Steps for a Lutheran Congregation
to Enter into The AALC
The process for a Lutheran congregation to enter The AALC is rather simple. According to our Constitution and By-laws congregations desiring membership into The AALC “shall make application to the Association Council by way of the Presiding Pastor.”[1]
The National Office will send an Application Packet to the congregation on their request.
It is recommended that the congregation leadership request an application for membership into The AALC, fill in the required application, and then return it to The AALC National Office immediately after the congregation votes to join The AALC
Upon application to The AALC and then approved by the Association Council, the congregation will have provisional status until the next TAALC General Convention, when the Convention would then ratify the Association Council’s earlier decision. Such “provisional status” however grants full “temporary participation in this Association including representation at the next General Convention.” (Important to note: the exception being that at that Convention, congregation’s pastor and delegates would not be allowed to participate in the ratification process for full membership, as that would be considered a conflict of interest.)
It is also important to recognize that in such cases when the same congregation wants to retain their current Pastor, the Pastor “must be approved for the Clergy Roster before the application can be considered”[2]
However, according to Article 7 of The AALC Policy and Procedure Manual, that although it is recommended that the congregation NOT make application into The AALC until after their Pastor “has been approved for the clergy roster,” there can be the occasional exception. If circumstances require it, the Executive Committee has the authority to make an exception in this process by allowing congregational application to move forward without their Pastor first being approved for roster.[3]
Requirements for a Lutheran congregation’s membership into The AALC
According to our Constitution and By-laws, all congregations applying for membership into The AALC must adhere to the following:
Subscribe to our Confession of Faith (Article III) and our Statement of Purpose (Article V) of our Constitution.
Accept our Constitution and its By-laws in toto.
Participate in the programs of activity by our General Convention and determined individually by the local congregation.[4]
In addition, it is suggested that the if the pastor is not on the roster of pastors of The AALC, then he should begin the work of colloquy onto our Clergy Roster by requesting and filling out the Clergy Application Packet and answering the AALC Colloquy questions. Once returned and reviewed by our Presiding Pastor, the pastor will most likely be asked to interview with our Clergy Commission. Assuming the Clergy Commission recommends that the pastor be accepted to the Clergy roster, it is presented to our Association Council for their approval. When the Association Council approves the Clergy Commission’s recommendation, the pastor will be included on the Clergy Roster of The AALC.
According to The AALC Constitution and By-laws, when a congregation becomes a member of The AALC, their pastor (upon agreement with Articles III and V of the Constitution of The AALC) can be considered an Affiliated Pastor of The AALC until such time as he can complete the colloquy process.[5]