History of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana
The Symbol of the Swan
The symbol of the swan, cross and Bible on the front of this book represent a long-standing tradition in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana. The white swan adorns the front of most of the Lutheran church buildings in Guyana. The tradition arises from the Dutch who brought this symbol to Berbice. Jan Hus, a Czech reformer, was burned at the stake for the ideas in his preaching and his passion for preaching and translating Scripture in the language of the people. On 6 July 1415, when being burned at the stake, he is said to have prophesied: "You may roast this goose, but in a hundred years a swan will arise whose voice you will not still." He sometimes referred to himself as "this poor goose," and it is said that his name, "Hus," means "goose." Thus, from this "goose" shall rise a "swan." A hundred years later Martin Luther came preaching many of the teachings that led to the martyrdom of Hus. Historians differ on the exact validity of this account, but the tradition remains in Guyana that the Gospel must be proclaimed so that the people can hear and understand it in the language and culture of the day.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana was 250 years old in 1993 Second Oldest Lutheran body in North & South America
It was 226 years after Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, Germany, that Lodewyk Abbensetts — a Lutheran layperson from Holland — led a group of Dutch Lutheran colonists to establish a Lutheran church here.
Birth Pangs of a New Church
On 15 October 1743, a meeting was called by Mr. Abbensetts at his plantation about 85 miles up on the Berbice River. These persons confessing the Unaltered Augsburg Confession decided to ask for the "free exercise of the Lutheran religion" apart from the stated recognized Dutch Reformed Church and also to ask for help in getting a pastor from The Netherlands. The date of this meeting is considered the birthday of Ebenezer Lutheran Church which is now in New Amsterdam, Berbice.
The first pastor, Johan Henrik Faerkenius, arrived on 15 October 1752 and died 5 December 1754. He held services at Fort Nassau, Berbice River. The climate and health conditions made it difficult for people from the temperate climates to keep their health. The first four pastors served a total of less than ten years.
The third pastor, Solomon Fridericus Müller, fled during the early part of the Berbice Slave Uprising that began 23 February 1763, on the Canje. That rebellion was led by Cuffy, a house-slave who had come to see the hopelessness of the slave situation. The uprising came to an end by the close of the year, but the bitterness and scars continued for many years. The Lutherans had no success in finding a pastor to serve them from 1779 to 1818. A sign, reflecting the hostilities, was posted in front of the Lutheran church saying: "Slaves and dogs not allowed."
The present-day Lutheran Church in Guyana has come a long way from that sentiment and is one of the more inclusive churches in the nation today, reflecting membership from African and mixed, East Indian, Amerindian, Chinese, Portuguese, Northern European — the ethnic groups which have shaped the history of Guyana.
The move to New Amsterdam
In 1803, the British took control of the colonies of Berbice, Essequibo and Demerara. The original Dutch settlements had been upriver and now in this period colonists migrated to the coastland where significant amounts of land had been reclaimed from the sea, as had been done in The Netherlands. The Lutherans applied for land in the new town of New Amsterdam and were granted their application for the land the Church now occupies at Lutheran Courts in 1795. Tradition says that Ebenezer Lutheran Church was floated on a raft from Fort Nassau to New Amsterdam around 1800.
From about 1818 to 1822 the Lutherans were again served by a pastor sent from Amsterdam, Holland, Domine Rudolph Scheffer. It was during his ministry that the Lutheran church began to examine whether "coloured people and Negroes" could be members of the church. They followed the footsteps of the efforts of the preceding decade of ministry among the slaves by such persons as The Rev. John Smith, a minister of the London Missionary Society, who came to be known as the "Demerara Martyr" because he died in prison following his arrested for allegedly serving as an advisor to an 1823 slave rebellion. In 1825, the Rev. Johannes Vos arrived from Amsterdam, Holland, to serve the Lutheran church in Berbice. He tried valiantly to work among the slaves, but not without opposition from some Lutheran members.
It was sometime in this period that there is evidence that a Lutheran church existed in Demerara and Essequibo. Little is known about it, though four of its engraved sacramental vessels are still in the archives of the Lutheran Church in Guyana in New Amsterdam.
The last of the Dutch pastors to serve the Lutheran church in Berbice was the Rev. H. W. P. Junius, who served from 1830 to 1841. Pastor Junius was handicapped by not being able to speak English well in a time when English was becoming the language of the land. It was during this period, in 1831, that the colonies of Berbice, Essequibo and Demerara were joined to form the colony of British Guiana. The population at that time was 98,000: 86,950 African slaves, 7,521 free Coloured and Black and 3,529 White. God's Spirit was alive and working hard in the land and by 1838 slavery was completely abolished.
Lutherans are on their own
The Lutherans in Berbice were informed, in 1841, by the Lutheran Consistory in Amsterdam, Holland, that the Dutch Lutherans were severing their connections with Berbice. In the ensuing years, the Lutherans looked valiantly for a pastor without much success. On a few occasions, the church was also served by both Presbyterian and Methodist clergy.
In 1866, there were only eleven Lutherans left and they asked that the Lutheran Church in Suriname (which had begun in 1741, just two years earlier than the Berbice Lutheran church) send a pastor once a quarter to administer the Sacraments. While the Rev. Johan H. H. Sander from Parimaribo, Suriname, was associated with Ebenezer Lutheran Church he became acquainted with John Robert Mittelholzer, who was then a Congregational minister. Pastor Sander instructed him in Lutheran doctrine. Mittelholzer went to Parimaribo, in 1878, was examined and confirmed a member of the Lutheran Church by the Vestry and Minister of the Lutheran Church in Suriname. The Rev. Mittelholzer first preached as Pastor of the Lutheran Church in Berbice on 15 September 15 1878, and celebrated Holy Communion in November 1878.
Pastor Mittelholzer was born in 1840 in British Guiana. His father came from Switzerland. His mother was native Dutch creole. He was the first Guyanese Lutheran pastor. He served the church for 35 years until his death in 1913. During his ministry the church grew from 11 communing members to 378. After reorganizing and strengthening Ebenezer church, Mittelholzer began an expanded ministry by serving the Amerindians on the Berbice River. Ministry still continues at three points where he began work — Maria Henrietta, Ituni and St. Lust, now part of the Reformation Lutheran Parish, Berbice River. In addition to this, Pastor Mittelholzer and his wife were the teachers in the secondary school established in their home and he was a leader in the affairs of the town of New Amsterdam.
New relationships in the United States
The Lutheran Church in British Guiana took a different turn toward the end of the century when the Vestry of Ebenezer Lutheran Church contacted the East Pennsylvania Lutheran Synod in the United States and became recognized as a parish belonging to that Synod. In 1890, Pastor Mittelholzer sailed to the United States to visit the Lutheran Church there and was approved as a pastor of the East Pennsylvania Synod. The new relationship with the Lutheran Church in the United States was followed by increased financial and spiritual support.
After the emancipation of the slaves, plantation owners continued their search for cheap and steady labour for their sugar plantations. In May 1838, the first immigrants arrived from India as indentured servants. From then until 1917, when Indian immigration ended, 238,960 Indians came to British Guiana. They were often ill-treated and misunderstood under what came to be seen as a "system of slavery," and many died on the plantations as the result of disease and working conditions. Indentured immigration from Portugal and China also took place for a time during this period.
Ministry amongst East Indian people
The first churches in British Guiana to bring the Gospel to East Indian people were the Canadian Presbyterian and Anglican churches. They found this work more difficult because East Indian people had established Hindu and Muslim religions of their own. An East Indian man was baptized in the Lutheran church around 1890, but it was not until about 1915 that more forthright ministry began by Lutherans among East Indian people.
After Pastor Mittelholzer's death, missionaries came from the United States to serve the Lutheran church. During his brief stay of just a few months, in 1914, the Rev. Milton H. Stine assessed the needs of the church and made recommendations to the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Synod, which then decided to take responsibility for the work in New Amsterdam. The Rev. Ralph J. White was the first missionary appointed by the General Synod to serve in the Lutheran church in British Guiana. It was during his ministry that mission work began among East Indian people. Pastor White, who served from 1916 to 1923, hired Anglican Catechist Charles Bowen in 1918, who was born in India of Indian parents. Catechist Bowen had grown up in a Lutheran orphanage in India after the death of his parents and had come to Dutch Guiana as an indentured immigrant. He worked mainly in Ebenezer church until his death in 1924. Many leaders of the Lutheran Church in Guyana came from his family, including the Rev. Aubrey Bowen, who served as President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in British Guiana.
After Catechist Charles Bowen's death, (in 1925,) Catechist Paul Masih Das continued mission work amongst East Indian people (from 1925) until his death in 1948. It was he who introduced the use of Indian musical instruments into the Hindi services of the Lutheran church. These services continued at Ebenezer until the 1940's. It was during his ministry that the St. Thomas congregation in Locaber, Berbice, was organized. It was the first congregation comprised of East Indian people. In the 1920's, the Lutherans established an industrial school at Ebenezer for teaching woodwork and painting and helped organize the Young Men's Christian Association in New Amsterdam.
More Guyanese Pastors - the Church expands
After 190 years of Lutheran ministry in Guyana, there were only six congregations. The church began to move in a new direction when a policy was established for training Guyanese for the Ministry. In 1936 the Rev. Aubrey Roy Bowen was ordained and began the first Lutheran work in Georgetown and environs. In 1938 Patrick A. Magalee, who had served the church as a printer and business manager before going to the United States for seminary training, returned to Guyana and was ordained. He took on the work of ministry in Berbice when Pastor Bowen left to begin the efforts in Georgetown.
In 1943, 200 years after the founding of Ebenezer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in British Guiana was constitutionally organized. Pastor Patrick Magalee became President of the Church from 1943 to 1949, and was succeeded by his colleague, Pastor Aubrey Bowen, who was President from 1949-1966.
As more Guyanese were ordained and missionary personnel increased, there was a rapid expansion of the church from 1943 to 1953, when the church grew from 12 to 42 congregations. In addition to the ministry in Georgetown, the church expanded up the Berbice River as far as Kwakwani; up the Corentyne to Crabwood Creek; to West Coast Berbice, East Coast Demerara, and eventually East and West Bank Demerara. These efforts continued under the leadership of the following church Presidents: Pastors Winston S. Bone, 1966; Victor R. Munro, 1966-67; Hector Magalee, 1967; and James B. Dookram, 1968-1972.
The Lutheran church has always emphasized the importance of education. By 1939, the Lutheran church had developed four primary schools. In 1944, they expanded their educational work by founding a primary school and a secondary school in Georgetown and in Skeldon, respectively. By 1961, the church had 19 schools. These schools served the nation well until they came under government supervision in 1976.
British Guiana gained its independence from Britain on 26 May 1966. Just a few months earlier, in February 1966, the Lutherans, sensing the spirit of the times, adopted a new constitution and the name Lutheran Church in Guyana. In 1964, Ebenezer dedicated its third building, which succeeded the one which had served the church for 150 years. In 1966, the Lutheran Church in Guyana dedicated the Lutheran Old Folks' Home in New Amsterdam. It was the first institution in more than 100 years operated from local offerings.
In the years since Guyana's independence, the Lutheran Church in Guyana worked with the Lutheran Church in America toward a time of financial self-support by 1980. After 1983, there were no longer missionaries serving the church. During this period of stronger self-identity, the following persons provided leadership as Presidents of the Lutheran Church in Guyana: Pastor Paul T. Jagdhar from 1972 to 1976, Pastor Samuel G. Seeram from 1976-78, Pastor Samuel Pillay from 1978-1982, Pastor James Lochan, 1982-86; Pastor David R. Udit from 1986-1988, Pastor James Lochan from 1988-1992, Pastor Rodwell Thom from 1992-1994; Pastor James Gajadhar from 1994-1996. Pastor Roy Thakurdyal was elected President in 1996 and is its President today.
By the mid 1960's, the Church began a deliberate search for Guyanese persons who would be trained as pastors at United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI) in Jamaica. This policy was established as a way of providing theological education for pastors that was regionally based and culturally appropriate. It was hoped that pastors would thereby be more inclined to serve the church in Guyana longer. A number of fine pastors have received their theological training at UTCWI and are serving as pastors of the Lutheran Church in Guyana today.
The Lutheran Church in Guyana today
From 1970 onwards, the Lutheran Church in Guyana increased its participation and leadership in the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Caribbean Conference of Churches and the World Council of Churches. As a sister church of the LWF, the Lutheran Church in Guyana has established a new relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America which has included some financial support of projects and programs as well as sharing of ordained and other personnel for pastoral and educational ministry in the church. For example, an ELCA pastor, the Rev. Richard Young, who is also a medical doctor, is serving Ascension parish in Georgetown which includes four congregations. Pastor Judy McGuire, another ELCA Pastor, came in 2002 to serve as Christian Education Director and is also serving as acting pastor in the St. Michael Parish, Corentyne.
The Church faces a challenging future in Guyana. The economic and racial tensions continue to be significant. A new government was elected in 1992, but the ensuing years have not been at all stable. The economic, political and social history of Guyana has meant great hardship for church members and pastors, and, indeed, for society as a whole.
In 2001 the Lutheran Church in Guyana decided to change its name to add the word "Evangelical" so that it is now known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana. The Church now serves 47 congregations in 13 parishes throughout the country. 12,000 baptized persons are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana. The Church's membership and leadership are an ethnic and cultural microcosm of the nation as a whole.
God's Spirit is alive and well as the Church continues to proclaim what Peter announced in Caesarea: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ — he is Lord of all." (Acts 10:34-36)
It is to the glory of God and the well-being of all of God's people that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana has ministered all these years. We look forward to God's continued blessing in the challenging years to come.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana can be contacted by email at: lcg@guyana.net.gy. The postal mailing address is: Lutheran Courts, New Amsterdam, Berbice, Guyana, South America. Telephone: (from the U.S.) 011-592-333-6479.