The Gutnius Lutheran Church, formerly the Wabag Lutheran Church, is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

body existing in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. ''Gutnius'' means " Good News" in

Tok Pisin Tok Pisin (,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh ; Tok Pisin ), often referred to by English speakers as "New Guinea Pidgin" or simply Pidgin, is a creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an ...

. It was established by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in 1948, shortly after the Australian administration of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea permitted missionary activity to spread into the western highlands. The church counts 125.000 parishioners, largely confined to Enga Province in the western highlands. It operates Immanuel Lutheran Hospital and St. Paul's Lutheran Secondary School (Pausa) at Wapenamanda, Enga Province. The church has other health and educational institutions as well. It has suffered some attrition in numbers as fundamentalist and charismatic sects based in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

have conducted aggressive proselytising activities among its members in the Enga. In recent decades the church has increasingly established ties with the longer-established, theologically more liberal, and liturgically more conservative Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea. It co-operates with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in conducting clergy education and, with that Lutheran denomination and the

Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea is a province of the Anglican Communion. It was created in 1977 when the Province of Papua New Guinea became independent from the Province of Queensland in the Church of England in Australia (officially ren ...

, in operating the Balob Teachers College in Lae.

References

External links

International Lutheran Council information on the Gutnius Lutheran Church
International Lutheran Council members Lutheranism in Papua New Guinea Churches in Papua New Guinea Christian organizations established in 1948 1948 establishments in the Territory of Papua 1948 establishments in Papua New Guinea Lutheran World Federation members {{Lutheran-stub

References

Further reading

External links