Over 40 different

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 ...

denominations currently exist in North America. However, most North American Lutherans belong to one of the three largest denominations, namely, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, or 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 Milwauke ...

Active denominations

Source: * American Association of Lutheran Churches (AALC) *

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 ...

(ALCA) * Association of Confessional Lutheran Churches (ACLC) *

Association of Free Lutheran Congregations The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (AFLC) is the sixth largest Lutheran church body in the United States. The AFLC includes congregations from the former Lutheran Free Church in 27 different U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. The ...

(AFLC) *

Augsburg Lutheran Churches The Augsburg Lutheran Churches is a moderate-to-conservative confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. History The Augsburg Lutheran Churches was formed in 2001 in response to the Called to Common Mission, an agreement between the ...

(ALC) * Canadian Association of Lutheran Congregations (CALC) *

Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America The Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America (CLBA) is a Lutheran denomination of Christians rooted in a Pietist Lutheran spiritual awakening at the turn of the 20th century. History Origins Following the occurrence of a Pietist spiritual ...

(CLBA) * Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC) * Concordia Lutheran Conference (CLC) * Conservative Lutheran Association (CLA) * Eielsen Synod *

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC; Estonian: ''Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik'', abbreviated EELK) is a Lutheran church in Estonia. EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Church ...

(EELK) * Evangelical Lutheran Church - Eesti Synod (E.E.L.K.) * Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) * Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) * Evangelical Lutheran Conference & Ministerium of North America (ELCM) * Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (ELDoNA) *

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) * General Lutheran Church (GLC) * Illinois Lutheran Conference (ILC) *

Independent Lutheran Diocese The Independent Lutheran Diocese (ILD) is a small Confessional Lutheran Association currently headquartered in Klamath Falls, Oregon. History The ILD was originally founded in 2005 as the Old Lutheran Church in America (OLCA), being formed by an ...

(ILD) *

Laestadian Lutheran Church The Laestadian Lutheran Church (LLC) is a religious Christian movement, its teachings based on the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions. From June 9, 1973, the organisation was named the Association of American Laestadian Congregations (AALC), ...

(LLC) * Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (LELCA) *

Lutheran Church–Canada Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) is a confessional Lutheran denomination in Canada. It is the second largest Lutheran body in Canada after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC). Together with the ELCIC and the Canadian Association of ...

(LCC) *

Lutheran Church - International The Lutheran Church - International (LC-I) is an American Christian denomination established in 1967 and based in Lyons, New York. Its president from 1967 to 1998 was Pastor E. Edward Tornow of North Dakota. From 1967 to 2011 the LC-I was known as ...

(LC-I) * Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) * Lutheran Churches of the Reformation (LCR) * Lutheran Conference of Confessional Fellowship (LCCF) * Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) * Lutheran Orthodox Church (LOC) * The Reformed Lutheran Church of America (RLCA) * The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church (GCEPC) *

Lutheran Ministerium and Synod - USA 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 ...

(LMS-USA) * North American Lutheran Church (NALC) * Old Apostolic Lutheran Church * Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference (OLCC) * Protes'tant Conference * United Lutheran Mission Association (ULMA) *

(WELS)

Defunct denominations

Most of the now-defunct North American Lutheran denominations merged or were absorbed into larger bodies. The following is an incomplete list. *

American Evangelical Lutheran Church The American Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC) was one of the many denominations formed when Lutherans immigrated to America. Originally known as the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (DELCA), the predominantly Danish-American chur ...

American Lutheran Church The American Lutheran Church (TALC) 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 ...

(The American Lutheran Church 960-1987 *

American Lutheran Church (1930) The American Lutheran Church (ALC) was formed in 1930 from the merger of the three conservative Lutheran synods of German-American origin: The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa and Other States (Iowa Synod), established in 1854; the Lutheran Sy ...

(1930-1960) *

Anti-Missourian Brotherhood The Anti-Missourian Brotherhood was the name of a group of Lutheran pastors and churches in the United States who left the Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Norwegian Synod). In 1872, the Norwegian Synod had been a co ...

Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) was a U.S. church body that existed from 1976 through the end of 1987. The AELC formed when approximately 250 dissident congregations withdrew from the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS ...

(A.E.L.C. 1978-1987) * Augustana Catholic Church (ALCC) *

Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church (previously the Augustana Lutheran Synod and also Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America and Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America) was a Lutheran church ...

* Augustana Orthodox & Evangelical Lutheran Synod *

Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America usually called the Conference was a Lutheran church body that existed in the United States from 1870 to 1890, when it merged into the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of Am ...

Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church Association in America Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church Association in America (often known as the Blair Church) was a Lutheran church body that existed in the United States from 1884 to 1896, when it merged into the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church. History ...

* English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri and Other States * English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the Northwest * Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada *

Evangelical Lutheran Church (United States) The Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) was a Lutheran denomination that existed from 1917, when it was founded as the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (NLCA), until 1960, when it joined two other church bodies to form the second American Luthe ...

(The Evangelical Lutheran Church) * Evangelical Lutheran Concordia English Synod (of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

) * Evangelical Lutheran Federation (disbanded 1998) * Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of America (1820-1918) *

Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio The Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States, commonly known as the Joint Synod of Ohio or the Ohio Synod, was a German-language Lutheran denomination whose congregations were originally located primarily in the U.S. state of Ohio ...

(and Other States) (1818-1930) * Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland (1820-1918 / 1918-1962 / 1962-1987) *

Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa and Other States, commonly known as the Iowa Synod, was founded on August 24, 1854, at St. Sebald in Clayton County, Iowa. It adopted a constitution and its name (german: Die deutsche evangelishe lutheranish ...

(XXXX-1930) * Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America * Evangelical Lutherans in Mission (1974-1978) *

Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod The Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod (1820–1920), commonly known as just the Tennessee Synod, was a Lutheran church body known for its staunch adherence to the Augsburg Confession and commitment to confessional Lutheranism. The synod began ...

Evangelical Synod of North America The Evangelical Synod of North America, before 1927 German Evangelical Synod of North America, in German ''(Deutsche) Evangelische Synode von Nord-Amerika'', was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States existing from the mid-19th c ...

* Fellowship of Lutheran Congregations *

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 ...

* General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America (1869-1918) *

Hauge Synod The Hauge Synod (formally Hauge's Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Synod in America) was the name of a Norwegian Lutheran church body in the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Background The Hauge Synod (Norwegian: ) wa ...

* Icelandic Evangelical Lutheran Synod of America *

Lutheran Church in America The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was an American and Canadian Lutheran church body that existed from 1962 to 1987. It was headquartered in New York City and its publishing house was Fortress Press. The LCA's immigrant heritage came mostly fr ...

(1962-1987) * Lutheran Church in America - Canada Section (XXXX-1985) * Lutheran Confessional Synod *

Lutheran Council in the United States of America The Lutheran Council in the United States of America was an ecumenical organization of American Lutherans that existed from 1967 to 1988. Succeeding the National Lutheran Council, it was founded by four Lutheran church bodies: the Lutheran Churc ...

(L.C.U.S.A.) (1962-1987) *

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 ...

(XXXX-1963) *

Lutheran Synod of Buffalo The Lutheran Synod of Buffalo, founded in 1845 as the Synod of Lutheran Emigrants from Prussia (german: Synode der aus Preussen ausgewanderten lutherischen Kirche), was commonly known from early in its history as the Buffalo Synod. The synod resul ...

(XXXX-1930) * National Evangelical Lutheran Church *

National Lutheran Council The National Lutheran Council (NLC) was a cooperative agency of most of the Lutheran church bodies in the United States. It was established in 1918 and was replaced in 1966 by the Lutheran Council in the United States of America. History The cele ...

(N.L.C.) * Norwegian Augustana Synod * Pennsylvania Ministerium (Ministerium of Pennsylvania) (1748-1918) * Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America *

Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches The Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (SELC) was an American Lutheran denomination that existed from 1902 to 1971. It merged with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) in 1971 and now operates as the non-geographic SELC District of th ...

United Evangelical Lutheran Church The United Evangelical Lutheran Church (commonly known as the United Church) was one of the many denominations formed when Lutherans came to the United States from Europe. Originally known as the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Uni ...

United Lutheran Church in America The United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA) was established in 1918 in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation after negotiations among several American Lutheran national synods resulted in the merger of three German-l ...

(1918-1962) *

United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America The United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (UNLC) was the result of the union in 1890 of the Norwegian Augustana Synod (est. 1870), the Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (1870), and the Anti-Missourian ...

* United Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South (1861-1918)

References

External links

A Little Lecture on Little Little-Known Lutheran Synods
by Edward C. Fredrich
Concordia Historical Institute: Department of Archives and History of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
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Active denominations

Defunct denominations

See also

References

Further reading

External links