Mission History

Peruvian Evangelical Lutheran Church

Although Lutherans have been present in Peru as immigrants since the 19th century, the Peruvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (ILEP) is the result of the work of several different mission ventures in Lima, the capital city. The main work which contributed to the formation of the ILEP was from the Lutheran Church in America (now part of the ELCA) from 1974 until 1982.

LCA missionaries used to work in the marginal urban areas of Lima, and as a result of that work, the Filadelfia Congregation was established in 1969 in the sector of Julio C. Tello, Lurin. In 1970, the church building in Brena, for the congregation Belen was inaugurated. The congregation Luz Divina was established in the sector of Marquez in 1979. In 1980 the small community Hermanos en Amor y Paz was established in Collique.

Three congregations in Lima joined in 1990 to form the Iglesia Luterana Evangelica Peruana (ILEP), which joined the Lutheran World Federation.