Gutnius Lutheran Church
Encyclopedia
The Gutnius Lutheran Church, formerly the Wabag Lutheran Church, is a Lutheran
body existing in Papua New Guinea
. It was established by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
in 1948 shortly after the Australian administration of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea permitted missionary activity to spread into the western highlands. The church counts 138,000 parishioners, largely confined to Enga Province
in the western highlands. It operates the Immanuel Lutheran Hospital and the St. Paul's Lutheran Secondary School (Pausa) at Wapenamanda, Enga Province. The Church has other Health and Educational institutions as well.
It has suffered some attrition in numbers as fundamentalist and charismatic sects based in the United States of America have conducted aggressive proselytising activities among its constituents in the Enga.
In recent decades the church has increasingly established ties with the longer-established, theologically more liberal and liturgically more conservative Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
. It co-operates with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in conducting clergy education and, with that Lutheran denomination and the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea
, in operating the Balob Teachers College in Lae.
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
body existing in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. It was established by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 2.3 million members, it is both the eighth largest Protestant denomination and the second-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Synod...
in 1948 shortly after the Australian administration of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea permitted missionary activity to spread into the western highlands. The church counts 138,000 parishioners, largely confined to Enga Province
Enga Province
Enga refers to both an ethnic group located in the highlands of Papua New Guinea and the province in which they are the majority ethnic group.-Physical geography:...
in the western highlands. It operates the Immanuel Lutheran Hospital and the St. Paul's Lutheran Secondary School (Pausa) at Wapenamanda, Enga Province. The Church has other Health and Educational institutions as well.
It has suffered some attrition in numbers as fundamentalist and charismatic sects based in the United States of America have conducted aggressive proselytising activities among its constituents in the Enga.
In recent decades the church has increasingly established ties with the longer-established, theologically more liberal and liturgically more conservative Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea is a Protestant church denomination located in Papua New Guinea that professes the Lutheran branch of the Christian faith...
. It co-operates with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in conducting clergy education and, with that Lutheran denomination and the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea
Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea
The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea became a discrete province of the Anglican Communion when the Anglican Province of Papua New Guinea was separated from the Anglican ecclesiastical Province of Queensland, Australia, in 1976 following Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia in 1975. Its...
, in operating the Balob Teachers College in Lae.