Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church

Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church (NELC) is a multi-lingual Lutheran

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

Christian church

Christian Church

The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...

that is centred mainly in three states of North India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

- Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

, Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

and Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

. The reach of the Church extends into Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

and the NELC also works in Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

.

The Church was founded in 1868 by Hans Peter Boerresen, a Dane

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, and Lars Olsen Skrefsrud

Lars Olsen Skrefsrud

Lars Olsen Skrefsrud was a Norwegian missionary and language researcher in India. Together with Hans Peter Børresen he is regarded as the founder of the Norwegian missionary organization Santalmisjonen...

, a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.. NELC missionary Paul Olaf Bodding

Paul Olaf Bodding

Paul Olaf Bodding was a Norwegian missionary, linguist and folklorist. He served in India for 44 years , and operated mainly from the town Dumka in the Santhal Parganas-district...

invented the Santali latin alphabet

Santali latin alphabet

The Santali Latin alphabet was invented in the 1890s by the Norwegian missionary Paul Olaf Bodding, and is still used by most Santals, especially the members of the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church ....

that is still used by people in the region today. Santals

Santals

The Santhal , are the largest tribal community in India, who live mainly in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam. There is also a significant Santal minority in neighboring Bangladesh, and a small population in Nepal....

form the majority of church members, with Boro

Bodo people

The Bodos are an ethnic and linguistic community, early settlers of Assam in the North-East of India. According to the 1991 census, there were 1.2 million Bodos in Assam which makes for 5.3% of the total population in the state. Bodos belong to a larger ethnic group called the Bodo-Kachari. The...

and Bengali

Bengali people

The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...

people comprising most of the rest of the members. Currently, it has 85,000 baptized members.

The NELC took its present name in 1958 and its headquarters are situated in Dumka

Dumka

Dumka, headquarters of Dumka district, is a city and municipality in the state of Jharkhand, India. It was made the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana region which was carved out of Bhagalpur and Suri districts after The Great Santal Hul 1855. Presently, it is the commissionary headquarter of...

, a growing educational center northeast of Calcutta. 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

Mornai Tea Estate

Mornai Tea Estate in Goalpara, Assam, India: The estate is the property of the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church. It was established by a Norwegian, Lars Olsen Skrefsrud, and has for many years been operated by administors of the The Indian Home Mission to the Santals...

in Goalpara, Assam, is owned by the church. The NELC runs several health centers and community health programs and has its main hospital in Mohulpari, Jharkhand

Jharkhand

Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...

See also