The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the largest Lutheran body in the United States, formed in 1988 by the merger of three predecessor Lutheran denominations. The ELCA formally subscribes to the Book of Concord, but in practice it ordains women, has permitted partnered gay clergy since 2009, authorizes same-sex marriage, and communes non-Lutherans broadly. AskCredo places the ELCA in the C-tier: a mainline Lutheran body whose confessional subscription is nominal and whose public teaching on sexual ethics and, in its more progressive synods, on biblical authority has departed from historic Lutheran confessional teaching.
Book of Concord (nominally)
episcopal
mixed
North America · Founded 1988
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