Church Missouri Synod clergy surveyed agreed that "a merger of all Lutheran groups in the United States into one organization is desirable". Disagreements among various congregations in the 1970s resulted in many leaving the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod after 1975, as it became dominated by theological and social conservatives. These dissidents churches formed the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC). Following several years of discussions, the LCA, ALC, and AELC formally agreed in 1982 to unite. Implementing this agreement took longer: the new Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) was effective on January 1, 1988, creating the largest Lutheran church body in the United States. The ALC and LCA had been formed by previous mergers. The American Lutheran Church In 1960, The American Lutheran Church was formed as a merger of the earlier ALC of 1930, largely members of German heritage; the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (UELC), with members of Danish background; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC), made up of members of Norwegian background. The Lutheran Free Church (LFC) joined three years later in 1963. The ALC brought approximately 2.25 million members into the new ELCA. It was the most theologically conservative of the forming bodies, having a heritage of Old Lutheran theology. It had been in fellowship for a decade with the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and officially held to biblical inerrancy in its constitution. It seldom enforced that stance by means of heresy trials or other doctrinal discipline. Its geographic center was in the Upper Midwest, especially Minnesota. Its headquarters and publisher (Augsburg Publishing House) were based on South Fifth Street in Minneapolis and one of its several seminaries was located in neighboring St. Paul. Its denominational magazine was The Lutheran Standard, published in Minneapolis. Some congregations in the ALC chose not to join the 1988 merger and instead formed the American Association of Lutheran Churches. The Lutheran Church in America The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) had been created in 1962, by a merger among the United Lutheran Church in America (created in 1918 by an earlier merger of three German Lutheran synods in the eastern U.S.); Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, of Swedish ethnicity with some dating to the colonial era; the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; and American Evangelical Lutheran Church, made up of ethnic Danish families. The LCA was the slightly larger partner and brought approximately 2.85 million members into the new ELCA. Their administrative