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Legal
Counsel > Organization of the ELCA
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On January 1, 1988, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA")1 became the surviving
corporation in a corporate merger involving three Lutheran church
bodies (The American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in
America, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches). The ELCA
consists of three expressions. (See
Constitution, Bylaws, and
Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
("CBCR"), 8.10. et. seq.) One expression is the "churchwide
organization."2 (CBCR 8.14., 11.10. et. seq.) A second
expression is the 65 area organizations known as synods, each of
which is separately incorporated. (CBCR 10.01. et. seq.) The third
expression is the approximately 11,000 congregations, most of which
are also separately incorporated.3 (CBCR 9.11. et. seq.) The
relationships between the three expressions are primarily
ecclesiastical rather than legal. (CBCR 8.17.) The ecclesiastical
relationships are defined by the CBCR and the corresponding required
provisions of the synod and congregation constitutions. (CBCR 8.10.,
9.10. - 9.90., 10.01.-10.80., 11.10. -11.40.; Constitution for
Synods ("S")4; and Model Constitution for Congregations
("C").)5 The constitutions of most congregations, all
synods and the churchwide organization also serve as the corporate
bylaws for each organization.6
Legally, the churchwide
organization, each congregation and each synod are separate and
distinct from every other expression of this church. This
distinction is important. The legal
status of congregations, synods and the churchwide organization
allow them to function in the secular world by among other things
entering into contracts and owning and disposing of property. In
contrast, the ecclesiastical relationships defined by the governing
documents of the different expressions of the church are religious
and therefore protected by the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution from interference by the secular world and, in
particular, civil courts. (CBCR 8.17.)
For a more detailed discussion of the
organization of the ELCA see the Constitutions, Bylaws, and
Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church America,
the Constitution for Synods and the Model Constitution for
Congregations, The ELCA Yearbook, and One Great Cloud of Witnesses by the Rev. Lowell G.
Almen. All can be ordered from Augsburg Fortress.
1 To avoid confusion, "ELCA"
will be used when referring to all three expressions of this church
collectively and "churchwide organization" will be used
when referring to the corporate entity.
2 The "Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America" is the legal name of the Minnesota nonprofit
corporation, that is the churchwide organization. (CBCR 1.01.)
3 Congregations are to incorporate
whenever possible. Currently, only Virginia and West Virginia
prohibit incorporation of churches.
4 Required provisions in the
Constitution for Synods are coded with a "†".
5 Required provisions in the Model
Constitution for Congregations are coded with an "*".
6 In the ELCA, the corporate bylaws of
the churchwide organization, synods and congregations are referred
to as the constitution of a particular organization. This can be
somewhat confusing since each organization can also adopt bylaws.
The term bylaws, as used in the governing documents of the various
expressions of this church, does not refer to corporate bylaws.
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