The Apostolic Lutheran Church of America

The web site of the Apostolic Lutheran Church of America provides this information:

“The Apostolic Lutheran Church was organized in the United States in 1872, having its roots with a group of people who came from Finland, Sweden, and Norway in the 1860’s. The Apostolic Lutheran Church of America has 55 churches with about 9,000 members.

“Apostolic Lutheranism, as a whole, has been and still is mostly a lay movement with ministerial training not a pre-requisite for ordination to the ministry. Evidence of a “call by God to preach the Word” is the main criteria for ordination of the clergy and elders. The church buildings in which members worship are very simple in structure and beauty. The worship service consists of a simple liturgy. A typical worship service includes an opening hymn, prayer, a hymn and free will offering, a sermon from the Bible, communion, and a closing hymn and benediction.

“The Apostolic Lutheran Church of America recognizes as true, the Christian Doctrine, based on the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible, the Lutheran Doctrine, and the Book of Concord, and the three ecumenical symbols: the Apostolic, the Nicene, the Athanasian [Creeds, as well as the], and the Augsburg Confessions, (those parts) which are in agreement with the Holy Bible and uphold the Confession of True Faith, and love as the greatest law.

“All ritual and polity of the Church are to be governed according to the immovable truths of the above mentioned Confessions, namely, that the Holy Word of God (both the Old and New Testaments) shall be the sole authority of truth in the light of which all doctrine in this Church shall be examined and determined.

“The principal calling (duty) of this Church shall be the propagation of the true doctrine, which shall manifest itself in the preaching of repentance and the remission (forgiveness) of sins, and by the administration of the sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper customarily practiced by the Apostolic Lutheran Churches. The Apostolic Lutheran Church emphasizes the importance of a personal experience of justification by faith (salvation experience). A more detailed explanation of the doctrine of the ALCA is found in ‘The Principles of the Doctrine of Christ’, also found on the Federation website.”