The Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) is a US-based

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Christian denomination based in

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...

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 ...

. It describes itself as a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

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 ...

body. The ELS has 130 congregations and has missions in Peru, Chile, India, South Korea, Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Latvia. The ELS is in fellowship with 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 ...

(WELS) and is a member of the international

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 ...

(CELC).

Core beliefs

The Evangelical Lutheran Synod teaches that the Bible is the only authoritative and error-free 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 ...

) not with a quatenus (in-so-far-as) but instead a quia (because) subscription; that is it subscribes to the Lutheran Confessions because it is an accurate presentation of what scripture teaches. It 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.

Membership

In 2010, the ELS had an estimated number of 19,394 baptized members The ELS also has 130 congregations and missions in Peru, Chile, India, South Korea, Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Latvia. Note that the ELS uses the term '' synod'' differently from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is a separate denomination.

History

The Evangelical Lutheran Synod traces its history back to 1853 when the

Norwegian Synod The Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commonly called the Norwegian Synod, was founded in 1853. It included churches in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. History In February 1853, several Lutheran ministers in ...

was organized in the Midwestern United States. They practiced "fellowship", a form of full communion, with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) during the 1850s and 1860s. In 1872, they along with the LCMS and the WELS formed the

Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America (german: Die Evangelisch-lutherischen Synodal-Conferenz von Nord-Amerika), often known simply as the Synodical Conference, was an association of Lutheran synods that professed a comp ...

. In 1917, the Norwegian Synod merged with two other Norwegian Lutheran groups and formed the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, later named the Evangelical Lutheran Church. This led to disagreement among members of the Norwegian Synod. The people who became the ELS had concerns regarding fellowship with those who did not share the same doctrine. The Norwegian Synod had taught that conversion and salvation were entirely the work of God without any cooperation from humans. The new merged church allowed that conversion depended in some degree on humans accepting God's grace. A group of people therefore gathered at Lime Creek Lutheran Church near

Lake Mills, Iowa Lake Mills is a city in Winnebago County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,143 at the time of the 2020 census. History Lake Mills was platted in part of the northeast quadrant of Center Township in 1869. A gristmill had been built at t ...

, on June 14, 1918, and reorganized as the Norwegian Synod of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (also known as "Little Norwegian" Synod) The name was changed to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod on June 25, 1957. In 1955, the ELS suspended its fellowship with the LCMS over doctrinal disagreements, and in 1963, it withdrew from the

. It retained its fellowship with the WELS. (The WELS severed its fellowship relations with the LCMS in 1961, and also withdrew from the Synodical Conference in 1963.) In 1993, the ELS and WELS, working with a number of other worldwide Lutheran churches, some of which had been founded through mission work by both synods, founded the

(CELC). The ELS published a

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 Chr ...

, the

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary The ''Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary'' (''ELH'') is a hymnal created by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod in 1996. The Norwegian heritage of the ELS is evident in this hymnal, although a broader ethnicity is clearly represented. From the indexes l ...

, in 1996. This hymnal is in the tradition of the 1941

The Lutheran Hymnal ''The Lutheran Hymnal'' (''TLH'') is one of the official hymnals of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Published in 1941 by Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis, Missouri, it was the denomination's second official English-langua ...

as well as earlier Scandinavian hymnals.

ELS presidents

Bjug Harstad Bjug Harstad (December 17, 1848 – June 20, 1933) was a Lutheran pastor, founding president of Pacific Lutheran University, and first president of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Biography Bjug Aanondson was one of ten children born on the Ha ...

(1917–1922) *George Gullixson (1923–1926) *Christian Anderson (1926–1930) *Helge M. Tjernagel (1930–1934) *Norman A. Madson (1934–1935) *Christian A. Moldstad (1935–1937) *Henry Ingebritson (1937–1942) *Norman A. Madson (1942–1946) *Adolph M. Harstad (1946–1950) *C. Monrad Gullerud (1950–1954) *Milton H. Otto (1954–1957) *Milton E. Tweit (1957–1962) *Theodore Aaberg (1962–1964) *Joseph Petersen (1964–1966) *Juul B. Madson (1966–1970) *George M. Orvick (1970–1976) *Wilhelm Petersen (1976–1980) *George M. Orvick (1980–2002) *John A. Moldstad (2002-2021) *Glenn Obenberger (2021-)

Education ministries and missions

In 1927, the ELS formed

Bethany Lutheran College Bethany Lutheran College (BLC) is a private Christian liberal arts college in Mankato, Minnesota. Founded in 1927, BLC is operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The campus overlooks the Minnesota River valley in a community of 53,000. ...

. In 1946, it established its own seminary, also in Mankato, called

Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary (BLTS) is the training school for pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. History Founded in 1946, BLTS was essentially a department of Bethany Lutheran College (BLC), before the two institutions were offic ...

. Throughout its history, ELS congregations have actively sponsored Christian elementary schools. The synod carries on an active home mission program and now has 130 congregations in many states. It also has foreign missionaries in Peru and Chile in South America and in Ukraine, Latvia, and the Czech Republic (

Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

) in Eastern Europe.

Notes

References

*Evangelical Lutheran Synod Worship Committee. ''Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary'', Mankato, MN: Morning Star Publishers, 1996. pp. 3, 43, 926–928. *Brug, John F. Edward C. Fredrich II, and Armin W. Schuetze. ''WELS and Other Lutherans: Lutheran Church Bodies in the USA'', Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House, 1998. pp. 94f *MacPherson, Ryan C., Paul G. Madson, and Peter M. Anthony, eds.
Telling the Next Generation: The Evangelical Lutheran Synod's Vision for Christian Education, 1918-2011 and Beyond
', Mankato, MN: Lutheran Synod Book Company, 2011. *Preus, J. A. O. Jr. "Protesting Norwegians" in Omar Bonderud and Charles Lutz (eds.) ''America's Lutherans''. Columbus OH: Wartburg Press 1958. pp. 52–53.

External links

*
ELS Historical Society
{{Authority control Lutheran denominations in North America Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference members Christian organizations established in 1918 Mankato, Minnesota