About

The roots of the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church (KELC) lie in the economic development of East Africa during the 1960s and the establishment of the East African Community. Lutheran workers from Tanzania initially settled in rural areas, and from 1960 onward, in Mombasa and Nairobi. They turned to their home church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), for support. By 1965, the first steps were taken toward founding a Lutheran church by the Tanzanian Lutherans in Mombasa and Nairobi.

There were also efforts to collaborate with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), but these failed in 1966. On July 3, 1968, the former Kenya Synod was officially registered as a member church of the ELCT. Over the following years, the KELC developed more and more into an independent church. Twenty years later, in May 1989, the ELCT approved the registration of the Kenya Synod as an autonomous church. From then on, it was officially known as the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church (KELC).

In 1991, Zachariah Kahuthu was elected as the President of the KELC, and the church received official government recognition. On February 16, 1992, the KELC was formally established, and Kahuthu was installed as its President. That same year, the KELC became a member of the Lutheran World Federation.

Following various reforms and consultations, the KELC restructured itself, and on July 15, 1995, Kahuthu was elected as the church’s first bishop. That year, the KELC also joined the World Council of Churches (WCC). The synod made a deliberate decision not to introduce regional bishops or dioceses, as in the ELCT, but instead opted for a flat hierarchy with administrative districts and district pastors.

In 2003, the first five-year development plan for the KELC was launched, with the goal that 1% of the population would become members of a Lutheran church. In 2009, Bishop Kahuthu was re-elected and served until his retirement in 2020.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the installation of his successor, Johnes Ole Kutuk Meliyio—who had already been elected in 2019—was delayed. His consecration was to be carried out by the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Fredrick Onael Shoo.