About Us

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) is a family member of the Lutheran World Federation, Christian Council of Tanzania, World Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, and All Africa Conference of Churches. On 5th October, 1893 Leipzig Missionaries arrived in Nkwarungo Machame, thereafter in 1922 Augustana Mission took over the Leipzig mission field due to 1st World War. In 1926 Leipzig Mission came back and shared this mission field with Augustana, then in 1942 we became the Lutheran Church of Northern Tanganyika.

ELCT officially began its work in 1963. When the seven churches in the then Tanganyika (now Tanzania) formed one church. At the time of amalgamation, there were a total of 500,000 church members. To date, ELCT has about 7.3 million members.

The ELCT is divided into 28 dioceses and each diocese is headed by a Bishop. ELCT is headed by Presiding Bishop and the current Presiding Bishop is Rt. Rev. Dr. Fredrick O. Shoo who is also the Bishop of the ELCT Northern Diocese.

Vision
A Christ centered communion of people focused on eternal life.
Mission
To enable people to know Jesus Christ and have life in its fullness based on biblical teachings and Lutheran identity guided by the constitution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania Northern Diocese (ELCT ND)

The ELCT Northern Diocese is one of the 28 Diocese of ELCT, with a population of around 280,000 members. It comprises five church districts which are in Kilimanjaro and Arusha. It is a registered organization since 14th June 1976 as a body incorporated under the provisions of the Trustees’ Incorporation Ordinance of 1956. It is further registered under the Societies Ordinance of 1954 since 6th April 2001 with registration number So. No. 10868.

What do we do?

  • Mission and Evangelism.
  • Diaconal Services.
  • Social Services especially Health and Education.
  • Economic Activities for Sustainability of the Diocese.
  • Engaging in Cross cutting Issues concerning women and youth empowerment.
  • Environment and biodiversity conservation & protection

Our Core Values

Our Core Values

Love                               Matt 22:37-39
Unity                              John 17:21
Prayerfulness               Mk 11: 24
Accountability              1Cor 4:1-2
Dignity                           Amos 5:24