December 16, 2005

DUMKA, India/GENEVA – The 26th Triennial Conference of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI) concluded in the northeastern town of Dumka, Jharkhand State, with a commitment to greater involvement in the contextual challenges of the Indian Lutheran churches.

"The Indian Lutheran communion will continue to be prophetic and proactive in addressing key issues like poverty, development, HIV/AIDS, capacity building, gender justice and empowerment," delegates attending the UELCI governing body said in a final statement.

One of the subjects discussed at the UELCI conference was the Proposed Ecumenical Alliance for Development (PEAD), a topic that was also on the agenda of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council meeting last September. The Indian Lutheran churches called for more "church-based sensitivity" in ongoing discussions about PEAD, in order to protect the diaconal theology, challenges and responsibilities of churches in the South.

While the Indian Lutheran churches welcomed all forms of coordination for proper use of resources by the proposed global alliance for development, they appealed for a greater role of the churches in shaping the process. (See http://www.lutheranworld.org/news/lwi/en/1739.en.html for the LWF Council discussion on PEAD.)

Some 120 delegates, visitors and guests attended the November 20-22 conference hosted jointly by the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church (NELC) and Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam (GELC), both in Jharkhand State. Under the theme "Growing Together with God," representatives of the Indian Lutheran churches discussed their respective areas of work and concerns as presented in reports of the UELCI Executive Secretary, Rev. Dr Chandran Paul Martin and other officers.

Delivering the keynote address, Rev. Dr Kjell Nordstokke, director of the LWF Department for Mission and Development encouraged the UELCI churches to be purpose-driven churches. Basing his presentation on the LWF mission document, "Mission in Context: Transformation, Reconciliation, Empowerment – An LWF Contribution to the Understanding and Practice of Mission," he emphasized the need for "new models of mission and partnership that affirm good governance and holistic mission as central to the churches' work."

A significant event of the gathering was the ordination of NELC's women's leader, Rev. Lucia Tudu, the second woman to be ordained as a pastor in the church in a period of 25 years. Also ordained was Rev. Ram Chandra Singh, the first convert from the Mal Paharia tribe. He translated the New Testament into Paharia language, the first translation of the Bible into that language. The NELC is led by a moderator, Rev. Shiblal Soren.

During the triennial conference, Martin was re-elected UELCI executive secretary. The president is Bishop Gideon Devanesan Rajagembeeram, Arcot Lutheran Church.

The Chennai-based UELCI is a communion of eleven member churches, ten of which belong to the LWF. The churches with a combined membership of nearly two million Christians are spread out mostly in eastern and central India, and the northeastern states.

The Lutheran communion in India is predominantly Dalit and Adivasi. Each member church has its own unique cultural and historical context, with different mission histories. It was founded in 1926 as the Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India, and went through various changes before adapting its current name in the mid-1990s.

Lutheran World Information
Mr Mrinal Srikanth Lankapalli and Rev. Raj Bharath Patta reported on the UELCI conference.