The International League of Christian Esperantists ( Esperanto: ''Kristana Esperantista Ligo Internacia'', KELI) is the association of

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Esperantist An Esperantist ( eo, esperantisto) is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperant ...

s. It was founded in 1911, during the Universal Congress of Esperanto in Antwerp. Its members from very diverse backgrounds, mostly protestant churches. KELI publishes a bimonthly magazine, ''Dia Regno'', which started to appear regularly in 1908, when the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Paul Hübner was sure that five people would subscribe. Now the magazine serves as a tool among members in 48 countries from diverse faiths, Adventists to

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

Lutherans 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 ...

, Calvinists,

Anglicans Anglicanism is a Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia ...

, etc., but also people of the

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

. In the beginning, it was important to have basic literature. In 1912, the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

was published and then in 1926 the entire

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

with the Zamenhof's Old Testament translation - not privately, but in the British and Foreign Bible Society. That way, it is possible to continually have Esperanto Bibles in every Christian Bookstore throughout the entire world. Also, an edition having the

deuterocanonical books The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...

(translated by Gerrit berveling of

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) was published in 2003. In 1971, KELI had an official hymnal "Adoru Kantante" (Worship by Singing) with 262 songs (mostly classics), from many countries and languages, with four part harmony - a beautiful book, done professionally. Recently, conferences have used more modest looking song collections, "Tero kaj Chielo Kantu" (Earth and Heaven Sing) with 161 songs, since people preferred more modern music. ''Adoru'', an ecumenical worship book co-edited with the catholic association IKUE, containing texts, prayers and hymnals appeared in June 2001. After the war, KELI started to organize an annual conference with concerns about working out a program about work, study, entertainment, the conference country and local churches. More and more, because of good communication with IKUE, the Roman Catholic Esperanto-Union, the annual conferences happened together, for the first time in 1968 in Limburg/Lahn. They attracted between 90 and 200 people, many of which were IKUE or KELI members. At Universal Congresses, IKUE and KELI try to have communion together if possible. Often, they are among the great number of visited programs of the congress week. From the start, KELI supported the actions for the blind by the Dutchman, Jacques Tuinder, known under the name ''Agado E3'', or now E-vid-ente. Now, its help focuses on Albania, but does not forget other aspects of misery for people with poor sight. The task of KELI goes in two directions: to inform the Church and other Christian groups about Esperanto, and to inform the Esperanto community about Christianity.

Links

Official homepage

Homepage of the German section
Esperanto organizations Protestant organizations Organizations established in 1911 1910 establishments in Belgium {{Esperanto-stub