For 190 years, Leipziger Missionswerk (Leipzig Mission) has connected Christians across continents through mission, learning, and partnership, working alongside partner churches and organisations in India, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Myanmar, and Brazil. For the LCANZ, the relationship is more than a historical connection. It is a shared story that stretches from the earliest days […]

For 190 years, Leipziger Missionswerk (Leipzig Mission) has connected Christians across continents through mission, learning, and partnership, working alongside partner churches and organisations in India, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Myanmar, and Brazil.

For the LCANZ, the relationship is more than a historical connection. It is a shared story that stretches from the earliest days of Lutheran mission in South Australia through to present-day partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC-PNG).

The roots of Leipziger Missionswerk reach back to 1819, when a group of Christians in Dresden formed Dresdner Missionsgesellschaft, an association dedicated to supporting world mission through prayer, financial support, and a commitment to sharing the Gospel. Influenced by the Pietist movement, they wanted more people to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

On 18 August 1836, the society was formally established at the Waisenhauskirche in Dresden. It became Europe’s first independent Evangelical Lutheran missionary organisation and reflected a growing Lutheran commitment to global mission.

In 1838, four men (remembered as the “Dresden Four”) sent by Dresdner Missionsgesellschaft arrived in South Australia: Clamor Schürmann, Christian Gottlob Teichelmann, Samuel Klose, and Heinrich August Eduard Meyer. Working among Aboriginal communities, they established a school at Piltawodli and contributed significantly to the preservation and documentation of Aboriginal languages and culture.

Although the Dresden missionaries did not establish a lasting Aboriginal Lutheran congregation in Adelaide, the linguistic work of Schürmann and Teichelmann has played a significant role in the modern revival of the Kaurna language. Their nineteenth-century records are now used by Kaurna people, educators, and language leaders as part of the ongoing reclamation and teaching of the language, connecting the work of the Dresden missionaries with the ongoing efforts of Kaurna people to reclaim and strengthen their language.

In 1840, work commenced among Tamil communities in South India. Through education, Bible translation, and congregational development, foundations were laid for what would later become the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) in 1919.

In 1848, the organisation moved to Leipzig under the leadership of Karl Graul and became known as Leipziger Missionswerk. There, it developed a seminary that provided theological, linguistic, and practical training for those preparing to serve in mission.

Mission work also began in Tanzania in 1893, around Mount Kilimanjaro. Through the establishment of congregations, schools, and teacher and pastor training, this mission contributed significantly to the development of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), now one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world.

Papua New Guinea has been a partner of Leipziger Missionswerk since the 1950s. This relationship is expressed through partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC-PNG). Between 1953 and 1961, Leipziger Missionswerk sent its own workers to Papua New Guinea. Among those who contributed to this relationship was Dorothea Prenzler (née Jäschke). Commissioned for service in Papua New Guinea in 1972, she taught in Wau from 1972 to 1974 before later marrying Australian Lutheran pastor John Prenzler.

Although the Iron Curtain later prevented further deployments for more than 40 years, the partnership continued through support for projects within the ELC-PNG. Today, the relationship focuses particularly on theological education, including support for vicar training, as well as youth and women’s ministry. Volunteer and exchange programs also continue to strengthen relationships between Christians in Germany and Papua New Guinea.

Like many mission organisations, Leipziger Missionswerk has changed significantly over time. The upheavals of two world wars, political division within Germany, and changing understandings of mission all shaped its development. During the years of East Germany, restrictions on international activity meant the organisation increasingly focused on relationships and partnership rather than traditional missionary sending.

Following German reunification and the re-establishment of the organisation in 1993, Leipziger Missionswerk embraced a partnership-based approach to mission. Rather than seeing mission as something done to others, it came to emphasise mutual learning, shared witness, and collaboration between churches.

Today, Leipziger Missionswerk supports the “Global Church” work of its member churches, facilitates international partnerships, promotes intercultural exchange, supports educational programs, advocates for partner churches, and assists local ministry initiatives. Central to its work is the conviction that churches from different cultures have much to learn from one another. Through relationships with churches in India, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, and elsewhere, Christians in Germany are enriched by different perspectives on discipleship, worship, mission, and life together as God’s people. They also support partner-led projects in areas such as theology, education, health, environmental development, and disaster relief. Importantly, these projects arise from priorities identified by local partner churches themselves, reflecting a commitment to local leadership and sustainable ministry.

Leipziger Missionswerk understands its calling as helping churches learn from one another, participate together in God’s mission, and witness to Christ across cultures and continents. After 190 years, its commitment remains the same: sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and walking alongside fellow Christians around the world.

Through our shared relationship with the ELC-PNG, we continue to learn from one another, encourage one another, and participate together in God’s mission. The history we share reminds us that mission is not something we do alone, but something God calls his people to undertake together across cultures, languages, and generations.

Read more about Leipziger Missionswerk at Startseite Leipziger Missionswerk

Many of our partner churches are working in new territory for the kingdom of God; therefore, spiritual attack is their everyday reality. As a member of a congregation, school, or family, or a couple or individual, you are invited to commit to praying for our partners in mission. For regular prayer point updates, go to www.lca.org.au/international-mission/act-now/pray