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Evangelical
Church of the Lutheran Confession in Cuba
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod began work in Cuba in 1911 among residents from
North American and Germany. By 1927 a congregation of 160 baptized members was formed and
bilingual ministry was started. By 1959 Lutherans in Cuba numbered 450 in six
congregations. However, in the wake of the revolution, drastic changes marked the early
sixties and most of the members of the Lutheran church left Cuba. By the mid-sixties there
were no pastors on the island, and work was turned over to local lay leadership. The
remaining 200 or so Lutherans lived in Havana, Pinar del Rio, San Jose, Boca de Galafre
and the Isle of Pines (now the Isle of Youth).
In 1970, the LWF Director of Church Cooperation visited Cuba, and in 1981 Mr.
Seierstad, a staff member of the Norwegian Santal Mission, visited the Cuban Lutherans on
behalf of the LCMS and the Lutheran World Federation. He found the members faithful,
though they lacked Bibles, hymnals, catechisms, and other Christian literature. Concern
and spiritual support came from the Methodist Church in Cuba and from the Cuban Ecumenical
Council (CEC).
Head of the church's Sunday school program (left) and a young
member
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The Iglesia Evangelica de Confesion Luterana in Cuba
(IECLC) is a new Lutheran church that has been formed by the remnant of Lutherans who
remained in Cuba following the triumph of the revolution in 1959. Work was restarted in
1985 to reconstitute the Lutheran church. It functions under the auspices of the Cuban
Ecumenical Council, with church registration pending, and has established close ties to
the ELCA. There now are five house churches and twelve preaching points in the church.
Eight pastors, four of whom are women, serve more than 800 members. Congregational life is
dynamic and full of spirit, pointing to an exciting future.
Pastor Deydre, one of eight pastors serving the church,
who serves in Cocodilo
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An organized church is emerging again as church buildings
occupied by the government are being returned. In 1990 the IECLC received official
recognition from the Cuban government and was registered under the legal umbrella of the
Cuban Ecumenical Council. It will not be possible for the church to be registered in its
own name until a pending law governing religious bodies (Ley de Cultos) is passed.With
financial assistance from the Santal Mission and the Lutheran World Federation, the
Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil sent a pastor to teach at the
ecumenical seminary at Matanzas in 1987. This was the beginning of the academic
theological training of an indigenous Cuban clergy. The IECLC also has its own institute
to train catechists and evangelists. They have developed a two-year program for the
formation of these leaders.
House church in Havana
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The IECLC strives to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the
Cuban society through the promotion of evangelization and work among children, youth and
adults. Pastoral care is being developed in ways that reflect the unique situation and
needs of people in Cuba, as well as sound theology in the Lutheran tradition. House
churches provide for worship among families in their homes and evangelistic outreach in
neighborhoods. The goal of the IECLC is to develop organized congregations which have
their own church buildings.
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