The Executive Council is the elected governing body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana . After the Annual Convention it is the highest governing body. It is made of nine persons. The Constitution dictates that there would be four clergy and five lay persons on the Executive Council. Another constitutional requirement is that the Presidency and Vice Presidency be held only by clergy. The offices of Secretary and Treasurer must be lay people. The Executive Council is elected Biennially at the Annual Convention of the Church. The life of the Council lasts for two years. EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN GUYANA HISTORY The Evangelical Lutheran Church In Guyana was founded on the 15 th October 1743. On this date 263 years ago a small group of Dutch colonists assembled at the home of Lodewyk Abbensettes to plant a church of the unaltered Augsburg Confession. This event took place at Fort Nassau , some 85 miles up the Berbice River . Nine years after the planting of the church, the congregation at Fort Nassau received its first pastor on 17 th October 1752. He was Johan Henrik Faerkenius. This church founded by the Dutch Colonists was of the colonists, by the colonists and for the colonists – only. This church failed to reach out with the gospel to the indigenous Amerindian Indian population and the African slaves. Even though the church was established in 1743 it was not until 1752(perhaps) that the sanctuary was erected. In 1763 the slaves in the Canje and Berbice rivers started an uprising against the colonists. This culminated in deaths and migration of many Lutherans and other Dutch colonists from out of the Berbice river. By the 1790s the Dutch Colony of New Amsterdam at Fort Nassau was relocated to the present day New Amsterdam location. The Lutherans applied for land and set up the church on the present day site of the Ebenezer Lutheran Church . It is said that the original church building at Fort Nassau was shipped out on rafts and relocated in the New Amsterdam . Throughout the era of the Dutch the Lutheran Church struggled with the issue of pastoral presence and services. Between it's founding in 1743 and 1841 when the last Dutch pastor served only seven pastors served the church. Four of those pastors served for a total period of ten years. The longest serving pastor, H.W.P Junius served from 1830 – 1841. The church was without the services of a pastor for 39 years between 1779 – 1818. In 1841 the Dutch era of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana closed with the departure of Pastor Junius. Hard times fell upon the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana with the departure of the Dutch. The old problem of pastoral services continued to plague the church. Matters got worst and the church was on the brink of extinction. By 1875 there were less than one dozen Lutherans in the colony. The church was saved from extinction because of the disagreement over the distribution of its funds among the remaining Lutherans. One aggrieved party complained that she received only $20.00. The matter reached the courts. The funds were saved from distribution and instead were to be used to appoint and pay a minister – so ruled the courts and saved the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana from sinking into oblivion. A new day dawned for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana when Robert John Mittleholzer became pastor of the Lutheran Church in Guyana . Rev. Mittleholzer became the first Guyanese Lutheran pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana . Rev. Mittleholzer became the first Lutheran pastor of Guyanese birth in August of 1878. Between 1841 and 1878 the church again experienced a drought of pastors. Under Mittleholzer's pastorate the Lutheran Church grew both in membership and geographical speed. In the first twelve years of his ministry the church membership grew from 11 members to 195. Also five others stations were added to the one congregation which made up the church since its founding in 1743. It took 135 years before the church added to its first congregation. By the time of his death in 1913 and after 35 years of service the church grew to 378 members. Missionary status was a mixed blessing for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana . Many missionaries came to the church, especially in the post W.W.II era. Large sums of monies were poured into the church. The church grew and expanded. Also the church in this period established nineteen schools at the primary and secondary levels through the Berbice and Demerara counties. But by then it had lost its self-sufficiency status. Its growth and expansion was not matched by the development of local human resources to take up the church after the departure of the missionaries. Also the rapid decline of the Guyana economy in the post independence era saw many Guyanese pastors leaving the church and migrating overseas. This was just when the church was again returning to independent status from being a Mission of Lutheran Church in America . As in the beginning so today the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana continues to struggle with pastoral presence and services. In 1890 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana became affiliated to the Pennysylvania Synod of the Lutheran Church in America . This event was against the background of question concerning whether Rev. Mittelholzer was indeed a Lutheran pastor since he was ordained by the London Missionary Society. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana received synodical recognition by the synod. This settled the issues which threatened Rev. Mittelholzer's ministry and the Lutheran Church in Guyana . By the end of Rev. Mittelholzer's ministry in 1913 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana was firmly a mission of the Lutheran Church in America . The first missionary pastor, Rev. Ralph White arrived in Guyana from USA in 1916. But by then it had lost its self-sufficiency status. Its growth and expansion was not matched by the development of local human resources to take up the church after the departure of the missionaries. Also the rapid decline of the Guyana economy in the post independence era saw many Guyanese pastors leaving the church and migrating overseas. This was just when the church was again returning to independent status from being a Mission of Lutheran Church in America . As in the beginning, so today the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana continues to struggle with pastoral presence and services. In the era of Indian immigration in Guyana from 1838, many Indians came to Guyana . The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana extended its work among the Indian population only from 1915. Services were held in the Hindi language. Many Indians became Christians through the Lutheran ministry. Today the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana has thirteen parishes of 48 congregations. Its membership stands at approximately 10,000 baptised. There are thirteen pastors including three from Evangelical Lutheran Church in America . Some of its ministries include camping ministry, Television Evangelism Ministry, Lay Training Ministry, various outreaches by parishes, a medical outreach under Dr. Richard Young and ministries among women, youth, men and children. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana enjoys many relationships with partners. The church became a member of the Lutheran World Federation in 1947. Its historical relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America continues in a healthy way. New areas of engagement between the two churches are explored. For example the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana enjoys the status of being a site where Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ministerial interns may be trained. Recently the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana has entered into a companion synod relationship with Eastern Synod – Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada . It already has such a relationship with the Florida-Bahamas Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana has a long history of 263 years. As history goes this may not be a long time. However at 263 years the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana is the oldest church in Guyana . Very few if any entity in Guyana enjoys this status of continued existence since 1743. The church is a growing church. It is growing in membership and ministry. Migration however is taking a heavy tool on its membership, yet even in the face of migration its membership is growing, albeit very slowly. The perennial problem of pastoral services continues to plague the church. This is why the establishment of the Lutheran Lay Academy with the help of Lutheran World Federation, Eastern Synod – Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada , Florida Bahamas Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America-Division For Global Mission is of such importance to the future of the church. This institution can be the beginning of addressing the problem of adequate pastoral presence and services.
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