The work was centered on the Tamil-speaking Hindus in the tea estate region of central Sri Lanka.
[2] In 1978, the churches were registered with the Sri Lankan government,[3] and in 1998, the LCMS resident missionaries were withdrawn from the country.
Most of the congregations, pastors (priests), and evangelists who had belonged to Lanka Lutheran Church joined the CELC Christian in Sri Lanka (2012 census)[7][8] The first pastor ordained into the CELC was Rev.
P. Gnanakumar, who had served as a vicar in the Lutheran church for more than a decade, and was ordained on 2 September 2017 by Rev.
Devanesanin, applied and were accepted for membership of the CELC Ministerium, bringing the total number of Sri Lankan pastors to four.
On 9 October 2022, the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC) consecrated its first bishop, Rev.