Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore
| Lutheran Church in Malaysia | |
|---|---|
Seal of the LCM
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| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Lutheran |
| Polity | Interdependent local, regional, and national expressions with modified episcopal polity |
| Leader | Aaron Yap Chuan Ching |
| Associations | LWF, ALC, FELCMS, CCM, CFM, CCA, WCC |
| Region | Malaysia |
| Origin | 1963 |
| Branched from | United Lutheran Church in America (today Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) |
| Congregations | 52 |
| Members | 8,453 baptised |
| Official website | www |
The Lutheran Church in Malaysia or LCM (Malay: Gereja Lutheran di Malaysia) is one of four Lutheran bodies in Malaysia. It currently has 52 nationwide with a total of 8,453 baptised members and is the largest entirely Lutheran body in the country. Until 2012, the body was known as the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore.
The current bishop of the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore is Aaron Yap Chuan Ching, first elected in 2013.
The first Lutherans to arrive in what is now Malaysia were Hakka Taiping Rebellion refugees from China closely linked to Theodore Hamberg and Rudolph Lechler of the Basel Mission Society. While it is not certain when they first arrived in British North Borneo, there was already a significant Chinese presence at the founding of the town of Sandakan in 1874. These refugees eventually organised themselves into what is today known as the Basel Christian Church of Malaysia.
The LCM traces its history to the eviction of foreign Christian missionaries from mainland China in 1953 after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Some missionaries from the United Lutheran Church in America were stationed to northern Malaya and worked among the ethnic Chinese community that were relocated to the New Villages as part of an attempt to stem the influence of the Communist Party of Malaya during the Malayan Emergency.
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