Evangelical Lutheran Wisconsin Synod

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Saint John's Church in Milwaukee

The Evangelical Lutheran Wisconsin Synod ( English Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod , abbreviated WELS ) is a Lutheran church in the United States of America with its seat in Milwaukee , Wisconsin .

The church, organized in a synodal association, was founded in 1850 by German emigrants in Wisconsin. In 2019, around 354,000 baptized members in 1,276 congregations belonged to the WELS. Churches can be found in all 50 US states and over 40 other countries. Within the United States, the WELS is the third largest Lutheran church after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS). She belongs to the confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference , of which she is one of the founding members. In the German-speaking area it maintains relations with the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (ELFK).

Church presidents

  • 1850–1860 Johannes Muehlhaeuser
  • 1860-1864 John Bading
  • 1864–1865 Gottlieb Rein
  • 1865–1867 William Streissguth
  • 1867-1887 John Bading
  • 1887–1908 Phillip von Rohr
  • 1908-1933 GE Bergemann
  • 1933–1953 John Brenner
  • 1953–1979 Oscar Naumann
  • 1979–1993 Carl Mischke
  • 1993-2007 Karl R. Gurgel
  • since 2007 Mark Schroeder

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ WELS Annual Report 2020. WELS in brief. In: wels.net. January 2, 2020, accessed on February 4, 2020 (with PDF download link [5.8 MB]).
  2. ↑ The number of churches is given.