Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) is an association of Lutheran congregations located primarily in the United States. It describes itself as an affiliation of autonomous Lutheran churches and not a denomination. It began in 2001 in response to some liberal views of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). LCMC is characterized by the stances it takes on Lutheran polity, biblical authority, and human sexuality. The group describes itself as "centrist" or "mainstream", noting that it stands between the more liberal ELCA and the more conservative Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and other Lutheran church bodies in North America. History LCMC was started by the WordAlone Network as an alternative for local churches that no longer believed that they could remain in the ELCA and work to reform it. The organization began in 2001 with 31 congregations as charter members. As of August 2022, membership was reported as 970 congregations, including 785 US congregations in 41 states, the U.S. Territories of Guam and Puerto Rico, as well as over 100 congregations in 15 other countries (including Belarus, Cambodia, Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Russia, and Vietnam). LCMC is now the fourth largest Lutheran group in the United States, after the ELCA, the LCMS, and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Polity and beliefs LCMC is congregational in structure, rejecting the historic episcopate which was adopted by the ELCA, the denomination to which many LCMC members had previously belonged, in the Called to Common Mission agreement. The beliefs of the LCMC are based on the Bible and the Lutheran confessions in the Book of Concord. On one important issue, LCMC stands apart from other conservative Lutheran denominations: it permits, but does not require the ordination of female clergy. Some congregations' constitutions and bylaws allow only men to be installed into the Office of Holy Ministry. The LCMC does not bless same-sex partnerships and requires all pastors on their clergy list to subscribe to their pastoral admonition on human sexuality: "We affirm that God created us male and female, and that it is God's will and intention that human sexual expression and fulfillment take place only within the boundaries of marriage between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24-25; Matthew 19:4-6; and Mark 10:2-9). And, we confess as individuals and as congregations that we have not fulfilled God's will in our decisions, modeling, and teaching." The LCMC has an evangelical catholic and charismatic