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Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
The Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Tanzania is a large, robust, fast-growing church with a
complex history. Mission work was begun in Tanzania by a number of European Lutheran
groups, especially German and Swedish. Both World War I and World War II presented major
crises for work in Tanzania.
American Lutheran work began in 1922 when the Augustana
Synod sent Ralph Hult to the former Tanganyika. During the next decades, many more
Augustana missionaries arrived and served in central Tanganyika, in the area in and around
Singida.
During World War II, 172 German missionaries were
interned. Their work in the northern part of the country around Arusha was taken over by
Americans in a cooperative program coordinated by the National Lutheran Council. The
cooperation between mission groups to respond to the needs of "orphaned
missions" was a new dynamic in inter-Lutheran relationships, and was an important
factor leading to the formation of the Lutheran World Federation in 1947.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanganyika was
officially formed in 1963 by the merger of seven churches, each of which had been
established by Lutheran mission work from Europe or the U.S.A. The new ELCT had 400,000
baptized members. The current Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania has over 2.5 million
members and is one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world. It is led by a presiding
bishop and twenty diocesan bishops.
This is a time of great opportunity and enormous challenge
for the ELCT. Leadership development cannot keep up with the rapid growth of the church.
Programs of theological education by extension and regional theological schools are being
developed to help meet the needs. Makumira University College,
located on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, is the largest Lutheran seminary in Africa. It
serves not only Tanzania and surrounding countries, but attracts students from Asia as
well. Makumira is part of Tumaini University.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania has an
extensive health care system, with 21 hospitals and numerous dispensaries. Selian Hospital
in the Arusha Region is a 100-bed full-service hospital which provides Community Based
Health Care in nearby villages, including working with traditional birth attendants in the
area of AIDS education and prevention. Another important hospital is Haydom Lutheran Hospital,
which has been a center for drought relief in its region. AIDS is a growing problem all
over East Africa, and the ELCT is a leader in developing responses.
Secondary education is another major concern of the
ELCT.
The Junior Seminary at Morogoro has a long history of providing quality secondary
education, and it attracts highly qualified students from all over Tanzania.
The ELCT has been blessed with outstanding national
leadership. Stefano R. Moshi (1906-1976), the first presiding bishop, brought skill and
vision not only in Tanzania, but in the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Lutheran
World Federation. Josiah Kibira of Bukoba (1925-1988) was the first person from the
Two-Thirds World to be elected president of the Lutheran World Federation. He traveled
worldwide and fearlessly raised crucial issues.
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