Denominational Profile
History
| The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, the newest and the smallest body to enter into the 1988 merger to form the ELCA, was formed in 1976 by ministers and churches that withdrew from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. |
Membership Data
| Year |
Clergy |
Churches |
Members |
| 1977 |
377 |
210 |
95,186 |
| 1978 |
545 |
250 |
106,684 |
| 1979 |
532 |
283 |
113,942 |
| 1980 |
680 |
268 |
107,782 |
| 1981 |
676 |
270 |
109,434 |
| 1982 |
665 |
272 |
110,934 |
| 1986 |
672 |
250 |
103,263 |
Data were taken from the National Council of Churches' Historic Archive CD and recent editions of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. The National Council of Churches' data collection was discontinued after the 2012 Yearbook was published, and has been resumed by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB). The tables and graphs will be updated when the new collection is available. See the Yearbook of Churches. Denomination descriptions provided by Dr. J. Gordon Melton, Director, Institute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR). [More information on data sources]
