The Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) was a Lutheran denomination that existed from 1917, when it was founded as the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (NLCA), until 1960, when it joined two other church bodies to form the American Lutheran Church.
The Norwegian Lutheran Church of America was formed by merger of the Hauge Synod (est. 1876), the Norwegian Synod (est. 1853), and the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (est. 1890). The NLCA changed its name to The Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) in 1946. In 1960, the ELC joined with other Lutheran churches to form the American Lutheran Church. This coalescence of Lutheran churches continued into recent times, with the ALC joining others to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 1988.
Augustana College (South Dakota)
Concordia College, Moorhead
Luther College
Pacific Lutheran University
St. Olaf College
Waldorf College (junior college at that time)
Luther Theological Seminary Saint Paul, Minnesota
Hans Gerhard Stub, 1917–1925
Johan Arnd Aasgaard, 1925–1954
Fredrik A. Schiotz, 1954–1960
From 1917 to 1926 a general convention was held triennially. There was need of holding several extraordinary conventions, so beginning in 1928 (called the 8th) it was held biennially with the general convention always falling on the even numbered years. Voting members of the conventions were pastors who were currently serving congregations of the Church, and one lay representative from each parish consisting of one congregation and two representatives from each parish consisting of two or more congregations.
Organizing convention, 1917, Saint Paul, Minnesota
1st extraordinary, 1918, Fargo, North Dakota
1st general convention, 1920, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2nd extraordinary convention, 1922, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2nd general convention, 1923, Saint Paul, Minnesota
3rd extraordinary convention, 1925, Saint Paul, Minnesota
3rd general convention, 1926, Minneapolis, Minnesota
8th general convention, 1928, Minneapolis, Minnesota
9th general convention, 1930, Minneapolis, Minnesota
10th general convention, 1932, Minneapolis, Minnesota
11th general convention, 1934, Minneapolis, Minnesota
12th general convention, 1936, Minneapolis, Minnesota
13th general convention, 1938, Minneapolis, Minnesota
14th general convention, 1940, Minneapolis, Minnesota
15th general convention, 1942, Minneapolis, Minnesota
16th general convention, 1944, Minneapolis, Minnesota
17th general convention, 1946, Minneapolis, Minnesota
18th general convention, 1948, Minneapolis, Minnesota
19th general convention, 1950, Minneapolis, Minnesota
20th general convention, 1952, Minneapolis, Minnesota
21st general convention, 1954, Minneapolis, Minnesota
22nd general convention, 1956, Minneapolis, Minnesota
23rd general convention, 1958, Minneapolis, Minnesota
24th general convention, 1960, Minneapolis, Minnesota
