LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 141

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5. THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
To Recognize Altar and Pulpit Fellowship with
the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in South Sudan and Sudan
RESOLUTION 5-01
Report R12 (CW, 58); Overture 5-02 (CW, 284–85)
Preamble
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Sudan and Sudan
(ELCSS/S) was established as an independent church body in
1993 in Juba, Sudan, under the leadership of a layman, Andrew
Mbugo Elisa. Mr. Elisa had encountered Luther’s Small
Catechism and the Book of Concord through the efforts of the
Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF). In 1999 Mr. Elisa was
ordained as the church body’s first pastor and later became its
first bishop in 2006. Despite severe political instability, civil
war, and economic turmoil, the ELCSS/S grew rapidly in the
years after 1999 as it planted churches throughout South
Sudan and Sudan. That same year a working agreement
between the new church and The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod (LCMS) was signed. LCMS assistance was instrumental
in the planting of churches in war-torn areas of South Sudan,
especially in the Nuba Mountains. A seminary for training
pastors and other church workers was established in 2000.
The seminary, Concordia Lutheran Institute for Holy Ministry
(CLIHM), was established in Khartoum together with the
headquarters for the ELCSS/S, which had relocated from Juba
because of political turmoil. Various visiting LCMS professors
and pastors have assisted in the preparation of the ELCSS/S
church workers since the beginning of CLIHM.

consultation between CTCR committee members and Dr.
Robert Rahn of LHF.
In 2016 Rev. Peter Anibati Abia was elected bishop. Bishop
Abia renewed the ELCSS/S request for fellowship with the
LCMS on Oct. 25, 2018. A visit by Bishop Abia to the US for
meetings with LCMS personnel was proposed. Because of
COVID-19 restrictions, however, the meeting was delayed
until April 2021 when Bishop Abia met on the campus of
Concordia Theological Seminary with the executive director
of the CTCR, Dr. Joel Lehenbauer, and the chairman of the
CTCR’s church relations committee, Dr. Naomichi Masaki.
The meeting included discussion of the ELCSS/S’s
constitution, faith statements, congregational practices,
educational and mission endeavors, and ecumenical
relationships. Bishop Abia then met face to face with the CTCR
and LCMS President Matthew Harrison in September 2021 for
formal discussions regarding church fellowship.
At its December 2021 meeting, the CTCR unanimously
adopted a motion recommending the recognition of altar and
pulpit fellowship with the ELCSS/S. That recommendation
was sent to President Harrison for his consideration and for
consultation with the Praesidium. In a letter dated Aug. 28,
2022, President Harrison wrote: “I am very pleased to inform
you … that by virtue of the authority vested in the President of
the Synod, I am in a position to declare recognition of altar and
pulpit fellowship between our two churches. Praise God!” The
President then invited Bishop Abia to participate in a
celebration of fellowship during a joint Divine Service held by
LCMS partner churches in Kisumu, Kenya. The joyful event
was held on September 18, 2022, during the Divine Service
with participation by President Harrison, Bishop Abia, and

After a promising first decade of history, the ELCSS/S suffered
a serious blow in 2008, when Bishop Elisa was stricken with a
number of health problems, including brain cancer. The Lord
called him home on Dec. 31, 2008. An interim bishop was
appointed in 2010, and in 2011 the church elected Rev. Wilson
Noah Rule as bishop. Unfortunately, in subsequent years there
was considerable internal controversy concerning the
leadership and governance of the ELCSS/S.
Throughout the subsequent years, however, ELCSS/S and the
LCMS continued to work together in educational and other
ministry endeavors. Cooperation between the two churches
and various Synod entities (such as LHF, LCMS mission
personnel, and LCMS districts) stimulated numerous
conversations about a formal recognition of fellowship
between our church bodies. As early as 1999, Bishop Elisa
wrote to ask the LCMS to consider fellowship. Bishop Elisa
renewed that same request in 2005, and in 2013 the request
was again extended by Bishop Rule. The Commission on
Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) discussed this request
in 2013 and requested further information from the ELCSS/S.
A meeting between LCMS officials and ELCSS/S
representatives took place in April of 2015, followed by
Resolutions

Committee 5 Chairman Brian S. Saunders
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION | 141