Lutherans believe that the body and blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with, and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants eat and drink the body and blood of Christ himself as well as the bread and wine in this sacrament. The Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is more accurately and formally known as the "sacramental union". It has been called "consubstantiation" by non-Lutherans. This term is specifically rejected by Lutheran churches and theologians since it creates confusion about the actual doctrine and subjects the doctrine to the control of a non-biblical philosophical concept in the same manner as, in their view, does the term "transubstantiation".
Lutheran
Eucharist
Eucharist | Lutheran
They believe that the body and blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with, and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants eat and drink the body and blood of Christ himself as well as the bread and wine in this sacrament. Lutherans believe that the body and blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with, and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine, so that communicants eat and drink the body and blood of Christ himself as well as the bread and wine in this sacrament They believe that the body and blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with, and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine. Lutherans believe that the body and blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with, and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements).
how late can i buy beer in oregon
user
2:30 a.m
assistant
how does people consume it?
user
In 2007, Oregon's 2.6 million adults on average drank 32 gallons of beer each, versus 4 gallons of wine and 2 gallons of spirits.
assistant
what are some other drinks that they consume?
user
Beer, wine, liquor, whiskey, vodka, tequila, Jack Daniel etc
assistant
what is the second one mentioned?
user
It  is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grape juice.
assistant
what is the historical account behind it?
user
The earliest known traces of wine are from ancient China ( BC), Georgia ( BC), Iran (Persia) ( BC), and Sicily ( BC).
assistant
what are some different types?
user
Red wine, White wine, Rose wine, Fruit wine, Mead (honey wine) etc
assistant
what is the first one like?
user
Its production process involves extraction of color and flavor components from the grape skin.
assistant
where is it produced?
user
They grow almost exclusively between 30 and 50 degrees latitude north and south of the equator.
assistant
how does europe classify this drink in general?
user
France has various appellation systems based on the concept of "terroir", with classifications ranging from "Vin de Table" ("table wine") at the bottom, through "Vin de Pays" and "Appellation d'Origine Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure" (AOVDQS), up to "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée", Portugal and Germany created a similar system while Spain, Greece and Italy are based on a dual system.
assistant
what are its culinary usage?
user
Sweet dessert wines, stocks, braising, wine sauce etc
assistant
how is it related to christian religion?
user
It is used in a sacred rite called the Eucharist.
assistant
what is this aforesaid rite?
user
It is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others.
assistant
what is its biblical base?
user
The Last Supper appears in all three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
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what is its catholic usage?
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The Catholic Church requires its members to receive the sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation before taking Communion if they are aware of having committed a mortal sin and to prepare by fasting, prayer, and other works of piety.
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how is it among the lutherans?
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Most Lutheran churches are active musically with choirs, handbell choirs, children's choirs, and occasionally change ringing groups that ring bells in a bell tower. Johann Sebastian Bach, a devout Lutheran, composed music for the Lutheran church. Lutherans also preserve a liturgical approach to the celebration of the Mass (or the Holy Eucharist/Communion), emphasizing the sacrament as the central act of Christian worship. Lutherans believe that the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ are present in, with and under the bread and the wine. This belief is called Real Presence or sacramental union and is different from consubstantiation and transubstantiation.
Lutheranism | Liturgy
Lutherans hold that within the Eucharist, also referred to as the Sacrament of the Altar, the Mass, or the Lord's Supper, the true body and blood of Christ are truly present "in, with, and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine for all those who eat and drink it, a doctrine that the "Formula of Concord" calls the sacramental union.
Lutheranism | Eucharist
Lutherans are a major branch of Protestantism, identifying with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer, and theologian. Lutheranism initially began as an attempt to reform the Catholic Church before the excommunication of its members. Today with most Protestants, Lutherans are divided among mainline and evangelical theological lines. The whole of Lutheranism had about 70-90 million members in 2018. The largest non-United Lutheran denomination was the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, a Eastern Protestant Christian group.
List of Christian denominations | Lutheran
Lutherans believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms" of consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants eat and drink both the elements and the true Body and Blood of Christ himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist whether they are believers or unbelievers. The Lutheran doctrine of the real presence is also known as the sacramental union. This theology was first formally and publicly confessed in the Wittenberg Concord. It has also been called "consubstantiation" but most Lutheran theologians reject the use of this term as it creates confusion with an earlier doctrine of the same name.
Eucharistic theology | Lutheran Churches
The Eucharist in the Lutheran Church (also called the Mass, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Table, Holy Communion, the Breaking of the Bread, and the Blessed Sacrament) refers to the liturgical commemoration of the Last Supper. Lutherans believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, affirming the doctrine of sacramental union, "in which the body and blood of Christ are truly and substantially ("vere et substantialiter") present, offered, and received "with" the bread and wine."
Eucharist in Lutheranism | Introduction
The Lutheran belief in the holy mystery character of the consecrated bread and wine is more similar to that of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief than to the views of most Protestants. In contrast, most Protestant church bodies doubt or openly deny that the true body and blood of Christ is eaten in the Lord's Supper.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America | Sacraments
The manner of receiving the Eucharist differs throughout the world. In most American Lutheran churches, an older Latin Rite custom is maintained, where a cushioned area and altar rails sit at the front of the altar where the congregation can come to kneel down and receive the sacrament. Traditionally, only those within the holy office of the ministry distributed both of the communion elements, but it is now the prevailing practice that the Pastor distributes the host and an assistant then distributes the wine. The congregation departs and may make the sign of the cross. In other Lutheran churches, the process is much like the Post-Vatican II revised rite of the Roman Catholic Church.
Eucharist in Lutheranism | Manner of reception
Lutherans believe that the body and blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with, and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants eat and drink the body and blood of Christ himself as well as the bread and wine in this sacrament. The Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is more accurately and formally known as the "sacramental union". It has been called "consubstantiation" by non-Lutherans. This term is specifically rejected by Lutheran churches and theologians since it creates confusion about the actual doctrine and subjects the doctrine to the control of a non-biblical philosophical concept in the same manner as, in their view, does the term "transubstantiation".
Eucharist | Lutheran
According to formerly Roman Catholic Friedrich Heiler, the Lutheran Church is the proper "via media" between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism because of its emphasis upon doctrine and because it has preserved the Catholic doctrine of the Sacrament and its liturgical traditions in purer form than the Anglican Church in the Book of Common Prayer.
High church Lutheranism | Theology and spirituality
The Orthodox use various terms such as transelementation, but no explanation is official as they prefer to leave it a mystery. Lutherans and Reformed Christians believe Christ to be present and may both use the term "sacramental union" to describe this. However, Lutherans believe that the whole Christ, including his body and blood, are truly present in the supper, whereas the Reformed generally describe a "spiritual presence," as Jesus' body (and thereby his blood) are present in heaven and cannot be present on Earth as well. Lutherans specify that Christ is "in, with and under" the forms of bread and wine.
Eucharist | Eucharistic theology
Some Lutherans do believe in consubstantiation. Lutherans use the term "in, with and under the forms of consecrated bread and wine" and "sacramental union" to distinguish their understanding of the Eucharist from those of the Reformed and other traditions. At some American Lutheran churches (LCMS and WELS for example), closed communion is practiced (meaning the Lutheran Eucharistic catechetical instruction is required for all people before receiving the Eucharist). This is also practiced in many European Lutheran churches as well. Other American Lutheran churches, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, practice open communion (meaning the Eucharist is offered to adults without receiving the catechetical instruction, as long as they are a baptized Christian).
Eucharistic theology | Lutheran Churches
Unlike in Anglican Church, use of "fiddleback" chasubles are not seen as an adherence to Roman Catholic practice, because they were traditionally used in Lutheran churches in Germany until the Enlightenment and in Nordic countries until the Liturgical movement. Today they are more rare and are not necessarily favoured by clergy in Nordic countries because of the associations with the former era of liturgical decline.
High church Lutheranism | Liturgical practices
Lutheranism identifies with the theology of Martin Luther—a German monk and priest, ecclesiastical reformer, and theologian. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification "by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone", the doctrine that scripture is the final authority on all matters of faith, rejecting the assertion made by Catholic leaders at the Council of Trent that authority comes from both Scriptures and Tradition. In addition, Lutherans accept the teachings of the first four ecumenical councils of the undivided Christian Church. Unlike the Reformed tradition, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper.
Protestantism | Lutheranism
In the Lutheran tradition, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is believed to be really present in the sacrament of the Eucharist (see Sacramental union). Lutherans are taught to prepare to receive this sacrament through prayerful reflection upon their sinful nature, their need for a Savior, the promise that their sins are forgiven for the sake of Jesus' death on the Cross, and that the Eucharist gives this forgiveness to them. "Fasting and bodily preparation are indeed a fine outward training," Martin Luther said, "but he is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words, 'given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Eucharistic discipline | Lutheran practice
Many Lutherans hold beliefs that would be characterized as being of the Evangelical Catholic churchmanship of Lutheranism, but prefer to be called simply as "Lutherans" as they view the catholic nature of Lutheranism to be inherent in Lutheranism and prefer to stress the unity within Lutheranism as a whole.
Evangelical Catholic | Evangelical Catholicism in the Lutheran Churches
The consecrated elements are treated with reverence; and, in some Lutheran churches, are reserved as in Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican practice. The external Eucharistic adoration is usually not practiced by most Lutherans except for bowing, genuflecting, and kneeling to receive the Eucharist from the Words of Institution and elevation to reception of the holy meal. The "reliquæ" traditionally are consumed by the celebrant after the people have communed, except that a small amount may be reserved for delivery to those too ill or infirm to attend the service. In this case, the consecrated elements are to be delivered quickly, preserving the connection between the communion of the ill person and that of the congregation gathered in public Divine Service.
Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist | Lutheran: Sacramental union
There are a plethora of religious orders within the Lutheran Churches, such as the Order of Lutheran Franciscans and Daughters of Mary. Nearly all are located in Europe. The Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, an order of Lutheran nuns, operates a guesthouse for Holocaust survivors in Jerusalem.
Nun | Lutheranism
Lutherans believe in the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, that the body and blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms." of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants orally eat and drink the holy body and blood of Christ Himself as well as the bread and wine (cf. Augsburg Confession, Article 10) in this Sacrament. The Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is more accurately and formally known as "the Sacramental Union." It has been inaccurately called "consubstantiation", a term which is specifically rejected by most Lutheran churches and theologians.
Religion and drugs | Christianity
The Eucharist is based on the events of , , , and . Lutherans believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms" of consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants eat and drink both the elements and the true Body and Blood of Christ himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist whether they are believers or unbelievers. The Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is also known as the sacramental union. This theology was first formally and publicly confessed in the Wittenberg Concord (1536). It has been called "consubstantiation," but Lutheran theologians reject the use of this term "since Lutherans do not believe either in that local conjunction of two bodies, nor in any commingling of bread and of Christ's body, of wine and of his blood." Lutherans use the term "in, with, and under the forms of consecrated bread and wine" and "sacramental union" to distinguish their understanding of the Eucharist from those of the Reformed and other traditions.
Eucharist in Lutheranism | Beliefs
The Sacrament of the Eucharist (also called the Sacrament of the Altar, the Mass, the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Table, (Holy) Communion, the Breaking of the Bread, and the Blessed Sacrament) is where communicants eat and drink the true Body and Blood of Christ Himself, "in, with and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine. This Eucharistic theology is known as the Sacramental Union. (It has been called "consubstantiation", but most Lutheran theologians reject the use of this term, as it creates confusion with an earlier doctrine of the same name.)
Lutheran sacraments | "Eucharist"
The Lutheran Church has a variety of practices, depending on denominational polity. Some branches of Lutheranism, such as the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, do not practice open communion; they exclude non-members and require catechetical instructions for all people, even members from other Lutheran churches, before receiving the Eucharist. This generally stems from an understanding that sharing communion is a sign of Christian unity; where that unity is not present, neither should Eucharistic sharing be present. Some Lutheran church bodies use the term "altar and pulpit fellowship" to refer to their specific practices. Other parts of the Lutheran Church, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and many members of the Lutheran World Federation, practice open communion and welcome all Baptized Christians, regardless of their denominational affiliation, training, or specific beliefs, to the table.
Open communion | Position of the Lutheran Church
In Estonia and Latvia, 20% and 19%, respectively, identify as Lutherans. And in Lithuania, 14% say they are “just a Christian” and do not specify a particular denomination. They are included in the “other” category. (**) Identified as "don't know/refused" from the "other/idk/ref" column are excluded from this statistic. (***) Figures may not add to subtotals due to rounding.
Demographics of atheism | Europe
The following statistics are for the Lutheran World Federation, which includes most of the Lutheran denominations in the world. The membership of the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference are concentrated in the United States, with approximately 2.4 million and 400,000 members, respectively.
Lutheranism by region | Statistics
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and its congregations practice open communion—meaning that Holy Communion is offered to all those who are baptized. Congregations in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS), and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) practice closed communion ("close" is used by some in place of "closed"), meaning that Lutheran catechetical instruction is required for all people before receiving the Eucharist, though some congregations in these synods simply either ask that one speak to the pastor before the service to confirm their common faith or acknowledge this on their attendance card. For Lutherans in general, confession and absolution are considered proper preparation for receiving the sacrament.
Eucharist in Lutheranism | Practices in American Lutheran churches
The name Lutheran originated as a derogatory term used against Luther by German Scholastic theologian Dr. Johann Maier von Eck during the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other Roman Catholics followed the traditional practice of naming a heresy after its leader, thus labeling all who identified with the theology of Martin Luther as Lutherans. Martin Luther always disliked the term "Lutheran", preferring the term "Evangelical", which was derived from "euangelion", a Greek word meaning "good news", i.e. "Gospel". The followers of John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked to the Reformed tradition also used that term. To distinguish the two evangelical groups, others began to refer to the two groups as "Evangelical Lutheran" and "Evangelical Reformed".
Lutheranism | Etymology
In the Lutheran view, the sacraments belong to the entirety of the Church, rather than to an institutional hierarchy. As such in rare cases, lay celebrations of the Eucharist are authorized when no priest is available:
Reserved sacrament | Lutheran Churches
Lutheranism is present on all inhabited continents with an estimated 80 million adherents, out of which 74.2 million are affiliated with the Lutheran World Federation. A major movement that first began the Reformation, it constitutes one of the largest Protestant branches claiming around 80 million out of 920 million Protestants. The Lutheran World Federation brings together the vast majority of Lutherans. Apart from it, there are also other organisations such as the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as multiple independent Lutheran denominations. Today, almost half of Lutherans are living in Europe. Germany accounts for one-third of European Lutherans and one-eighth of the world's Lutheran population.
Lutheranism by region | Introduction
Lutherans use the terms "in, with and under the forms of consecrated bread and wine" and "Sacramental Union" to distinguish their understanding of the Eucharist from those of the Reformed and other traditions.
Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist | Lutheran: Sacramental union
Historically, Lutherans understand the Bible to present all doctrines and commands of the Christian faith clearly. In addition, Lutherans believe that God's Word is freely accessible to every reader or hearer of ordinary intelligence, without requiring any special education. A Lutheran must understand the language that scriptures are presented in, and should not be so preoccupied by error so as to prevent understanding. As a result of this, Lutherans do not believe there is a need to wait for any clergy, pope, scholar, or ecumenical council to explain the real meaning of any part of the Bible.
Lutheranism | Clarity
The wine is commonly administered via a chalice, but many congregations use individual cups. These may be either prefilled or filled from the chalice during the distribution of the Eucharist. Some ELCA congregations make grape juice available for children and those who are abstaining from alcohol and some will accommodate those with an allergy to wheat or grapes.
Eucharist in Lutheranism | Manner of reception
The majority of parishioners belonging to administratively united Protestant church bodies in Germany are also members of parishes which are confessionally Lutheran, however, their membership registries do not differentiate between Lutherans and parishioners of Reformed or united Protestant confession.
Lutheranism by region | Germany
In the "use" of the sacrament, according to the words of Jesus Christ and by the power of his speaking of them once for all, the consecrated bread is united with his body and the consecrated wine with his blood for all communicants, whether believing or unbelieving, to eat and drink. This is the position of the Lutheran Church that echoes the next view with its "pious silence about technicalities" in that it objects to philosophical terms like "consubstantiation."
Eucharistic theology | Sacramental union
The service was held in three languages: Estonian, German and Spanish. It was expected that the Spanish language was a factor of unity among the churches.
Estonian Argentines | Lutheran Church
Most of the remaining European Lutherans are confined to the Nordic countries and the Netherlands. United States accounts for one-eighth of the world's Lutheran population, but only around 4 million of them are members in the Lutheran World Federation. It has most Lutherans in North America. Ethiopia and Tanzania have the largest Lutheran populations in Africa, while Indonesia and India—in Asia. Papua New Guinea has most Lutherans in Oceania, and Brazil—in South America.
Lutheranism by region | Introduction
Lutheranism is also the dominant form of Christianity in the White Mountain and San Carlos Apache nations. In addition, Lutheranism is a main Protestant denomination in Germany (behind United Protestant (Lutheran & Reformed) churches; EKD Protestants form about 24.9% of the country's total population), Estonia, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Papua New Guinea, and Tanzania. Although some convents and monasteries voluntarily closed during the Reformation, and many of the remaining damenstift were shuttered by communist authorities following World War II, the are still open. Nearly all are located in Europe. Although Namibia is the only country outside Europe to have a Lutheran majority, there are sizable Lutheran bodies in other African countries.
Lutheranism | Throughout the world
This order is still maintained in some lutheran liturgies, such as that of the noticeably high church Church of Sweden. After the death of Martin Luther, further controversies developed including Crypto-Calvinism and the second Sacramentarian controversy, started by Gnesio-Lutheran Joachim Westphal. The Philippist understanding of the Real Presence without overt adoration through time became dominant in Lutheranism, although it is not in accordance with Luther's teaching. The German theologian Andreas Musculus can be regarded as one of the warmest defenders of Eucharistic adoration in early Lutheranism.
Eucharistic adoration | Lutherans
Lutherans believe in the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, that the body and blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants orally eat and drink the holy body and blood of Christ Himself as well as the bread and wine (cf. Augsburg Confession, Article 10) in this Sacrament. The Lutheran doctrine of the real presence is more accurately and formally known as "the Sacramental Union." It has been inaccurately called "consubstantiation", a term which is specifically rejected by most Lutheran churches and theologians since it creates confusion about the actual doctrine, and it subjects the doctrine to the control of an abiblical philosophical concept in the same manner as, in their view, does the term "transubstantiation." For Lutherans, there is no Sacrament unless the elements are used according to Christ's institution (consecration, distribution, and reception).
Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist | Lutheran: Sacramental union
Thus, a Lutheran moving from a parish belonging to a Lutheran regional church body would be accepted by the locally competent congregation within another regional Protestant church body, even if this church body and its local parish are Reformed or of united Protestant confession. This is a concept rather unusual in most other countries. Members of congregations within the regional Protestant church bodies – like those of parishes within Catholic dioceses and those enrolled in Jewish congregations –, are required to pay a church tax, a surcharge on their normal income tax collected by the states of Germany and passed on to the respective religious body.
Lutheranism by region | Germany
Lutherans hold that within the Eucharist, also referred to as the Lord's Supper, the true body and blood of Christ are truly present "in, with, and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine for all those who eat and drink it. Lutheranism teaches that as Christians receive his body and blood, they also receive the forgiveness of sin (Matthew 26:28) and the comfort and assurance that they are truly his own. Unbelievers also receive Jesus Christ's body and blood, "but to their judgment" (1 Corinthians 11:29).
Means of grace | Lords Supper
This was first articulated in the Wittenberg Concord of 1536 in the formula: "Nihil habet rationem sacramenti extra usum a Christo institutum" ("Nothing has the character of a sacrament apart from the use instituted by Christ"). Some Lutherans use this formula as their rationale for opposing in the church the reservation of the consecrated elements, private Masses, the practice of Corpus Christi, and the belief that the "reliquæ" (what remains of the consecrated elements after all have communed in the worship service) are still sacramentally united to the Body and Blood of Christ. This interpretation is not universal among Lutherans.
Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist | Lutheran: Sacramental union
Lutheranism is associated with the theology of Martin Luther, with its official confessional writings found in the Book of Concord. The ELCA accepts the unaltered Augsburg Confession (not the variata) as a true witness to the Gospel. The ELCA is less conservative than the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) or the more conservative Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), the second and third largest Lutheran bodies in the United States, respectively. Although having a sizable conservative minority, most ELCA Lutherans are theologically moderate-to-liberal. Most other Lutheran bodies in the U.S. hold more strictly to Confessional Lutheranism, Pietism, or a combination of the two, than does the ELCA.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America | Lutheranism
Lutherans believe Jesus is the Christ, the savior promised in the Old Testament. They believe he is both by nature God and by nature man in one person, as they confess in Luther's "" that he is "true God begotten of the Father from eternity and also true man born of the Virgin Mary". The "Augsburg Confession" explains: [T]he Son of God, did assume the human nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, so that there are two natures, the divine and the human, inseparably enjoined in one Person, one Christ, true God and true man, who was born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, that He might reconcile the Father unto us, and be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men.
Lutheranism | Two natures of Christ
Altars in Lutheran churches are often similar to those in Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. Lutherans believe that the altar represents Christ and should only be used to consecrate and distribute the Eucharist. Lutheran altars are commonly made out of granite, but other materials are also used. A crucifix is to be put above the altar. Sometimes relics are also placed around the altar.
Altar | Lutheran churches
High church Lutheranism is a movement that began in 20th-century Europe and emphasizes worship practices and doctrines that are similar to those found within both Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy and the Anglo-Catholic wing of Anglicanism. In the more general usage of the term, it describes the general high church characteristics of Lutheranism in the Nordic countries such as Sweden, Finland, and the Baltics. The mentioned countries, once a part of the Swedish Empire, have more markedly preserved Catholic traditions.
High church Lutheranism | Introduction
The general priesthood or the priesthood of all believers, is a Christian doctrine derived from several passages of the New Testament. It is a foundational concept of Protestantism. It is this doctrine that Martin Luther adduces in his 1520 "To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation" in order to dismiss the medieval Christian belief that Christians were to be divided into two classes: "spiritual" and "temporal" or non-spiritual. The conservative reforms of Lutherans are reflected in the theological and practical view of the ministry of the Church. Much of European Lutheranism follows the traditional Catholic governance of deacon, priest and bishop.
Priest | Lutheranism
As such, many Lutherans receive the sacrament of penance before partaking of the Eucharist.
Eucharistic discipline | Lutheran practice
For Lutherans the Eucharist is not considered to be a valid sacrament unless the elements are used according to Christ's mandate and institution (consecration, distribution, and reception). This was first formulated in the Wittenberg Concord of 1536 in the formula: "Nihil habet rationem sacramenti extra usum a Christo institutum" ("Nothing has the character of a sacrament apart from the use instituted by Christ"). To remove any scruple of doubt or superstition, the "reliquiæ" traditionally are either consumed, poured into the earth, or reserved (see below). In most Lutheran congregations, the administration of private communion of the sick and "shut-in" (those too feeble to attend services) involves a completely separate service of the Eucharist for which the sacramental elements are consecrated by the celebrant.
Eucharist in Lutheranism | Use of the sacrament
Owing to liberalism in Lutheran churches, some well known Lutheran theologians, such as Richard John Neuhaus and Reinhard Hütter, have become Roman Catholic while others, such as Jaroslav Pelikan, have joined the Eastern Orthodox Church.
High church Lutheranism | Academic theology
(*) 13% of respondents in Hungary identify as Presbyterian. In Estonia and Latvia, 20% and 19%, respectively, identify as Lutherans. And in Lithuania, 14% say they are "just a Christian" and do not specify a particular denomination. They are included in the "other" category. (**) Identified as "don't know/refused" from the "other/idk/ref" column are excluded from this statistic. (***) Figures may not add to subtotals due to rounding. (**) Identified with answers "don't know/refused" are not shown.
Religion in Europe | Pew Research Poll
Lutherans are . Lutherans reject the idea that the Father and are merely faces of the same person, stating that both the Old Testament and the New Testament show them to be two distinct persons. Lutherans believe the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. In the words of the Athanasian Creed: "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal."
Lutheranism | Trinity
Communion is often accompanied by music. Most Lutheran hymnals have a section of communion hymns or hymns appropriate for the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Some of these hymns, such as "I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table", "Thy Table I Approach", and "Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele" (an English language translation of which is "Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness"), follow a Eucharist theme throughout, whilst others such as "Wide Open Stand the Gates" are sung in preparation or during distribution of the sanctified elements. Chorale preludes on their themes are traditionally played during communion ("sub communione").
Eucharist in Lutheranism | Music
The aim of the Evangelical Catholics is to recover the liturgical and confessional heritage of Lutheranism in continuity with the broad tradition that includes Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and the Eastern Orthodox. The Movement stresses certain elements of the Church: Dogma, sacraments, hierarchy and ordained ministry, liturgy and continuity of the Church, all of which are traditional Lutheran theology, but were thought to have been neglected because of Pietism and the Age of Enlightenment. There is also emphasis on Catholic concept of priesthood and apostolic succession, ecumenism and Mariology. The Catholic concept of priesthood and continuity of the Church sets the movement apart from mainline Lutheranism and the ecumenical openness for some extent distincts the movement from Confessional Lutheranism.
High church Lutheranism | Theology and spirituality
Lutheran viewpoints concerning homosexuality are diverse because there is no one worldwide body which represents all Lutherans. The Lutheran World Federation, a worldwide 'communion of churches' and the largest global body of Lutherans, contains member churches on both sides of the issue. However, other Lutherans, including the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference and International Lutheran Council (another worldwide bodies of Lutherans), completely reject homosexuality.
Homosexuality and Lutheranism | Introduction
The Augustana Catholic Church considered Lutherans to be Catholics in a temporary involuntary schism imposed on it by the Roman Catholic Church when Martin Luther's attempt to start a renewal movement within Roman Catholicism slipped out of his control. The ACC taught that Lutheranism in general is a form of non-Roman Catholicism, and considered the other Lutheran churches to be "Protestant" only to the extent that they have accepted insights from the Calvinist and Zwinglian phases of the Reformation. The Augustana Catholic Church accepted the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, and Martin Luther's Small Catechism, but only insofar as they are in full agreement with Roman Catholic faith and order, doctrines, and traditions.
Augustana Catholic Church | Doctrine
Martin Luther reasoned that because divinity involves omnipresence, the body of Christ can be present in the Eucharist because of its participation in the divine nature. In current Lutheran teachings, the Body of Christ is used in a somewhat similar form to the Catholic teachings, but the Lutherans reject the Catholic teaching of transubstantiation, instead teaching the doctrine of the sacramental union. For the Lutheran, the Body of Christ is the formal title of the sacramental bread in the Eucharist, as seen in the Lutheran Divine Service.
Body of Christ | Lutheranism
Lutherans explicitly reject transubstantiation believing that the bread and wine remain fully bread and fully wine while also being truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Lutheran churches instead emphasize the sacramental union (not exactly the consubstantiation, as is often claimed) and believe that within the Eucharistic celebration the body and blood of Jesus Christ are objectively present "in, with, and under the forms" of bread and wine (cf. Book of Concord). They place great stress on Jesus's instructions to "take and eat", and "take and drink", holding that this is the proper, divinely ordained use of the sacrament, and, while giving it due reverence, scrupulously avoid any actions that might indicate or lead to superstition or unworthy fear of the sacrament.
Transubstantiation | Lutheranism
The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (German: "Evangelisch-Lutherische Freikirche", abbreviated ELFK) is a confessional Lutheran denomination based in Germany and Austria. It currently consists of 1,470 members in 15 congregations, primarily located in former East Germany. It also maintains a seminary for the training of pastors in the city of Leipzig. The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church is a member of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, a worldwide organization of Lutheran church bodies of the same beliefs. It is independent of the Evangelical Church in Germany and can be classified as a free church as it is an independent denomination.
Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (Germany) | Introduction
Formal liturgy based on the western Catholic Mass with varying degrees of chanting, the use of organ music, crucifixes, silver chalices, hosts and the use of vestments for Holy Communion has always been characteristic of Lutheran worship. The use of hosts has been an important way to express belief in Real presence. The return of the weekly Mass, sign of the cross, eucharistic prayer and regular use of vestments in all churches are results of the liturgical movement, but things like altar servers, Gospel processions, incense, aspersions, a complete eucharistic prayer (i.e. including the epiclesis rather than merely Christ's Words of Institution) are regarded as "high church".
High church Lutheranism | Liturgical practices
Lutheranism is also prominent in the Netherlands, Estonia and Latvia. There are smaller Lutheran denominations in other parts of Europe. Examples include the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England (ELCE) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church—Synod of France and Belgium (ELC-SFB), both of which are International Lutheran Council (ILC) members. The Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine, Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary, the Lutheran Church in Ireland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy, the Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession in Poland, the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia, the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States, and the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Czech Republic are, among others, members of the Lutheran World Federation.
Lutheranism by region | Other parts of Europe
The practice and the view of these as "minor sacraments" varies between churches of a "high" and "low" church nature. With respect to the eucharist or the Lord's Supper, the ELCA holds to the Lutheran doctrine of the sacramental union, that is, that Christ's body and blood is truly present "in, with and under" the bread and wine. All communicants orally receive not only bread and wine, but also the same body and blood of Christ that was given for them on the cross. Members of other denominations sometimes refer to this as a belief in consubstantiation. Lutherans, however, reject the philosophical explanation of consubstantiation, preferring to consider the presence of the Lord's body and blood as mysterious rather than explainable by human philosophy.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America | Sacraments
Modern mobility and increased secularisation have, however, been instrumental in shifting the traditional demographic situation, as did the movements of several million German refugees from either areas lost to Poland and the Soviet Union, or from abroad, after World War II. Since World War II, the Lutheran, Reformed and United Protestant regional churches have been members of the umbrella Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). Approximately 40% of German Protestants are members of regional church bodies forming the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), a unit of the EKD comprising all Lutheran regional church bodies in Germany, except of Oldenburg and Württemberg, however, which are only associated.
Lutheranism by region | Germany
This allows for the post-Soviet repatriation of Lutheran church buildings to local congregations on the basis of this historical connection.
Lutheranism | Eastern Europe and Asian Russia
Additionally Lutherans reject the idea that communion is a mere symbol or memorial. They confess in the "Apology of the Augsburg Confession": [W]e do not abolish the Mass but religiously keep and defend it. Among us the Mass is celebrated every Lord's Day and on other , when the Sacrament is made available to those who wish to partake of it, after they have been examined and absolved. We also keep traditional liturgical forms, such as the order of readings, prayers, vestments, and other similar things.Besides the Holy Communion (Divine Service), congregations also hold offices, which are worship services without communion.
Lutheranism | Liturgy
Lutherans place great emphasis on a liturgical approach to worship services; although there are substantial non-liturgical minorities, for example, the Haugean Lutherans from Norway. Martin Luther was a great fan of music, and this is why it forms a large part of Lutheran services; in particular, Luther admired the composers Josquin des Prez and Ludwig Senfl and wanted singing in the church to move away from the "ars perfecta" (Catholic Sacred Music of the late Renaissance) and towards singing as a "Gemeinschaft" (community). Lutheran hymns are sometimes known as chorales. Lutheran hymnody is well known for its doctrinal, didactic, and musical richness.
Lutheranism | Liturgy
Many Lutherans receive the sacrament of penance before receiving the Eucharist. Prior to going to Confessing and receiving Absolution, the faithful are expected to examine their lives in light of the . An is contained in the Small Catechism, as well as in liturgical books. Lutherans typically kneel at the communion rails to confess their sins, while the confessor listens and then offers absolution while laying their stole on the penitent's head. Clergy are prohibited from revealing anything said during private Confession and Absolution per the Seal of the Confessional, and face excommunication if it is violated. Apart from this, Laestadian Lutherans have a practice of lay confession.
Lutheranism | Confession
The Lutheran Church teaches two key parts in repentance (contrition and faith). In mainstream Lutheranism, the faithful often receive the sacrament of penance from a Lutheran priest before receiving the Eucharist. Prior to going to Confessing and receiving Absolution, the faithful are expected to examine their lives in light of the Ten Commandments. The order of Confession and Absolution is contained in the Small Catechism, as well as other liturgical books of the Lutheran Churches. Lutherans typically kneel at the communion rails to confess their sins, while the confessor—a Lutheran priest—listens and then offers absolution while laying their stole on the penitent's head.
Penance | Lutheranism
Lutheran Eucharistic adoration is most commonly limited in duration to the Eucharistic service because Lutheran tradition typically does not include public reservation of the Sacrament. If the holy elements are not consumed at the altar or after the service, then they can be set aside and placed in an aumbry, which is normally located in the sacristy. Primarily, the extra hosts are reserved for another Eucharist or for taking to the sick and those too feeble to attend a church service. However, in North America and Europe, some Lutherans may choose to reserve the Eucharist in a tabernacle near the altar.
Eucharistic adoration | Lutherans
However, the historic practice among Lutherans of preparation by private confession and absolution is rarely found in American Lutheran congregations. For this reason, often a brief order or corporate rite of confession and absolution is included at the beginning of Lutheran liturgies. A growing number of congregations in the ELCA, offer instruction to baptized children generally between the ages of 6–8 and, after a relatively short period of catechetical instruction, the children are admitted to partake of the Eucharist. Most other ELCA congregations offer First Communion instruction to children in the 5th or 6th grade. In other Lutheran churches, the person must have received confirmation before receiving the Eucharist.
Eucharist in Lutheranism | Practices in American Lutheran churches
Lutheran denominations are Protestant church bodies that identify, to a greater or lesser extent, with the theology of Martin Luther and with the writings contained in the Book of Concord. Most Lutheran denominations are affiliated with one or more regional, national, or international associations, the largest of which—the Lutheran World Federation—has over 74 million members worldwide. There are also two smaller and more conservative international associations—the International Lutheran Council, with 7.15 million members, and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, with approximately 500,000 members. Finally, the Global Confessional and Missional Lutheran Forum (Global Forum) is a global gathering of Confessional Lutheran bodies who wish to emphasize missional discipleship as the focal point of ministry in the world.
List of Lutheran denominations | Introduction
Also genuflection, together with the elevation of the host and chalice, is often regarded among more Protestant-minded Lutherans as Roman Catholic practices, although Martin Luther himself held these practices and they were part of early Lutheranism. In Lutheran churches the use of altar bells during the elevation (to draw the attention of the congregation during the Words of Institution) was occasionally practiced until the 18th century. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during the moment of Elevation is also a Lutheran practice. However, except in special occasions of Swedish High Church societies and among the most high-church of the North American Lutheran Churches like the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is seldom practised, even in high church circles.
High church Lutheranism | Liturgical practices
Today, millions belong to Lutheran churches, which are present on all populated continents. The Lutheran World Federation estimates the total membership of its churches over 74 million. This figure miscounts Lutherans worldwide as not all Lutheran churches belong to this organization, and many members of merged LWF church bodies do not self-identify as Lutheran or attend congregations that self-identify as Lutheran. Lutheran churches in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean regions are experiencing decreases and no growth in membership, while those in Africa and Asia continue to grow. Lutheranism is the largest religious group in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Namibia, and North Dakota and South Dakota in the United States.
Lutheranism | Throughout the world
Records for Lutheran Churches (as well as some Baptist and Moravian Brethren), many of them dating back to the late 18th century, can be found in Warsaw Archives and were microfilmed by the LDS Family History Library. Known available Lutheran records are listed on the website of the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe. In some places few if any records exist, primarily because of their destruction in World War II. Where Lutheran Churches did not exist, or in times prior to their existence, the Germans would have been obligated to register at a Roman Catholic church.
Vistula Germans | Genealogy
Many ELCA congregations use informal styles of worship or a blend of traditional and contemporary liturgical forms. Springing from its revered heritage in the Lutheran chorale, the musical life of ELCA congregations is just as diverse as its worship. Johann Sebastian Bach, the most famous Lutheran composer and African songs are part of the heritage and breadth of Evangelical Lutheran church music. The musical portion of the Lutheran liturgy includes metrical psalter, metrical responses and hymns. "Evangelical Lutheran Worship" has ten settings of Holy Communion, for example. They range from plainsong chant, to Gospel, to Latin-style music. Congregations worship in many languages, many of which are represented in "Evangelical Lutheran Worship".
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America | Worship
In Germany, several dynamics encouraged Lutherans to maintain a different form of polity. First, due to de facto practice during the Nuremberg Religious Peace the subsequent legal principal of Cuius regio, eius religio in the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, German states were officially either Catholic or "Evangelical" (that is, Lutheran under the "Augsburg Confession"). In some areas both Catholic and Lutheran churches were permitted to co-exist. Because German speaking Catholic areas were nearby Catholic leaning Christians were able to emigrate and there was less of an issue with Catholics choosing to live as crypto-papists in Lutheran areas. Although Reformed leaning Christians were not allowed to have churches, Melancthon wrote "Augsburg Confession Variata" which some used to claim legal protection as "Evangelical" churches.
Lutheranism | Germany
In most Lutheran churches, a person must have had catechetical training prior to a First Communion (or have received Confirmation in the Lutheran Church) to receive the Eucharist. Recently, more liberal churches allow all who are baptized to receive it. Similar to the Anglican teaching,
Blessed Sacrament | Lutheranism
Evangelical Lutheranism arose out of the Protestant Reformation, heralding the doctrine of justification by faith, which teaches that humans are accounted as being righteous through the merits of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. This gift of faith is received in baptism, which regenerates the soul, according to Lutheran theology. In total, Lutherans affirm three sacraments: baptism, eucharist, as well as confession and absolution. With respect to worship, the predominant rite used by the Lutheran Churches is a Western one based on the "Formula missae" ("Form of the Mass") although other Lutheran liturgies are also in use, such as those used in the Byzantine Rite Lutheran Churches, such as the Ukrainian Lutheran Church and Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia.
Protestant theologies | Lutheran theology
However, they failed to reach a consensus among themselves on how much agreement in doctrine is necessary for church union. Eventually, the fascist German Christians movement forced the final national merger of Lutherans and Reformed into a single Reich Church, now the Evangelical Church in Germany, in 1933.
History of Lutheranism | Results
Other associations are Bund für evangelisch-katholische Einheit (League for Evangelical-Catholic Unity), including St. Jakobus- Bruderschaft), Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kirchliche Erneuerung in der Evang.-Luth. Kirche in Bayern (Working Group for Church Revival in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria), Humiliatenorden, St. Athanasius-Bruderschaft, Hochkirchlicher Apostolat St. Ansgar, Bekenntnisbruderschaft St. Peter und Paul, Kommunität St. Michael in Cottbus, Congregatio Canonicorum Sancti Augustini, and some religious communities like Priory of St. Wigbert.
High church Lutheranism | Germany
In fact, the ELCA has specific communion sharing agreements with a number of other Christian denominations, encouraging the sharing of the sacrament across belief system boundaries. The understanding that lies behind this practice is that Communion is both a foretaste of eschatological Christian unity as well as an effective means of fostering that unity. The Evangelical Church in Germany, which is a federation of Lutheran and Reformed churches, has an open communion.
Open communion | Position of the Lutheran Church
In 1542 most of the inhabitants became Lutherans. Today, 28.5% of the inhabitants identify themselves as Roman Catholics (Hildesheim Diocese) and 38.3% as Protestants (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover). 33.0% of the inhabitants are adherents of other religions or do not have a religion at all. The Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Frankfurt and all of Germany has his seat in Himmelsthür (a locality of Hildesheim).
Hildesheim | Religions
Frederick, who was officially Lutheran but had strong Reformed leanings, wanted to even out the religious situation of his highly Lutheran territory within the primarily Catholic Holy Roman Empire. The Council of Trent had just concluded with its conclusions and decrees against the Protestant faiths, and the Peace of Augsburg had only granted toleration for Lutheranism within the empire where the ruler was Lutheran. One of the aims of the catechism was to counteract the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as well as Anabaptists and "strict" Gnesio-Lutherans like Tilemann Heshusius and Matthias Flacius, who were resisting Frederick's Reformed influences, particularly on the matter of Eucharist (the Lord's Supper).
Heidelberg | Modern history
Lutheranism accepts monergism, which states that salvation is by God's act alone, and rejects the teaching that humans in their fallen state have a free will concerning spiritual matters. Lutherans believe that although humans have free will concerning civil righteousness, they cannot work spiritual righteousness without the Holy Spirit, since righteousness in the heart cannot be wrought in the absence of the Holy Spirit. Lutherans believe that the elect are predestined to salvation. According to Lutheranism, Christians should be assured that they are among the predestined. Lutherans believe that all who trust in Jesus alone can be certain of their salvation, for it is in Christ's work and his promises in which their certainty lies.
Assurance (theology) | Lutheranism
Reformed and Lutheran Christians are divided on the "communicatio idiomatum". In Reformed doctrine, the divine nature and the human nature are united strictly in the person of Christ. According to his humanity, Jesus Christ remains in heaven as the bodily high priest, even while in his divine nature he is omnipresent. This coincides with the Calvinistic view of the Lord's Supper, the belief that Christ is truly present at the meal, though not substantially and particularly joined to the elements (pneumatic presence). Lutherans, on the other hand, describe a union in which the divine and the human natures share their predicates more fully.
Communicatio idiomatum | Lutheran–Reformed debate
Most people are still atheists, as in the time of official Socialism, but there is also a Lutheran tradition and most people are linked to this religion, as well as a strong Catholic minority. Upper Lusatia is typically a religious mixed region.
Wehrsdorf | Religion
Lutheran polity varies depending on influences. Although of the "Augsburg Confession" mandates that one must be "properly called" to preach or administer the Sacraments, some Lutherans have a broad view of on what constitutes this and thus allow lay preaching or students still studying to be pastors someday to consecrate the Lord's Supper. Despite considerable diversity, Lutheran polity trends in a geographically predictable manner in Europe, with episcopal governance to the north and east but blended and consistorial-presbyterian type synodical governance in Germany.
Lutheranism | Polity
The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered. In Lutheranism, the term "Evangelical Catholic" or "Augsburg Catholic" has a specific meaning. Lutheran Protestantism differs historically from most other kinds of Protestantism in that Lutheranism is the only historical Protestant denomination that confesses belief in three sacraments: regeneration in Holy Baptism, Confession as the sacrament of Absolution, and the Real Presence of Christ in Holy Eucharist. In Anglicanism and Methodism, two other Protestant traditions, there has also been a sacramentalism similar to that in orthodox Lutheranism, especially in the high church movement.
Evangelical Catholic | The Augsburg Confession as a Catholic document
Many chose to live as crypto-Calvinists either with or without the protection offered by the "Variata", but this did not make their influence go away, and as a result the Protestant church in Germany as of 2017 was only about ~40% Lutheran, with most of the rest being United Protestant, a combination of Lutheran and Reformed beliefs and practices. In terms of polity, over 17th and 18th centuries the carefully negotiated and highly prescriptive church orders of the Reformation era gave way to a joint cooperation between state control and a Reformed-style blend of consistorial and presbyterian type synodical governance.
Lutheranism | Germany
Martin Luther was a great enthusiast for music, and this is why it forms a large part of Lutheran services; in particular, Luther admired the composers Josquin des Prez and Ludwig Senfl and wanted singing in the church to move away from the "ars perfecta" (Catholic Sacred Music of the late Renaissance) and towards singing as a "Gemeinschaft" (community). Lutheran hymns are sometimes known as chorales. Lutheran hymnody is well known for its doctrinal, didactic, and musical richness. Most Lutheran churches are active musically with choirs, handbell choirs, children's choirs, and occasionally change ringing groups that ring bells in a bell tower.
Lutheran hymn | Introduction
The Lutheran archbishops of Finland, Sweden, etc. and Baltic countries are the historic national primates and some ancient cathedrals and parishes in the Lutheran church were constructed many centuries before the Reformation. Indeed, ecumenical work within the Anglican Communion and among Scandinavian Lutherans mutually recognize the historic apostolic legitimacy and full communion. Likewise in America, Lutherans have embraced the apostolic succession of bishops in the full communion with Episcopalians and most Lutheran ordinations are performed by a bishop. In some Lutheran churches, ordained clergy are called priests as in Sweden and Finland, while in others the term pastor is preferred.
Priest | Lutheranism
Reservation of the blessed sacrament is permitted in the Lutheran Churches, although not for the purposes of Eucharistic adoration. In Lutheran parishes that practice sacramental reservation, a chancel lamp is kept near the tabernacle or aumbry. The Evangelical Catholic Church, a Lutheran denomination of Evangelical Catholic churchmanship based in North America, taught:
Church tabernacle | Lutheran Churches
The Lutheran faith was first established in some states of the Holy Roman Empire then and now located within Germany. After the Thirty Years' War ended in 1648, the Lutheran, Reformed and Catholic churches were recognised as independent churches. The ruler of each principality was given the right to choose one of these three denominations to become the state church of his principality (Cuius regio, eius religio). Some German states (especially in the north and east) became Lutheran (e.g. Brunswick, Hanover, Oldenburg, Saxony, Baden), some became Reformed (Bentheim, Bremen, Lippe), while others remained Catholic (e.g. Bavaria and areas along the Rhine).
Lutheranism by region | Germany
With 3.4 million members, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is the largest American Lutheran denomination, followed by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) with 2.0 million members, and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) with 350,000 members. The differences between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) largely arise from historical and cultural factors, although some are theological in character. The ELCA tends to be more involved in ecumenical endeavors than the LCMS. When Lutherans came to North America, they started church bodies that reflected, to some degree, the churches left behind. Many maintained their immigrant languages until the early 20th century.
Protestantism in the United States | Lutheranism
The weekly Eucharist has been strongly encouraged by the bishops and priests/pastors and is now the common practice among some Lutherans.
Eucharistic theology | Lutheran Churches
Lutheran is a village and a former municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Since 25 May 2014, it is part of the town Lübz.
Lutheran, Germany | Introduction
Hotes. The Lutheran Church-International describes itself as "Confessional", "Orthodox", "Ecumenical (within the understandings based on the Book of Concord)", and "Evangelical". Confessionally, it adheres to the "Gospel of Jesus Christ as faithfully witnessed by the Augsburg Confession of 1530, and the Book of Concord". As an orthodox Christian body, "the LC-I maintains a traditional, faithful understanding of Lutheranism within the church catholic". Further, the LC-I has stated that it will "work with faithful Christians globally", and "internally with those church bodies with whom theological cooperation is possible". Finally, the LC-I sees itself as "a church of the Great Commission", seeking to "make disciples of all nations".
Lutheran Church - International | Introduction
In 1982 the Lutheran World Federation issued a consultation stating that "we Christians must purge ourselves of any hatred of the Jews and any sort of teaching of contempt for Judaism." The "European Lutheran Commission on the Church and the Jewish People" (Lutherische Europäische Kommission Kirche und Judentum, LEKKJ) is an umbrella organization representing twenty-five Lutheran church bodies in Europe. On May 12, 2003 they issued "A Response to Dabru Emet":
Protestantism and Judaism | Lutheran World Federation
In the Lutheran tradition, Holy Baptism, Holy Eucharist, and Confession & Absolution are considered Lutheran sacraments, while Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Matrimony, and Holy Orders are rites.
Rite | Protestantism
The church on Breedstraat 40, the parsonage on no. 42, and the sacristy on no. 44 are Rijksmonuments.
Evangelical Lutheran Church (Enkhuizen) | Introduction
Some Apostolic Lutherans consider their movement as part of an unbroken line down from the Apostles. In areas where Apostolic Lutherans have their own bishops apart from other Lutheran church organizations, the bishops wield more practical authority than Lutheran clergy typically do. In Russia, Laestadians of Lutheran background cooperate with the Ingrian church, but since Laestadianism is an interdenominational movement, some are Eastern Orthodox. Eastern Orthodox Laestadians are known as (article is in Russian).
Lutheranism | Scandinavia
The Spanish Evangelical Lutheran Church ( or "IELE") is a Confessional Lutheran church. It is in communion with other Confessional Lutheran churches in the European Lutheran Conference (ELC) and globally in the International Lutheran Council (ILC). It adheres unreservedly to the historical confessions of Lutheran Church: the "Book of Concord" of 1580, which they see as being in agreement with Holy Scripture.
Spanish Evangelical Lutheran Church | Introduction