia subscription. Only the local congregation is a body of Christians that has the right to establish the ministry in its midst, other organizations which congregations may join have no divine authority whatsoever. The spiritual rule of a congregation is given to the Office of the Ministry, whose incumbents serve at the behest of God, the spiritual rule is the rule of the Word of God. The external governing of a congregation may be carried out in any number of ways, thus church boards, voters assemblies, general ]consensus, or pastoral rule are all valid forms of external church government. The external government of the church is limited to matters which in themselves are not spiritual, such as the holding and maintenance of property, scheduling of meetings and it must yield to the spiritual rule in all matters where the spiritual and external rule intersect. Nevertheless, the government cannot violate Gods own commands as to how the church should be governed. Thus those who rule the church even in its external aspects must still be male, though a congregation may be organized in any number of forms these forms do not in any way alter the spiritual nature or existence of that congregation. The Office of the Ministry, the Office of the Keys, and this office belongs to the whole church. Emergencies excepted, the church exercises the office by filling it, the office is filled when the local church issues a call to a qualified man, who then accepts this call. This call is considered to be a divine call, where God works through the local congregation as His instrument. Only the local congregation is a church that can issue a divine call, other organizations cannot, because only the local congregation meets regularly, in a particular place, around the means of Grace, all other groups being of a transitory nature. Though a local congregation may ask for assistance in choosing a candidate for the ministry and it is always the local congregation that calls. The essential duties of office are preaching, teaching. No minister can by divine right claim a higher than any other minister
37.
Protes'tant Conference
–
The Protestant Conference is a loose association of Lutheran churches and churchworkers in the United States. It was organized in 1927 by suspended former members of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod following an intrasynodical controversy and it currently consists of six churches and their churchworkers in Wisconsin, Michigan, and California. It is a conservative, confessional Lutheran Christian group with German immigrant roots and it publishes the periodical Faith-Life as a conference, and operates the Prostestant Conference website. It does not consider itself as a denomination or a church body, the organizations name includes a single typewriter quotation mark after the second syllable of the word “Protestant, ” indicating an accent thereon. The Protestant Conference arose out of a controversy over a document known as the Beitz Paper inside the WELS in 1926-1927, in his paper, Pastor Beitz discussed the current doctrinal philosophy then prevalent in the synod. Debate arose over the nature of the document and about 40 supporters of Pastor Beitz were subsequently suspended from the WELS as a result. These pastors, teachers, and some congregations organized into the non-centralized Protestant Conference and it has undergone three schisms, in 1930,1952, and 1964. Internally, the Protestant Conference sometimes refers to itself as The Protestant Conference of the Wisconsin Synod, the name Protestant was adopted in 1929, on the 400 year anniversary of the Second Diet of Speyer. The name Protestant was chosen to signify their protest against synodicalism on the part of both the Wisconsin and Missouri Synods, while the Missouri Synod did not expel the Protestants, it synodically ratified the expulsions in 1927. The Protestant Conference teaches that the Bible is the only authoritative and it subscribes to the Lutheran Confessions not in-so-far-as but because it is an accurate presentation of what Scripture teaches. Faith Life - The Prostestant Conference website, the Beitz Paper Prof. Fredrichs analysis of the controversy J. P. Koehlers Rebuttal & Defense
38.
United Lutheran Mission Association
–
The United Lutheran Mission Association is a Lutheran church organization. The United Lutheran Mission Association was established at a meeting in Chicago on July 16,2005, a third congregation, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church of Forsyth, Illinois, joined on December 15,2011. The ULMA, like the Protestant Conference, is congregationalist in polity, the voters assembly is the supreme authority in the congregation. There is no office or centralized organizational structure other than the individual representatives who meet twice each year. The ULMA plans to train its own pastors at Walther Theological Seminary, the ULMA has obtained clergy trained in the seminaries of other Lutheran denominations, such as the LCMS, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod
