Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church (NELC) is a multi-lingual Lutheran Christian church that is centred mainly in four states of North India - Jharkhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Bengal. The reach of the Church extends into Nepal [1] and the NELC also works in Bhutan. It is one of the three Lutheran denominations in northeast India along with the Bodo Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teaching of Martin Luther, a 16th century German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation. The reaction of the government and church authorities to the international spread of his writings, beginning with the 95 Theses, divided Western Christianity.
India, also known as the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is the second most populous country as well as the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Jharkhand is a state in eastern India, carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. The state shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Chhattisgarh to the west, Odisha to the south and West Bengal to the east. It has an area of 79,710 km2 (30,778 sq mi). It is the 16th largest state by area, and the 14th largest by population. Hindi is official language of the state. The city of Ranchi is its capital and Dumka its sub capital. The state is known for its waterfalls, hills and holy places. Baidyanath Dham, Parasnath and Rajrappa are major religious places.
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The Church was founded in 1868 by Hans Peter Boerresen, a Dane, and Lars Olsen Skrefsrud, a Norwegian. [2] NELC missionary Paul Olaf Bodding invented the Santali latin alphabet that is still used by people in the region today. Santals form the majority of church members, with Boro and Bengali people comprising most of the rest of the members. Currently, it has more than 85,000 baptized members. [3]
Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country and the southernmost of the Scandinavian nations. Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and is bordered to the south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark proper consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. The islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. Denmark has a total area of 42,924 km2 (16,573 sq mi), land area of 42,394 km2 (16,368 sq mi), and the total area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 (853,509 sq mi), and a population of 5.8 million.
Lars Olsen Skrefsrud was a Norwegian Lutheran missionary and language researcher in India.
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe whose territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula; the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard are also part of the Kingdom of Norway. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land.
The NELC took its present name in 1958 and its headquarters are situated in Dumka, a growing educational center northeast of Kolkata. The church provides theological training and education. The NELC is one of ten members of the United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India. Mornai Tea Estate in earlier it was Goalpara district now recently formed Kokrajhar district, Assam, is owned by the church. The NELC runs several health centers and community health programs and has its main hospital in Mohulpahari, Jharkhand.
Dumka, the headquarters of the Dumka district and Santhal Pargana region, is a City in the state of Jharkhand, India. It was made the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana region, which was carved out of the Bhagalpur and Birbhum district after the Santal Hool of 1855. Dumka was carved out of the southern part of Bihar along with 18 other Districts on 15 November 2000 to form Jharkhand as 28th State of India. Dumka is a peaceful and green city is also sub-capital of Jharkhand. The nearest important cities are Rampurhat and Deoghar.
