Lutherans Celebrate 300 Years of Ministry in India

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg arrived in
Tranquebar on the southeast coast of India on July 9, 1706, to
bring Lutheran piety to the Tamil people.  He became a part of
the Tamil culture, and 300 years later the mission he founded and
the people he influenced celebrate his arrival.
     A 16-member delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) will be on hand to help Lutherans in India
celebrate the tercentenary of Ziegenbalg's arrival.  Programs are
planned July 1-9 at the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and
Research Institute, Chennai (formerly Madras), and in Tranquebar
(Tarangambadi), India.
     "We want to be in solidarity with our Lutheran sisters and
brothers in India on this very important celebration," said the
Rev. Joseph K. Chu, director for mission interpretation and
support -- Asia and Pacific, ELCA Global Mission.
     "The Lutheran church started when the Rev. Ziegenbalg
arrived in Tranquebar and engaged earnestly in evangelism 300
years ago," Chu said.  "Not only did he have the zeal for
evangelism and dedication, he was a gifted linguist.  He quickly
learned the Tamil language and made the gospel understandable for
people."
     "This is probably one of the earliest if not the earliest
Lutheran mission in Asia," Chu said.  "We have much to learn from
our Lutheran sisters and brothers in India on how they have
struggled to keep the ministry growing over the past 300 years."
     The celebration begins July 1 with the opening of an
exhibition in Chennai on the history of Lutheran mission in
India.
     His Excellency Thiru Surjit Singh Barnala, governor of
India's Tamil Nadu, has been invited to deliver an inaugural
address July 3 for the celebration on the Gurukul campus.
India's minister for communication and information, Thiru
Dayanidhi Maran will issue a commemorative stamp in honor of
Ziegenbalg.  Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi, Tamil scholar and former
chief minister of Tamil Nadu, will address the gathering.
     A seminar on Ziegenbalg's contributions to civil society,
such as the printing and translation of the Bible into Tamil,
production of the first Tamil grammar book and his pioneering
work in herbal medicine, will be offered July 4 in Chennai.
     July 5-6 will feature an international consultation on
Christian mission.  Seminar leaders will come from Egypt,
Germany, India, Sweden and the United States, including the Rev.
Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA and president of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF).
     The LWF is a global communion representing 62.3 million of
the world's nearly 65.4 million Lutherans.  It is based in
Geneva, Switzerland.
     The Academy of Ecumenical Indian Christian Theology and
Church Administration will host a convocation July 7 in honor of
those who contributed to the cause for which Ziegenbalg arrived
in India.
     July 8 the celebration will move about 140 miles south down
the Indian Ocean's Bay of Bengal to Tranquebar for a rededication
of the New Jerusalem Church, which Ziegenbalg first dedicated in
1718.  Ziegenbalg died the next year, at the age of 37, and his
body was buried at the church.
     An Ecumenical Jubilee Thanksgiving Service in Tranquebar
will mark the tercentenary July 9 to praise God for the service
of Ziegenbalg.  Hanson and other international guests will lead
worship.
     "India holds a special place in my heart," said the Rev.
Angela L. Shannon, Trinity English Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne,
Ind.  She completed her third year of seminary education with a
parish internship at the Lutheran Center in Hyderabad, India,
through ELCA Global Mission's Horizon Internship Program.
     "My internship was a watershed experience that enlarged my
vision of God's activity in the world.  Consequently, it changed
my life and they way that I do ministry even today," Shannon
said.
     "My sisters and brothers in India modeled the ministry of
hospitality for me in a way that goes beyond mere entertaining.
It is this lesson that I have carried and embodied the whole of
my ministry with God's people," she said.
     "I would like to establish relationships between members of
Trinity English Lutheran Church, where I serve as associate
pastor for mission and outreach, and members of a local Lutheran
church in Chennai with an eye toward taking a group (from Fort
Wayne) there for a visit," Shannon added.
     In addition to Chu, Hanson and Shannon, other members of the
ELCA delegation will be the Rev. Karen Bockelman, assistant to
the bishop, ELCA Northeastern Minnesota Synod, Duluth; Becky
Cusey, vice president, ELCA Northwestern Minnesota Synod,
Moorhead; Ruth Fairchild, vice president, Women of the ELCA,
Northern Illinois Synod, Rockford; Lucy Francisco, student,
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa.; Frank Imhoff,
associate director, ELCA News Service; Terri Lackey, managing
editor, Lutheran Woman Today, Women of the ELCA; Andrea Pohlmann,
editorial production manager, The Lutheran magazine; Esther
Prabhakar, vice president, ELCA Northern Illinois Synod,
Rochelle; the Rev. Rafael Malpica-Padilla, executive director,
ELCA Global Mission; Art Milton, chair, Global Mission, ELCA
Northern Illinois Synod, Rock Island ;Kathryn S. Montira,
student, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa; the Rev.
Rolf P. Wangberg, bishop, ELCA Northwestern Minnesota Synod,
Moorhead; and the Rev. Gary Wollersheim, bishop, ELCA Northern
Illinois Synod, Rockford.
-- -- --
     Gurukul Lutheran Theological College maintains information
on the tercentenary at http://www.gltc.edu/tercentenary/ on the
Web.  The ELCA delegation will host a blog (Web log) at
http://lutheransinindia.blogspot.com/ during the trip.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog