Update

Celebrating 100 Years of Pastoral Education in India

Concordia Theological Seminary, Nagercoil, India, recognized its 100th anniversary with a three-day celebration in September.

Story by Laura Owings | Photography provided by the India Evangelical Lutheran Church | Winter 2025

For many people, the end of summer signals the beginning of a new school year. For Concordia Theological Seminary, Nagercoil (CTSN), located on the southernmost tip of India, this season also heralds a major milestone: the 100th anniversary of its first academic year.

Since 1924, the focus of CTSN has been to teach and prepare faithful men to serve in the pastoral office in the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC), a partner church of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). In 2024, the seminary remains committed to forming servant leaders who bring the Gospel to the people of India through Word and Sacrament ministry.

In September, CTSN opened its academic year with a centennial celebration to rejoice in a century of God’s saving work through Lutheran pastors and church workers in India. The three-day event was attended by more than 300 people, including IELC pastors and their families, church workers, and seminary students and professors.

Brothers and sisters across the church gathered to participate in a full Divine Service to open the celebration. With a central focus on Psalm 111, the celebration offered an annual pastors’ refresher course, presentations and fellowship activities.

LCMS mission work led to the founding of the IELC over 100 years ago, and the people of this sister synod remain faithful in their pursuit of scriptural education and the doctrines that make them uniquely Lutheran.

Pastors and members of both CTSN and the IELC have expressed interest in receiving more education and resources from the LCMS regarding sacred music and proper liturgical practices. Both synods are working closely together to make arrangements for these requests to be fulfilled so the Gospel may continue to thrive in India.

This historic moment is a joyous occasion to reflect on and celebrate the relationship between the IELC and the LCMS, in particular a shared dedication to the pure teaching and preaching of the Gospel and the Lutheran Confessions. Looking forward to the next 100 years, CTSN aims to make improvements to the campus to accommodate its growing student body, as it continues to develop the faculty and assists with church planting in the IELC.

In every nation, there is a great need for faithful pastors and church workers to proclaim the Gospel of Christ crucified for sinners. CTSN continues to answer, with reverence and enthusiasm, the call to equip servants with the right tools and education to carry God’s Word, the Sacraments and the Lutheran Confessions into all of India.

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About the history of the church in India

Laura Owings

Writer for the LCMS Asia region.