Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg

The '''Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg''' ({{lang-de|Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Mecklenburgs}}; abbreviated '''ELLM''') is a [[Lutheran]] church in the [[Germany|German]] state of [[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern]], serving the citizens living in [[Mecklenburg]]. The seat of the ''[[Landesbischof]]'' (state bishop) is the state capital [[Schwerin]] with [[Schwerin Cathedral]] as the principal church. It is the most important [[Protestant]] denomination in this area. ==History== The Lutheran church in Mecklenburg dates back to the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] in the duchies of Mecklenburg, starting with single protagonists in 1523. In 1549 [[John Albert I, Duke of Mecklenburg]] gained a majority of deputies of the united [[Landtag]] of the separate duchies of Mecklenburg ([[Mecklenburg-Güstrow]], [[Mecklenburg-Schwerin|-Schwerin]] and [[Mecklenburg-Strelitz|-Strelitz]]) to officially introduce Lutheran confession as state religion in the duchies. Since then the dukes of the branch duchies served as supreme governors of the separate Lutheran churches in the duchies, which later had merged to two duchies, Schwerin and Strelitz. The grand dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz abdicated in 1918 so that the Lutheran [[state church]]es became independent and adapted their new [[Church Order (Lutheran)|church orders]], providing for a function called state bishop. In 1934 the regional churches merged into today's Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg. ==Today== It is a full member of the [[Evangelical Church in Germany]], the [[United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany]] (VELKD), the [[Community of Protestant Churches in Europe]] and the [[Lutheran World Federation]]. The church is based on the teachings brought forward by [[Martin Luther]] and others during the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]]. The Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg is on the way to form with the [[Pomeranian Evangelical Church]] and the [[North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church]] a new church unit, the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany]]. ==State bishops== {{main|List of bishops, prince-bishops, and administrators of Schwerin#Lutheran Regional Bishops of Mecklenburg since 1921|l1=State bishops of Mecklenburg}} ==External links== * http://www.ellm.de Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg * http://www.ekd.de Evangelical Church in Germany {{Lutheran-stub}} {{Hidden Regional Churches of the EKD}} {{coord missing|Mecklenburg-Vorpommern}}