page_title: Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
section_title: Protes'tant controversy
hierarchical_section_title: Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod / History / Protes'tant controversy
caption_attribution_description: For use in Fond du Lac County and city articles.
context_page_description: The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
  As of 2019, it had a baptized membership of 353,753 in 1,276 congregations, with churches in 47 US states and 4 provinces of Canada. The WELS also does gospel outreach in 40 countries around the world. It is the third largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. The WELS school system is the fourth largest private school system in the United States.
  The WELS is in fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and is a member of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, a worldwide organization of Lutheran church bodies of the same beliefs.
context_section_description: From 1926 to 1929, a small group of persons and congregations were expelled or voluntarily left the WELS in an incident known as the "Protes'tant Controversy." They formed the Protes'tant Conference.
caption: Winnebago Lutheran Academy, a WELS high school in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was founded in 1926.
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