The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC) is an international fellowship of 34

Confessional Lutheran Confessional Lutheranism is a name used by Lutherans to designate those who believe in the doctrines taught in the ''Book of Concord'' of 1580 (the Lutheran confessional documents) in their entirety. Confessional Lutherans maintain that faithfulne ...

church bodies. The CELC was founded in 1993 in Oberwesel, Germany with an initial thirteen church bodies. Plenary sessions are held every three years. To date there have been ten plenary meetings (1993, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2021), with regional meetings held in the intervening years. The CELC rejects the 1999

Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification The ''Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification'' (JDDJ) is a document created and agreed to by the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) and the Lutheran World Federation in 1999 as a result of exte ...

signed between the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...

and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

History

After the decline and dissolution of the Synodical Conference in the 1950s and 1960s, there was renewed interest for fellowship with other Lutheran church bodies. The Rev. Edgar Hoenecke called for a worldwide fellowship of Lutheran church bodies in the late 1960s. Over the years, many people advocated for an international Lutheran organization and did much to help bring it about. However, three people are noted as having some of the biggest influence in helping to bring about a new international Lutheran organization: Pres. Gerhard Wilde of the Evangelisch-Lutherische Freikirche (ELFK), Pres. George Orvick of the

Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) is a US-based Protestant Christian denomination based in Mankato, Minnesota. It describes itself as a conservative, Confessional Lutheran body. The ELS has 130 congregations and has missions in Peru, Chile, ...

(ELS), and Prof. Wilbert Gawrisch of the

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwaukee ...

(WELS). On April 27–29, 1993, the CELC was formed in Oberwesel, Germany with Lutheran church bodies from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Today, the CELC consists of thirty-four Lutheran church bodies worldwide.

Membership

Member church bodies confess "the canonical books of the Old and New Testament as the verbally inspired and inerrant Word of God and submit to this Word of God as the only

infallible Infallibility refers to an inability to be wrong. It can be applied within a specific domain, or it can be used as a more general adjective. The term has significance in both epistemology and theology, and its meaning and significance in both fi ...

rule and authority in all matters of doctrine, faith, and life." They also accept "the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the

Book of Concord ''The Book of Concord'' (1580) or ''Concordia'' (often referred to as the ''Lutheran Confessions'') is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since ...

of 1580, not in so far as, but because they are a correct exposition of the pure doctrine of the Word of God." Members cannot be in fellowship with church bodies whose doctrine or practice deviate from the confessional standard of the CELC. Member church bodies sorted by country/region in alphabetical order: * Albania : Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church of Albania * Australia :

Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Australia Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual exper ...

* Bulgaria :Bulgarian Lutheran Church * Cameroon :Lutheran Church of Cameroon * Canada :

WELS-Canada The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwaukee ...

(Part of Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) * Chile :Christian Church of the Lutheran Reformation of Chile * Czech Republic :Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church * East Asia :East Asia Lutheran Synod * Ethiopia :Lutheran Church of Ethiopia * Finland :The Lutheran Confessional Church of Finland :St. Johannes Evangelical Lutheran Congregation * Germany : Evangelical Lutheran Free Church * Hong Kong :South Asian Lutheran Evangelical Mission * India :Christ Evangelical Lutheran Ministries of India :Lutheran Mission of Salvation—India * Indonesia :Lutheran Christian of Indonesia * Japan :Lutheran Evangelical Christian Church * Kenya :Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ—Kenya * Latvia :Confessional Lutheran Church in Latvia * Malawi :

Lutheran Church of Central Africa The Lutheran Church of Central Africa or LCCA is a Christian denomination of the Lutheran tradition based in the African countries of Zambia and Malawi. Currently (2004), it consists of over 40,000 baptized members in 200 congregations spread thro ...

* Mexico : Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church * Nigeria :Christ the King Lutheran Church :All Saints Lutheran Church of Nigeria * Norway :

Lutheran Confessional Church The Lutheran Confessional Church (Swedish:'' Lutherska Bekännelsekyrkan'', LBK) is a Christian Lutheran church, originally organised in 1974, with congregations in Sweden and Norway. It has church fellowship with the Wisconsin Evangelical Luthera ...

* Peru :Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Peru * Portugal :

Lutheran Church of Portugal The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC) is an international fellowship of 34 Confessional Lutheran church bodies. The CELC was founded in 1993 in Oberwesel, Germany with an initial thirteen church bodies. Plenary sessions are hel ...

* Puerto Rico :Evangelical Lutheran Confessional Church * Russia : Evangelical Lutheran Church - "Concord" * South Korea :Seoul Lutheran Church * Sweden :

* Taiwan :Christ Lutheran Evangelical Church—Taiwan * Ukraine :

Ukrainian Lutheran Church The Ukrainian Lutheran Church (ULC; Українська Лютеранська Церква), formerly called the Ukrainian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, is a Byzantine Rite Lutheran Church based in Ukraine. The Eastern Christia ...

* United States of America :

* Zambia :

Conventions

The CELC holds a triennial convention in various countries around the world. The CELC conducts official business at these conventions. Representatives from all CELC member synods attend these conventions. The conventions center around a main doctrinal theme and include worship and Scripture-based essays.

References

External links

*
Scholarly articles about the CELC
{{Authority control Christian organizations established in 1993 International bodies of Lutheran denominations International bodies of Lutheran denominations (currently existing)