Lutherans come from European followers of Martin Luther, a German theologian who taught closer following of the bible than the Roman Catholic church was doing back in the 1500's. Coming from many different, predominantly Scandinavian, countries when they first settled in America there were many different branches seperated by language. Over time as they became 3rd and 4th generation immigrants English became the language of worship and so different congregations would gather and form 'synods' or church bodies and eventually all come together under three main bodies, Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The later is the largest and made up of a combination of The American Lutheran Church, The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and The Lutheran Church in America. In this way Lutherans seem to be working counter to most other Christian groups in that they are joining forces and solidifying whereas most others splinter off into multiple sects.
Lutherans have three core beliefs at the centre of their faith, these are:
We are saved by the grace of God alone -- not by anything we do;
Our salvation is through faith alone -- a confident trust in God, who in Christ promises us forgiveness, life and salvation; and
The Bible is the norm for faith and life -- the true standard by which teachings and doctrines are to be judged.
So they are a mainline Protestant denomination that adhere to the Bible and its teachings but their focus is very much on helping their neighbor and not judging other peoples views. Though they discourage it they accept that in certain circumstances abortion can be morally responsible and they have a positive stance on openly gay clergymen. This gives them a very moderate-liberal stance which is not something other Lutheran groups share being as they are reasonably conservative.
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