Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference

Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference
TypeAssociation
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationLutheran
ScriptureBible
PresidentThomas P. Nass
Origin1993
Official websitewww.celc.info Edit this at Wikidata

The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC) is an international fellowship of 34 Confessional Lutheran church bodies.

The CELC was founded in 1993 in Oberwesel, Germany with an initial thirteen church bodies. Plenary sessions are held every three years. To date there have been ten plenary meetings (1993, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2021), with regional meetings held in the intervening years.[1]

The CELC rejects the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification signed between the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church.

History

After the decline and dissolution of the Synodical Conference in the 1950s and 1960s, there was renewed interest for fellowship with other Lutheran church bodies. The Rev. Edgar Hoenecke called for a worldwide fellowship of Lutheran church bodies in the late 1960s.

Over the years, many people advocated for an international Lutheran organization and did much to help bring it about. However, three people are noted as having some of the biggest influence in helping to bring about a new international Lutheran organization: Pres. Gerhard Wilde of the Evangelisch-Lutherische Freikirche (ELFK), Pres. George Orvick of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS), and Prof. Wilbert Gawrisch of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).

On April 27–29, 1993, the CELC was formed in Oberwesel, Germany with Lutheran church bodies from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.

Today, the CELC consists of thirty-four Lutheran church bodies worldwide.[2]

Membership

  • Dark Green - countries with a full member of the CELC
  • Bright Green - countries with an associate member of the CELC
  • Light Green - countries with an observer member of the CELC

Member church bodies confess "the canonical books of the Old and New Testament as the verbally inspired and inerrant Word of God and submit to this Word of God as the only infallible rule and authority in all matters of doctrine, faith, and life."[3] They also accept "the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord of 1580, not in so far as, but because they are a correct exposition of the pure doctrine of the Word of God."[4]

Members cannot be in fellowship with church bodies whose doctrine or practice deviate from the confessional standard of the CELC.[5]

Member church bodies sorted by country/region in alphabetical order:

  • Albania
Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church of Albania
  • Australia
Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Australia
  • Bulgaria
Bulgarian Lutheran Church
  • Cameroon
Lutheran Church of Cameroon
  • Canada
WELS-Canada (Part of Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod)
  • Chile
Christian Church of the Lutheran Reformation of Chile
  • Czech Republic
Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • East Asia
East Asia Lutheran Synod
  • Ethiopia
Lutheran Church of Ethiopia
  • Finland
The Lutheran Confessional Church of Finland
St. Johannes Evangelical Lutheran Congregation
  • Germany
Evangelical Lutheran Free Church
  • Hong Kong
South Asian Lutheran Evangelical Mission
  • India
Christ Evangelical Lutheran Ministries of India
Lutheran Mission of Salvation—India
  • Indonesia
Lutheran Church of Indonesia (Gereja Lutheran Indonesia)
  • Japan
Lutheran Evangelical Christian Church
  • Kenya
Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ—Kenya
  • Latvia
Confessional Lutheran Church in Latvia
  • Malawi
Lutheran Church of Central Africa
  • Mexico
Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • Nigeria
Christ the King Lutheran Church
All Saints Lutheran Church of Nigeria
  • Norway
Lutheran Confessional Church
  • Peru
Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Peru
  • Portugal
Lutheran Church of Portugal
  • Puerto Rico
Evangelical Lutheran Confessional Church
  • Russia
Evangelical Lutheran Church - "Concord"
  • South Korea
Seoul Lutheran Church
  • Sweden
Lutheran Confessional Church
  • Taiwan
Christ Lutheran Evangelical Church—Taiwan
  • Ukraine
Ukrainian Lutheran Church
  • United States of America
Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
  • Zambia
Lutheran Church of Central Africa

Conventions

The CELC holds a triennial convention in various countries around the world. The CELC conducts official business at these conventions. Representatives from all CELC member synods attend these conventions. The conventions center around a main doctrinal theme and include worship and Scripture-based essays.[6]

  • 1993
Theme: Holy Scripture
Oberwesel, Germany[7]
  • 1996
Theme: Justification
Quebradillas, Puerto Rico[8]
  • 1999
Theme: The Holy Spirit
Winter Haven, Florida, USA[9]
  • 2002
Theme: Christology
Gothenburg, Sweden[10]
  • 2005
Theme: The Last Things
Narita, Japan[11]
  • 2008
Theme: Evangelism
Kyiv, Ukraine[12]
  • 2011
Theme: The Church
New Ulm, Minnesota, USA[13]
  • 2014
Theme: Sanctification
Lima, Peru[14]
  • 2017
Theme: Reformation- Then and Now
Grimma, Germany[15]
  • 2021
The Tenth Triennial Convention
Online conference[16]

References

  1. ^ "Convention Proceedings".
  2. ^ "Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference— A World-Wide Confession". Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  3. ^ Constitution of the CELC Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, Art. 2, Sect. 1
  4. ^ Constitution of the CELC Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, Art. 2, Sect. 2
  5. ^ Constitution of the CELC Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, Art. 4, Sect. 1
  6. ^ "Convention Proceedings". Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  7. ^ "The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  8. ^ "PROCEEDINGS of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  9. ^ "PROCEEDINGS of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  10. ^ "PROCEEDINGS of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  11. ^ "PROCEEDINGS of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Proceedings of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  13. ^ "PROCEEDINGS of the CONFESSIONAL EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CONFERENCE" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  14. ^ "PROCEEDINGS of the CONFESSIONAL EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CONFERENCE" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  15. ^ "PROCEEDINGS" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  16. ^ "2021 Convention Proceedings". Retrieved 5 November 2021.