Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches - Merger

Merger

The AELC did play an important role in efforts toward Lutheran unity in the United States. In particular, the AELC's leaders, Seminex president John Tietjen among them, served as the catalyst for merger talks between two other Lutheran church bodies: the American Lutheran Church (with approximately 2.25 million members), and the Lutheran Church in America (with approximately 2.85 million members). These two churches, both also more moderate than the Missouri Synod, agreed along with the AELC in 1982 to unite as one church. The three bodies officially completed their merger on January 1, 1988, thereby creating the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ELCA today is the largest and most liberal Lutheran church body in the United States.