The Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam (GELC) is a major Christian Protestant denomination in India, with hundreds of thousands of members.

Its origins date back to 1845 when Johannes Evangelista Gossner from Germany sent four missionaries to launch the Lutheran mission in India.

Their initial destination was Mergui in Myanmar (formerly Burma), where they planned to preach the Christian faith among the Karen people or in areas near the foothills of the Himalayas.

Johannes Evangelista Gossner contributed ₹13,000 from his personal funds to support the missionaries in building a church in Ranchi.

The students and other Christians in the area were forced to flee and took refuge in the jungles of Dumargari, Bilsereng, located 38 km from Ranchi.

During the rebellion, mutineers from the British Army stationed in the area fired cannonballs at the church building in Ranchi.

Although the church structure suffered no significant damage, the top of the building was blown off, and one cannonball remains embedded in a wall to this day as a historical remnant.

The church was officially registered on 30 July 1921 in the office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, Patna, under the 'Societies Registration Act 21 of 1860' (Vide No.

Many of the German missionaries returned to India in the same year and began working under the church.

The rules were amended in 1948, and the entire area was divided into 15 Synods, with the congregation in Ranchi selected as the headquarters.

Efforts to reach a compromise were made by the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India over many years, but all of them failed.

[4] The women and youth in the church also play a vital role in conducting relief and awareness programs.

Notably, their efforts worth mentioning are during the Bhopal gas tragedy and the cyclone in Orissa.