Heritage Lutheran Church

Weyland. The congregation was formally organized in 1971 as a mission congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and joined the synod that same year. The original church building, now used as a multi-purpose room, was built and dedicated in 1973. In 1995 the present worship sanctuary was added. In 2008 additional school rooms, gymnasium, and entry narthex were added. The ELS is headquartered in Mankato Minnesota on the campus of Bethany Lutheran College and Seminary. Norwegian Lutheran immigrants originally organized the ELS in 1853 as the Norwegian Synod. A major reorganization came in 1918 after a majority of congregations and pastors left the synod to join a large merger of several other Lutheran churches. In 1958 “Norwegian” was dropped from the title and the synod became known by its present name. The ELS is sometimes confused with the larger ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)- the 1988 merger of the old ALC, LCA, and AELC Lutheran church bodies. The ELS is not part of or associated with the ELCA. It is, however, in full fellowship with the WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) and the other orthodox Lutheran churches around the world belonging to the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC). The CELC includes Lutheran church bodies from Bulgaria, Nigeria, Mexico, Latvia, Czech Republic, Russia, Finland, Puerto Rico, Germany, Peru, Australia, Indonesia, Cameroon, Malawi, Zambia, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Ukraine, in addition to the ELS and the WELS of the United States.