Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Lutheran
Scripture	Bible
Theology	Evangelical Catholic, High Church Lutheranism; Confessional Lutheranism
Polity	Episcopal
Primate	Jānis Vanags, Archbishop of Riga
Altar and pulpit fellowship	Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
Associations	Lutheran World Federation World Council of Churches Conference of European Churches Porvoo Communion (observer) International Lutheran Council
Region	Latvia
Origin	1517
Separated from	Roman Catholic Church
Congregations	293
Members	250,000
Official website	http://www.lelb.lv/

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Evaņģēliski luteriskā baznīca, or LELB) is a Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the church harshly before religious freedom returned to Latvia in 1988. In contrast to Estonia, where state atheism reduced the once 80% Lutheran majority to barely 10% by 2011, the Latvian Lutheran church saw its membership drop to around 20% but has recovered and now includes approximately 30% of the population. The church reports having 250,000 members according to the Lutheran World Federation.^[1]