The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

denomination based in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. It has a total membership of over 853,522 in 2023, mainly in Northern Namibia. Formerly known as the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church (ELOC), it played a significant role in opposition to Apartheid in Namibia and was part of the Namibian independence struggle.Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia
World Council of Churches, January 2006 Other Lutheran churches in Namibia are the southern based Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia and the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK). The last presiding bishop was Shekutaamba Nambala. He retired in 2021; by the end of 2022, the post was still vacant.

History

The church developed out of the work of the Finnish Missionary Society that began in 1870 among the Ovambo and Kavango people in the northern area of what became German South West Africa. In 1954, an independent church known as the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church was established with Birger Eriksson as its first president. The first Namibian bishop of ELOC, Leonard Auala, played a notable role in the struggle for Namibia's independence. In 1971, an open letter was written jointly with Moderator Paulus Gowaseb of the Rhenish Mission's United Evangelical Lutheran Church in South West Africa (later known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia) to the

Prime Minister of South Africa The prime minister of South Africa ( was the head of government in South Africa between 1910 and 1984. History of the office The position of Prime Minister was established in 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed. He was appointed ...

, B. J. Vorster, which declared their church's opposition to the continued rule of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and the acceptance of the recommendation by the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

for the withdrawal of South Africa's mandate and a transition period towards independence. In 1984, ELOC's name was officially changed to its current iteration, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. Auala's successor, Kleopas Dumeni, also played an important role in highlighting the plight of Namibians under South African rule. Bishop Dumeni suffered personal losses in the struggle including the death of his 18-year-old daughter in a bomb blast in 1988. In 2007, ELCIN together with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia and the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) formed the United Church Council: Namibia Evangelical Lutheran Churches, with the ultimate aim of becoming one united national Lutheran church.

Structure

The church was originally led by a moderator elected from amongst the clergy. In the 1960s, the church adopted

episcopal polity An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. The word "bishop" here is derived via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term ''*ebiscopus''/''*biscopus'', . It is the ...

and was subsequently led by a bishop. In 1992, the church was divided into two dioceses, the Eastern Diocese and the Western Diocese, each led by its own bishop, and since 1996 a Presiding Bishop has been elected to preside over the whole ELCIN. There have been calls for the Western Diocese to be further divided into two, to create a total of three dioceses. Two further dioceses would be added by the proposed amalgamation with Namibia's other two Lutheran denominations, a process which is under discussion.

Moderators and Presiding Bishops

;Moderators of ELOC * Birger Eriksson (1954 – 1958) * Alpo Hukka (1958 – 1960) * Leonard Auala (1960 – 1963) ;Bishops of ELOC ''(episcopal polity adopted 1963)'' * Leonard Auala (1963 – 1978) * Kleopas Dumeni (1978 – 1996) ''(name changed from ELOC to ELCIN in 1984)'' ;Presiding Bishops of ELCIN * Kleopas Dumeni (1996 – 2000), consecrated 1978 * Apollos Kaulinge (2000 – 2004), consecrated 1996 for Western Diocese * Tomas Shivute (2004 – 2012), consecrated 2000 for Western Diocese * Shekutaamba Nambala, (2012 – 2022), consecrated 2012 for Western Diocese * Gideon Niitenge consecrated 2022 until the present for Eastern Diocese

Okahao controversy

Between 2012 and 2014, the Bishop of the Western Diocese was Josafat Shanghala. Shanghala attempted to move the parish pastor at Okahao, the Rev Hulda Shau-Aitana, to the parish of Okambebe. The pastor refused to move, claiming that the relocation was not for pastoral reasons, but rather a personal punishment. The issue became highly divisive within the church, and high-profile within Namibian news media. In October 2013, parishioners at Okahao petitioned Presiding Bishop Shekutaamba Nambala to have Shanghala removed from office. The Presiding Bishop attempted to intervene, and appointed two separate commissions to report on the growing public controversy, but the results of both commissions were rejected by the parish. The Presiding Bishop ultimately appeared to side with the parish authorities, leading to concerns being expressed for the future unity of the church. On 9 February 2014, Shanghala attempted to visit Okahao parish to preach at the Sunday morning service, but he was prevented from speaking by the congregation, who heckled him in the pulpit, and then ejected him from the church. The controversy was terminated when Shanghala retired in June 2014, aged 70. His retirement ceremony was attended by dignitaries of church and state, including the Namibian Prime Minister. Shanghala was succeeded as Bishop of the Western Diocese by Veikko Munyika.

Affiliations

ELCIN participates actively in

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

work through its affiliation with: *

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; ) is a global Communion (religion), communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of L ...

** Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa * United Church Council: Namibia Evangelical Lutheran Churches * Council of Churches in Namibia *

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, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

Members page, retrieved 2023-08-28
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External links

* ELCIN (previously Finnish-based)
Evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche in Namibia
German-speaking Church *

References

{{World Council of Churches 1954 establishments in South West Africa Lutheran denominations established in the 20th century Lutheran World Federation members Lutheranism in Namibia Members of the World Council of Churches

Christian organizations established in 1954