bobjots : redux

Granted the "Lutheran" label is arguably still "divisive" but for many of us, even acknowledging that bit is a small baby step forward. In Malaysia alone, there are four different Lutheran denominations. In the order of their establishment, they are :

• The Basel Christian Church in Malaysia (BCCM)
  
  • formally organised in 1925 as the Borneo Basel Self-Established Church
  • current name adopted in 1964
  • first congregation established in 1886 in Lausan, British North Borneo for Hakka speaking ethnic Chinese refugees of the Taiping Rebellion in China whose leaders were Christians associated with the Basel Mission
• Gereja Protestan Sabah (GPS)
  
  • formally organised in 1952
  • first congregations established for ethnic Rungus Christians as a result of mission work by the Basel Church
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia (ELCM)
  
  • formally organised in 1962 as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaya
  • current name adopted in 19?? (can someone help me fill in the blanks here?)
    
    • I know that until 1993 at least, the official name was still the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore
    • In 1996, the Lutheran Church in Singapore (LCS) was organised. Although historically, the congregations that made up the LCS were part of the Singapore District of the LCMS (see below), this could be the point when the ELCM changed her name
  • first congregation established in 1906 in Kuala Lumpur among Tamil speaking ethnic Indians by the Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission in India
• Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore (LCMS) ^website
  
  • formally organised in 1963 as the Lutheran Church in Malaya
  • current name adopted in 1967
  • first congregations established in 1953 in Selangor and Perak among ethnic Chinese in New Villages by exiled China missionaries associated with the United Lutheran Church in America's Board of Foreign Missions

These four denominations belong an umbrella body called the Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia & Singapore (FELCMS) which also includes the Lutheran Church in Singapore and Seminari Theologi Sabah. Together they represent approximately 100,000 Christians both in Malaysia and Singapore (50,000 in BCCM, 33,000 in GPS, 3,000 in ELCM, 9,000 in LCMS and 4,100 in LCS).

Incidentally, the latter two denominational institutions (ELCM and LCMS) were part of negotiations in early 1962 to form a single Lutheran Church in Malaya but negotiations failed due to disagreements on the governing structure of the proposed body. The ELCM was organised on an episcopal structure which is hierarchical in structure with the chief administrative and ecclesiastical authority resting in a Bishop. The LCMS was organised on a more democratic structure with an elected President as the Chief Executive Officer (although the title, not the authority, of the office was changed to Bishop in 1974).

This led to the anomaly of the two Lutheran denominations organised originally along ethnic lines in West Malaysia. The scarcely acknowledged fractured nature of ethnic relations in Malaya could also have been a factor.

There are a few "unaffiliated" congregations in Malaysia with Lutheran roots or association such as the independent charismatic Renewal Lutheran Church which was part of the LCMS Good Shepherd congregation in Petaling Jaya until around 1988, the New Way Centre in Kuchai Lama (affiliation with the LCMS ended in 2007) and the Pandan Perdana Christian Church (affiliation with the LCMS ended in 2007).

Okay, I think I better stop now. For some reason this post has evolved into an historical overview of Lutheranism in Malaysia and Singapore.