tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26963442.post5058951352624019039..comments2022-12-04T02:23:06.578-06:00Comments on Saint John Lutheran Church, Charter Oak, Iowa: A Letter from IndiaTed Malloryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530239964862522526noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26963442.post-54430801277939520492011-10-12T20:33:54.762-06:002011-10-12T20:33:54.762-06:00John sent an email to Pastor last month which was ...John sent an email to Pastor last month which was included in the bulletin and the website. They are well short of the $40,000 he is looking for. Pastor asked for ideas about if/how to assist this project. Pastor has been trying to help John make connections with Lutheran Churches in India, but that has been slow going. It was agreed that the Elders will set a date for to collect a free-will offering. <br /><br />Here is an explanation about one of the major Lutheran church bodies in India. Thomas' ministry is not currently affiliated with a Lutheran church.<br /><br />The Indian Evangelical Lutheran Church<br />The IELC, the third of the Tamil-speaking Lutheran churches, came into being in 1958. It owes its origin to the missionary endeavors of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The Missouri Evangelical Lutheran India Mission (MELIM) was established in India because of the doctrinal controversy that arose in Leipzig Mission in 1876.12 Its early missionaries were Germans from the Leipzig Mission. It started in the far south around Nagercoil and gradually moved north toward Madras.13 The untiring efforts of Rev. Naether and Rev. Mohn from 1894 onwards resulted in the formation of the churches that spoke Tamil, Malayalam, and Kanada. The subsequent missionaries who came in due course started schools, orphanages, and hospitals. The efforts of Alice Brauer resulted in the establishment of three hospitals. They were slow to cooperate with fellow Lutherans and others in South India. The IELC today has a congregational strength of 80,000 spread over 400 parishes with its headquarters at Nagercoil. The Concordia Seminary, Nagercoil offers theological education to its ministers.In polity it combines congregational and synodical features and is the only Lutheran church in India not to have episcopacy. In 1970 it became a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the only LCMS-related church to do so. ~From http://www.lutheranforum.org/extras/the-lutheran-churches-of-indiaTed Malloryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01530239964862522526noreply@blogger.com