The 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.
History
Early history
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, .
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.
Second World War
Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, the (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.
Post war period
The end of the Second World War saw an influx of foreign missionaries, particularly from the United States. As many as 12 different Lutheran denominations and mission societies established work in Japan. Former Lutheran members from the UCCJ met in Kamamoto in 1947 and decided to withdraw from the UCCJ and re-establish the JELC.
The JELC worked in close cooperation with many of the mission agencies and in 1963, the Tokai Lutheran Mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church merged with the JELC. In 1969, the Lutheran Theological Seminary was moved to Mitaka, Tokyo and in the same year the JELC embarked on a 5-year plan to achieve self-sufficiency and by 1974, the goals set forth had generally been achieved.
Current developments
In 1993, a Mission Centennial Assembly was held in Kumamoto. Despite having a comparatively small membership with most congregations having less than 50 members, the JELC has sent successive missionaries to serve among Japanese immigrants in Brazil, serving with the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil, as well as to the United States among expatriate Japanese.
A ten-year evangelism and church restructuring program known as Power Mission 21 was adopted in 2002 to move the JELC into a new era of true independence through structural reformation and a renewed emphasis on evangelism. This includes an emphasis on youth evangelism as well as fostering the Christian growth of youth, the strengthening of the laity and lay led evangelism, clergy continuing education and a program for clergy review, as well as church/congregational restructuring in order to strengthen outreach.
Structure & organization
The current president of the JELC is the Rev. Masatoshi Yamanouchi who formerly served as the Executive Director of the JELC. The JELC is divided into 5 regional districts which are further subdivided into geographical areas and institutions.
List of districts
Kyūshū District link
Congregations in the prefectures of Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Saga, Nagasaki, Ōita, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima Western District link Congregations in the prefectures of Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Okayama, Hiroshima, Shimane, Kagawa, Ehime, and Yamaguchi Tokai District link Congregations in the prefectures of Shizuoka, Aichi, and Gifu Eastern District link Congregations in the prefectures of Miyagi, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, and Nagano Hokkaido District link Congregations in the prefecture of Hokkaidō
Ministries
Throughout the history of the JELC, education has been emphasized along with evangelism. Social welfare has also long been an important part of the JELC's work.