We’re often asked what the E in ELCA means and how we understand the word evangelical.
Peace Lutheran Church is part of the ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Many people associate the word evangelical with a very specific type of Christian church and belief. We hear it regularly used in politics and the news to refer to “Evangelical Christians”. In this context, the word refers to Christians who make a “personal decision to follow Jesus” and emphasize right living (or “piety”). Because of this emphasis on right living, this type of Christianity is sometimes viewed as judgmental and intolerant. While this is a very common usage for the word today, our denomination’s use of the word reaches back to a much older definition and is quite different.
The Greek (the original language of the Bible’s New Testament) word euaggalion, means “good news”. In English Bibles, it’s typically translated as “gospel”. The second book of the New Testament is known as the Gospel of Mark because the opening line in the book is “the beginning of the euaggalion (good news, gospel) of Jesus Christ.” Euaggelizō is the verb form, “to announce good news” and is typically translated into English as evangelize. So the way we understand the word evangelical is as a calling to “share the good news”
The good news, “gospel”, which we believe in and share is that Jesus Christ died and was raised once, for all people (Romans 6:10, 1 Peter 3:18). No matter who you are, how you express yourself, what you have done, God loves you enough to die for you. God loves you not because you’ve done something right (or even believed something), but because God created you and loves you for who you are. The Good News is that we don’t have to do something or live a specific way to be accepted by God. God’s already taken care of that in Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-5). God is hard at work making our brokenness whole, not tearing us down. We share in that good news by living lives that emulate Christ’s love and acceptance of others. We are evangelical when we love people rather than judge people. That’s the “evangelical” in ELCA.
You can learn more about what we believe on our denomination’s website, https://www.elca.org/Faith/ELCA-Teaching