| Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church | |
| Imagewidth: | 150 |
| Abbreviation: | AELC |
| Main Classification: | Protestant |
| Orientation: | Lutheran |
| Polity: | Episcopal |
| Leader Title: | Moderator |
| Leader Title1: | Moderator/President |
| Associations: | Synods |
| Area: | Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Tamil Nadu Telangana Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
| Language: | Telugu English |
| Headquarters: | Guntur |
| Founder: | Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of America |
| Founded Date: | 1842 |
| Founded Place: | Guntur |
| Congregations: | 5,000+ |
| Members: | 3,500,000+[1] |
| Number Of Followers: | --> |
| Ministers: | B. V. Subbamma R. R. Sundara Rao P. Solomon Raj G. D. Melanchthon |
| Missionaries: | John Christian Frederick Heyer Anna Sarah Kugler W. D. Coleman W. P. Peery, |
Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC)[2] was constituted in the year 1927 in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the Indian successor to the United Lutheran Church in America which was started as a self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating church among Telugu Christians.[3]
Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau of the Danish-Halle Missionary Society at Tranquebar were the first Protestant Missionaries to India who were Lutherans.
The AELC was founded as a mission field of the then General Synod of the Lutheran Church in America by John Christian Frederick Heyer (known as Father Heyer) on 31 July 1842.[7]
As a first step, schools were established. With new baptisms, the confidence of the missionaries increased. Later hospitals were established.
The current Moderator / Bishop of the AELC is Most Rt.Rev.Dr.K.F.PARADESI BABU elected in the recent elections of the AELC, against BY K. Fredrick Paradesi Babu.
For administrative purposes, six synods have been established, each taken care of by a Synod President. A 32-member Executive Council whose members are drawn from the six synods administers the Church society.[8]
The Executive Council of this Church Society elects a set of office-bearers each quadrennium.[9] The Moderator / Bishop heads this century-old Church Society. In earlier nomenclature, the term President was used. However, with the arrival of Rev. G. Emmanuel, the nomenclature was changed to Moderator / Bishop to denote a more ecclesiastical term. However, the term President also continues to be used.
AELC Steering Committee
For long, women's ordination in the AELC was taboo. One of the first theologically trained women of this Church, the Fuller Theological Seminary-educated Rev. Dr B. V. Subbamma[11] could have been ordained long ago. But Church leaders, fearing her leadership kept the issue of women's ordination aside.[12]
However, with sustained efforts and dialogue of Dr. K. Rajaratnam, Rev. Dr. Prasanna Kumari Samuel, and Dr. Monica J. Melanchton of the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute (GLTCRI), the dream of women's ordination became a reality. With the active cooperation of the then President, Bishop G. Emmanuel, seventeen women were ordained into pastoral ministry on 20 February 1999.[11]