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THEN
In 1900, 70 percent of the world’s Christians were European or North American.
When the Lutheran World Convention (the predecessor of today’s Lutheran World Federation) met for the first time in 1923 in Eisenach, Germany, delegates came from 16 European nations, the U.S., Canada, India, China, Australia and South Africa. |
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NOW
Today, the majority of Christians live in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The number of African Christians has increased more than 4,400 percent since 1900. By 2025, there will be almost 600 million Christians in Africa and 456 million in Asia, and by 2100, there will be three times more Christians in the global South than in the North, where Christianity is on the decline.
Worship at the Luzhou Christian Church in Luzhou, China. |
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THEN:
In 1900, Lutheran churches in Africa and Asia were “mission fields” directed by a North American or European church or agency.
In 1941, these students at the United Lutheran Church in America’s Board of Foreign Missions’ School of Missions in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, were preparing to be sent to ULCA mission fields in India, Liberia, British Guiana, Japan, Argentina, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Uruguay and Chile. |
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NOW:
Today, former “mission fields” are now indigenous, independent, self-governing, self-articulating Lutheran churches, all members of the Lutheran World Federation, that direct their own ministries.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana, the second-oldest Lutheran church in the Caribbean, was founded in 1743. |
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THEN:
In 1900, foreign missionaries filled the leadership positions in the mission field.
Between 1883 and 1973, 14 members of the Astrup family served in South Africa. The Rev. Johannes Astrup served in “Zululand” from 1896 to 1947. |
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NOW:
Today, local Lutheran church leaders serve as bishops, pastors, evangelists, teachers.
Members of the Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa welcome their newly consecrated bishop, the Right Rev. J.M. Matsebatlela in Polokwane, South Africa. |
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THEN:
In 1900, the majority of missionaries were ordained pastors serving in primary ministries like evangelism and education. Lay people served in curative health care. Missionaries usually devoted their entire lives to service and came home infrequently.
Beginning in 1923, A.L. Gunderson (center) and his wife Anna Marie (right) organized early mission work in Cameroon and the Central African Republic. In 1928 they were joined by the Rev. and Mrs. Ernest R. Weinhardt (left) and Andrew Okland (far right). |
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NOW:
Today, 70 percent of ELCA missionaries are lay people who are invited by companion churches to serve as specialized medical personnel, development workers, librarians, accountants and teachers of English, science, math and computers. They typically serve two to six years.
David Sensenig teaches English at Martin Luther High School, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia. |
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THEN:
In 1900, missionaries from the north served in the south.
Dr. Anna Sarah Kugler served in Guntur, India, from 1883-1930. Appointed by the General Synod's Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society (WHFMS), she taught for two years (she is shown here with her first matriculating students) and became a medical missionary in 1885. In 1897 she founded the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission Hospital, today called Kugler Hospital. |
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NOW:
Today, more and more missionaries from southern hemisphere countries are bringing their faith witness to northern countries. Lutheran missionaries from Brazil, Japan, the Philippines and El Salvador are developing new ELCA ministries and congregations in New Jersey, Colorado, California, and Wisconsin.
The Rev. Walter Baires (right) was ordained in the Salvadoran Lutheran Synod (El Salvador). Since 2001, he has served at Ascension Lutheran Church, Milwaukee.
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THEN:
In 1900, North American and European churches saw themselves as "senders" of personnel, expertise and money.
Augustana Lutheran Church missionaries the Rev. Emery and Mrs. Elvera Carlson and children served in China from 1939 until 1949, when all western missionaries were expelled. The government began to allow religious expression in 1979.
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NOW:
Today, North American and European churches acknowledge that all members of the body of Christ are gifted. Today the ELCA sends and receives amazing gifts of witness, music, culture, personnel, prayer, and financial support from companion churches.
John Rutsindintwarane, General Secretary of the Lutheran Church of Rwanda, addresses participants at an ELCA Global Mission Event.
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THEN:
In 1900, North American and European churches saw themselves as “establishing churches” that were starting and directing primary missions in other countries.
A committee of missionaries working on a constitution for the new Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon in Ngaoundere, Cameroon, 1960. |
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NOW:
Today, North American and European churches like the ELCA see themselves as “accompanying churches” that build and strengthen companion churches in their ministries by sending missionaries when requested; providing direct grants that support key ministries; and supporting for post-graduate study for global church leaders through scholarship funds.
A Liberian student in the Phoebe Hospital Nursing School serves her practice training at Curran Hospital, a ministry of the Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL). The ELCA has accompanied the Lutheran Church in Liberia through 15 years of civil war and is now assisting the LCL in rebuilding its extensive health care program. |
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