The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was a U.S. Lutheran church body that existed from 1962 to 1987. It was headquartered in New York, New York and its publishing house was Fortress Press.

The LCA ordained the country's first female Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Elizabeth Platz , in November 1970. It subsequently ordained the nation's first female African-American Lutheran pastor (1979), first Latina Lutheran pastor (1979), and first female Asian-American Lutheran pastor (1982).

Formation

The Lutheran Church in America was formed in 1962 out of a merger of the following Lutheran denominations:

• The United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA), established in 1918 with the merger of three independent German synods: the General Synod, the General Council and the United Synod of the South.
• The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church , established in 1890.
• The American Evangelical Lutheran Church , traditionally a Danish-American Lutheran denomination (established in 1872).
• The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church , traditionally a Swedish-American Lutheran denomination (established in 1860).

Merger

On January 1, 1988, the Lutheran Church in America ceased to exist when it, along with the American Lutheran Church and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, joined together to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), today the largest Lutheran church body in the United States. At the time of the merger, the LCA was the largest Lutheran church body in the United States, and it brought approximately 2.85 million members into the ELCA.

Presidents

• 1962-1968 Franklin Clark Fry
• 1968-1973 ?????
• 1973-1978 Robert J. Marshall
• 1978-1980 ?????
• 1980-1987 James R. Crumley, Jr.