Less than two centuries after the Reformation, the first Lutheran missionaries set foot on Indian soil. Over the years there followed representatives of 14 Lutheran societies from Germany, USA, and the northern European lands. Today, Indian Lutherans are formed into 10 indigenous churches, with various languages and scattered from Cape Coromandel to Bengal along the East Coast. More than 600 ordained Indian pastors serve over 4000 local congregations. There are extensive educational and medical institutions.

Following are summaries of Lutheran Churches in India  (Membership Figures are for 1996):

The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church
Thamil Suvesesha Lutheran Thiruchabai
Membership: 103,093

This church is a lineal descendant of the Danish-Halle mission enterprise which began when Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Pluetschau landed at the Danish crown colony of Tranquebar in 1706. Under J. P. Fabricius, C. F. Schwartz, and others, a confessionally Lutheran community of many thousands arose in and around Tranquebar, Tanjore, Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli -- provided with Tamil Bible, catechism and hymnal, and a parochial school system. When rationalism attacked the church in the homelands after 1800, the Danish--Halle mission declined rapidly in vigor and Anglicans of the Church Missionary Society began to assume responsibility for the former Lutheran community. It was to renew the enterprise of the former Danish-Halle mission that the Dresden-Leipzig Mission sent J. H. C. Cordes to the area in 1840 (and forty-four others between 1840 and 1880), a decision which led to the restoration of many Tamil Christians to their former Lutheran allegiance. Swedish Lutherans began to assist the Leipzig Mission in 1849. In 1874 the Church of Sweden Mission assumed responsibility for a share of the Tamil field, and in 1901 a separate Swedish diocese was created. In 1919 the Church was formally established, adopting the episcopal form of polity. On the 250th anniversary of the arrival of Ziegenbalg and Pluetschau in 1956, Dr. Rajah B. Manikam was consecrated the first Indian bishop of the Tamil Church, succeeding Swedish Bishop J. Sandegren. Headquarters of the church are in Trichinopoly. A theological seminary is maintained in Tranquebar.

Arcot Lutheran Church
Membership: 33,000

This Tamil-speaking church had its beginnings in the work of missionaries of the Danish Missionary Society. Not wishing to enter the former Danish-Halle field already occupied by the Leipzig Mission, and disassociating itself from that mission's toleration of caste, the Danes sought a new field adjacent to that of Leipzig. Taking over the work of the former Leipzig missionary Ochs in 1864, and receiving by transfer a station from the English Baptists in 1882, the Danish Lutherans established centers in Madras, Bangalore, and South Arcot. A church constitution was adopted in 1931, and completely revised in 1951, but thorough Indianization has been delayed.

India Evangelical Lutheran Church
Membership: 56,493

This Tamil-speaking church is the fruit of the first foreign missionary enterprise of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which began working in India in 1895. Four German missionaries who left the employ of the Leipzig Mission in India in 1876 over doctrinal differences were offered appointments by the Missouri Synod. They included C. M. Zorn and J. F. Zucker, joined in 1893-4 by K. G. T. Naether and T. F. Mohn. The latter two were the first commissioned missionaries of the Missouri Synod, supported by MELIM (Missouri Evangelical Lutheran India Mission). Naether was soon joined by G. O. Kellerbauer in Krishnagiri and later in Barugur. Mohn began work in Ambur in the adjoining North Arcot District about forty-five miles from Krishnagiri on the road to Madras. These men were joined by the fourth and last recruit from the Leipzig Mission field, R. Freche, who worked in Vaniyambadi, about fifteen miles west of Ambur. Others who followed included Albert Huebner in 1900 and John Forster and George Naumann. A. Huebener moved to the Tamil language area in and around Nagercoil (400 miles from Krishnagiri) in 1907, soon joined by G. Huebener, T. Gutknecht, and H. Nau. Mr. G. Jesudason, private secretary to a British officer, and a member of the congregation in Nagercoil, became a teacher and evangelist. A theological seminary became operational at Nagercoil in 1928. A third field was started on the Malayalam-speaking west coast near Trivandrum in 1912. Henry Nau was the prime mover in this shift to Trivandrum. He left for furlough in early 1914. Before he left, F. R. Zucker, J. C. Harms, and O. Ehlers (1913) joined the work in the Malayalam area. In 1912 the Loch End Compound in Kodaikanal was purchased for $9,000 and became a retreat centre in the hot season. Two double residences were constructed, and an additional building with funds supplied from the Walther League in Milwaukee. An international school is now located at Kodaikanal. J. J. Williems arrived in India in 1913; when the war broke out, he was interned and repatriated. Also in 1913, Miss Louise Ellermann arrived, to conduct a small dispensary in Barangur. In 1916, MELIM began to serve another group of Christians, in Vadakkangulum, about sixteen miles from Nagercoil. After twenty-five years, the MELIM church had grown from nothing to 1,681 baptized. Sixty-eight schools served 2,637 children. Missionary manpower had grown to seventeen by 1914 (dropping sharply to eight in 1919). Sixty missionaries came between 1920 and 1930. By 1930, there were 7,170 baptized members. During the 1920's two doctors and six nurses came to India to serve in the medical work of MELIM. Angela Rehwinkel kept the medical work in existence for over thirty years. Work among Muslims began in 1924 under Adolph Brux, who had completed a doctoral degree in Arabic studies in 1923, but little progress among Muslims was made until after World War II. Work was resumed in Vaniyambadi in 1951, with Henry Nau and Ernest Hahn. In Wandoor, forty miles from Calicut in north Kerala, H. Otten settled into the community, set up reading rooms and a dispensary which later developed into a full scale medical institution, Karunalaya Hospital, with a branch dispensary at Malappuram, where another station had been established in 1954. Another mission station was opened at Krishnagiri in 1955, and later others in the southern area. Indian pastors and other workers immediately joined these ventures. In addition to the missionaries, a total of seven IELC pastors were engaged in this ministry -- the largest single commitment to Muslim work by any denomination in India. Through intensive involvement in the activities of the Henry Martyn Institute of Islamic Studies, these workers provided leadership and training for this work in the wider sense in India. Work followed in Wynad and Bombay in the 1950's. Through the efforts of W.F. Bulle, the medical work of Angela Rehwinkel was enhanced, and the Bethesda Hospital was transformed into a superior medical institution. With help from the Lutheran Women's Missionary League, Bethesda Hospital was expanded and a new hospital, Karunalaya, the Malalam equivalent of Bethesda, "House of Mercy", was established in Wandoor, a station of the mission to Muslims. In 1924, Concordia Seminary opened in Nagercoil with three missionary professors and seven students. Four years later the first class was graduated as evangelists. Two were ordained the same year -- all but one of the others were ordained later. By 1928 an Indian evangelist was stationed in Colombo, Ceylon. In 1952 the field of this mission was extended to include Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The Church was formally organized on Jan. 8-9, 1958. By 1962 the IELC had 130 pastors in active service. There were 85 schools with more than 500 Lutheran tachers, and the church membership was 40,000. By 1983, membership had grown to 47,000.

Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church
Andhra Suvesesha Lutheran Sangham
Membership: 400,000

This largest of Lutheran churches in India is located in the Telegu-speaking area and is made up of two originally separate fields: Guntur and Rajahmundry. Through correspondence with the German missionary Rhenius, American Lutherans became interested in establishing their own field in India during the 1830's. In 1842 the pioneer Lutheran foreign missionary from North America, "Father" C. F. Heyer, arrived in Guntur, inaugurating the first overseas missionary work by American Lutherans. He was sent by the Pennsylvania Ministerium, but was later supported by the foreign mission board of the General Synod. Meagerly provided for, Heyer received invaluable encouragement and assistance from British government officials and established a network of schools. In 1850 the Breklum Mission, which had begun work in Rajahmundry in 1845, transferred this work to the General Synod on condition that it remain Lutheran. From 1851 to 1869 the two fields were under the common management of the General Synod, but from 1869 to 1918 the General Synod assumed responsibility for the Guntur Field and the newly formed General Council for Rajahmundry, the Augustana Synod cooperating with the latter body in India. In 1919 the two fields became the joint enterprise of the Board of Foreign Missions of the United Lutheran Church in America, with which Augustana continued to cooperate. A system of lower elementary village schools, higher elementary boarding schools and high schools, totaling 800 in all, and crowned by the Andhra Christian College in Guntur, was developed. Training schools for teachers, nurses, and Bible women, together with industrial schools and blind schools, were also provided. Medical work was begun by Dr. Anna Kugler in 1883, and subsequently eight hospitals with 850 beds were established, including one tuberculosis sanatorium. The Luthergiri Seminary at Rajahmundry cooperates with other Telegu Christian bodies. In 1927 the Indian Church was organized, and further expanded in 1942 by the formation of ten boards. The church participates in a mission at Surguja.

South Andhra Lutheran Church
Dakshana Andhra Lutheran Sangham
Membership: 28,022

This Telegu-speaking church owes its existence to the efforts of the Hermannsburg Evangelical Lutheran Mission, which sent the former Leipzig missionary, August Mylius, to India in 1865. Mylius had been sent to assist the American General Synod in preserving the threatened Rajahmundry field during the Civil War in the USA, but finding his help unwanted he located a new field in the Nellore district. Stations were opened at Nayadupet and Gudur, other missionaries arrived, and schools were started for boys and girls. In 1912 two stations in the Hermannsburg field were sold to the Joint Synod of Ohio, which had close confessional ties with Hermannsburg and was eager for a share in foreign work. The interment of German missionaries in 1914 led to the transfer of the entire field in 1916 to the Joint Synod of Ohio, which after 1920 began sending its own missionaries to the field. In 1929 the Hermannsburg society reluctantly abandoned all claims to the India field, a settlement with the American Society being made. In 1930 the Board of Foreign Missions of the American Lutheran Church took over the work. An Indian church was organized in 1945 with increasing emphasis being placed on self-support and autonomy. The South Andhra Church cooperates with the Andhra Ev. Lutheran Church in the maintenance of Luthergiri seminary in Rajahmundry.

Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church
Membership: 140,000

The Schleswig-Holstein Evangelical Lutheran Missionary Society at Breklum had begun work in the Rajahmundry area in 1845 but five years later was compelled to transfer this station to an American group. In 1882 missionaries Pohl and Bothman, representing the Breklum Mission, with great difficulty succeeded in establishing a field on the northern fringe of the Telegu area in the Koraput district of Orissa state. Work proceeded slowly at first, due to the lack of a written language and the backwardness of the pople, an animistic outcaste group. Stations were opened at Salur and Koraput, an educational system was developed, and literature was prepared in the Oriya tongue. In time a mass movement grew among the Dambas, and heavy reliance was placed on the pastoral services of native catechists. With the internment of Breklum missionaries in 1914, orphaned mission assistance was given by the General Council (ULCA) which sent missionaries from its Rajahmundry field and subsidies. Danish missionaries were permitted to return to the Jeypore area in 1924, German missionaries soon thereafter, so that in 1928 the ULCA board returned the entire field to the Breklum society's administration. In that year the Breklum Mission, retaining the western part of the Jeypore field, organized the first synod. The eastern part of the Jeypore field was transferred to a new Danish society which became part of the Danish Missionary Society in 1932. Following the second internment of German missionaries in the 1940's, National Lutheran Council relief funds were funneled to the Jeypore Church through the FELCI, and American missionaries again manned certain key posts. In 1950 the Indian Church constitution was adopted. The seminary at Kotapad trains lay leaders as well as pastors.

East Jeypore Ev. Lutheran Church

This smallest of Lutheran Churches in India, organized in 1949, was originally a part of the Breklum field but came under the administration of the Danish Missionary Society in 1932. Largely undeveloped before 1928, the work by the early 1950's had three main centers.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh Evangelical Lutheran Kalisiya
Membership: 11,402

This small church, located in the Hindi-speaking Central Provinces of India, grew out of the work of the Swedish Evangelical National Missionary Society which began work among a tribal people known as the Ghonds in 1877. The work was later extended to include caste Hindus. Parallel mission and church organizations were established in 1923, but these were replaced by a single Indian church organization in 1949. The church operates primary, middle, and high schools, industrial shops, and hospitals. Headquarters are at Sagar.

Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam, Ranchi
Membership: 354,432

This great folk-church in the province of Chota Nagpur had its beginnings when four missionaries sent by the Gossner Missionary Society and prepared by Father Johannes Gossner, arrived in Calcutta in 1844 with instructions to find a mission field. When the new missionaries, who were chiefly farmers and artisans rather than theologians, came into contact with some street laborers of aboriginal stock (known as "Kols") they resolved to follow them to their native habitat in Chota Nagpur. Arriving in Ranchi in 1845 they established their base there and supported themselves by farming. After much initial frustration a few converts were made in 1850. Soon a mass movement among the Kols gathered momentum. Particularly after the Sepoy Mutiny (1857) the people began to embrace Christianity in increasing numbers, so that by 1900 a community of 100,000 had arisen. Boys' and girls' boarding schools were established at Ranchi and elsewhere. A normal school, theological seminary, hospital, and leper asylum were added. Missionary work was begun among Kols people who migrated to the province of Assam. Work was carried on among ten language groups. The Church by 1984 had 336,524 baptized members. Despite rapid numerical growth the Gossner Church, formally organized in 1919, has been plagued by a succession of problems. The formation of schismatic churches among the Kols people by the Anglican SPG in 1869 and by Roman Catholics at the end of the century resulted in heavy losses to the Gossner Church. Oppression by Muslim and Hindu rulers created additional hardship. Rivalry between the principal Kolarian tribes -- Mundas and Uraons--- has hindered complete unity in the Church. Finally, the interment of German missionaries in 1914 left the Church "orphaned" and without financial subsidy. Despite Anglican offers to assume financial responsibility, Indian Gossner leaders expressed their staunch desire to remain confessionally Lutheran. In 1919, through the good offices of the National Missionary Council of India, the Gossner Autonomous Evangelical Lutheran Church was formed and became heir to all mission property. An inter-denominational board of Trustees, of which an American Lutheran was executive secretary, temporarily administered its affairs. Lutherans in America promised "means and men" to maintain the field, and the National Lutheran Council sent subsidies. German missionaries were able to return in 1925, but their service is to an autonomous church. The Lutheran World Federation assisted support of Gossner institutions with grants. The spirit of independence is strong in the Church.

Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church
Membership: 72,000

The Indian Home Mission to the Santals, later known as the Santal Mission of the Northern Churches, came into being in 1867 when a Dane, Hans Peter Boerresen, and a Norwegian, Lars Olsen Skrefsrud, severed their connections with the German Gossner society and began working among a primitive tribe in Western Bengal, known as the Santals. Through the formation of national committees in Denmark and Norway, and later the USA, the Santal Mission came to receive the wide support of Scandinavian Lutherans. The missionaries compiled a Santal Bible, hymnody, and literature. Work was done in the Santali, Boroni, Bengali, and Hindi dialects. As Santal people emigrated to Bihar, Assam, and East Pakistan, Santal missionaries were sent to minister to them and to establish colonies. Missionaries also went to Nepal and Bhutan. Headquarters of the Church is Ebenezer, where a cathedral was built in 1891. An Indian church organization was established in 1953, but with a missionary superintendent. In 1958 a national was elected president of the Church, and administration of properties was turned over to an Indian board of trustees. The Mornai Tea Estate, which furnishes the Church with both employment and income, is under separate administration.  

Sources:

The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church, edited by Julius Bodensieck for the Lutheran World Federation (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1965): Lutheranism in Asia (pages 116-120) by James F. Scherer.

Membership statistics for the Churches are for 1996 from Lutheran World Federation Information, Jan. 9, 1997 Lutheran World Federation, Geneva.

Much Cause for Joy -- and Some for Learning: A Report on 75 Years of Mission in India, by Herbert M. Zorn (Missouri Evangelical Lutheran India Mission, Malappuram, Kerala, 1970)

STATISTICS OF LUTHERAN CHURCH BODIES IN INDIA
Source: Lutheran World Federation Information, Jan. 9, 1997