From Gettysburg to Guntur

The Pennsylvania Ministerium was the first Lutheran church body in North America, founded by German-American clergy in 1748. It was a member of Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of North America (General Synod) from 1820 to 1867. Afterwards, it became a constituent church of General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America (General Council).

Under the leadership of Samuel Simon Schmucker, the General Synod founded Gettysburg College (1832) as well as Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (1826), the oldest continuously running Lutheran college and seminary in North America. American Evangelical Lutheran Missionary Society was formed in 1836 as the missionary organization of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania and started missionary work in countries such as India.

July 31, 1842, was considered the day on which the first American Lutheran mission was begun in India. Rev. John Christopher Frederick Heyer, familiarly known as Father Heyer arrived in Guntur on this day and founded the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission in India. A tiny seed of faith sown then by Father J. C. F. Heyer has now grown like a mighty tree and is known as Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC) with hundreds of pastors, thousands of congregations and millions of families.

Guntur is the center of American Lutheran Mission work. Though propagation of Gospel was their main mission, during the course of time missionaries established several churches, educational institutions and hospitals in Guntur and other regions. Their network of schools, churches and hospitals spread across various fields including Narasaraopet, Rentachinthala, Sattenapalli, Repalle, Tenali, Tarlupadu, Chirala, Rajhamundry, Narsapur, Bhimavaram, Tanuku, Nidadavole, Tallapudi, Peddapur, Dhavaleswaram, Samarlakota and Yeleswaram. Over the period of time, as part of the mission work, missionaries built the necessary buildings which became important landmarks in the respective mission fields. Map-1 displays the various mission stations, fields and the boundaries.

The scope of this article confines to the works of the Lutheran missionaries who started their missionary journey from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA, and toiled much in setting up educational establishments, churches and hospitals in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. These resources helped not only the Telugu region but also the country as a whole to grow ecumenically, educationally, socially and economically.

Map-2 depicts the significant landmarks in Guntur that were instituted by the Lutheran mission. These lasting buildings and landmarks portray the legacy of the missionaries whose biographical sketches are provided in this article.