Misplaced Pages

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Lutheran Ministerium and Synod – USA" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Part of a series on
Lutheranism in the United States
Heritage of Mainline Protestantism and the Confessing Movement Augsburg Lutheran Churches Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ North American Lutheran Church
Heritage of the Synodical Conference of North America Association of Confessional Lutheran Churches Church of the Lutheran Confession Concordia Lutheran Conference Evangelical Lutheran Synod Independent Lutheran Diocese Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod Lutheran Churches of the Reformation Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference Protes'tant Conference Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Heritage of the LFC or ALC American Association of Lutheran Churches Association of Free Lutheran Congregations Evangelical Lutheran Conference & Ministerium of North America Conservative Lutheran Association Lutheran Ministerium and Synod – USA
Heritage of the Awakening Apostolic Lutheran Church of America Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America Laestadian Lutheran Church Old Apostolic Lutheran Church
High Church Revival Evangelical Catholic Church Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America Lutheran Church - International
v t e

The Lutheran Ministerium and Synod – USA (LMS-USA) is a small Lutheran Christian denomination based in the United States. Its congregations are mostly located in the Upper Midwest, and the church body maintains its official headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Founded in 1995, the LMS-USA is governed by principles known as "free church". It has a congregationalist governance structure with no bishops or district presidents, and the national leadership has "the authority only to advise and recommend" to its member congregations.

The LMS-USA joined the International Lutheran Council (ILC) in 2012, but is no longer listed on the ILC's website as a member as of mid-December 2021.

History

The synod was born when its original member congregations split from the American Association of Lutheran Churches (AALC), a church that itself had broken with the American Lutheran Church (ALC) when that body participated in the 1988 merger that formed the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

After splitting with the American Lutheran Church in 1987, the AALC originally sought to provide a home for former ALC parishioners and other Lutherans that would encompass orthodox, charismatic, and evangelical strains of Lutheranism. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, several ministers of the newly formed AALC became concerned over the increasing dominance of charismatic or Pentecostal strains of liturgy and theology within the church, particularly at the AALC's new seminary.

This handful of pastors submitted resolutions to the AALC's June 1994 convention that would remove references to the church’s three-strand orientation (orthodox, charismatic, and evangelical), and that would remove from consideration a candidate for a seminary professorship that the pastors found objectionable. After their resolutions failed, three AALC congregations left that body and formed the LMS-USA at an April 1995 conference in Indianapolis. They left in order to uphold the inerrancy of Scripture and to not compromise their stance against the charismatic movement.

Beliefs

The LMS-USA accepts the inerrancy of scripture and the Lutheran Confessions as found in the Book of Concord. Congregations have broad latitude in determining the standards for admission to Holy Communion. The LMS-USA describes itself as "moderate or middle-conservative" socially and theologically. According to church documents, the LMS-USA seeks to "fill the gap" in American Lutheranism between the more liberal ELCA and what it calls "the conservative to ultra-conservative" approach of the other Lutheran church bodies in the United States.

Pastoral training

In fall 1999, the LMS-USA established St. Timothy Lutheran Seminary for the training of clergy in the denomination. The institution is primarily a "seminary without walls," registered in the State of Wisconsin. Students typically study at one of a number of non-LMS Lutheran or other seminaries, while receiving supervision from the LMS-USA seminary board and faculty and meeting regularly with a mentoring LMS-USA pastor. The LMS-USA also works with graduates of other seminaries, prospective pastors who wish to attend an accredited institution, or second- or third-career individuals considering the ministry in order to map out any additional training which may be required in doctrine or ministerial practice.

Notes

1. Block, Mathew. "Lutheran Ministerium and Synod - USA Archives". International Lutheran Council. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
2. Comparison of archive screen shots of the ILC's home page taken on December 1 and December 14 of 2021: ("International Lutheran Council - Members dropdown list". International Lutheran Council. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021.) and ("International Lutheran Council - Members dropdown list". International Lutheran Council. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021.).
3. A Brief Study of the Lutheran Churches in America Archived 2010-11-21 at the Wayback Machine
4. LMS-USA website, "Answers to Some Commonly Asked Questions," accessed Jul. 6, 2009.

External links

• Official website

• International Lutheran Council members
• Lutheran denominations in North America
• Christian organizations established in 1995
• Religion in Indianapolis