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Lithuania

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania

Who is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania and what are its ministries?

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania (ELCL), a member of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), describes its mission as: “to proclaim the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to administer the Holy sacraments.”

Today, the ELCL consists of 20,000 members in over fifty congregations. All the Lutheran congregations in Lithuania are part of the ELCL.

The ELCL’s diaconal organization, Sandora, coordinates and leads its social ministry. Sandora provides social services for those in need, and it also places a special emphasis on Lutheran catechesis and Lutheran cultural heritage. The congregations of the ELCL support this ministry.

The ELCL emphasizes youth ministry at a congregational level and as part of the ELCL’s ministry. The Youth Center coordinates and supports the youth ministry programs in the ELCL by offering camps, national gatherings, Bible study, and other activities. The ELCL works with neighboring churches in Latvia and Estonia and from around the world to support its youth ministry programs.

The ELCL maintains ecumenical relationships. It works with its counterpart in Latvia and cultivates ecumenical relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. The ELCL also works together with the Reformed confession within the Lithuanian Council of Churches with whom there is full pulpit and altar fellowship. These ecumenical relationships in Lithuania also support national and international social ministry projects. In 2000 the ELCL declared itself to be in full communion with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and in 2001 the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod reciprocated by declaring a full communion agreement with the ELCL.

How do the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America accompany one another in ministry?

Through the churchwide ELCA Global Mission unit, the ELCA relates to and is in bilateral relationship with over 80 companion churches and institutions. The ELCA Global Mission unit stewards a church-to-church relationship with the ELCL.

This relationship is deepened and extended by the ELCL’s relationship, through the ELCA Companion Synods program, with the Grand Canyon Synod. In 1993 the ELCA helped the ELCL regain confiscated titles and property. Exchange visits between the ELCL and the Grand Canyon Synod are providing opportunities for the two churches to learn about each other’s ministry and to better support each other. 

Churchwide funding through the ELCA Global Mission unit supports key priorities identified by the ELCL that include projects of Sandora, the ELCL’s social ministry organization.

Lithuania: The context in which the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania serves

Lithuania is a parliamentary democracy that was recognized as independent from Russia in 1991; then Russia began to withdraw its troops. Withdrawal of the troops was not completed until 1993, in part over concern for the large Russian minority in the region. Lithuania. More than 3.6 million people live in Lithuania. Lithuanian is the official language, while Russian and Polish are commonly spoken as well. Lithuania is primarily Roman Catholic with some Lutherans.

Lithuania achieved membership in the European Union in May 2004. While the capital shows signs of prosperity, the villages suffer from poor public services, depopulation and alcoholism. Many Lithuanians, mainly younger, are emigrating. Several hundred thousand have left since independence. Lithuania has a small economic system with a small GDP, but Lithuania has shown a higher economic growth rate than other formerly Soviet-dominated countries. Environmental concerns include soil and drinking water contamination. Economic improvement to stem emigration is also a concern.