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16-827: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada came into being in 1986 through the merger of two predecessor bodies the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada (started in 1966 by Canadian congregations of the American Lutheran Church ) and three synods of the Lutheran Church in America , called the Canada Section. (In 1988 these two U.S. church bodies ceased to exist as they merged into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ,

32-675: A merger among the following independent Lutheran denominations: The merger was largely engineered through the efforts of Franklin Clark Fry , who had served as president of the United Lutheran Church in America since 1944 and president of the Lutheran World Federation since 1957. Fry was known by contemporaries as "Mr. Protestant", a moniker that captured his tireless work on behalf of greater ecumenical unity among Protestant church bodies. The merger

48-576: Is identical to the synod structure of the ELCA, except that the Canadian synods cover one or more entire provinces, whereas some ELCA synods cover the whole or part of a metro area and some cover several states. Like the ELCA a presiding bishop serves as its head, but in the ELCIC, this bishop is known as the "National Bishop". Although episcopal in structure, the church does not have cathedrals as such, though

64-734: The Northern Province of the Moravian Church in North America . Martin Luther University College and Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon are the seminaries owned by the church. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is composed of five geography-based synods (similar to a diocese in Anglican polity ). The presiding officer and chief pastor of each synod is a bishop. This structure

80-648: The ELCC merged with the Lutheran Church in America - Canada Section, to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada . This article relating to Lutheranism is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 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

96-490: The ELCIC constitution, and have challenged the adoption as a violation of the ELCIC's constitution. A challenge was placed before the ELCIC's Court of Adjudication. The Court found that the complainant did not have the status required by the Constitution to press the complaint and declined to hear the complaint. As a result of the 2011 vote and the court's decision, the ELCIC today permits the blessing of same-sex unions and

112-570: The ELCIC's full communion partner, the Anglican Church of Canada, had voted to defer a decision. On June 23, 2007, at its National Convention, the ELCIC voted, by a 200–181 vote margin, against authorizing the Synods to devise individual mission strategies in regard to ministering to people who live in committed same-sex relationships, including the possibility of blessing such unions. The Eastern Synod Council, while affirming its jurisdiction in

128-961: The ELCIC's sister denomination in the United States.) The Church derives its teachings from the Bible and the Book of Concord which includes the three ecumenical creeds of the Christian Church—that is, the Apostles' Creed , the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed . The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is in full communion with the Anglican Church of Canada (under the Waterloo Declaration ) and

144-690: The LCA was clerical and centralized, in contrast to the congregationalist or "low church" strain in American Protestant Christianity. With some notable exceptions, LCA churches tended to be more formalistically liturgical than their counterparts in the American Lutheran Church (ALC). Among the Lutheran churches in America, the LCA was thus the one that was most similar to the established Lutheran churches in Europe. The LCA ordained

160-652: The country's first female Lutheran pastor , Elizabeth Platz , in November 1970. In 1970, a survey of 4,745 Lutheran adults by Strommen et al., found that 75 percent of LCA Lutherans surveyed agreed that women should be ordained, compared with 66 percent of ALC members and 45 percent of Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod members. It subsequently ordained the nation's first female African-American Lutheran pastor (Earlean Miller in 1979), first Latina Lutheran pastor (Lydia Rivera Kalb in 1979), and first female Asian-American Lutheran pastor (Asha George-Guiser in 1982). The LCA

176-522: The largest parish church in a city may well have that de facto function with respect to major worship services involving the whole Lutheran community. In 2006, the Eastern Synod voted to allow individual pastors and congregations to conduct blessing of same-sex unions , prompting a dispute between the synod and the national church over which body has the authority to make such a decision. The national church had previously voted against blessings, and

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192-536: The matter, agreed to hold its decision in abeyance pending a decision by the national church. In July 2011, the National Convention of the ELCIC adopted a new social statement on human sexuality and approved a motion allowing pastors whose conscience permits, in consultation with their congregations, to preside at marriages for same-gender couples. Some have claimed that the adoption of "ELCIC Social Statement on Human Sexuality" openly violates Article 2 of

208-485: The ordination of openly gay or lesbian pastors. Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada ( ELCC ) was a Lutheran Christian denomination active in Canada from 1967 to 1985. Prior to gaining autonomy, its congregations comprised the Canada District of the American Lutheran Church . The first presiding officer of the ELCC was Karl Holfeld. On January 1, 1986,

224-829: Was Fortress Press . The LCA's immigrant heritage came mostly from Germany , Sweden , present-day Czech Republic , present-day Slovakia , Denmark , and Finland , and its demographic focus was on the East Coast (centered on Pennsylvania ), with large numbers in the Midwest and some presence in the Southern Atlantic states . Theologically, the LCA was often considered the most liberal and ecumenical branch in American Lutheranism, although there were tendencies toward conservative pietism in some rural and small-town congregations. In church governance,

240-497: Was a founding member of the Lutheran Council in the United States of America , which began on January 1, 1967. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, many of the independent US Lutheran church bodies moved progressively toward greater unity. In 1960, for example, a number of such bodies joined to form the American Lutheran Church . The Lutheran Church in America was another product of these trends, forming in 1962 out of

256-649: Was made official and celebrated at a convention in Detroit , Michigan , on June 28, 1962. Upon its inception, the LCA became the largest Lutheran church body in the United States. On January 1, 1986, Lutheran Church in America-Canada Section merged with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada . On January 1, 1988, the Lutheran Church in America ceased to exist when its US section, along with

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