Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church
| Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church | |
|---|---|
Logo of the JELC
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| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Lutheran |
| Leader | The Rev. Sumiyuki Watanabe |
| Associations | Lutheran World Federation, Asian Lutheran Communion, National Christian Council in Japan, Christian Conference of Asia, World Council of Churches |
| Region | Japan |
| Origin | 1898 Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan |
| Congregations | 122 |
| Members | 21,990 baptized |
The Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (日本福音ルーテル教会 Nihon Fukuin Rūteru Kyōkai) or JELC is a Lutheran church in Japan. It currently has approximately 21,990 baptized members in 122 congregations nationwide.
The current president of the JELC is the Rev Sumiyuki Watanabe.
The beginnings of the JELC go back to 1892 when the first missionaries to Japan were sent by the United Synod of the South, a predecessor of the Lutheran Church in America, arrived in Yokohama. The first worship service in Japan was observed on Easter Sunday of 1893 in the city of Saga on the island of Kyūshū under the leadership of James Augustin Brown Scherer and R. B. Peery assisted by a Japanese co-worker, (山内量平).
The first 16 believers were baptised within the first 2 years of the work and by 1898, the JELC was organized with 60 baptised members with the city of Kumamoto becoming the center of Japanese Lutheranism. The first expatriate workers were soon joined by missionaries from the American Danish Lutheran Church (1898) and Finland (1900). The first church building was also consecrated in the city of Saga in 1900.
In 1909, the Lutheran Theological Seminary was established in Kamamoto to train national workers and by 1920 congregations were being established in major cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe. In 1925, the Lutheran Theological Seminary was transferred to Nakano, Tokyo.
Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, the United Church of Christ in Japan (日本キリスト教団 Nihon Kirisuto Kyoudan) (UCCJ) was formed under state pressure and all Protestant denominations were forced to merge with this new body. All foreign missionaries were expelled from the country and some churches were closed in this period. The JELC ceased to exist and only reconstituted themselves upon the end of the war.
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