In 1962, after a five-year merger process, the United Lutheran Church in America became part of the new Lutheran Church in America (LCA). Twenty-six years later, on January 1, 1988, the LCA joined with the American Lutheran Church (1960) and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, (1978) to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is today the largest Lutheran church body in the United States. In 1961, just before its merger into the LCA, the ULCA had 4,893 pastors, 4,363 congregations, and 2,390,075 members.