Most Lutheran churches accept conventional Protestant theology. They are distinguished by a belief that the Bible is the inspired word of God, the priesthood of all believers, a belief in the efficacy of infant baptism, a sung liturgy, and an emphasis on faith in God as the basis of Christian experience.
Because of the prophecy of Jan Hus, (whose name means 'goose'), a swan is the traditional symbol of many Lutheran congregations. In Europe, Luther's Rose is preferred. According to tradition, as Hus was being burned, he said "Today you burn a goose, but in a hundred years will come a swan whose voice you will not be able to still." By tradition, a hundred years later to the day Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the Wittenberg church door.
Music is a large part of a traditional Lutheran service. Martin Luther is said to have said, "Why should the devil have all the good tunes?" Lutheran hymns are often known as chorales, and Luther himself composed hymns and hymn tunes, including "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" ("Ein Feste Burg"). Many Lutheran churches have active music ministries, including choirs, hand-bell choirs, children's choirs and sometimes carillon societies (to ring bells in a bell tower). J. S. Bach composed music for the Lutheran church.
Some Lutheran churches limit communion, the ritual sharing of bread and wine, to church members. In Europe, Lutheran Churches are involved in the Concorde de Leuenberg (1962) which allows communion to a wide range or Protestant churches, including Reformed and Anglican churches.
Children's ministries are considered fundamental in most Lutheran churches. Almost all maintain Sunday Schools, and many host or maintain private nursery-schools, primary schools, regional high schools and universities. Lutheran pastors and staff are repeatedly reminded that most evangelism occurs within the church, with children.
Most Lutheran churches maintain active social groups for young adults and singles. This is to help young Lutherans marry within their faith. Most Lutheran churches actively teach young persons not to marry out of the Christian faith. The belief is based on direct obedience to 2 Cor. 6:14, "Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers..."
Lutheran churches usually maintain an active set of charitable organizations focused directly on their community, as well as regional and international groups. In the U.S., these even include insurance companies.
Pastors usually teach in the common language of the parish. In the U.S., some congregations and synods traditionally taught in German or Norwegian, but this custom is now declining.
Pastors almost always have substantial theological educations, including Greek and Hebrew so that they can refer directly to the canonical Christian scriptures in the original language. Pastors are traditionally encouraged to marry.
The primary governance of a Lutheran church is usually a board of elders. Eldership has relatively few privileges, and many responsibilities. Elders are selected for piety, good reputation, demonstrated willingness to contribute to the church, and administrative ability. In the U.S., many churches are nonprofit corporations, with the elders acting as the board of directors.
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Lutheranism in the United States
In the U.S., congregations are grouped into over 20 different denominations. The three largest Lutheran bodies in the United States are, in order of size, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the more conservative Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), and the even more conservative Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). These denominations provide seminaries, pastoral care, and Sunday-school and liturgical materials. Local congregations pay money to support them and get services. Denominations help start new churches belong to them.
ELCA is divided into 64 geographical and 1 non-geographical synods. LCMS and WELS each constitute a single synod for the entire denomination. ECLA has "Full Communion" agreements with the Episcopal Church of USA named Called to Common Mission, the Moravian Church, and the Reformed Churches in the United States.
U.S. denominations differ on doctrine and practice. Doctrinally the denominations differ primarily based on their acceptance of the theory of "higher criticism." LCMS and WELS mistrust this set of critical literature, which explicitly denies the miraculous provenance of many events described in the Bible. In contrast, many members of the ELCA believe that higher criticism represents the best efforts of modern scholarship. The most divisive issue of practice is the ordination of women, which has caused individuals and whole parishes to move from one to another synod affiliation. Another dividing point is whether atheists may be permitted to teach in seminaries and perform pastoral care.
Modern Lutheranism in Europe
Lutheranism is the state religion of many countries in Northern Europe, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. In these countries, the churches are supported directly by taxes.
With the extension of the European Union, those state churches are mainly revised. They remain State Church but win a greater autonomy.
Notably, the European churches have very low attending memberships at the offices; due to the history of those European churches, most part of them knew persecution during the 17th and 18th centuries, the church attendance on Sunday is not decisive and houses offices are still perennial, particularly in southern Europe. Most people feel it is more important to attend to the lot of conference and training and Biblical studies. So, in northern Europe many persons seem to attend religious services only for baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and funerals. Confirmation is treated seriously usually delayed to the end of the high school courses. The Lutheran confirmation training usually constitutes the largest exposure of Northern Europeans to Christian doctrines.
Except in Northern Europe (see above), very few seminaries are state-supported. Due to large agreements like the Concorde de Leuenberg (1962), involving many churches raising from the Reformation the training for students in theology embraces a wide range of theologies including modern and contemporary movements in biblical criticism and theology.
Many major seaports contain an outpost of the Norwegian Lutheran church to provide aid, social opportunities and pastoral care for visiting Norwegian seamen. Few Norwegian Lutheran pastors achieve their pastoral care in foreign countries such as France.
The primary confessional document of the Lutheran faith is The Augsburg Confession (1530).
See also
External Links