“How many ELCA congregations lost members who joined the NALC?”
My pastor said it was about 450 congregations have voted to leave the ELCA, although not all to this new body. Some to the LCMC and some I suppose to the MS.
Bear in mind that there are about 20,000 ELCA congregation, so I was a little surprised at the relativly low number voting to leave.
There is no NALC. After this meeting, the NALC will presumably be constituted. However, it will have no congregations in it until they start joining.
Many ELCA sources trumpet the “minuscule” numbers of congregations that have left the ELCA sine the ill-fated 2009 “churchwide assembly”, and the fact that those that have left are divided between several church bodies. These ELCA sources try to represent the NALC now being formed as very insignificant and unimportant.
If NALC is so microscopic and insignificant, why is “Bishop” Mark Hanson taking the time out of his busy, globe-trotting schedule to address the constituting meeting?
The answer is that it seems that many ELCA congregations (and their pastors) have been waiting for the formation of the NALC before leaving the ELCA. Others that have already left are planning to join the NALC or will at least consider doing so. No one (especially not this Orthodox layman) knows how many congregations will join the NALC—it may be a tiny number, or it may be the 1,000 congregations that have been mentioned by some.
Moreover, the hemorrhaging of members and of member contributions from the ELCA continues. This will happen whether the NALC attracts a large number of congregations or not.
As for Hanson, he is spouting the same old song-and-dance to the NALC constituting meeting as he has spouted before. It’s sheer gobbledy-gobble, means nothing, and will have no influence. But it might even drive away more members and congregations from the ELCA!
No there are not anywhere near 20,000 congregations. The ELCA website claims only 10,500.