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The '''Evangelical Lutheran Church in America''' or '''ELCA''' is the largest Lutheran body in the United States, with 3.6 million full members in 2005, in 10,549 churches with 17,665 clergy. The 7900 Sunday Schools have an enrollment of 640,000. The bishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, Rev. Mark S. Hanson was reelected in 2007 for another six-year term as ELCA presiding bishop.
The '''Evangelical Lutheran Church in America''' or '''ELCA''' is the largest Lutheran body in the United States, with 3.6 million full members in 2005, in 10,549 churches with 17,665 clergy. The 7900 Sunday Schools have an enrollment of 640,000. The ELCA membership is nationwide but is concentrated in rural areas of Pennsylvania and the Midwest. Metropolitan areas have 42% of the churches; small and medium cities have 20%, and small towns have 37%.
The ELCA was created in 1987 after a very complex set of mergers that brought together most of the nation's Lutherans. They came primarily from German and Scandinavian immigrant stock. Two conservative bodies, The [[Lutheran Church Missouri Synod]] and the [[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] did not join.
The bishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, Rev. Mark S. Hanson was reelected in 2007 for another six-year term as ELCA presiding bishop. The ELCA was created in 1988 after a very complex set of mergers that brought together most of the nation's Lutherans. The ELCA encompasses a very broad range of opinions and practices regarding theology, piety, and worship styles, as well as political and social views. Many members are conservative Republicans; 95% are white. ELCA is a member of the National Council of Churches and has a lobbying office in Washington called the Lutheran Office
of Governmental Affairs.
==History==
Beginning in the 1890s, Lutheran denominations in America reorganized in every generation. As a result, by the 1960s, three large bodies encompassed nearly all Lutherans:
*the liberal, more urban Lutheran Church in America
*the pietist, more rural American Lutheran Church;
*the orthodox [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]]
The first two denominations, along with the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (a spinoof from the Missouri Synod) merged in 1988 to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Members came primarily from German and Scandinavian immigrant stock. Two conservative bodies, The [[Lutheran Church Missouri Synod]] and the [[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] did not join. The term "Evangelical" in the name stems from old Lutheran traditions and does not mean the church is associated with the modern Evangelical or Fundamentalist movements.
==Clergy==
The ELCA clergy are well educated, reflecting the Lutheran
tradition's emphasis on biblical and theological studies. All clergy must have a graduate degree, usually a master of divinity
(M.Div.) or its equivalent. Two thirds have attended a Lutheran seminary, most commonly Luther Seminary. About 30% have completed postgraduate work for a D.Min., Th.D., or Ph.D., sometimes at secular universities. The average pastor is 51 years old and has been a minister for twenty years. <ref> Hofrenning et al (2004)</ref>
==Controversies==
Though aware that some same-sex couples receive blessings from pastors and that some openly gay or lesbian pastors are ordained, delegates to the biennial assembly of the ELCA in 2005 declined to authorize either practice, even on a provisional basis. The vote to allow gay and lesbian pastors fell far short of the two-thirds majority required for a policy change--490 yes votes to 503 no votes.<ref> John Dart, "ELCA Says No to Gay Pastors, Blessings." [http://www.questia.com/read/5011048993?title=ELCA%20Says%20No%20to%20Gay%20Pastors%2c%20Blessings ''The Christian Century'' September 6, 2005 online]</ref> In 2007 the Churchwide Assembly voted not to overturn the denomination's rules that bar the ordination of noncelibate homosexual clergy.
Though aware that some same-sex couples receive blessings from pastors and that some openly gay or lesbian pastors are ordained, delegates to the biennial assembly of the ELCA in 2005 declined to authorize either practice, even on a provisional basis. The vote to allow gay and lesbian pastors fell far short of the two-thirds majority required for a policy change--490 yes votes to 503 no votes.<ref> John Dart, "ELCA Says No to Gay Pastors, Blessings." [http://www.questia.com/read/5011048993?title=ELCA%20Says%20No%20to%20Gay%20Pastors%2c%20Blessings ''The Christian Century'' September 6, 2005 online]</ref> In 2007 the Churchwide Assembly voted not to overturn the denomination's rules that bar the ordination of noncelibate homosexual clergy.