Christianity is a minority religion in Sri Lanka. Christianity was introduced to the island in first century, probably in AD 72. Traditionally, after Thomas the Apostle's visit in Kerala in AD 52, Christianity is said to have been introduced via India because of its close geographical and commercial ties. According to Christian traditions, the apostle Thomas preached the Gospel in Sri Lanka. Records suggest that St. Thomas Christians and Nestorian Christians lived in Sri Lanka. Anuradhapura cross is one of the archaeological claims that suggest Christianity in Sri Lanka before the Portuguese. Roman Catholicism was introduced by the Portuguese in 1505. There were conversions by Dutch persons in the 17th century, which resulted in a percentage of church members in excess of 10%. The Christian population of Sri Lanka includes members of both the Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic groups.
Roman Catholicism
6.19% of the population is Roman Catholic, according to the 2012 census. Roman Catholicism thus constitutes approximately 83.5% of the Christian population as of census day 2012. Catholicism was first introduced by the Portuguese, who left a notable mark in that Portuguese surnames are still used by many Catholics. Dutch missionaries tried to spread Protestantism after the Portuguese were expelled, but most Sri Lankan Christians are now Catholics. There is a Roman Catholic archbishop and 11 Roman Catholic bishops. The dioceses are:
290,967 persons in Sri Lanka are Protestants as per the 2012 census. The Ceylon Pentecostal Mission has about 16,500 church members and 70 churches in Sri Lanka. About 2000 people are affiliated with congregations belonging to the Baptist World Alliance. The Lanka Lutheran Church has about 1,200 members. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims 1,200 members in Sri Lanka. The main Protestant churches in Sri Lanka are Anglican, Methodist, Baptist and Salvation Army. The Church of Ceylon is an extra-provincial Anglican church, and the Church of South India is a full member of the Anglican Communion and has a diocese in Jaffna. The Anglican Church has a strong effect on people in some areas. Methodist missionaries established 187 schools of which only 2 remains because all the other schools were taken over by the government. Methodism has over 40,000 followers in Sri Lanka with 45 circuits, 200 churches and 120 pastors. Moratuwa Area and Kutunayake Negombo Areas are the regions where many Methodists live. In 2005 and 2006, the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka had a very difficult time during a period of anti-Christian violence. St. Andrew's Church in Colombo is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. For administrative purposes, it is part of the Church of Scotland's International Presbytery. According to the 2002 yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, around 4,019 active members are in Sri Lanka.
Originally named the Lutheran Church in Lanka, leadership of the Church was assumed by missionaries of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in 2015, and the name was officially changed to the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church in February 2017. The first pastor ordained into the CELC was Rev. P. Gnanakumar, who had served as a vicar in the Lanka Lutheran Church for more than a decade, and was ordained on 2 September 2017 by Rev. Charles Ferry, the LCMS regional director for Asia. On the same day, Rev. Dr. Edward Naumann, LCMS Theological Educator for South Asia, launched the Church's official publishing house, the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Publishing House. In October 2017 all three pastors of the Lanka Lutheran Church, Rev. Nadaraja, Rev. Arulchelvan, and Rev. Devanesanin, applied and were accepted for membership of the CELC Ministerium, bringing the total number of Sri Lankan pastors to four.
Church structure
The CELC Church Order provides for an episcopal polity, which is not considered to be a point of doctrine, as the Church works closely with the LCMS, which maintains a congregational polity. Currently no bishop has been elected, so the Church is administered by the CELC Board of Directors.
Relationship with other Lutheran bodies
The Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church is a member of the International Lutheran Council, but has no official relationship with the Lutheran World Federation. On 26 September 2018, the International Lutheran Council received the CELC as a full member, thus bringing international recognition to the CELC. According to its governing Church Order, the CELC classifies all clergy of the LCMS and churches in communion with the LCMS as 'recognized clergy' who are subsequently granted permission to conduct Word and Sacrament ministry in CELC congregations.
