Lutheran

From Missiopedia

1 History
2 Lutheran Bodies

[edit] History

The Lutheran Churches emerged from the Protestant Reformation, begun in Germany in 1517. Martin Luther’s teaching against some Roman Catholic practices gave birth to the Protestant Reformation movement. Luther broke with the Catholic Church over the issue of how mankind attains salvation. According to Luther, the undeserved death of Jesus Christ absolved mankind from the penalty of its disobedience to God and rendered mankind righteous. Luther preached that humanity no longer needed to live in fear of God’s punishment. This pivotal teaching affected all aspects of faith and practices to from Lutheranism.

Lutherans rejected the notion that the Roman Catholic Church was the only channel of God’s message. They also rejected the power of pope over all peoples and held that all Christians were equal before God as they share the priesthood of Christ. In Lutheran Churches priests have no special status, except by virtue of being called to exercise specific ministries based on ability and training.

While the Catholic Church maintains seven sacraments, Lutheran Churches recognize only two--baptism and communion--and consider confirmation, marriage, ordination and burial as rites. As for Lutherans, were as the sacraments were specifically instituted by Jesus Christ during his ministry, rites are traditions, some of which need not be performed by a Church.

Lutheranism came to North America with the colonists and immigrants from Europe. English gradually became the language for most American Lutherans. In the 20th century several Lutheran Churches found they had more in common than those which separate them. While ethnic heritages have not been forgotten, there have been a number of mergers. The Evangelical Church of America was formed in 1987 as a result of the merger of the Lutheran Church in America, the American Lutheran Church and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.

An international co-operative body, the Lutheran World Federation, was established in 1947. It is a free association of Lutheran Church bodies. Its purpose is to co-ordinate the activities of these Churches.

The basic unit of administration in Lutheran practice is the congregation. It normally is administered by a council headed by the senior pastor or a layman elected from the council. The Council consists of elected representatives of the congregation and the clergy.

[edit] Lutheran Bodies

This is a list of Lutheran Denominations grouped by affiliation with international Lutheran bodies. The denominations' relative size is not evident from this list. The list may not be comprehensive, but intends to be an accessible overview of the diversity and global scope of modern Lutheranism.