Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference
Encyclopedia
The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC) http://www.celc.info/cgi-bin/home.cgi is the successor to the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America
except that it is international in scope rather than restricted to North America
.
First founded in 1993 with thirteen confessional
Lutheran national churches as members, the Conference has grown to twenty members today. Plenary sessions are held every three years. To date there have been five plenary meetings (1993, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008), with regional meetings held in the intervening years.
The organization rejects the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
.
Word of God and submits to this Word of God as the only infallible
rule and authority in all matters of doctrine, faith, and life." They also accept "the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord
of 1580, not in so far as, but because they are a correct exposition of the pure doctrine of the Word of God."
Members cannot be in fellowship with church bodies whose doctrine or practice deviate from the confessional standard of the CELC.
Member church bodies sorted by country in alphabetical order:
Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America
The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America was a Lutheran joint fellowship organization between the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod , the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod...
except that it is international in scope rather than restricted to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
First founded in 1993 with thirteen confessional
Confessional Lutheran
Confessional Lutheran is a name used by certain Lutheran Christians to designate themselves as those who accept the doctrines taught in the Book of Concord of 1580 in their entirety, because they believe them to be completely faithful to the teachings of the Bible...
Lutheran national churches as members, the Conference has grown to twenty members today. Plenary sessions are held every three years. To date there have been five plenary meetings (1993, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008), with regional meetings held in the intervening years.
The organization rejects the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification is a document created by and agreed to by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Lutheran World Federation in 1999, as a result of extensive ecumenical dialogue...
.
Membership
Member church bodies confess "the canonical books of the Old and New Testament as the verbally inspired and inerrantBiblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy is the doctrinal position that the Bible is accurate and totally free of error, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact." Some equate inerrancy with infallibility; others do not.Conservative Christians generally believe that...
Word of God and submits to this Word of God as the only infallible
Biblical infallibility
Biblical infallibility is the belief that what the Bible says regarding matters of faith and Christian practice is wholly useful and true. It is the "belief that the Bible is completely trustworthy as a guide to salvation and the life of faith and will not fail to accomplish its purpose...
rule and authority in all matters of doctrine, faith, and life." They also accept "the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord
Book of Concord
The Book of Concord or Concordia is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since the 16th century...
of 1580, not in so far as, but because they are a correct exposition of the pure doctrine of the Word of God."
Members cannot be in fellowship with church bodies whose doctrine or practice deviate from the confessional standard of the CELC.
Member church bodies sorted by country in alphabetical order:
- Australia
- Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Australia
- Austria
- Evangelical Lutheran Free ChurchEvangelical Lutheran Free Church (Germany)The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church is a small confessional Lutheran denomination based in Germany and western Austria. It currently consists of 1,470 members in 15 congregations, primarily located in former East Germany...
- Bulgaria
- Bulgarian Lutheran Church
- Cameroon
- The Lutheran Church of Cameroon
- Canada
- WELS-Canada (Part of Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod)
- Czech Republic
- Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church
- Finland
- Evangelical Lutheran Confessional Church
- Germany
- Evangelical Lutheran Free ChurchEvangelical Lutheran Free Church (Germany)The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church is a small confessional Lutheran denomination based in Germany and western Austria. It currently consists of 1,470 members in 15 congregations, primarily located in former East Germany...
- Indonesia
- Geraja Lutheran
- Japan
- Lutheran Evangelical Christian Church
- Latvia
- Confessional Lutheran Church
- Malawi
- Lutheran Church of Central AfricaLutheran Church of Central AfricaThe Lutheran Church of Central Africa or LCCA is a Christian denomination of the Lutheran tradition based in the African countries of Zambia and Malawi...
- Mexico
- Confessional Evangelical Lutheran ChurchConfessional Evangelical Lutheran Church (Mexico)The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church is a member body of the international Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference. As of 2006, it included 6 church buildings, 12 congregations, 3 mission congregations and several preaching stations....
- Nigeria
- Christ the King Lutheran Church
- All Saints Lutheran Church of Nigeria
- Norway
- Lutheran Confessional ChurchLutheran Confessional ChurchLutheran Confessional Church is a Christian Lutheran church, originally organised in 1974, with congregations in Sweden and Norway. It has church fellowship with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod....
- Peru
- Evangelical Lutheran Synod
- Portugal
- Lutheran Church of Portugal (Associate member)
- Puerto Rico
- Evangelical Lutheran Confessional Church
- Russia
- Evangelical Lutheran Church - "Concord"
- South Korea
- East Seoul Canaan Church
- Sweden
- Lutheran Confessional ChurchLutheran Confessional ChurchLutheran Confessional Church is a Christian Lutheran church, originally organised in 1974, with congregations in Sweden and Norway. It has church fellowship with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod....
- Ukraine
- Ukrainian Lutheran ChurchUkrainian Lutheran ChurchThe Ukrainian Lutheran Church or ULC is a Christian denomination of the Lutheran tradition based in the eastern European country of Ukraine...
- United States of America
- Evangelical Lutheran SynodEvangelical Lutheran SynodThe Evangelical Lutheran Synod or ELS is a US-based Protestant Christian denomination based in Mankato, Minnesota, USA. It describes itself as a conservative, Confessional Lutheran body.-Membership:...
- Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran SynodWisconsin Evangelical Lutheran SynodThe Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is a North American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As of 2008, it had a baptized membership of over 389,364 in more than 1,290 congregations,...
- Zambia
- Lutheran Church of Central AfricaLutheran Church of Central AfricaThe Lutheran Church of Central Africa or LCCA is a Christian denomination of the Lutheran tradition based in the African countries of Zambia and Malawi...