The Liberal Spirit
In response to my request to the office of the ELCA secretary, I received an email from The Rev Ruth E Hamilton, Ph.D., which is reprinted below:
These are the latest statistics:
As of April 7, we have been advised that 308 first votes have been taken by congregations to terminate their relationship with the ELCA (some congregations have taken more than one first vote). Of those 308 first votes, 221 passed and 87 failed. Synods also have informed the Office of the Secretary that 90 congregations have taken a second vote, 89 of which passed. (This does not mean that all of these congregations have been removed from the roster because Synod Council approval is required for congregations established by the ELCA and former congregations of the Lutheran Church in America, and, in some cases, the vote is disputed because questions exist regarding the process. The Office of the Secretary will remove a congregation from the roster only upon advice of the synod.) As of this date 46 congregations have been removed.
For comparison purposes, the website of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) reports 185 new congregations since CWA09. It would appear that a heavy preponderance of the congregations departing the ELCA are coming to rest in LCMC, which raises interesting issues for the Lutheran CORE progeny, the new denomination scheduled to start next August, which will be called the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). Again, remember that the ELCA counts over 10,000 congregations on its rolls.
