Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) is a conservative Lutheran church in the United States . Included in the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference . Founded in 1850 in Wisconsin . As of the beginning of 2015, it has about 373,000 members and more than 1,200 parishes in all 50 states of the United States, as well as 24 countries of the world. The third largest Lutheran denomination in the United States of America, after the American Lutheran Church (ELCA) and the Synod of Missouri (LCMS). He considers that only a man can be a servant of any level in the church and that all church fastings are established by God. Denies the practice of same-sex marriage. The most conservative part of the church believes that for the prayerful communion, as well as for the communion of the pulpit and the altar, a complete identity of faith is necessary.