Throughout The World
Today, millions belong to Lutheran churches, which are present on all populated continents. The Lutheran World Federation estimates the total number of Lutherans, which includes non-LWF member churches, at approximately 75 million. In recent years, Lutheranism saw a slight increase in its fellowship, which continues to the present. Lutheran churches in the North America, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean regions are experiencing decreases and no growth in membership, while those in Africa and Asia continue to grow. Lutheranism is the largest religious group in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Namibia, and the Dakotas. Lutheranism is also the dominant form of Christianity in the White Mountain and San Carlos Apache nations. In addition, Lutheranism is a main Protestant denomination in Germany (where Protestants form about 30% of the country's total population), Lithuania, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Papua New Guinea, North Sumatra Indonesia, and Tanzania.
Although Namibia is the only country outside Europe to have a Lutheran majority, there are sizable Lutheran bodies in other African countries. In the following African countries, the total number of Lutherans exceeds 100,000: Nigeria, Central African Republic, Chad, Kenya, Malawi, Congo, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar. In addition, the following nations also have sizable Lutheran populations: the Netherlands (within the Protestant Church of the Netherlands), Canada, the United Kingdom, France, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Brazil, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and the United States, especially in the heavily German and Scandinavian Upper Midwest.
Lutheranism is also a state religion in Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. Finland has its Lutheran church established as a national church. Similarly, Sweden also has its national church, which was a state church until year 2000. Still Church of Sweden is not entirely free, its status as "Evangelical Lutheran" still is defined by civil law. But since 2000 they appoint their own bishops etc.
Read more about this topic: Lutheran Theology
Famous quotes containing the words the world and/or world:
““Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. Bribery and corruption are common. Children no longer obey their parents. . . . The end of the world is evidently approaching.” Sound familiar? It is, in fact, the lament of a scribe in one of the earliest inscriptions to be unearthed in Mesopotamia, where Western civilization was born.”
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