The LCA's immigrant heritage came mostly from Germany, Sweden, present-day Czech Republic, present-day Slovakia, Denmark, and Finland, and its demographic focus was on the East Coast (centered on Pennsylvania), with large numbers in the Midwest and some presence in the Southern Atlantic states.
Theologically, the LCA was often considered the most liberal and ecumenical branch in American Lutheranism, although there were tendencies toward conservative pietism in some rural and small-town congregations.
The LCA was a founding member of the Lutheran Council in the United States of America, which began on January 1, 1967.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, many of the independent US Lutheran church bodies moved progressively toward greater unity.
In 1986, just before its merger into the ELCA, the LCA had 8,586 pastors, 5,832 congregations, and 2,896,138 members,[3] making it the largest Lutheran church body in the United States.