Tamil Lutherans Rededicate Tranquebar Mission Church in India As Tercentenary Celebrations End, 300 Missionaries Continue Ziegenbalg's Work
TARANGAMBADI, India/GENEVA, 19 July 2006 (LWI) - The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) marked the 300th anniversary of Protestant ministry in India by rededicating the New Jerusalem Church in Tranquebar (known as Tarangambadi in Tamil) on 8 July. The church was first dedicated by the German missionary, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, in 1718.
Thousands of people joined Lutheran church leaders, including Lutheran World Federation (LWF) President Rev. Mark S. Hanson and LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, and other international guests, on the weekend of July 8-9 at the Tranquebar Mission. The German missionaries Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau first arrived there on 9 July 1706.
The Tranquebar Mission buildings were damaged by the December 2004 tsunami. At the weekend's events, hosted by the TELC, many of the restored buildings were showcased, including the New Jerusalem Church. The restoration was carried out in partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
On the last day of the tercentenary celebrations, July 9, the TELC formally opened a new education compound, including the Plütschau Primary School. A procession, led by more than 100 schoolchildren, followed. It made its way through the Tranquebar streets toward the church, where an Ecumenical Jubilee Thanksgiving Service was held.
ELCA Presiding Bishop Hanson preached at the service. He said that although we live in a divided world, our witness as Christians is that we are one. Unity does not mean sameness. We embrace the other not to make them like us, as "Ziegenbalg did not come to make Tamil people Germans or Danes." He came not to teach European customs, but taught Tamil people to take pride in their own ways, he said. Christian ministry continues to worship God and to serve "all suffering humanity," he affirmed, emphasizing the work of Lutherans for "the full participation of Dalits in India's society."
According to TELC Bishop Dr T. Aruldoss, more than 10,000 local Christians drawn from different denominations, attended the concluding celebrations, which had begun July 3 with an inauguration ceremony at the Gurukul Lutheran Theological and Research Institute in Chennai, India. In addition to more than 200 delegates led by officials of the National Council of Churches in India, which groups 29 Orthodox and Protestant churches, over 100 international delegates joined in the celebrations at Tranquebar.
Aruldoss said the highlight of the closing ceremony was the dedication of 12 missionaries (to resemble the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ) "to continue the missionary work (Ziegenbalg) started in India 300 years ago." This is part of the project we have launched to send 300 missionaries to areas where the gospel has not been preached yet," he said. Earlier on July 8, hundreds of local Christians cutting across denominations attended a "missionary revival conference" calling for the number of missionaries to be raised to 3,000 instead of 300.
The Academy of Ecumenical Indian Theology and Church Administration in Chennai held a special convocation on July 7 in honor of those who have contributed to the cause for which Ziegenbalg arrived in India. Of 26 honorary doctorates in divinity, three respectively were awarded to LWF President Hanson, LWF General Secretary Noko, and LWF Department for Mission and Development Secretary for Women in Church and Society, Ms Priscilla Singh.
The TELC, which is affiliated to the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India, has been a member of the LWF since the year of the federation's founding in 1947. Today, the Tamil church has 120,000 members. (589 words)
(With reporting from Ecumenical News International correspondent Anto Akkara, and the ELCA News Service.)
* * *
(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the world, with a total membership of 66.2 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)
[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]
* * *
LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
LWI news online: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html