Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
Kanisa la Kiinjili la Kilutheri Tanzania
Logo of the ELCT
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationLutheran
PolityModified episcopal polity with some powers reserved to the congregation as in congregationalism
LeaderFredrick Onael Shoo[1]
AssociationsGlobal Forum, LWF, LUCCEA. AACC, WCC, CCT, ACT, MAF, TCRS
RegionTanzania and Zanzibar
HeadquartersArusha, Tanzania
OriginJune 19, 1963 [2]
Branched fromFederation of Lutheran Churches in Tanganyika
Congregations1,104
Members7,916,253 (2020)[3]
Ministers1,500
Official websitehttp://www.elct.org/

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT; Swahili: Kanisa la Kiinjili la Kilutheri Tanzania) is the federation of Lutheran churches in Tanzania and one of the largest Lutheran denominations in the world, with more than 6 million members, or 13% of the Tanzanian population. It is the second largest Lutheran church in the world and the largest Lutheran church in East Africa.[4][5]

The church is led by a presiding bishop and twenty-five diocesan bishops, representing 26 dioceses. The Head Office of the Church is in Arusha, where it has owned the New Safari Hotel since 1967. The church is affiliated with the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), the Christian Council of Tanzania, the Global Confessional and Missional Lutheran Forum, and the Lutheran World Federation.

The ELCT is an organization which reaches out to the people of Tanzania offering worship opportunities, Christian education, and numerous social services, including disaster response, healthcare, and AIDS education and relief.[6]

History

The first Lutheran missionaries arrived in what was then German East Africa in 1887, when the Evangelical Missionary Society for East Africa (EMS), based in Berlin, Germany, established a missionary station at Kigamboni, Dar es Salaam. The second group of missionaries was also from Germany, entering via South Africa and settling in the Southern Highlands region of Tanzania. Similar missions from Germany continued to arrive in the region continuously throughout the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. This mission activity continued in spite of the interruption of the Hehe Wars in 1891, the Maji Maji Uprising of 1905–1907, World War I, and World War II.

In 1938, seven Lutheran churches were loosely gathered into the Federation of Lutheran Churches in Tanganyika. The member churches then merged to become the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.[7]

In 1964, Johannes Lilje, then presiding bishop of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, consecrated Stefano Moshi, who had been elected as the first president of the newly formed church body and who had been an advocate for the establishment of episcopacy, as the first presiding bishop of the ELCT.[8]

Organization

The seat of the church is in Arusha. It is financed mainly from collections and donations as well as through project grants from churches in the Global North.[9]

The ELCT is led by a presiding bishop, or "Mkuu", who is elected to serve four year terms,[10] and 24 bishops who preside over their local dioceses. The presiding bishop is elected for a four-year term from amongst the nishops of the dioceses. The ELCT's current presiding pishop is Fredrick Onael Shoo.

Presiding bishops

Period Name
1964–1976 Stefano Moshi
1976–1992 Sebastian Kolowa
1994–2007 Samson Mushemba
2007–2016 Alex Malasusa
2016–2023 Fredrick Onael Shoo[11]
2024– Alex Malasusa[12]

Clergy and Church Body

The ELCT employs 1360 ordained pastors (28 of them overseas), 3000 lay evangelists, and 300 community officers to aid the work of the church (2014 figures). Women are not ordained in all ELCT dioceses; however, as of 1990, the national church does ordain women. Ordination of women is a sensitive topic in the ELCT and the church is largely split. Currently, local dioceses make their own decision on whether to ordain women or not.

The ELCT is one of the fastest growing churches in the world, with an annual growth in baptized members of around 8%.

Social Services

Social service programming is central to the mission of the ELCT. The social services offered by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania include the following departments:[13]

  • Education (Secondary and University)
  • Finance and Administration
  • Health and Medical Care (21 hospitals and numerous local pharmacies)
  • Mission and Evangelism
  • Planning and Development
  • Social Services and Women's Work
  • HIV/AIDS Program
  • Disaster Response

Dioceses

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania consists of the following regional dioceses:

  • Central Diocese[14]
  • Dodoma Diocese[15]
  • East of Lake Victoria Diocese[16]
  • Eastern & Coastal Diocese[17]
  • Iringa Diocese[18]
  • Karagwe Diocese[19]
  • Konde Diocese[20]
  • Lake Tanganyika Diocese[21]
  • Mara Region Diocese[22]
  • Mbulu Diocese[23]
  • Meru Diocese[24]
  • Morogoro Diocese[25]
  • Mwanga Diocese
  • Northern Diocese[26]
  • North-Central Diocese[27]
  • North-Eastern Diocese[28]
  • North-Western Diocese[29]
  • Pare Diocese[30]
  • Ruvuma Diocese[31]
  • Southern Diocese[32]
  • South-Central Diocese[33]
  • South-East of Lake Victoria Diocese[34]
  • South-Eastern Diocese[35]
  • South-Western Diocese[36]
  • Ulanga Kilombero[37]
  • West Central Diocese

Beliefs

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is associated with the theology of Martin Luther, with its official confessional writings found in the Book of Concord. Lutheranism generally accepts the unaltered Augsburg Confession (not the variata) as a true witness to the Gospel. Lutheran clergy tend not to subscribe to a doctrine of Biblical inerrancy, but see validity in various scholarly methods of analysis to help in understanding the Bible.[38] This is in concord with most moderate Protestant bodies and in contrast to the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in the United States, which practices the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation.

Like other Lutheran church bodies, the ELCT confesses two sacraments: Communion (or the Eucharist) and Holy Baptism (including infant baptism). Confession and absolution is often included as a sacrament; however, as it is a return to the forgiveness given in baptism, strictly speaking, there are only two sacraments.

With respect to the eucharist or communion, the ELCT holds to the Lutheran doctrine of the sacramental union, that is, that Christ's body and blood is truly present "in, with and under" the bread and wine.[39] All communicants orally receive not only bread and wine, but also the same body and blood of Christ that was given for them on the cross.[40] Members of other denominations sometimes refer to this as a belief in consubstantiation. Lutherans, however, reject the philosophical explanation of consubstantiation, preferring to consider the presence of the Lord's body and blood as mysterious rather than explainable by human philosophy. The Lutheran belief in the holy mystery character of the consecrated bread and wine is more similar to that of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief than to the views of most Protestants. In contrast, most Protestant church bodies doubt or openly deny that the actual body and blood of Christ is eaten in the Lord's Supper.

Relations with other churches

The ELCT decided to establish a relationship with the North American Lutheran Church, and both churches approved a "Memorandum of Understanding" at a convocation held in August 2013, paving the way for full communion between the two churches.[41]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ELCT Press Release 001/05/2004". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  2. ↑ "Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania -- Homepage". www.elct.org. Archived from the original on 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2004-09-26.
  3. ↑ "Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania". News and Events. EECMY. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Tanzania | The Lutheran World Federation". Lutheranworld.org. Archived from the original on 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  5. ↑ "ELCT Press Release". News Releases. Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-02-21. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  6. ↑ "ELCT". www.elct.org. Archived from the original on 2022-01-23. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  7. ↑ "A Short history". Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. 2007. Archived from the original on 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  8. ↑ Nehemia Godwin Moshi. "Stretching the Drum Skin" (PDF). Åbo Akademi University Press. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-03-09. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  9. ↑ "ELCT". www.elct.org. Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  10. ↑ "Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania -- Homepage". www.elct.org. Archived from the original on 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2004-09-26.
  11. ↑ 5th Presiding Bishop To Be Installed, ELCT Press Release, Date: January 18, 2016 Press release No. 001/01/2016 Archived September 20, 2021, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ Malasusa reelected as head of ELCT, The Citizen August 26, 2023
  13. ↑ "ELCT Social Services". www.elct.org. Archived from the original on 2022-01-23. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  14. ↑ "Central Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  15. ↑ "Dodoma Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  16. ↑ "East of Lake Victoria Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  17. ↑ "Eastern & Coastal Diocese". Elct.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  18. ↑ "Iringa Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  19. ↑ "Karagwe Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  20. ↑ "Konde Diocese". Elct.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  21. ↑ "Lake Tanganyika Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  22. ↑ "Mara Region Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  23. ↑ "Mbulu Diocese". Elct.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  24. ↑ "Meru Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  25. ↑ "Morogoro Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  26. ↑ "Northern Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 6 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  27. ↑ "North-Central Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  28. ↑ "North-Eastern Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  29. ↑ "North-Western Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  30. ↑ "Pare Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  31. ↑ "Ruvuma Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  32. ↑ "Southern Diocese". Elct.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  33. ↑ "South-Central Diocese". Elct.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  34. ↑ "South-East of Lake Victoria Diocese". Elct.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  35. ↑ "South-Eastern Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  36. ↑ "South-Western Diocese". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  37. ↑ "Ulanga Kilombero". Elct.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  38. ↑ See The Bible Archived 2008-08-29 at the Wayback Machine or Higher Criticism Archived October 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine in the Christian Cyclopedia.
  39. ↑ The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article 8, The Holy Supper, paragraph 38 Archived 2019-10-21 at the Wayback Machine.
  40. ↑ Cf. unaltered Augsburg Confession, Article 10: Of the Lord's Supper Archived 2011-08-10 at the Wayback Machine.
  41. ↑ "Memorandum of Understanding between The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania and The North American Lutheran Church, NALC Official Website, 8 August 2013" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
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