Lutheran Church of Central Africa

The Lutheran Church of Central Africa or LCCA is a

Lutheran Church of
Christian denomination of the Lutheran tradition based in the
African countries of Zambia and Malawi. Currently (2004), it Central Africa
consists of over 40,000 baptized members in 200 congregations Classification Lutheran
spread throughout both countries. Orientation Confessional
The LCCA maintains the Lutheran Seminary for the training of Lutheran
ministers, in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, and the Lutheran Bible Scripture Bible
Institute, a pre-seminary pastoral training school based in Polity Congregational
Lilongwe, Malawi.
Associations Confessional
Evangelical
Structure Lutheran
Conference

Government Region Zambia & Malawi

Founder Wisconsin
Technically, the two members of the LCCA, the Lutheran Church Evangelical
of Central Africa - Malawi Conference (LCCA-MC) and the Lutheran Synod
Lutheran Church of Central Africa - Zambia Conference (LCCA-
ZC) are both members of the overarching synod known as the Origin 1955
Lutheran Church of Central Africa. In practice, due to political Lusaka, Zambia
borders, both conferences operate independently of one another, Congregations 200
their only true link being in the sharing of pastoral training facilities
Members 40,000 baptized
in Lusaka and Lilongwe.

The LCCA-MC and LCCA-ZC are led by a president and a chairman, respectively, both elected for four
year terms in bienual conventions within their own conferences. Synodical conventions are intended to be
held regularly, but often are not, due to political borders.

Educational institutions

The LCCA runs two facilities for the training of clergy. The first is the Lutheran Bible Institute, located in
Lilongwe, Malawi. It is intended as a three-year pre-seminary school and serves students from both of the
LCCA's conferences.

The second facility is the Lutheran Seminary located in Lusaka, Zambia. The Lutheran Seminary is a
three-year seminary for the training of clergy for the LCCA and trains students from both of the LCCA's
conferences. Following training at the Lutheran Seminary students typically serve a one-year vicarship after
which they are ordained as clergy.

Other institutions

The LCCA maintains The Lutheran Press on the campus of the Lutheran Seminary, in Lusaka, Zambia and
at the Lutheran Bible Institute in Lilongwe. The Lutheran Press publishes and prints various religious
materials for use by the LCCA.
Among Lutheran Press publications are various local language hymnals, educational materials and an
occasional newsletter.

History
The Lutheran Church of Central Africa was established by Lutheran missionaries from the Wisconsin
Evangelical Lutheran Synod. First exploratory mission work began in the 1949 (with the first resident
missionaries arriving in 1953) in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia (later to become the country of
Zambia). In 1955, an official denomination, named the Rhodesian Lutheran Church Conference was
organized. In 1962, the Rhodesian Lutheran Church Conference was reorganized and became The
Lutheran Church of Central Africa.

Exploratory mission work in the neighboring country of Malawi after 1962 led to the foundation of the
Malawi Conference of the LCCA.

The LCCA is currently involved in mission work in Mozambique, with the eventual goal of setting up a
sister church there.

Beliefs
The LCCA teaches that the Bible is the only authoritative source for doctrine. It subscribes to the Lutheran
Confessions (the Book of Concord, 1580) as accurate presentations of what Scripture teaches. It teaches
that Jesus is the center of Scripture and the only way to eternal salvation, and that the Holy Spirit uses the
gospel alone in Word and Sacraments (Baptism and Holy Communion) to bring people to faith in Jesus as
Savior and keep them in that faith, strengthening them in their daily life of sanctification.

Doctrinally, both conferences of the LCCA are in union.

Ecumenical relations
Fellowship relations between the LCCA and other church groups are established only upon investigation
and confirmation that both church groups hold complete unity in scriptural doctrine and practice.

The LCCA is closely associated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. It is also a member of the
Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC),[1] a worldwide organization of confessional
Lutheran church bodies.

See also
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
 List of Christian denominations in Malawi

References
1. Who we are - Membership (http://www.celc.info/index.php?whoarewe.php)

External links
LCCA-MC information page from the CELC website (https://web.archive.org/web/20050205
140203/http://www.celc.info/cgi-bin/home.cgi?malawi01)
LCCA-ZC information page from the CELC website (https://web.archive.org/web/200502051
41835/http://www.celc.info/cgi-bin/home.cgi?zambia01)
Historical Timeline of the Zambia Conference of the LCCA (from the WELS website) (https://
wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080102105958/http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collect
ionID=697&contentID=1091&shortcutID=1904)
Historical Timeline of the Malawi Conference of the LCCA (from the WELS website) (https://a
rchive.today/20070502082120/http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=689&c
ontentID=57400&shortcutID=20308)

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