Association of Free Lutheran Congregations

Association of Free Lutheran Congregations
Association of Free Lutheran Congregations
Abbreviation	AFLC
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Lutheran
President	Micah Hjermstad
Region	United States and Canada
Headquarters	3110 East Medicine Lake Blvd.; Plymouth, Minnesota 55441
Origin	1962
Separated from	Lutheran Free Church
Congregations	280 (2009)
Members	44,473 (2009)
Ministers	277 (2009)
Publications	The Lutheran Ambassador
Official website	www.aflc.org

The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (AFLC) is the sixth largest Lutheran church body in the United States. The AFLC includes congregations from the former Lutheran Free Church in 27 different U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. The AFLC is not an incorporated synod, but a free association. Each local congregation is a separate corporation. Minnesota is the geographic center of the organization, with over 80 congregations and over 12,000 members.^[1] There are also numerous congregations in the neighboring states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.^[1] The AFLC headquarters are in Plymouth, Minnesota, where the Association Free Lutheran Bible School and Seminary are also located.

The beliefs of the AFLC are grounded in Pietist Lutheran tradition.^[2]^[3] The AFLC logo consists of an open Bible, ascending dove, and green vine. The open Bible is symbolic of God's word as the foundation of faith and life; the ascending dove is symbolic of the freedom of congregation and the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit; and the green vine is symbolic of the living congregation bearing fruit for God.

^ ^a ^b "2000 Religious Congregations and Membership Study". Glenmary Research Center. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
^ Kurian, George Thomas; Lamport, Mark A. (10 November 2016). Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-4422-4432-0. Headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota, the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (AFLC) is a non-hierarchical network of conservative Lutheran congregations, rooted in the Scandinavian pietist tradition.
^ David Lau, Nathanael Mayhew. "A Brief Study of the Lutheran Churches in America" (PDF). Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church. p. 2. Retrieved 27 April 2021. The AFLC stresses pietism, allows women's suffrage, millennialism, open communion, and the idea of free will in the doctrine of conversion.

[RCMS-1] "2000 Religious Congregations and Membership Study". Glenmary Research Center. Retrieved 2009-12-04.

[KurianLamport2016-2] Kurian, George Thomas; Lamport, Mark A. (10 November 2016). Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-4422-4432-0. Headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota, the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (AFLC) is a non-hierarchical network of conservative Lutheran congregations, rooted in the Scandinavian pietist tradition.

[LauMayhew2021-3] David Lau, Nathanael Mayhew. "A Brief Study of the Lutheran Churches in America" (PDF). Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church. p. 2. Retrieved 27 April 2021. The AFLC stresses pietism, allows women's suffrage, millennialism, open communion, and the idea of free will in the doctrine of conversion.

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