Guyana

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana

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

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana (ELCG), a member of the Lutheran World Federation, has 5,000 members. The ELCG has been notably successful in bridging differences among East Indians, Africans, Amerindians and others. Its seven pastors, including two ELCA mission personnel, serve 46 active congregations in thirteen multi-point parishes. Pastors care for their own parishes and serve as “acting” pastors in other parishes, significantly increasing their workloads. In addition to fully trained pastors, there are three deacons who are licensed in Word and Sacrament. The tradition of capable lay leadership is strong in the ELCG.

ELCG pastors minister in their communities through feeding programs, literacy and after-school tutoring programs as well as medical outreach services. The ELCG has a Lutheran Camp and Retreat Center for those interested in mission trips or holding retreats.

How do the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana 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 ELCG.

This relationship is deepened and extended by the ELCG's relationship, through the ELCA Companion Synods program, with the Florida-Bahamas Synod.

Churchwide funding through the ELCA Global Mission unit supports key priorities identified by the ELCG, including nutritional feeding programs, diabetic education programs and the medical outreach programs.

Guyana: the context in which the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana serves

Guyana is a republic within the Commonwealth that gained independence from the United Kingdom on May 26, 1966. Just over 700,000 people inhabit Guyana. English, Creole and indigenous dialects are the languages used. Guyana is a society deeply divided along ethnic lines. The urban/rural split between the Africans (descendants of the original slaves) and East Indians has led to racial tensions. Blacks are concentrated in the urban areas, employed in clerical secretarial positions in public bureaucracy, teaching and semi-professional positions. They are predominant in the state structure. Economic growth is a priority, as the minimum wage will not sustain an average family. Emigration to North America is extreme.

The country is over half East Indian with almost a third of the population black and 14% mixed. East Indians predominate in rural areas constituting the bulk of the labor force in the sugar-growing plantations and they comprise nearly all the rice growing industry.

Guyana has three major religious faiths. Half the country is Christian with one-third Hindu and less than a tenth Muslim. It is a country where there is great respect for each other's religion.