The AFLC (Association of Free Lutheran Congregations) is a fellowship of approximately 300 Lutheran congregations that believe in the Bible and follow Jesus Christ. We preach that living congregations should use all the gifts the Lord gives through believers and that all people need to come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the AFLC has offices in suburban Plymouth, Minnesota. You can contact the AFLC at the following:

| AFLC Administration Offices | 3110 E. Medicine Lake Boulevard, Plymouth, MN, 55441 | 763-544-9501 | www.aflc.org | President: Elden K. Nelson, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  |

A Description of the Free Lutheran family of churches…

He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Luke 10:2

Who is the aflc?

A Venture of Faith

The AFLC hopes to build an effective fellowship with a minimum of church government.  It is an experiment in building free and living congregations.  It is test of faith in the power of the Holy Spirit to create spiritual life.

A Fellowship of Lutheran Congregations

It is congregations bound together by the bonds of loyalty to a common cause and common tasks.  It is an attempt to test the uniting power of Christian love and cooperation.  It is a call to spiritual pilgrimage with no effort to build a large church organization.

A Cooperative Venture

It is a venture in building Lutheran congregations by means of a dominant emphasis neither upon organization nor upon the intricacies of doctrine but upon a living and personal Christian experience.  It is an attempt to carry out in everyday practice the Reformation principle of the universal priesthood of believers.  It is a concrete expression of revolt against ritualism and formalism, and of the desire to nourish the spiritual life in utter simplicity upon the Word of God.  It is an effort to provide orderly channels for the cultivation of the laity's personal witness for Christ, both in public and in private.  Yet it cherishes the ordered ministry of consecrated and trained men, and the noble heritage of Christian worship, that its people may know themselves to be one with Christ of all the ages.

Not a Synod

The AFLC does not have the authority, except by consent of its congregations, to unite with Lutheran synods in an effort to bring about an organically unified Lutheran Church. It is one of the smaller Lutheran groups, standing deeply in need of the varied contributions of other and larger bodies if it is to do its work effectively in its various fields of endeavor. It is an effort to achieve not a specific form of Church organization but a high quality of Christian life, in the faith that true spiritual life will tend to mold for itself a fitting form of organization. It was conceived to be a kind of ecclesiastical and spiritual leaven in American Lutheranism.

An Organization Born in a Dream of Spiritual Power and Vitality

Yet it has been able to carry on even when its power and spiritual vitality seemed at lower ebb. It was launched under a great and inspiring leadership in a period of intense struggle; yet it has not perished when led through calmer seas and by spirits less flaming. It has been ridiculed as small, impractical, and visionary; yet those who know it best know that none of these words is a fatal indictment. It has been accused of 'separatism;' yet it has throughout all of its history been earnestly in favor of full spiritual cooperation. Its dissolution has long and often been foretold; but it still lives. The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations is an attempt to translate a high spiritual vision into reality, even at the cost of being suspected of turning reality into a dream.  The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations is sincerely grateful for the work of other Lutherans; yet it desires to have its own peculiar share in the mighty work and witness of the Lutheran Church. It does not seek to pass judgment on the relative contribution to Lutheranism of groups small or large; it earnestly seeks to be kept truly humble because of the imperfection of its achievements, and rightly proud because of the greatness of its heritage. Limited in numbers so that not even its name is known in many Lutheran circles of our country, and conscious that it will probably never be regarded as 'successful' in the eyes of the world, it still believes in the continuing urgency of its message. Willing if necessary to find its success in seeming failure, the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations is committed, together with others of like mind, to the struggle for true congregational life in the Lutheran Church. To learn more about the AFLC, check out L. Dyrud’s recently published book, “The Dream That Wood Not Die.”

| AFLC Administration Offices | 3110 E. Medicine Lake Boulevard, Plymouth, MN, 55441 | 763-544-9501 | www.aflc.org | President: Robert L. Lee, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  |