CELC - Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference
President Dan Koelpin
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Waukesha, WI 53188 Contact Via Email
Lutheran Church of Central Africa—Malawi
WELS Missionaries Hoenecke and Wacker first came to Africa in 1949. A church was founded outside present day Lusaka, Zambia in 1953. In November 1955, the "Rhodesian Lutheran Church Conference" was founded. In 1962, the church body was renamed the "Lutheran Church of Central Africa."
Exploratory trips were made in Malawi, from Zambia in 1962. On June 16, 1963, worship services began in Blantyre, Malawi with Missionaries Cox and Mueller. In 1965, Missionary R. Mueller was sent back to Zambia and was replaced by seminary graduate John Janosek in 1966.
In 1969 a teacher training school was opened in Lusaka, Zambia. In 1981, part of the worker training school was transferred to Lilongwe, Malawi. Today, Malawi heads the Lutheran Bible Institute, while Zambia runs the Seminary.
From its beginning in 1963, Malawi has seen steady growth in every aspect of the work. Today, there are over 39,000 baptized souls in Malawi.
Church Body Statistics
Members: 39,214
Established Congregations: 128
National Pastors: 25
Students training for ministry: 22 (Lutheran Bible Institute -7, Seminary - 10, Vicars - 5) Expatriate Missionaries: 6
Current Church Body President: Rev. K. Chinyanga