Thohiram. I pray that all of you will take time to pray for ELCM today as we commemorate the 63rd Anniversary of the establishment of ELCM. May our good Lord continue to speak to us to Arise and Build a Reconciling Church.
The Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission (LELM) missionaries from India had been visiting Penang and Singapore in the late 1870s. The year 1877 was a significant year for Lutherans in Malaya as it marked the arrival of Andreas Mayr from the Leipzig Mission in South India to Penang. Rev. August Clemens Schoner of the Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission (LELM) from Germany visited Penang in 1901 together with Rev. Thiruchilluvai Joseph and met Tamil Lutherans who were praying for the establishment of a Lutheran Church in Malaya, most of whom were associate members of either the Methodist or Anglican Church. They found 315 Tamil Lutherans in Penang, Malaya…
The Joint Conference of TELC Malaya made up of the two circles, Penang and Kuala Lumpur, met from 12-13 August 1962 and approved the Constitution of ELCM to form a new diocese with an unchanging doctrinal basis, giving autonomous administrative independence to ELCM from TELC while retaining close connection and full spiritual fellowship with the mother church in India; …Thus, the name of the newly formed Lutheran Church is Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia…The first meeting of the Diocesan Assembly of the new ELCM was from 25th – 26th January 1963 (Read more at https://www.elcm.org.my/?page_id=160)
In Christ,
—
Rt. Rev. Steven Lawrence
Bishop – ELCM
Let Us Arise and Build A Reconciling Church
(2023-2025 Year of Reconciliation)
#AriseandBuild #ELCM
Bishop Steven Lawrence 2024 New Year’s Message
