13 Churches Will Not Join New Lutheran Group

Thirteen Midwest congregations have left the American Lutheran Church and will apparently not join the new Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, officials of the merging denomination said recently at their Minneapolis headquarters.

District bishops have predicted the loss of 50 to 60 congregations. Most disaffected churches have claimed that the merged denomination is too liberal for them. The new denomination, formed from three Lutheran bodies, begins its formal existence in 1988.

The Rev. Lloyd Svendsbye, an official with the American Lutheran Church’s Church Council, called the low number “marvelous” though he added that the bishops’ estimate may yet prove correct.

Six of the 13 departed congregations are in Illinois. The others are in Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio and North Dakota.

For withdrawal from the denomination, American Lutheran Church constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote by a congregation and a second vote following a 90-day waiting period.

General Secretary Kathryn W. Baerwald of the Church Council said that several other congregations are in the midst of the withdrawal process. But because it is not necessary for churches to report the process until it is complete, she said it is unknown how many churches are about to leave.

Several pastors whose congregations have voted to leave the church have asked to remain on the clergy roster. The denomination’s bishops determined last March that pastors who opposed their congregation’s withdrawal would be granted “extended ministry” status, but probably not to those who encouraged the congregation’s departure.