Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church is a major

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 ...

Christian denomination in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was established in 1882. At that time, the founder of The Schleswig Holstein Evangelical Lutheran Mission Society of Germany (SHELM) in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

was

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

Christian Jensen, who was praying for the people of India. Pioneer missionaries Rev. Ernest Pohl and Rev. Herman Bothmann came to India and reached the Koraput district of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

on 31 May 1882 and started mission work.

Foundation

In late 19th century, when the missionaries arrived, they faced several challenges; one of them was laying the foundation of a church. At first, they visited the king of Bastar state in Jagdalpur to seek approval for constructing a church and preaching

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

in the region but were denied permission for the purpose. However, they later went to the neighbouring Jeypore state which was ruled by Maharaja Vikram Dev III and he granted them the permission and a plot where accordingly, the JEL Church was constructed in 1909. The Germans were able to learn the local language, culture, customs, and the traditional system of the natives. The first woman, Asimuti Behera of the village Joba under the Kotpad mission station, was baptized by the missionary Timmke on 6 December 1886. A minority of local populace also volunteered for the mission programmes.

Service

Apparently, it was from Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church that

spread to other parts of southern Odisha such as Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, and Rayagada. Subsequently, the community members set up three major Christian hospitals in Bissam Cuttack, Nabarangpur, and Lamtaput in Koraput district to serve people from all religious backgrounds. The first Indian president, A. C. Kondpan, served two terms from 1954 to 1962. He was followed by the German missionaries, and then the second bishop of JELC., from 1972 to 1978. During this time, the JELC experienced a period of significant growth and progress. Kondpan was regarded as a visionary leader. Now the church has more than 250,000 members. It has its own rules and regulations approved by IGR of Odisha, as per the society registration act of 1952, and the

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

has four elected officers:

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, synod chairman, secretary, and treasurer. They serve for a term of four years. The current office holders are bishop of JELC Bidhan Kumar Nayak, synod chairman Anant Nag, secretary Praful Bhatra, and treasurer Jasbir Paul. The headquarters of JELC function in Pohl & Bhothmann Bhavan, JELC central office, pin code -764001. Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church is associated with the National Council of Churches in India, United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. JELC has its unofficial Oriya-language Lutheran Hymns Book Android App, offered by Premasis Satman.

References

;Notes ;Further reading * * * *

External links

* {{coord missing, Odisha Lutheran World Federation members Lutheranism in India Affiliated institutions of the National Council of Churches in India Lutheran denominations Organisations based in Odisha Christianity in Odisha Education in Odisha Schools in Colonial India 1882 establishments in India

Foundation

Service

See also

References

External links