The National Evangelical Lutheran Church (NELC) was a Finnish-American

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

church body that was organized in 1898 in

Rock Springs, Wyoming Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 23,036 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state of Wyoming, and the most populous city in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs is ...

, as the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran National Church of America. It merged into the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) in 1965.

History

In 1898, a group of Finnish Lutherans, eight laymen and a pastor, organized the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran National Church of America in

. Although its founding had occurred in Wyoming, many of the congregations were located in the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

, especially around Calumet, as well as the

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of northeastern Minnesota. The NELC was the smallest of three Finnish-American Lutheran churches in the United States. Several years earlier, in 1890, the

Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (commonly known as the Suomi Synod, ) was a Lutheran church body which existed in the United States from 1890 until 1962. History The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (FELC) was ...

(known as the Suomi Synod) had been founded in Calumet. The group that formed the NELC had either left the Suomi Synod or had never joined it due to differences in doctrine and issues of congregational freedom and autonomy. The other Finnish-American body was the

Apostolic Lutheran Church of America The Apostolic Lutheran Church of America (ALCA) is a Laestadian Lutheran church denomination established by Finnish American and Norwegian immigrants in the 1800s. They came mainly from northern Finland and northern Norway where they had been mem ...

, founded in 1872, also in Calumet, as the Solomon Korteniemi Lutheran Society. Within a few years of founding, the NELC became connected with the Gospel Association of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; sv, Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal positio ...

, and became known as the Synod of Finnish "Evangelicals" because they stressed the forgiveness of sins, certainty of salvation,

Baptismal regeneration Baptismal regeneration is the name given to doctrines held by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican churches, and other Protestant denominations which maintain that salvation is intimately linked to the act of bap ...

, and the right of sinners to accept forgiveness without undertaking specific preparations beforehand other than having a "feeling" of sin. A college for training pastors and teaching English to Finnish immigrants was started in

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, soon after 1900. However, because it was organized as an open shareholders association, atheistic socialists were able to gain control and closed the seminary in 1905 before a single pastor had graduated, and converted the school into a workers college. From 1905 to 1918, the synod's pastors received no academic training other than getting preaching instruction from the Gospel Association. Due to financial issues soon after 1900, the NELC sought a possible merger with the Suomi Synod. Because that synod would not accept the lay-trained pastors of the NELC, the latter opened a new seminary in

Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on US Highway 2 across the Montreal River from Hurley, Wisconsin. It is the westernmost city in Michigan ...

, in 1918. However, that seminary was closed in 1923 when one teacher left to go to Japan and another returned to Finland. Overtures to the Suomi Synod subsequently ceased, and the NELC instead established fellowship with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) in 1923. By 1931, the NELC was using the LCMS's

Concordia Theological Seminary The Concordia Theological Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It offers professional, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees affiliated with training clergy and deaconesses for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). His ...

, located at that time in Springfield, Illinois, for its pastoral training. In 1938, a member of the NELC was appointed professor and head of the Finnish department at the seminary. Doctrinal conflict arose within the NELC soon after fellowship with the LCMS had been implemented. The "Missourians" who favored the LCMS doctrinal stance broke fellowship with the Gospel Association because it had remained in the Church of Finland. The "Missourians" also held that Christians could not be members of lodges. The conflict resulted in a number of "Evangelicals" leaving NELC congregations. By 1958, all the synod's pastors were graduates of LCMS seminaries, thereby cementing the relationship between the two church bodies. Mission work was aimed at Finnish immigrants in the U.S. and Canada. In 1950, a missionary began serving Finns in North Queensland, Australia. Later, the NELC gave money to support the LCMS missionaries in

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. The denomination changed its name to the National Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1946. Eighteen years later, on January 1, 1964, the NELC merged with the LCMS, its congregations becoming members of the LCMS districts in which they were located. However, several congregations did not join in the merger. One joined the

Lutheran Churches of the Reformation The Lutheran Churches of the Reformation (LCR) is an association of Lutheran congregations. The LCR has its roots among groups of Lutherans that broke with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) in the middle of the 20th century, and was ...

, and three others (Hebron in

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, Bethany in

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, and National in Calumet) became independent congregations.

Presidents

The presidents of the NELC were: *J. W. Eloheimo (1898–1900) *Wilhelm Adrian Mandellöf 1900–1905 *William Williamson 1905–1908 *Karl Gustaf Rissanen 1908–1913 *Peter Wuori 1913–1918 *Arne Wasunta 1918–1922 *Karl E. Salonen 1922–1923 *Matti Wiskari 1923–1931 *Gustaf A. Aho 1931–1953 *Jalo E. Nopola 1953–1959 *Emil A. Heino 1959-1963 *Vilho V. Latvala 1963–1964

Membership statistics

{, class="wikitable collapsible" border="1" style="text-align: right;" , + NECL Membership Statistics{{cite web, title=National Evangelical Lutheran Church (Finnish), url=http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_1486.asp, work=American Denomination Profiles, publisher=Association of Religion Data Archives, accessdate=June 25, 2013 , - ! Year !! Pastors !! Congregations !! Members , - , 1902 , 18 , , 10,300 , - , 1925 , , 16 , , 60 , , 5,000 , - , 1929 , , 15 , , 65 , , 4,625 , - , 1935, , 14 , , 59 , , 7,904 , - , 1937 , , - , , 69 , , - , - , 1940 , , - , , 65 , , 6,275 , - , 1942 , , - , , 72 , , 5,928 , - , 1947 , , - , , 65 , , 6,559 , - , 1950 , , 22 , , 71 , , 7,147 , - , 1951 , , 23 , , 71 , , 7,530 , - , 1952 , , 26 , , 60 , , 6,768 , - , 1953 , , 25 , , 60 , , 7,148 , - , 1954 , , 27 , , 58 , , 7,906 , - , 1955 , , 26 , , 58 , , 7,282 , - , 1956 , , 33 , , 59 , , 7,561 , - , 1957 , , 25 , , 57 , , 8,428 , - , 1958 , , 33 , , 57 , , 9,195 , - , 1959 , , 34 , , 54 , , 9,772 , - , 1960 , , 29 , , 55 , , 10,146 , - , 1961 , , 35 , , 56 , , 10,545 , - , 1962 , , 35 , , 53 , , 11,142

References

Lutheran denominations in North America Finnish-American history Former Lutheran denominations Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Religious organizations established in 1898 Lutheran denominations established in the 19th century 1898 establishments in Wyoming