Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Turns 166

Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Turns 166
Re-forming the Mission agenda without De-forming the Gospel values


Reminiscing the past
On a day when the whole world is awaiting for Sachin Tendulkar to score 133 runs - perhaps with his 40th Test ton which is already a record in itself -to replace Brian Lara as Test cricket's greatest run-scorer in Galle when India play on Sri Lanka in a Second Test match, the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC), one of the oldest churches in India and one of the biggest Lutheran Churches in India turns 166 today, the 31st July 2008. This day the birthday of AELC is celebrated all across the churches in AELC as ‘Gospel Day’. It was on this day in 1842, when Fr. Dr. John Christian Fredrick Heyer first landed in Guntur, started a ‘Guntur Mission’ in the state of Andhra Pradesh, which blossomed and bloomed into AELC. Tirelessly and selflessly, Fr. Heyer served and brought in the relevance of the power of Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Telugu people. He established a number of hospitals and a network of schools throughout the Guntur region. The main ingredients in his missological endeavours include mission as evangleism, mission as education and mission as health. Despite several hardships, Fr. Heyer kept his focus and direction on the mission dei, and remained faithful and committed to his calling and to the values of the Gospel.

Revitalising the present
Those initial tiny seeds of faith, which Fr. Heyer has sown then, became a Church with nearly one million people, spreading across six geographical jurisdictions in and around the state of Andhra, with nearly 5000 local congregations served by 650 pastors. Thanks to the great efforts by Fr. Heyer and his mission colleagues, for their vision, passion and contribution to the people of Andhra. On this day the entire Telugu Lutheran world stands up to pay rich tributes to Fr. Heyer for the indelible impact and contributions he has made to the Telugu Dalit Christian community. Just paying tributes may not be a fitting manner to observe Gospel day, but this day also calls for an introspection of our AELC, to be bold in analyzing our Church and to accept our shortcomings in the light of the Gospel, to rededicate our call and commitment as a Church, to rediscover AELC’s mission and witness in the context of newer missional challenges and to strive consistently for justice, equality and liberation of Dalits in making the local congregations of AELC to be the channels of transformation in their local contexts.

With our proud historic and missionary legacy, the AEL Church has to play a prophetic role and should strive towards a just society. It should rise from its slumber and need to address the grave challenges around. The AEL Church should leave all its petty politics aside, and need to revive and reclaim the parameters of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If our Church is not able to be the channel of change, it ceases to be a Church, and all the rituals and activates of the Church will just be materialistic with out any meaning and relevance. In the history of AEL Church, one cannot but remember the brutal killing of our former Bishop/President on this same day in the campus of our AELC office in Guntur, for reasons known and talked aloud.

In the light of present challenges, how can the mission of AELC be reinvigorated and our missionary witness be felt in our localities? How can we become the proud heirs of Fr. Heyer in carrying forward the values of the Reign of God? How can AELC be an agent of transformation in the society? We may not have any readymade, blueprint answers to these pertinent questions, but we as a Church need to wrestle with in order to address these as we discern the signs of our times. Herewith I would like to propose ‘Ephaphta Church’ as a model for AELC to emulate and carry forward the mission of God, and thereby would like to bring out some avenues, where AELC can play its role for an effective witness.

Re-forming as an “Ephaphta community”
In the gospel according to St. Mark 7:31-37, we find Jesus healing a person who is differently- able, suffering from hearing and speaking problems. The interesting part of this healing is the role of a community or a group of people who played a very important part in the healing of this person. If we carefully read through this healing, we see that the healing is takes place in an unknown place (no clear place is mentioned), the healing happens to an unknown person (no name or identity of the person is mentioned), the people who bring the sick person to Jesus was an unknown community (it is only mentioned as ‘they, no other clue of who they are), and Jesus uses an unusual way of healing (taking aside the person to a private place, putting his fingers in his ears, touching his tongue with his saliva, looking up to heaven, sighing and saying ‘Ephphatha’), and transforms the person to a known one as his own one. The emphasis in this episode is the role of the unknown community, which played a vital role in the whole healing process. Here is where I strongly feel the relevance of this community for the AEL Church, as we celebrate the Gospel day. This unknown community, I would like to call them as “Ephaphta Community”, and this community was primarily instrumental in making the unknown place to a known one, for it would remain as a historic place for healing. This community transformed the person, his life and his future. I wonder, whether Jesus would have been marvelled by the faith of this community of people and healed the person. The community’s faith would have been a news headlines in their days, and if the writer of Hebrews would have know about this community, there is no surprise if he/she would have added this community in the heroes and the sheroes of faith mentioned in the 11th Chapter. This community was a group of unsung heros and sheroes, who did not crave for their name of banner, but rather concentrated on their neighbour and his healing. Kudos ‘Ephaphta Community’, you really are an exemplary one for all generations!

Therefore, today I pray AEL Church will be inspired to be like the ‘Ephaphta Community’, concerned deeply for their neighbours and be an exemplary one in its journey of mission and witness. To summarise the characters of the ‘Ephaphta Community’,

· It was an unknown community – for no identity is mentioned.
· It was a voicing community – for it voiced for this voiceless person.
· It was a faith community – but for their faith, the person was healed.
· It was an open community – no barriers for it, even the sick& weak were members
· It was a proclaiming community – zealously proclaimed the healer & the healing
· It was a loving community – its concern for the neighbour

I cannot but find a greater one than this ‘Ephaphta Community’ to be a role model for our AEL Church. Is AEL Church capable of becoming ‘Ephaphta Community’ of our times, addressing the needs of our neighbours? I am sure the faith of our congregations, the life in our congregations is impressive and the potential in our congregations needs to be harnessed and used creatively, missionaly and contextually to make our AEL Church vibrant.

Re-visioning the future
Here I would like to draw the attention to three avenues, where AEL Church can be effective in its witness as it progresses to the future.

· Re-thinking Evangelism: In today’s fast growing revivalism in the churches, healing crusades (the word crusades are used today for revival meetings, really not knowing how violent they were in history), healing revival meetings, prosperity gospel preachers have increased by leaps and bounds. Multitude of our Church crowds attend the healing crusades with a hope that their sickness shall be healed and their health be restored. Several healing stories are aired on the television to catch the attention of people to attend their healing meetings. Some healing evangelists have gone to the extent of commercializing the healing by announcing to attend their crusades, to subscribe to their healing magazines, sending them offerings for special prayers. The faith of the sick people on God has been taken for granted as their vulnerability for the healing evangelists. So AELC as an “Ephaphta Community”, on the contrary should speak, preach and practice justice, equality and dignity to the oppressed people and make people discern and understand to deepen their faith in Christ and not on modern day healers. “Ephaphta Community” are those who do not give false hopes, or speak about healing in the eternal life neglecting the health and happiness, over here in this life. Liberation from oppression and healing from sickness are the two sides of these “Ephaphta Community”. We as AELC need not seek publicity and popularity rather making people to live a life in all its fullness should be our priority.

· Re-imagining Solidarity: Mission today needs to be expressed in solidarity. Specially the case in point is the solidarity and advocacy for ensuring justice to Dalit Christian rights. AEL Church should own the issue of Dalit Christians, for 100 % of its members are Dalits and have been denied the constitutional right. Therefore AEL Church should come to the forefront lobbying for the cause, creating political pressure in the regional localities and be in solidarity with the cause of Dalits per se. The other area where AEL Church can be in solidarity is in addressing the growing corruption in the Church. Several churches are in chaotic situations, with misappropriation of funds or mismanagement of funds. A strong solidarity network within the church needs to emerge to tackle the virus of corruption in the Church. To respond to the call of solidarity is to affirm life and to learn to live in true solidarity. Daisy L. Machado says, “Solidarity allows us to see the imago dei in the faces of those not like us, and it gives us the strength to reach out to those we consider foreign, to “the other”, and to attempt to build community. And it is solidarity that condemns the radical individualism that pervades the lifestyle we find today throughout those nations that enjoy wealth and power, where the value of a person is measured in how much she or he can buy.” Therefore the grace of God calls us to praxis and to be in solidarity with all those striving for liberation and justice. If a transformed world in God’s grace is to be possible, firstly transformation needs to take place within us. If a transformed ME is possible, then a transformed world in God’s grace is possible. If a transformed world is to be possible, a transformed and reformed AEL Church is required.

· Re-mapping the boundaries: The boundaries of AEL Church need to be re-mapped in view of the changing contexts. All appreciations to the ministries of women, youth and relief for their commendable work in AELC. However, the trends have been changing, now every local congregation is confronted with new situations like the farmers suicides, child labour, HIV/AIDS, communication revolutions, ecological crisis, sub-caste divides etc. Therefore our AEL Church’s missological boundaries need to be widened. Plurality of religions, growing fundamentalism, terrorism, naxalism, displacement etc. should be incorporated into our ministerial approaches. One particular area, which is so grim in our Church, is the sub-caste divide. No local congregation in AELC is bold to preach that ‘caste is sin’ nor encourages the inter-caste dialogue and work towards their harmony. Politically both Malas and Madigas have been fighting over their own individual rights, I strongly believe, AELC should initiate a peace process between these communities and set a trend in this direction. When Church takes such a stand, I feel even the political rivalry can be healed and there is a space for a greater impact of it in the society. AEL Church can then be the light of the earth and the salt of the earth.

Re-dedicating our call
The above-mentioned are only some directions, and not an exhaustive road map for the AEL Church to carry forward. With these available avenues, putting aside all individual and selfish motives and agenda, if AEL Church can work in enlarging the tents of the Reign of God, there is a meaning, direction and a goal in our journey of faith. Pray that AEL Church will be transformed as ‘Ephaphta Community’, and inspire the Church and the society with its mission of love and sacrifice. Long live AEL Church, and many happy returns of the day, my dear Church!