The Evangelical Lutheran Synod or ELS is a US-based Protestant Christian denomination based in Mankato, Minnesota. It describes itself as a conservative, confessional Lutheran body. Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government CIA World Factbook Entry for United States House. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... In its simplist form, a Christian is a follower of and a believer in Jesus of Nazareth. ... Note that this kind of denomination is not that of a coin or banknote. ... Mankato is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. ... State nickname: North Star State Other U.S. States Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) Official languages None Area 225,365 km² (12th)  - Land 206,375 km²  - Water 18,990 km² (8. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ...

Membership

There are approximately 21,729 members in 142 established congregations and 12 mission churches. The current Church Body President is The Rev. John Moldstad, who has been serving since 2002. Note that the ELS uses the term synod differently than the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is a separate denomination. 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine or administration. ... The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America or ELCA is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ...

History

The Evangelical Lutheran Synod traces its history back to 1853 when the "Norwegian Synod" was organized in the Midwestern United States. 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church, commonly called the Norwegian Synod, was founded in February 1853 in Iowa. ... The Midwestern United States (or Midwest) is an inland region of the United States of America. ...

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 Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod formed the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America. Full communion is a kind of relationship between two or more organizations of Christians. ... Official cross symbol of the Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. ... Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) is a United States religious denomination belonging to the Lutheran tradition within Christianity. ... The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America was a Lutheran joint fellowship (in this sense, a declaration of unity of belief) organization between the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS). ...

A series of mergers during the early 20th century led to disagreement among members of the Norwegian Synod. A group of people therefore gathered at Lime Creek Lutheran Church near Lake Mills, Iowa, in June of 1918 and reorganized as the Norwegian Synod of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (a.k.a. "Little Norwegian" Synod) The name was later changed to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod in 1957. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Around 1957, the ELS broke "fellowship" with Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod over doctrinal disagreements, though they retained fellowship with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America was a Lutheran joint fellowship (in this sense, a declaration of unity of belief) organization between the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS). ... Official cross symbol of the Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. ... Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) is a United States religious denomination belonging to the Lutheran tradition within Christianity. ...

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 Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC). The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC) is the successor to the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America except that it is international in scope rather than restricted to North America. ...

Education ministries and missions

In 1927 it began operating Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minnesota. In 1946 it established its own theological seminary also at Bethany. It carries on an active home mission program and now has more than 140 congregations in many states. It also has foreign missionaries laboring in Peru and Chile in South America and in Ukraine, Latvia, and Czech Republic in Eastern Europe. Additional plans might include parts of Southeast Asia. 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Bethany Lutheran College Bethany Lutheran College, or BLC, is a private residential liberal arts college founded in 1927. ... Mankato is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange) and other former communist regimes (light orange). ...

Internet links

• ELS website
• ELS’s reason for declining talks with LCMS