As the fairly young and indigenous Lutheran church in the Republic of Congo expands its work, the pastoral training center it set up five years ago is welcoming students from countries in the region.
Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Congo including the president, Rev. Albert Kouita (fourth from right, in blue shirt) and LWF staff, outside the Lutheran Center for Theological Studies in Brazzaville, where the capacity building workshop was held in February. Photo: LWF/Y. Bovey
“An encouraging initiative between three growing churches”
(LWI) – For the last five years, the Lutheran Center for Theological Studies at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Congo (EELC- Église Évangélique Luthérienne du Congo, Republique) has been training not only the church’s pastors but also students from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and from Burundi.
The Congo Brazzaville church joined The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in 2008. It is also a member of the Lutheran Communion in Central and Western Africa (LUCCWA), one of LWF’s sub-regional bodies.
Out of the seven students currently studying at the small center in the capital Brazzaville, three from DRC are members of the emerging Lutheran Church of Congo, a LUCCWA member. Another three are from the Lutheran Church in Burundi, which belongs to the Lutheran Communion in Central and Eastern Africa (LUCCEA). The sub-regional bodies are an important space for LWF member churches to share resources and support one another, and to accompany emerging churches that have expressed interest in joining the LWF.
“The partnership between the EELC and the churches in DRC and Burundi is an encouraging initiative between three growing churches,” noted Rev. Dr Samuel Dawai, LWF Regional Secretary for Africa. “This affirms LWF’s conviction that every church, irrespective of its context, has something to contribute to the Lutheran communion.”
Every church, irrespective of its context, has something to contribute to the Lutheran communion.
Rev. Dr Samuel Dawai, LWF Regional Secretary for Africa.
Dawai and Mr Yann Bovey, LWF Program Support Officer for Diakonia and Development, took part in a capacity building workshop, 20-21 February, with the EELC leadership.
The EELC was founded in 1990 by two Congolese returning from neighboring DRC where they had been initiated into the Lutheran faith. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Congo trained its first two pastors in Cameroon, including the current church President Rev. Albert Koutia. Today, the church has around 3,500 members with 19 pastors.
