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Sri Lankan Lutherans consecrate first bishop, seek ILC membership

by | Feb 16, 2023

Participants at the consecration of CELC Bishop Arulchelvan.

SRI LANKA – On October 9 2022, the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC) consecrated its first Bishop, Rev. Arumanayagam Arulchelvan. Approximately 200 members from across the church were present for the event.

The consecration was conducted by Archbishop Joseph Omolo of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), joined also by ELCK Bishops Kispin and Titus. Archbishop Omolo, who also serves as the Africa Region Representative for the International Lutheran Council (ILC), expressed great satisfaction at being able to participate in the event, noting “it was a good opportunity for the Africa region to have fellowship with the Asia region in same-saying the faith and strengthening one another in the Lord.”

ECLK Archbishop Joseph Omolo consecrates CELC Bishop Arulchelvan.

Also present for the consecration were representatives of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), including the church’s Sri Lanka Mission Manager, Rev. Steven Mahlburg, and Regional Director for Asia, Rev. Charles Ferry.

The consecration was the culmination of a long process for the CELC. Plans for the election and consecration of a bishop were initially planned for May 2020, with the ELCK’s Archbishop planning to attend at that time. But the outbreak of civil unrest, in addition to the effects of the pandemic and an economic crisis, led the church to delay its Diocesan Assembly several times.

On September 27, 2022, the church was finally able to hold its Diocesan Assembly, gathering in Colombo. Representatives from every congregation in the church, along with CELC’s pastors and lay evangelists, formally ratified their new constitution and elected Rev. Arulchelvan to be their new bishop. They also elected a Diocesan Council.

CELC Bishop Arulchelvan (centre front) and LCMS Sri Lanka Mission Manager, Rev. Steven Mahlburg (front right), pose with the newly elected Sri Lankan church’s Diocesan Council in September 2022.

The CELC also voted to seek membership in the International Lutheran Council (ILC). The Sri Lankan church previously held membership in the ILC but its membership lapsed in recent years as it attempted to restructure itself. CELC also voted to seek altar and pulpit fellowship with the LCMS, with whom it has historic ties.

The history of Lutheran missions in Sri Lanka, go back more than 150 years but the CELC traces its particular history to 1958 when Rev. James Fergin, an LCMS missionary from India, arrived to minister to Tamil workers in Sri Lanka’s tea plantations. This eventually led to the formation of the Lanka Lutheran Church in 1978.

In 1983, civil war broke out Sri Lanka—war which would last for 26 years and put significant pressure on the church. The Lanka Lutheran Church’s government registration subsequently lapsed in the mid-2000s, though the church itself continued to function.

A few years after the civil war ended in 2009, the LCMS began to send resident missionaries to Sri Lanka again, helping the church to reconstitute itself. The church eventually obtained new government registration in 2017 under its new name: the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Today, the CELC has about 15 congregations and mission stations; four ordained pastors; five lay evangelists; and an approximate membership of 2,000 people. The vast majority of people in the country are Buddhist, with Christians making up just over seven percent of the population, meaning outreach can be difficult. Historic tensions between Tamil and Singalese people in the country also create challenges.

The LCMS’ Sri Lanka Mission Manager, Rev. Mahlburg, encourages Lutherans across the world to remember the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church in prayer. “Though they’re small in numbers, there is a core group of Christians in Sri Lanka that are committed Lutherans,” he says. “They are proud of their heritage and are struggling to carry out the ministry there and reach out to people as they are able.”

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Hong Kong’s Lutherans reelect President Yung

by | Jul 30, 2018

LCHKS President Allan Yung speaks at a 2014 event marking 65 years of Lutheran ministry in Hong Kong.

HONG KONG – The Lutheran Church Hong Kong Synod (LCHKS) held its General Conference on April 28, 2018, at which time Rev. Dr. Allan Yung was reelected as President.

This will be Dr. Yung’s eighth term as president. He has served the LCHKS as President since 1997.

A major subject of discussion during the 2018 General Conference were recent decisions by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) to relocate its Asia region headquarters from Hong Kong to Taiwan, and to sell three Hong Kong properties. The LCMS announced in February its decision to relocate in order to “reduce costs and increase the church’s effectiveness in reaching the lost,” noting that Hong Kong is among the most expensive places in the world to work and live.

The move to Taiwan was also intended to “encourage and build up the LCMS partner church in that republic, the China Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC),” the announcement notes. CELC President Andrew Miao welcomed the transition to Taiwan, saying he looked forward “to better and increased cooperation and partnership with the LCMS in the work of the Gospel here.”

At the time the relocation was announced, LCMS Director Charles Ferry pledged that LCMS support for the Lutheran Church Hong Kong Synod would remain unchanged. “We remain committed to supporting our partners in the Lutheran Church Hong Kong Synod,” he said. “Our church partners in Hong Kong and surrounding communities will notice no interruption in our work together.”

During their recent convention, the LCHKS recognized the LCMS’ legal right to sell properties it owns in Hong Kong, but expressed a desire for greater consultation in the future, especially since the LCMS owns several properties that are utilized by LCHKS congregations. To that end, the convention resolved unanimously to pray for the LCMS; to work for a greater relationship between the two synods founded in “Christian love cooperation, and mutual respect;” and to direct the LCHKS’ Executive Council to seek the legal transfer of LCMS properties used by LCHKS congregations from the LCMS to the LCHKS.

The Lutheran Church Hong Kong Synod was born out of LCMS missions, which first began in China more than a century ago. Both churches are members of the International Lutheran Council, a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies.

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LCMS meets with ELS, WELS representatives

by | Jan 24, 2014

wels-els-lcmsTUCSON, ARIZONA – Representatives from The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS), and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) met for three days of meetings in December 2013 in Tucson, Arizona, in keeping with the encouragement given by the 2013 conventions of both WELS and the LCMS.

The meeting—a follow-up to a similar meeting held in December 2012—was intended as an opportunity for informal discussions to clarify doctrinal positions and to gain a better understanding of current situations in each church body. While those who were at the meeting held various leadership positions in ELS, WELS, and the LCMS, these talks did not take place among the churches’ constitutionally established bodies for formal doctrinal discussions. No decisions were made and no formal declarations were adopted.

The major topic for discussion was Church and Ministry. Participants gained a better understanding of the doctrinal positions each synod holds when it comes to the definition of “the Church,” and also had the opportunity to discuss in some detail the perceptions and understandings of the public ministry. The talks helped to clarify some issues, remove some misunderstandings, and shed light on the various terminology used in the three synods.

The talks were cordial and beneficial. All involved are committed to striving for a better understanding of where there is agreement and where genuine differences remain. The group agreed to hold another meeting in the coming year.

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is a member church of the International Lutheran Council and has approximately 2.2 million members. The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (380 thousand members) and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (20 thousand members) are American churches in full-fellowship with each other. WELS and ELS are member churches of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference.

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