Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
Official logo of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea.
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Lutheranism
Polity	Episcopal
Associations	World Council of Churches, Lutheran World Federation, Pacific Conference of Churches, Papua New Guinea Council of Churches
Region	Papua New Guinea
Congregations	2000
Members	900,000 baptized
Ministers	2,800
Hospitals	12
Primary schools	170
Secondary schools	11
Tertiary institutions	6
Official website	http://www.elcpng.org/
Head Bishop - Rt. Rev. Jack Urame General Secretary - Bernard Kaisom Assistant Bishop - Rev. Lucas Kedabeng

Head Bishop - Rt. Rev. Jack Urame

General Secretary - Bernard Kaisom

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea is a Protestant church denomination located in Papua New Guinea that professes the Lutheran branch of the Christian faith. The Church is incorporated by a 1991 Act of the Parliament of Papua New Guinea and it has a baptized membership of approximately 900,000 members.

It is a member of the:

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea grew out of the work of the Neuendettelsau Mission Society (1886) and the Rhenish Mission Society (1887), both from Germany. During World War II all missionaries left the area, and many mission stations, churches, schools and hospitals were damaged. In spite of this, the indigenous church leaders and local Christians stood firm in the work of the church. After the war the Lutheran churches in Australia and North America were asked to help reconstruct the church in Papua New Guinea, working together as the Lutheran Mission New Guinea. In 1956 expatriate missionaries and indigenous church leaders gathered and formed the present indigenous church. At the time of its founding the church was called Evangelical Lutheran Church of New Guinea (ELCONG), and its founding bishop was an expatriate missionary from the American Lutheran Church. The first indigenous bishop was elected in 1973. In 1975, on the eve of the country's independence, the name of the church was changed to Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELCPNG). In 1977 the church was officially declared autonomous and another local Lutheran church organized by the Australian Lutheran Mission joined with the ELCPNG. It has long had close relations with the Gutnius Lutheran Church, largely in Enga Province, whose origins were American Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, and shares clergy college in Lae.