Fall 2011 | Volume 109 | Number 661
Where in the World Are the Lutherans?
Take a tour of Lutheranism around the globe.
by Gretchen Roberts
Photo Credit: Fry Design LTD/Getty Images
You may have heard that the number of Lutherans is declining, but that's far from the full story. Around the world, the Lutheran faith is alive and growing, and North American Lutherans are helping fuel the movement.
After all, Martin Luther himself spoke of the Platzregen, the passing rain shower, in which the Lord moves from place to place and opens up opportunities around the world with bursts of the Gospel, says Rev. Dr. Albert Collver, director of church relations for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and a Thrivent member.
Let's take a look at the global picture – the joys, the trials and what's different about how Lutherans around the world practice and share their faith.
Africa
By the Numbers:
African Lutheran church membership increased by 691,000 in 2010 to 19.4 million, according to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The LWF says the largest African Lutheran body is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, founded in 1938, with 5.6 million members.
What's Happening:
Most of the world lives in pretty harsh conditions, and in Africa particularly, people experience poverty, disease and political instability, says Collver. "Poverty and death don't make the Gospel more meaningful, but they can prepare the heart to hear the Gospel."
"People walk three or four hours to worship, which then lasts several hours," says Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and a Thrivent member. "Worship is the center of their lives, their days, their weeks. They have high confidence in the presence of the Holy Spirit."
Asia
By the Numbers:
Membership in Asian Lutheran churches rose to almost 9 million this past year, according to the LWF.
What's Happening:
In Asian countries, people face all kinds of fears from their society's traditional beliefs, says Rev. Dan Koelpin, administrator for the Board for World Missions, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and a Thrivent member. "The message of the Gospel, and a God of love, resonates in the context of their harsh circumstances. The spirit of God enables them to see the Gospel's true worth."
Religious attitudes may also be a factor in the church's growth. "One's faith in Asia is not seen as something that we can compartmentalize, but rather a part of everyday life that is not hidden, but talked about openly. It is clear who a taxi driver in India worships from the decorations on the dashboard," says Rev. John L. Mehl, LCMS regional director for Asia Pacific and a Thrivent member.
Perhaps that's why, according to Rev. Dr. William Chang, Asian Lutherans place particular priority on sharing the Gospel. "They are mindful of those who have not found their way home yet and are absent from the spiritual community," says Chang, the Lutheran World Federation secretary for Asia and a pastor in the Lutheran Church in Singapore, which was started in the early 1950s. "Hence, they are always looking for new members to add to the family."
Latin America and the Caribbean
By the Numbers:
Photo Credit: Fry Design LTD/Getty Images
Latin America and the Caribbean increased membership by about 10,000 in 2010 to 1.05 million, according to the LWF.
What's Happening:
Latin Americans greatly value education, Collver says. Though Latin America has a historically strong Roman Catholic presence, Lutherans have arrived and established strong parochial schools.
Europe
By the Numbers:
Although membership in European Lutheran churches is declining (dropping by 400,000 in the past year), Europe is the birthplace of Lutheranism and home to a majority of the world's Lutherans (36.8 million), based on LWF figures.
What's Happening:
Lower birth rates, declining populations, growing secularization and the mobility of younger Europeans have played roles in declining church membership, says Rev. Dr. Eva-Sibylle Vogel-Mfato, the Lutheran World Federation area secretary for Europe. "People leave their traditional homes and churches for jobs, and many don't get attached to new parishes in the city," she says. "At the same time, the church's unique message stands out starkly in contrast to secular society, attracting people who want something different," Collver says.
North America
By the Numbers:
Lutheran church membership in the U.S. and Canada totaled 7.6 million in 2010, decreasing by about 84,000 members, according to the LWF.
What's Happening:
"We need to again become an immigrant church for immigrant people," Hanson says.
Lutherans must reach out, he says, to those in our communities – recent immigrants, minorities and others – who may not fit the traditional German/Scandinavian Lutheran mold. "We have not made a compelling answer to the American question, 'What is the good life?' We need to provide a response that's both compelling and lived," he says. "It's not that pastors don't preach faithfully, but there are so many competing narratives."
As a result, North America and Europe have, in some cases, become mission fields for the global Lutheran church as the church bodies seek to re-energize their traditional strongholds.
"The discussion on mission has been turned on its head, as new churches 'reverse-mission' in countries that originally shared the Gospel with them centuries ago," says Rev. Dr. Chandran Paul Martin, a pastor of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church in India, established in 1919.
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