Denominational Profile

History

Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches
Lutheran Church in America
American Lutheran Church (1960-1987)

merged intoEvangelical Lutheran Church in America (1988)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1988) continues several varied streams of Lutheran church life introduced to America during the Colonial era. The ELCA was formally constituted in 1988 as a merger of the Lutheran Church in America, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and the American Lutheran Church.

Membership Data

Year	Clergy	Churches	Members
1987	17,052	11,133	5,288,230
1988	16,083	11,120	5,251,534
1989	17,246	11,067	5,238,798
1990	17,402	11,087	5,240,739
1991	17,426	11,074	5,245,177
1992	17,416	11,055	5,234,568
1993	17,455	11,023	5,212,785
1994	17,322	10,973	5,199,048
1995	17,425	10,955	5,190,489
1996	17,402	10,936	5,180,910
1997	17,510	10,889	5,185,055
1998	17,589	10,862	5,178,225
1999	17,611	10,851	5,149,668
2000	17,651	10,816	5,125,919
2001	17,693	10,766	5,099,877
2002	17,706	10,721	5,038,006
2003	17,666	10,657	4,984,925
2004	17,725	10,585	4,930,429
2005	17,665	10,549	4,850,776
2006	17,655	10,470	4,774,203
2007	17,619	10,448	4,709,956
2008	17,660	10,396	4,633,887
2009	17,609	10,348	4,542,868

Data were taken from the National Council of Churches' Historic Archive CD and recent editions of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. Denomination descriptions provided by Dr. J. Gordon Melton, Director, Institute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR). [More information on data sources]