India Evangelical Lutheran Church

India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC) is a Christian

India Evangelical Lutheran
denomination in India. Its headquarters is in Tamil Nadu. It
belongs to the International Lutheran Council[1] and the Lutheran
Church
World Federation. It has three synods, named Ambur Synod, Classification Protestant
Nagercoil Synod, and Trivandrum Synod. The IELC was Orientation Lutheran
founded through the missionary efforts of the Lutheran Church–
Structure National
Missouri Synod (LCMS),[2] with whom it remains in altar and
church,
pulpit fellowship.[3]
middle level
The inception of IELC is rooted in the mission work of LCMS synods, and
that began in 1894. Over the following decades, the LCMS sent local
more than 60 missionaries to serve in India. The work in India congregations
was known as the Missouri Evangelical Lutheran Mission
Leader President
(MELIM) and was carried out in areas of the Tamil and
Malayalam languages. In 1959, it was registered under the Associations United
Societies Registration Act 1860 as the IELC and became an Evangelical
LCMS partner church. It now does work in an additional seven Lutheran
languages. Church in
India
The IELC has approximately 764 congregations, 115,000
International
baptized members, 70,000 communicant members, and 220 active
pastors. It also has 59 elementary schools, 11 high schools, 7 Lutheran
schools for the differently able children, and 3 hospitals. About Council
800 teachers serve those schools, many of them graduates of the Lutheran
IELC's teachers training institute.[1] World
Federation
Concordia Theological Seminary in Nagercoil was founded in
Region India
1924 to train pastors.[1] On 30 November 2017, Cyclone Ockhi
damaged the seminary campus so severely that IELC leaders Headquarters Tamil Nadu,
doubted that they would ever be able to reopen. Nevertheless, the India
seminary was able to rebuild. The new and renovated structures Origin 1895
have retained the historic appearance of the campus. The Krishnagiri,
rededication in June 2022 included representatives from the
Ambur Synod
LCMS, which had helped with the reconstruction. The reopened
seminary had almost 100 students, with plans to increase Independence 1959
enrollment to 130 in two years.[4] Branched from Lutheran
Church–
The IELC is a member of the World Council of Churches, the
Missouri
Christian Conference of Asia, the National Council of Churches
Synod
in India, and the Lutheran World Federation Council of Churches
in India. It is a member church in the United Evangelical Congregations 764
Lutheran Churches in India (UELCI), a communion of Lutheran Members 115,000
churches.[5] baptized
70,000
communicant
The current president of the IELC is Rev. Dr. J. Priestly Ministers 220
Balasingh, who was elected as president of the IELC in October
Hospitals 3
2022 in elections overseen by Retired Justice D. Hariparanthman.
Primary schools 59

See also Secondary schools 11

Tertiary institutions 2
Christ Lutheran Church Kattukadai
Official website ielconline.com
(https://ielconl
References ine.com/)

1. "India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC)" (http://www.ilc-online.org/members/asia/india/).

International Lutheran Council. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
2. Vethanayagamony, Peter. "The Lutheran Churches of India" (https://archive.today/20120906
075803/http://www.lutheranforum.org/extras/the-lutheran-churches-of-india/). Lutheran
Forum. Archived from the original (http://www.lutheranforum.org/extras/the-lutheran-churches
-of-india/) on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
3. "India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC)" (http://www.lcms.org/page.aspx?pid=1340).
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
4. Harmelink, Daniel (17 June 2022). "Rebuilt seminary dedicated in Nagercoil, India" (https://r
eporter.lcms.org/2022/rebuilt-seminary-dedicated-in-nagercoil-india/). Reporter. Lutheran
Church–Missouri Synod. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
5. "Member Churches" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070401191845/http://uelci-india.org/me
mberchurches.asp). United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India. Archived from the
original (http://uelci-india.org/memberchurches.asp) on 1 April 2007. Retrieved
18 September 2011.

External links
Website of the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC) (http://www.ielconline.com)
Website of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (https://web.archive.org/web/20
090605112647/http://www.uelci.org/index.asp)
Website of the Trivandrum Synod of the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC) (http://ww
w.ielctrivandrumsynod.org)
https://www.ielctrivandrum.org/

See also
Adivasi
Christianity in India

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