|
Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church
MISSION
NELC is committed to building a unified church, a serving church, a
witnessing church, and a growing church. Our mission is to fulfill the Great
commission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to go, preach, teach, and make
disciples. (Matt.28:19-20).
HISTORY
The two founders of the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church were Hans Peter
Boerresen, a Dane, and Lars Olsen Skrefsrud, a Norwegian. They began work among
the Santals in 1867. Boerresen became the promoter and fund-raiser; Skrefsrud
gave the mission its dynamic character and resolute sense of purpose. Support of
this church has continued through the Danish and Norwegian Santal Missions and
The American Lutheran Church, a predecessor of the ELCA. This religious body
designated itself a church from the time of the first baptism of members in
1869, and thus bypassed the long period of "mission status" through which most
other churches in Asia and Africa have gone.
PRESENT SITUATION
The NELC continues to work in three states of North India -- Bihar, West
Bengal, and Assam -- as well as mission work in Nepal. This has also meant
working in several languages, including Santali, Boroni, Bengali, and Hindi.
Headquarters of the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church are in Dumka, a
growing educational center northeast of Calcutta. Theological training is
provided by the Santal Theological Seminary, the only theological school in
India in the Santali language. Theological education by extension (TEE) is being
developed to provide training for local leaders in teaching, pastoral and
sacramental ministry as well as offering continuing education to pastors.
The church's membership is diversified. Santals, one of India's aboriginal
peoples, form the majority. A smaller Santal group and the Boros -- originally a
Mongolian tribe but long in Assam -- and the Bengali comprise the rest of the
membership. Most of the Santals, Boros, and Bengals have been kept poor by the
successive ravaging of cyclones, flood, drought, and famine. Another group, of
Hindu and Muslim origin, is the fruit of the Swedish Mission in Cooch Behar and
the Norwegian Mission among Muslims. No other Lutheran church in India has such
a richly mixed membership, nor has any other followed the leading of the Spirit
with such apparent spontaneity as has the NELC.
The NELC has its main hospital at Mohulpari, as well as several health
centers and community health programs. The Saldoha Leprosy Home and Hospital,
founded in 1922 by the Danish Santal Mission, uses part of its campus as a
training farm for leprosy patients (a project of the Lutheran World Federation
Community Development Service).
The NELC has established a mission board and has active mission work not only
among the ethnic groups which have been the traditional focus, but also work in
Nepal and Bhutan.
The NELC is one of ten members of the United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in
India. The UELCI is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Christian
Conference of Asia. The UELCI carries out mission development in India, and has
also become a member of the United Mission to Nepal.
QUICK FACTS
NELC Web Page www.nelc-in.org
Moderator Rev. Shiblal SOREN
Location North Indian states: Assam, Bihar, West Bengal
Headquarter Dumka
Languages Boroni, Bengali, Hindi, Santali,
Member 80,000
Church worker 95 pastors, 110 evangelists, catechists: 350 women, 480
men, 15 missionaries
Church Structure 5 Dioceses, 480 congregations
Memberships
Lutheran World Federation (LWF), since 1950
World Council of Churches (WCC)
United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI)
National Council of Churches in India (NCCI)
Christian Conference of Asia (CCA)
|
