We're grateful that the three churches of Namibia have kindly offered to host the Assembly, working together through a common platform, the United Church Council of the Namibian Evangelical Lutheran Churches. The council expresses the Lutheran churches’ commitment to work, live and celebrate together.
Please visit the Assembly site of the United Church Council.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia - German Evangelical Lutheran Church
With 5000 members, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (German Evangelical Lutheran Church) is the smallest of the three Lutheran churches in Namibia. The church’s eight pastors are supplemented by German-speaking pastors from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany. The ELCIN (GELC) trains lay-preachers and lay-readers, and offers courses in congregational leadership.
The youth organization, Jugendnetzwerk, employs two youth pastors. The church publishes a magazine, Perspektiven, which offers a platform for authors to reflect on issues, such as language, land distribution and youth. The church supports a home for the elderly and a project that reaches out to people who are mentally challenged.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia
With 772,400 members - about a third of the Namibian population - the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia is the country’s largest Lutheran church. Most parishes are located in rural areas. The church runs various social institutions and centers, such as two secondary schools, the Onandjokwe Lutheran Medical Mission, the Engela Parish Institute and the ELCIN Rehabilitation Centre.
Paulinum United Lutheran Theological Seminary is the only school of theology to prepare young men and women to take up the challenge of pastoral ministry toward God’s people. Both the church and its sister church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia, run this theological seminary. The ELOC Printing Press provides books, newspapers, and articles to parishes and businesses.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia
The ELCRN offers community and social services in four main areas. It carries out mission work in five rural areas. Evangelization is practiced in towns and rural areas, farms and communal areas, mining towns and cities. The mission to provide Christian education is manifest in its kindergartens, Sunday Schools, and youth, women’s and men’s groups. The church has an HIV and AIDS program, a social development desk, diaconal services in prisons and hospitals, hostels in rural areas, old age homes and soup kitchens.
Its 420,000 members cover 55 parishes. The church is mostly active in central and southern Namibia. In addition to clergy and office staff, it employs 188 hostel and kindergarten workers.