The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia or ELCM is one of the four

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

bodies in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It currently has 21 congregations nationwide with a total of 3,650 members.LWF Statistics 2009
The current bishop of the ELCM is Steven Lawrence.

History

Early history

The history of the ELCM can be traced back to the large scale immigration of Indians from the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

speaking areas of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

from the 19th to 20th century to

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. U ...

as cheap labourers in

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s. Among the many migrants were

Lutheran Christians from churches started by the work of the Danish-Halle Mission and

Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (10 July 1682 – 23 February 1719) was a member of the Lutheran clergy and the first Pietist missionary to India. Early life Ziegenbalg was born in Pulsnitz, Saxony, on 10 July 1682 in a devout Christian family. His f ...

. By 1900, missionaries from the India-based Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission who visited

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

had found 315 Tamil Lutherans and by 1907, the first congregation was organised in

Brickfields A brickfield is an open site where bricks are made. Place names are often formed from the word. Brickfield, Brickfields or Brickfielder may specifically refer to: Australia *Brickfielder, an arid wind * Brickfield Hill, an area of Sydney *Brickfie ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

through the effort of Rev. Thiruchilluvai Joseph, a pastor from the church that was later organised as the

Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Christian denomination in south India, which was established in 1919 and has approximately 200,000 members. Its headquarters is in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. It is one of the prominent mainline Lutheran chu ...

(TELC). 1901–357 Lutherans who migrated to Malaya were found by Rev. Thiruchilluvai Joseph of TELC who later came to reside in Kuala Lumpur in November 1906. 1902—Gerching of Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission came to Singapore in 1902 to take survey of the Tamil Lutherans in Malaya. 1903–1905—During these years as there had been no organised Lutheran congregations, many Tamil Lutherans attended worship in other churches and a considerable number joined other denominations. There were a number, however, remained strong in their loyalty to the Lutheran Church. The Lutherans were willing to support and attend the new church, but not to become full members. For a time, Lutherans in Kuala Lumpur attended the Anglican Church and later the Methodist Tamil Church on Malacca Street. Vedavanam (Anglican) and S. Abraham (Methodist) cared for their spiritual needs. As the years passed, they grew, and by the time they had reached 70 in number they thought of establishing a Church of their own. Reports of missionary visits and request from Malaya no doubt generated interest back in India. 1906—On 11 November, Pamperrien of the Leipzig Lutheran Mission visited Malaya to survey and assess the possibility of establishing a Lutheran ministry. 1907—On receiving positive feedback, Rev. Thiruchilluvai Joseph immediately set about organising the Tamil Lutherans for regular divine services, the first of which was held on 30 January 1907 in a shop house at Scott Road off Brickfields in Kuala Lumpur. This day marked the beginning of a consolidated effort to establish Lutheran work in Malaysia. Simultaneously, the Leipzig Mission also assigned Ratnam, a school teacher turned catechist, to assist the work in the Penang area. 1908 —Following K. Pamperrien's visit, the Leipzig Mission in India showed greater interest in Malaysia and launched a constructive programme of development for the spread of Lutheranism. The immediate problem was identified in the lack of personnel to consolidate the work. Therefore, both the TELC in India and Leipzig Mission deployed missionaries for the work in Malaysia. The first Leipzig Lutheran missionary, Hermann Matthes arrived in 1908; the Lutheran population during this period was about 516 persons. Hermann Matthes helped to meet the spiritual needs of the Lutheran community in Penang area. By 1912, the Lutheran population had increased to 645 but was scattered in some 77 places in Malaysia and Singapore. This increase was due to the establishment of new contacts. The initial work among the Lutherans in Malaysia was not evangelistic in character but it sought to meet the sacramental needs of the members. Concerted evangelistic work among people of other faiths began after 1963. 1909—On 2 June a piece of land was purchased for construction of Zion church with money contributed by Leipzig Mission. The land was purchased for RM 2,900.00. 1910–1925— Matthes apparently left Penang. During the next fifteen years, the attention and work in Kuala Lumpur was directed to towards the building of the church. Matthews was replaced by Traugott Ruger, another German missionary from India. The outbreak of World War 1 resulted in T. Ruger being called back after a brief ministry in Malaysia. The enormous task of providing pastoral care for the Tamil Lutherans nationwide became the responsibility of Rev Thiruchilluvai Joseph, who was based in Kuala Lumpur. Rev. Thiruchilluvai Joseph to India and was replaced by Swamimuthu Muthusami on 11 November 1921. On 11 November 1922, the Foundation stone for Zion Church was laid by E. Heuman (First Bishop of Tranquebar). On 30 November 1924, J. Sandegren dedicated the Zion Church building (President of the CSM in South India, later third bishop of Tranquebar). Early efforts to organise and build up the pastoral care of the Tamil Lutherans in Malaya were spearheaded by missionaries from the TELC and the Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission. By 1922, the organised congregations were divided into two regional circles of the TELC; the Northern Malaya District and the Southern Malaya District; centred in Penang and Kuala Lumpur respectively.

Attempts to establish a national church

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, missionary work among the Tamil Lutherans in Malaya was supplemented by workers from the Church of Sweden Mission (CSM) and with the impending

independence of Malaya Independence Day ( ms, Hari Merdeka, also known as ''Hari Kebangsaan'' or "National Day"), is the official independence day of Malaya. It commemorates the Malayan Declaration of Independence of 31 August 1957, and is defined in Article 160 ...

in 1957, effort was made towards establishing a national church.ed. Hunt, Robert, Lee, Kam Hing, Roxborogh, John: "Christianity in Malaysia: A denominational history", Pelanduk Publications, 1992, In 1962, at the initiative of

Bertil Envall Bertil Envall (29 October 1909, Annedal, Gothenburg - 23 November 2011, Backa, Gothenburg) was a Swedish Lutheran missionary and bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia. He was the son of a business manager, Gustaf Env ...

of the Swedish Mission, representatives of the CSM and the Administrative Council of the American Lutheran mission to Chinese Lutherans in Malaya met for negotiations in a Joint Constitution Committee to set up a national Lutheran Church for Malaya. Representatives from the

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...

Lutheran community supported by the

Huria Kristen Batak Protestant The Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (''HKBP''), which translates in English as ''Batak Christian Protestant Church'', is a Lutheran church that is oriented towards Protestant among the Batak people, generally the Toba Batak in Indonesia. With a ...

were also invited but declined to participate.Vierow, Duain William. A comparison of Tamil and Chinese Lutheran Churches in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, DMiss thesis, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1976, 268pp. Despite agreeing on organisation and stewardship in general, disagreements arose upon the form of church government for the proposed national church. While the Swedish mission and the TELC order was partial to an

episcopal polity An episcopal polity is a Hierarchy, hierarchical form of Ecclesiastical polity, church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. (The word "bishop" derives, via the British Latin and Vulgar ...

, it was not accepted by the American missionaries who felt that the local Chinese Lutherans would not be familiar with that form of government. There were also disagreements on the nature of

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...

as well as the significant differences in the culture, language and origins between the Tamils and Chinese who were ministered by the respective missions, the former consisting mainly of established Tamil Lutheran families while the latter consisted mainly of congregations of young individual Chinese who were first generation Christians.

Establishment of the ELCM

As a result, two Lutheran church bodies were established in Malaya; the TELC districts in Malaya were reconstituted as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore (ELCMS) on 13 August 1962 whereas the mainly Chinese congregations of the American Mission was organised the Lutheran Church in Malaysia a year later on 3 August 1963 In 1966, Bertil Envall was consecrated as the first Bishop of the ELCMS. On 31 October 1976, E.B. Muthusami was consecrated as the first local bishop. In 1994, due to the changes in legislation, congregations of the ELCMS in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

were separated and joined the Southern District of the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore to form the Lutheran Church in Singapore. The ELCMS was then renamed the ELCM.

Missions and social work

The ELCM actively supports local mission work as well as overseas mission work in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

. The ELCM pioneered work among people suffering from

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

when it set up a training centre for epileptic children in

Hutan Melintang Hutan Melintang ( Jawi: هوتن ملينتڠ; ) is a mukim in Bagan Datuk District, Perak, Malaysia. The town is located next to the Strait of Malacca. The majority of the population works in the fishing industry, which is one of the biggest ...

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

known as Bethany Home in the 1966.

Beliefs and practices

The ELCM is a member church of the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...

, a communion of Lutheran Churches throughout the world. As a Church in the

tradition, it accepts and confesses the teachings found in the unaltered

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...

Luther's Small Catechism ''Luther's Small Catechism'' (german: Der Kleine Katechismus) is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Pr ...

and the other confessional articles and symbols of the

Book of Concord ''The Book of Concord'' (1580) or ''Concordia'' (often referred to as the ''Lutheran Confessions'') is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since t ...

Languages in use

Due to the historical heritage of the ELCM,

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

remains the primary language of ministry and liturgy in the church, but the use of

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

has been increased over the last decade.

Structure and organisation

Overview

The polity of the ELCM is episcopal in structure. A

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

is elected for life by the Diocesan Assembly which meets annually to decide on policy matters and elect a Diocesan Council chaired by the bishop. The ELCM is further divided into 3 geographical districts for administrative purposes.

Districts of the ELCM

* Northern District :Congregations in the states of

and

* Central District :Congregations in the state of

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

and the Federal Territory of

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

* Southern District :Congregations in the states of

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...

and

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...

Bishops of the ELCM

The current bishop, Steven Lawrence, is the fifth bishop of the ELCM and is responsible for the day-to-day administration, doctrinal, ministerial, pastoral, liturgical, ecclesiological, legislative and administrative matters of the church. * 1966-1976 :

* 1976-1988 : E. B. Muthusami * 1988-2009 : Julius Paul * 2009–2020 : Solomon Rajah * 2020-present : Steven Lawrence

Schools and colleges

ELCM congregations have been centres for pre-school education since the beginning and was a founding member of the governing council of Seminari Theologi Malaysia.

Affiliations

The ELCM participates actively in

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

relationships through: *

Council of Churches of Malaysia The Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) is an ecumenical fellowship of Churches and Christian organisations in Malaysia. It is one of the three constituent members of the Christian Federation of Malaysia. It is affiliated with the Commission o ...

link
/sup> **

Christian Federation of Malaysia The Christian Federation of Malaysia ( ms, Persekutuan Kristian Malaysia, abbreviated CFM) is an ecumenical umbrella body in Malaysia that comprises the Council of Churches of Malaysia ( mainline Protestants and Oriental Orthodox), National Eva ...

Christian Conference of Asia The Christian Conference of Asia is a regional ecumenical organisation representing 15 National Councils and over 100 denominations (churches) in New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos ...

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

* Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Malaysia & Singapore link
/sup> **

Basel Christian Church of Malaysia The Basel Christian Church of Malaysia or BCCM ( ms, Gereja Kristian Basel Malaysia), formerly known as Borneo Basel Self Established Church, is one of the four Lutheran bodies in Malaysia. It currently has 112 congregations nationwide and 63,0 ...

** Lutheran Church in Malaysia ** Lutheran Church in Singapore ** Protestant Church in Sabah *

** Asia Lutheran Communion link
/sup> *

Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism ( ms, Majlis Perundingan Malaysia Agama Buddha, Kristian, Hindu, Sikh dan Tao; abbrev: MCCBCHST) is a non-profit interfaith organization in Malaysia. ...

The ELCM also works in partnership with: *

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

External links

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia

Lutheran Church in Singapore

References

{{Lutheran World Federation Churches Protestantism in Malaysia Protestantism in Singapore

Christian organizations established in 1962 Evangelical denominations in Asia https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2020/07/02/consecration-ceremony-to-go-ahead-as-planned-at-church-in-brickfields