The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (AFLC) is the sixth largest

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

church body in the United States. The AFLC includes congregations from the former

Lutheran Free Church The Lutheran Free Church (LFC) was a Lutheran denomination that existed in the United States, mainly in Minnesota and North Dakota, from 1897 until its merger into the American Lutheran Church (ALC) in 1963. The history of the church body predate ...

in 27 different U.S. states and four

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

s. The AFLC is not an incorporated

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

, but a free association. Each local congregation is a separate corporation.

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

is the geographic center of the organization, with over 80 congregations and over 12,000 members. There are also numerous congregations in the neighboring states of

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The AFLC headquarters are in

Plymouth, Minnesota Plymouth is a city in Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. A suburb in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the city is about west of downtown Minneapolis.The population was 81,026 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's ...

, where the

Association Free Lutheran Bible School and Seminary Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary (FLBCS) is one institution of higher education consisting of two programs, the two-year undergraduate Free Lutheran Bible College (FLBC) and the four-year pastoral training program Free Lutheran Seminary (F ...

are also located. The beliefs of the AFLC are grounded in Pietist Lutheran tradition. The AFLC logo consists of an open Bible, ascending dove, and green vine. The open Bible is symbolic of God's word as the foundation of faith and life; the ascending dove is symbolic of the freedom of congregation and the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit; and the green vine is symbolic of the living congregation bearing fruit for God.

History

The AFLC was formed in 1962 by 40 churches that were members of the former

who did not want to join the 1963 merger into The American Lutheran Church (ALC). The ALC had been formed in 1960 by the merger of several ethnic Lutheran denominations. The AFLC was originally called the Lutheran Free Church-not merged, but the ALC filed suit against the group for using the name Lutheran Free Church. The name Association of Free Lutheran Congregations was chosen by 1964. In 2006, the AFLC had 43,360 baptized members in 267 churches and in 2009, the AFLC had 277 pastors, 280 congregations, and 44,473 members.

Doctrine

The AFLC accept and believe in the Holy Bible as the complete written Word of God, preserved by the Holy Spirit for salvation and instruction. The AFLC accepts the ancient ecumenical symbols, namely, the Apostles, the

Nicene The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...

, and the

Athanasian Creed The Athanasian Creed, also called the Pseudo-Athanasian Creed and sometimes known as ''Quicunque Vult'' (or ''Quicumque Vult''), which is both its Latin name and its opening words, meaning "Whosoever wishes", is a Christian statement of belief ...

Luther's Small Catechism ''Luther's Small Catechism'' (german: Der Kleine Katechismus) is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Pr ...

, and the unaltered

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...

, as the true expression of the Christian faith and life. There were five principal reasons for the formation of the AFLC: *Recognition of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

as the inspired and inerrant authority in all matters of faith and life. *Recognition that the teaching and preaching of God's Word is the main task of the Church, to be conducted in such a way that the saints are built up and unbelievers see their need for salvation. *Belief that the congregation is the right form of the Kingdom of God on earth, with no authority above it but the Word and the Spirit of God; *Belief that Christian unity is a spiritual concept, not a man-made organization such as the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

or the

National Council of Churches The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Uni ...

. *Belief that Christians are called to be a salt and light, separated from the ways of the world, and that this difference is to be reflected in the life of the congregation as well as in the institutions of the church body. Unlike most other conservative Lutheran bodies in the United States, the AFLC allows

open communion Open communion is the practice of some Protestant Churches of allowing members and non-members to receive the Eucharist (also called Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper). Many but not all churches that practice open communion require that the p ...

and

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

in congregational voting.

Committees and corporations

The AFLC has five corporations that are sponsored by the AFLC to direct their common endeavors: the Coordinating Committee, the Schools Corporation, the Missions Corporation, the AFLC Foundation, and the Association Retreat Center (ARC. There are two auxiliary corporations in the AFLC: the Women's Missionary Federation (WMF) and Free Lutheran Youth (FLY).

Coordinating Committee

The coordinating committee consists of seven members from the congregations currently part of the AFLC. The main duties of the coordinating committee includes monitoring the pastoral roster, monitoring the congregational roster, and providing guidance for the other ministries of the AFLC, including youth, evangelism, parish education, etc.

Schools Corporation

The schools corporation's main delegation is the election of the board of trustees, that governs the

Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary (FLBCS) is one institution of higher education consisting of two programs, the two-year undergraduate Free Lutheran Bible College (FLBC) and the four-year pastoral training program Free Lutheran Seminary (F ...

(FLBCS). This corporation consists of fifty members from the congregations of the AFLC. The AFLC leaders decided to create a Lutheran Bible School patterned after the fundamental teachings of the Lutheran Bible Institute founded in 1919. The school was opened in 1966 with 13 students but grew to 35 the next year. By the 1990s, the school, renamed to Association Free Lutheran Bible Seminary, was averaging 105 students. Today there are approximately 100 students attending the school.

Missions Corporation

The missions corporation consists of one hundred members of the congregations of the AFLC and elects from itself a Home Missions Committee and a World Missions Committee which are involved in the outreach of the AFLC into the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and several other countries.

AFLC Foundation

Association Retreat Center

The Association Retreat Center (ARC) is a separate organization of the AFLC located near

Osceola, Wisconsin Osceola is a village in Polk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,568 at the 2010 census. Located mostly within the Town of Osceola, the village sits on the border with Minnesota, separated by the St. Croix River. It is along ...

, that serves as a retreat center for various activities within the AFLC.

Other committees and corporations

The Women's Missionary Federation (WMF) serves the women of the churches with

studies, fellowship, and has an emphasis on missionary services. The Free Lutheran Youth (FLY) is a youth organization dealing with youth ministry.

Publications

The official publication of the AFLC is ''The Lutheran Ambassador'', with twelve issues per year devoted to Bible-centered articles and news of the churches. Ambassador Publications is the parish education department of the AFLC. The ''Ambassador Hymnal'' is the

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chri ...

published by the AFLC. It contains over 600 hymns as well as a selected order of church services and responsive Bible readings.

Presidents

* John P. Strand (1962–1978) * Richard Snipstead (1978–1992) * Robert L. Lee (1992–2007) * Elden K. Nelson (2007–2013) * Lyndon Korhonen (2013–2022) * Micah Hjermstad (2022-Present)

Annual conferences

The AFLC schedules an annual conference to share reports of congregations and other various ministries. The main reason for these conferences is spiritual edification, as the schedules include prayer times, worship hours, and business meetings together. At the conference, suggestions for changes are presented and discussed and the elections for positions in committees/corporations are conducted. *1963 Fargo, North Dakota *1964 Valley City, North Dakota *1965 Minneapolis, Minnesota *1966 Thief River Falls, Minnesota *1967 Fargo, North Dakota *1968 Cloquet, Minnesota *1969 Minneapolis, Minnesota *1970 Valley City, North Dakota *1971 Cloquet, Minnesota *1972 Minneapolis, Minnesota *1973 Ferndale, Washington *1974 Thief River Falls, Minnesota *1975 Minneapolis, Minnesota *1976 Hancock, Minnesota *1977 Fargo, North Dakota *1978 Minneapolis, Minnesota *1979 Whitefish, Montana *1980 Valley City, North Dakota *1981 Minneapolis, Minnesota *1982 Dickinson, North Dakota *1983 Osceola, Wisconsin *1984 Minneapolis, Minnesota *1985 Osceola, Wisconsin *1986 Warm Beach, Washington *1987 Thief River Falls, Minnesota *1988 DeKalb, Illinois *1989 Minot, North Dakota *1990 Bloomington, Minnesota *1991 Osceola, Wisconsin *1992 Osceola, Wisconsin *1993 DeKalb, Illinois *1994 Valley City, North Dakota *1995 Osceola, Wisconsin *1996 Stanwood, Washington *1997 Thief River Falls, Minnesota *1998 Red Wing, Minnesota *1999 Fergus Falls, Minnesota *2000 Osceola, Wisconsin *2001 Williston, North Dakota *2002 El Campo, Texas *2003 Brookings, South Dakota *2004 Osceola, Wisconsin *2005 Valley City, North Dakota *2006 Stanwood, Washington *2007 Sioux Falls, South Dakota *2008 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma *2009 Fergus Falls, Minnesota *2010 Plymouth, Minnesota *2011 Sioux Falls, South Dakota *2012 Thief River Falls, Minnesota *2013 Osceola, Wisconsin *2014 Valley City, North Dakota *2015 Stanwood, Washington *2016 Osceola, Wisconsin *2017 Plymouth, Minnesota *2018 Dickinson, North Dakota *2019 Canadensis, Pennsylvania *2020 Osceola, Wisconsin *2021 Plymouth, Minnesota *2022 Osceola, Wisconsin

References

{{Authority control Lutheran denominations in North America Christian organizations established in 1962 1962 establishments in the United States