Mission History
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon (ELCC) dates its origins to mission work in the 1920s by Norwegian Missionary Society in Ngaoundere and Tibati, among the Mboum ethnic group, and the American missionaries in Mboula among the Gbaya. American mission work was begun in 1923 by Adolph Gunderson under the Sudan mission, an independent American mission. In 1952 the Sudan Mission became part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (which later became part of The American Lutheran Church, an ELCA predecessor). Pastor Gunderson provided early and formative leadership, and consequently, the mission was often called "the Gunderson mission."
The Norwegian Missionary Society came to Ngaoundéré, Cameroon, in 1925. Both the Norwegian Mission Society and the American Lutheran Mission worked together in mission. Together, they established a Lutheran hospital, a school in Ngaoundéré, and a seminary in Meiganga. The mission also focused on literacy projects and biblical translation projects.
Organized as an independent body in 1960, the ELCC began taking responsibility for its personnel and its entire ministry program. Today the ELCC is a member of the Lutheran World Federation and is based in Ngaoundere. With 215,000 members, the ELCC is growing at a rapid rate.