GEL Church Ranchi- Jharkhand

Gel Charch Ranchi- Jharkhand

Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam (GELC) is a major Christian Protestant denomination in India. It has hundreds of thousands of members.It was established on 2 November 1845.It belongs to National Council of Churches in India, United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India, Lutheran World Federation and World Council of Churches. It is led by Moderator Bishop Johann Dang. It is one of the three Lutheran denominations in northeast India along with the Bodo Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church.

History
The Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church with its headquarters located in Ranchi, Jharkhand (formerly Bihar) is one of the largest and widespread Lutheran Churches in India. Its past can be traced back to 1845 when Johannes Evangelista Gossner (Germany) sent four missionaries namely:

Rev. Emil Satz,
Rev. August Brandt,
Rev. Fredrick Basch and
Rev. Theodore Yankey
for launching the ‘Lutheran mission’ in India.

Main Building, G.E.L.Church, Ranchi
The missionaries left Germany in 1844 and reached Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) in 1845. They were initially heading for Mergui in Myanmar (formerly Burma) in view of preaching the Christian faith among the Karen people or in the areas located in the footsteps of the Himalayas. However, on meeting some people from Ranchi, they changed their plan and headed for Chhotanagpur and its main town, Ranchi. They reached Ranchi on 2 November 1845 and camped on, what is now known as, the ‘Bethesda Ground’ in Ranchi.