The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (German: ''Evangelisch-Lutherische Freikirche'', abbreviated ELFK) is a

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 ...

denomination based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. It currently consists of 1,300 members in 17 congregations. The ELFK maintains a seminary for the training of pastors in the city of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church is a member of the

Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference 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 ...

, a worldwide organization of Lutheran church bodies of the same beliefs. It is independent of the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheranism, Lutheran, Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinism, Calvinist) and united and uniting churches, United ( ...

and can be classified as a

free church A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions fr ...

as it is an independent denomination.

History

The ELFK (acronym based on its German name) formed in 1876 in reaction to the perceived deviations from

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

and the Lutheran Confessions by some of the German state churches. In its early years many ELFK pastors were trained in

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...

seminaries in the U.S., until a seminary was established at

in 1921. The ELFK maintained strong relations with the LCMS until 1987, when fellowship was suspended on account of the LCMS's refusal to break fellowship with the less-conservative West German-based

Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church (german: Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, abbreviated SELK) is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and of the International ...

. In 1993 the ELFK joined with the strongly confessional

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 ...

and others in forming the

Beliefs

The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church teaches that the Bible is the only authoritative source for doctrine. It subscribes to the Lutheran Confessions (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 t ...

, 1580) as accurate presentations of what Scripture teaches, that Jesus is the center of Scripture and the only way to eternal salvation, and that the Holy Spirit uses the gospel alone in Word and Sacraments (Baptism and Holy Communion) to bring people to faith in Jesus as Savior and keep them in that faith, strengthening them in their daily life of sanctification.

Church fellowship

Fellowship between the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church and other church groups is established only upon investigation and confirmation that both church groups hold complete unity in scriptural doctrine and practice. The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church is in fellowship with the members of the

, all of which meet this requirement. It is also a member of said organization.

Education

Dr. Martin Luther School (German: Dr. Martin Luther Schule) is a grade 1-4 school of the ELFK in

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...

, Germany. The Lutheran Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Leipzig, Germany. The seminary trains students to become pastors for the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church or for member church bodies of the

Publishing

Concordia Buchhandlung is a bookstore and the publisher of the ELFK in Zwickau. The publisher regularly prints the monthly newsletters of the ELFK, the “Lutherische Gemeindebriefe”. They also publish the quarterly of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, “Theologische Handreichung und Information”, and a devotion book, “Gott ist für uns.”

References

External links

Website of the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (in German)Info page for the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church from the CELC websiteHistory of the ELFK
{{Authority control Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference members Lutheranism in Austria Lutheranism in Germany Lutheran denominations