The Lutheran Church - International (LC-I) is an American Christian denomination established in 1967 and based in

Lyons, New York Lyons is a town in Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 5,682 at the 2010 census. It is named after Lyon, France.

. Its president from 1967 to 1998 was Pastor E. Edward Tornow of

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

. From 1967 to 2011 the LC-I was known as the International Lutheran Fellowship. The LC-I has a mixed episcopal/congregational structure, with four

dioceses In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

in North America, including the Northeastern Diocese, the Mid-America Diocese, the Southern Diocese, and the Western Diocese. A Missionary District for Latin and Caribbean ministries is based in Puerto Rico. The LC-I also has ministry outreach in India. The current president of the LC-I is Robert W. Hotes. The Lutheran Church-International describes itself as "Confessional", "Orthodox", "Ecumenical (within the understandings based on the Book of Concord)", and "Evangelical". Confessionally, it adheres to the "Gospel of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

as faithfully witnessed by the Augsburg Confession of 1530, and 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 ...

". As an orthodox Christian body, "the LC-I maintains a traditional, faithful understanding of

Lutheranism 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 ...

within the church catholic". The Lutheran Church - International teaches that its clergy are ordained in lines of apostolic succession. Further, the LC-I has stated that it will "work with faithful Christians globally", and "internally with those church bodies with whom

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

cooperation is possible". Finally, the LC-I sees itself as "a church of the

Great Commission In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. The Great Commission is outlined in Matthew 28:16– 20, where on a mountain ...

", seeking to "make disciples of all nations". The Lutheran World Parish is a unique ministry within the LC-I. A current LC-I brochure states that the Lutheran World Parish consists of "Individuals desiring to affiliate with the LC-I, but who are not near (a)...congregation". Established in 2006, the Order of St. Francis-Lutheran (OSF-L) is another ministry of the Lutheran Church-International. The Order is based in St. Catharines,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and is headed by the Rev. Larry J. Goodnough. Goodnough was commissioned as the OSF-L Superior by Bishop Bougher of the LC-I Northeastern Diocese. The Rev. William Babbitt of Florida serves as U.S. Superior. The OSF-L is a ministry of lay persons and clergy in the spirit of Francis of Assisi, not a religious order.

Synods (from 2011)

2011 – The Mundelein Synod; July 27–30, 2011; University of St. Mary’s of the Lake Conference Center, Mundelein, Illinois 2012 – The Lyons Synod; (Date, July 2012); First Lutheran Church, Lyons, New YorkLC-I News, The Official Publication of the Lutheran Church-International; Volume 2, Number 1, October 2011, p.6., Lutheran Church-International

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.lutheranchurchinternational.org/ Lutheranism in Canada Lutheranism in the United States Lutheranism in North America Lutheran denominations in North America Christian organizations established in 1967