Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church

Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg monument in Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu, South India
Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg monument in Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu, South India

The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Christian denomination in south India, which was established in 1919[1] and has approximately 500,000 members.[2] Its headquarters is in Trichy, Tamil Nadu.[1] It is one of the prominent mainline Lutheran churches in Tamil Nadu.[3][4][5][6]

On 14 January 1919, the Tamil congregation of different German, Danish, and Swedish Lutheran missions joined together to form the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC). In March 1921, the constitution of the TELC was amended to include the structure of episcopacy. In 1921, a Swedish missionary, Ernst Heuman, was ordained as the first bishop of the TELC. The bishop of TELC holds the title Bishop of Tranquebar. In 1956, R B Manickam became the first Indian to be ordained as the bishop of TELC.[7]

The bishops have the title Bishop of Tranquebar.[8] It belongs to the Lutheran World Federation.[2] The Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission and Church of Sweden Mission were active in the area of Trichy in the 19th century and are still active there today. This Lutheran church comes under United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India.[9]

  1. ^ a b "United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India – Member Churches". Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  2. ^ a b "India | the Lutheran World Federation".
  3. ^ Rules of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church. Nathan. 1968. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  4. ^ Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church; Raj, L.E.; Ahlander, J.; Edmund, T. (1977). Self-reliance for Mission: The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) and Self-reliance : a Case Submitted to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Geneva, Switzerland. T.E.L.C. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  5. ^ Constitution of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Documents Regulating Its Relations to the Cooperating Missions, the Church of Sweden Mission and the Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission. 1928. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  6. ^ Fahlbusch, E.; Lochman, J.M.; Bromiley, G.W.; Mbiti, J.S.; Pelikan, J.; Barrett, D.B.; Vischer, L. (1999). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Brill. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-8028-2415-8. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  7. ^ Vethanayagamony, Peter (15 December 2009). "The Lutheran Churches of India". Lutheran Forum. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  8. ^ Presbyterian Life. Vol. 12. United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 1959. p. 17. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  9. ^ "United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India". Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.