G.E.L Church was established on 2nd November,1845 by four German Missionaries. Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur & Assam in short G.E.L. Church was established on 2nd November 1845 by four German Missionaries named Rev. Emil Schatz, Fredrik Batsch, Augustus Brandt and E. Theodor Janke (the ordained ministers with professional expertise in the field of education, theology and econo
my) sent by Fr. They arrived at Ranchi and erected their tents in present Bethesda campus. They started their ministry by preaching, teaching and healing to the people of the locality and of the region, who then were subjected to extreme sufferings and various forms of exploitation at the hands of the dominant communities having infiltrated into the region from outside.The Missionaries preached and practiced the Gospel of Liberation in Jesus Christ the Saviour by employing different measures like establishing educational institutions, health-care centres and other social services as part of the liberating act of Jesus Christ affecting a process of emancipation and social transformation among the natives hitherto exploited. During the period of First World War (1914-1919) all German Missionaries were kept in isolation and forced to go back to Germany by British rule and there was no certainty of their return. In this situation it was a challenge for the leaders of the church to continue and serve the people and to fulfil the aims and objectives of the church. Under these circumstances the believers of the G.E.L. Church engaged themselves in series of serious discussions and deliberations under the guidance of the commission of the National Missionary Society/NMS to find out ways to meet the challenges. This led them to finally decide and declare Autonomy of the Church as Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in succession of German Mission on 10th July, 1919. This solemn declaration was made by 79 representatives from the whole church under the leadership of Rev. Hanuk Datto Lakra the then President and Secretary Mr. Peter Hurad respectively along with other three officials 1. Nirmal Soy, Treasurer 2. Rev. Christgrih Tirkey. 3. Isahak Ekka in the presence of the commision of National Missionary Society. After this, the constitution was drafted in which church was organized in Ilakas and Chrch Council at the centre. The church was duly registered under societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 at Patna on 30th July 1921 vide No. 273-J, in the name of Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam.
