Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church

Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church
Classification Protestant
Polity Episcopal
Moderator Bishop K. Frederick Paradesi Babu
Associations National Council of Churches in India, WCC
Region Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Founder United Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Origin 1842
Guntur
Branched from Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Congregations 5000
Members 3,000.000[1]baptized
Ministers 850
Hospitals 9
Primary schools 24
Data as of September 2008. 43rd Biennial Report 2007, page 6.
Office Bearers of the AELC
  • President

Bishop K. Fredrick Paradesi Babu

  • Vice-President

Rev. Prem Kumar

  • Secretary' Sri. Chinnam Kishore
  • Treasurer Sri. G. Paul Prabhakar Rao

Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC)[2] was constituted in the year 1927 in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the Indian successor to the United Lutheran Church in America which was started as a self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating church among Telugu Christians.[3]

Memberships

In India

Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau of the Danish-Halle Missionary Society at Tranquebar were the first Protestant Missionaries to India who were Lutherans.

In Andhra Pradesh

The AELC was founded as a mission field of the then United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA) by John Christian Frederick Heyer (known as Father Heyer) on 31 July 1842.[7]

As a first step, schools were established. With new baptisms, the confidence of the missionaries increased. Later hospitals were established.

Structures

List of Presidentships

Administration

The current Moderator / Bishop of the AELC is Bishop K.Fredarick Paradesi Babu. In the recent elections of the AELC, Bishop K.Fredarick Paradesi Babu was elected as the President of the AELC for a term of four years replacing Bishop B. Suneel Bhanu.[9]

For administrative purposes, six synods have been established, each taken care of by a Synod President. A 24-member Executive Council whose members are drawn from the six synods administers the Church society.[10]

Moderator / Bishop

The Executive Council of this Church Society elects a set of office-bearers each quadrennium.[11] The Moderator / Bishop heads this century-old Church Society. In earlier nomenclature, the term President was used. However, with the arrival of Rev. G. Emmanuel, the nomenclature was changed to Moderator / Bishop to denote a more ecclesiastical term. However, the term President also continues to be used.

Women's ordination

For long, women's ordination in the AELC was taboo. One of the first theologically trained women of this Church, the Fuller Theological Seminary-educated Rev. Dr B. V. Subbamma[12] could have been ordained long ago. But Church leaders, fearing her leadership kept the issue of women's ordination aside.[13]

However, with sustained efforts and dialogue of Dr. K. Rajaratnam, Rev. Dr. Prasanna Kumari Samuel, and Dr. Monica J. Melanchton of the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute (GLTCRI), the dream of women's ordination became a reality. With the active cooperation of the then President, Bishop G. Emmanuel, seventeen women were ordained into pastoral ministry on 20 February 1999.[12]

Earlier missionaries and Theologians

Synod Presidents of the AELC[14]
  • Visakha Synod

Rev. V. G. Devadas

  • East Godavari Synod

Rev. P.David Raju

  • West Godavari Synod

Rev. M.A.S.Martinss

  • East Guntur Synod

Rev. K.Ratna Mohan

  • Central Guntur Synod

Rev. Ch. Elia

  • West Guntur Synod

Rev. Y. Suvarna Rao

References

  1. ↑ https://www.lutheranworld.org/country/india
  2. ↑ United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 December 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-23. AELC
  3. ↑ Kolluri Luther Richardson, Towards Self-Reliance : A historical survey of the programmes and efforts of Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1927–1969, Published by Christopher and Kanakaiah, Vijayawada, 2003.
  4. ↑ Lutheran World Worldwide Faith News
  5. ↑ National Council of Churches in India "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-27. Affiliate Members
  6. ↑ UELCI Member Churches
  7. ↑ Luther Richardson, Kolluri, Rev., Towards Self-Reliance, p. xi, Editorial by Rev. Dr. D. V. Daniel
  8. ↑ Professor B. Suneel Bhanu was elected as the President of the AELC for a term of four years beginning from 1 June 2009 replacing Bishop V. E. Christopher. Professor Bhanu pursued theological studies up to M. Th. under the Senate of Serampore College (University). Prof. Bhanu taught at the prestigious Bishop's College in Kolkata and thereafter at the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College in Chennai.
  9. ↑ UELCI
  10. ↑ Almanac 2008, pp. 1–8
  11. ↑ Ibid.
  12. 1 2 Lutheran World Worldwide Faith News
  13. ↑ Victor Premasagar, Indian Women in Evangelism and Theology, Published by Dr. B. V. Subbamma, October 2005. pp. 12–15
  14. ↑ Almanac 2008, p. 3

Further reading

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