# Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference

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Confessional Lutheranism :
Key figuresMissionaries
John Campanius
Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg
Hans Egede
Johann Heinrich Callenberg
Johann Phillip Fabricius
Paul Henkel
John Christian Frederick Heyer
Karl Graul
Martti Rautanen
Wilhelm Sihler
F. C. D. Wyneken
Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder
Lars Olsen Skrefsrud
Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen
Onesimos Nesib
Paul Olaf Bodding
Johann Flierl
Christian Keyser
Jens Christensen
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Kjell Magne Yri
Onesimos Nesib
Aster Ganno
Kristian Osvald Viderø
Jákup Dahl
Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg
Johann Phillip Fabricius
William Tyndale
John Rogers
George Constantine
Jozef Roháček
Johannes Avetaranian
Guðbrandur Þorláksson
Ludvig Olsen Fossum
Hans Egede / Paul Egede
Otto Fabricius
Nils Vibe Stockfleth
Olaus Petri / Laurentius Petri
Martti Rautanen
Primož Trubar
Jurij Dalmatin
Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen
Sebastian Krelj
Mikael Agricola
Norwegian Bible Society
Swedish Bible Society
Samuel Ludwik Zasadius
Stanislovas Rapolionis
Laurentius Andreae
Hans Tausen
Olaf M. Norlie
Jonas Bretkūnas
Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder
Antonio Brucioli
Mikołaj Jakubica
Matthias Bel
Johann Ernst Glück
William F. Beck
Theologians
Martin Luther / Katharina von Bora
Philip Melanchthon
Johannes Bugenhagen
Johannes Brenz
Justus Jonas
Hans Tausen
Laurentius Petri
Olaus Petri
Mikael Agricola
Matthias Flacius
Martin Chemnitz
Johann Gerhard
Abraham Calovius
Johannes Andreas Quenstedt
Johann Wilhelm Baier
Philipp Spener
David Hollaz
August Hermann Francke
Henry Muhlenberg
Lars Levi Laestadius
Charles Porterfield Krauth
C. F. W. Walther
Søren Kierkegaard
Albrecht Ritschl
Wilhelm Herrmann
F. W. Stellhorn
Rudolf Otto
Ernst Troeltsch
Rudolf Bultmann
Paul Tillich
Hermann Sasse
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Wolfhart Pannenberg
Robert Jenson :
vte :
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.
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.

## Membership

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." 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."
Members cannot be in fellowship with church bodies whose doctrine or practice deviate from the confessional standard of the CELC.
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.
| 1993 Theme: Holy Scripture Oberwesel, Germany 1996 Theme: Justification Quebradillas, Puerto Rico 1999 Theme: The Holy Spirit Winter Haven, Florida, USA 2002 Theme: Christology Gothenburg, Sweden 2005 Theme: The Last Things Narita, Japan | 2008 Theme: Evangelism Kyiv, Ukraine 2011 Theme: The Church New Ulm, Minnesota, USA 2014 Theme: Sanctification Lima, Peru 2017 Theme: Reformation- Then and Now Grimma, Germany 2021 The Tenth Triennial Convention Online conference |