Upvote:1
The Lutheran Church in America has various branches. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which is the largest branch in United States, was founded by mostly Scandinavians. In contrast the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) was founded by settlers who came from Germany in the mid to late 19th century.
The LCMS Lutherans tend to downplay the word "evangelical" in describing what they believe. They prefer words like "traditional", "orthodox", "evangelical catholic", "Bible believing" or "confessional" in describing what they believe. The ELCA, which is stuck with the name "evangelical" in their title, is also struggling with brand confusion over that name.
My experience with Lutheranism is mostly with the LCMS branch. Those who have come from the state church in Germany have been welcomed and have felt right at home in the various churches that I have been participated in.
Upvote:2
When reviewing the English translation of the German wikipedia article Evangelisch-lutherische Kirchen, "Evangelisch-lutherische Kirchen" is best translated as "Lutheran Protestant Church", or "Lutheran Church" for short, since in English speaking countries, a Lutheran church is automatically Protestant. Therefore it is best for you to identify as a "Lutheran".
As the German Wikipedia article says there are 3 branches of Lutheran churches today, each with their own worldwide organization. In America, the two largest Lutheran denominations are ELCA and LCMS:
ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)is the largest (3.3 million). It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation headquartered in Geneva.
LCMS (Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) is the next largest (1.9 million), which is a member of the International Lutheran Council. LCMS should be sharply distinguished from ELCA since it is a lot more conservative (see this article on ELCA vs. LCMS differences).
You are right that "Evangelisch" means "Protestant" and should not be translated as "Evangelical" although all evangelicals are avowedly Protestant (except some, who identify as evangelical Catholics). The Lutheran branch that is closer to Evangelical is LCMS.
Evangelicals distinguish themselves from other Protestants by having 4 primary characteristics (source: What is an Evangelical):
Evangelicals can practice their identity as a member of a historic denomination or as a member of an evangelical church, which distinguish themselves from other Protestant churches:
CONCLUSION: It's best to identify yourself in America as "Lutheran".
Upvote:2
I think the term you want is:
GratefulDisciple already noted that ELCA has adopted an extremely liberal theology as of late, to the point that they are much closer to "mainstream Protestantism". If you're worried about being tarred with that particular brush, which it sounds like is the case, identifying as confessional Lutheran would be a way to distance yourself from those aspects of Protestantism (and from the extremely liberal ELCA, which is not confessional) that are incompatible with confessional Lutheranism without having to associate with a specific American denomination to which you don't actually belong, and with whom you may or may not be in full agreement.
CLs include LCMS and also WELS, as well as a handful of other even more "niche" denominations (see the Wikipedia article).