Pastors from the ELCT prepare for the procession preceding the worship service to mark the 50th anniversary of the church. © LWF/H. Martinussen
“That they may all be one”
(LWI) From 22 to 23 June 2013, an estimated 1,500 people attended celebrations at the Tumaini University Makumira (TUMA) in Arusha, Tanzania, marking 50 years since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) was established.
On 19 June 1963, seven Lutheran churches in the country merged to become the Evangelical Lutheran Church in then Tanganyika, later renamed Tanzania.
“That they may all be one” (John 17:21) was the theme of the 50th anniversary celebrations which began with an exhibition on 21 June inaugurated by ELCT Presiding Bishop Alex G. Malasusa, who also serves as LWF Vice-President for the Africa region. Speakers at an academic day on 22 June gave perspectives on the current challenges and opportunities for the church.
The jubilee festivities culminated in an elaborate celebration service on 23 June attended by ELCT members including current and retired bishops and pastors from all over the country, international guests from churches and partner organizations, and representatives of other faiths as well as government officials. Seven choirs and a brass band added to the vivacity of the Sunday service at which a publication was launched on Lutheran identity in the ELCT.
LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge joined the celebrations and offered greetings in which he expressed deep gratitude to the ELCT for its meaningful participation in the LWF. He cited some of the many gifts received from the Tanzanian Lutheran church, including the hosting of the 1977 LWF Assembly in Dar es Salaam; the leadership of Bukoba Bishop Josiah Kibira as LWF President from 1977 to 1984, and that of Presiding Bishop Malasusa as vice-president.
Junge also acknowledged with gratitude ELCT’s remarkable witness through its “support in mission to neighboring churches, as well as your patient accompaniment to churches facing trial and struggle.”
The general secretary emphasized the relationships of mutuality and reciprocity to which churches in the Lutheran communion are called. Recalling the late Bishop Kibira’s vision for the LWF, he noted that, “There is no church, so big in numbers, so wealthy in resources, and with such a long history that it would not be able to receive gifts from others. [And] there is no church so small in numbers, so challenged by resources and so young in history that it wouldn’t be able to share the gifts that God has endowed her with,” Junge noted.
In view of recent violence in the country attributed to religious differences, the general secretary encouraged the ELCT to sustain the vision of religions as building blocks that uphold the dignity and freedom of every person. “Religions are never meant to be a stumbling block for societies that aim at living in peace and justice,” Junge emphasized, as he urged the Tanzanian church “to be ambassadors of God’s reconciliation.”
As a member of the global Lutheran communion, the Tanzanian church is committed to a holistic approach to mission, including proclamation, service and advocacy. During the celebrations, Malasusa underlined the importance for the ELCT “to continue preaching the gospel to all people in and out of the country and to raise its prophetic voice.”
Lutheran missionaries started mission work in current Tanzania almost 150 years ago. The unified ELCT joined the LWF in 1964, with Bishop Stefano R. Moshi as the first bishop of the 450,000-member church. By the end of May 2013, the ELCT had 22 dioceses encompassing 6 million Lutherans.
LWF’s presence in Tanzania includes humanitarian and community development work by the Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service (TCRS), the LWF Department for World Service associate program, which was started in 1964.
