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 faithfuln ...

denomination based in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. 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 States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. 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 he ...

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

Protestant Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (, EKD), also known as the Protestant Church in Germany, is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed, and United Protestant regional Churches in Germany, collectively encompassing the vast majority of the count ...

and can be classified as a

free church A free church is any Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church neither defines government policy, nor accept church theology or policy definitions from the government. A f ...

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 often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

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 Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

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 (, abbreviated SELK) is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) (of which the Lutheran Church � ...

. 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 Christian theology, theologically conservative, it was founded ...

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 recognized as authoritative by many Lutheran church bodies since the 16th century. It consists of ten creeda ...

, 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 the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...

, 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