The Lutheran Council in the U.S.A. (LCUSA) was established January 1, 1967, as a successor to the National Lutheran Council (NLC). It functioned as a cooperative agency for four Lutheran Church bodies whose membership included about 95 percent of all Lutherans in the U.S. The member churches were the Lutheran Church in America (later the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), The American Lutheran Church (absorbed into the ELCA), the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, and the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.

Within the Division of Mission Services of LCUSA was a provision for Regional American Mission Planning Consultations. The United States was divided into 16 regions (Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon were Region 14). Within these geographic regions cooperative work could be carried out among the participating Lutheran Church bodies, coordinated by the LCUSA Division of Mission Services. Mission development plans, as well as planning for other fields of mission and ministry, were shared within each region.

In 1973 a reorganization of the divisions within the Council led to the establishment of the Office of Research, Planning, and Development. This office assumed the task of coordinating the activities of the Regional Planning Consultations. The topics of consultation between the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches included