Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (formerly the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Southern Rhodesia) is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Zimbabwe, founded in 1903 by Swedish and South African missionaries. It has a membership of around 134,000 (as of 2006) and is a member of the Lutheran World Federation. Until 1934, it was a branch of the Swedish Lutheran mission in South Africa. It became an independent church in 1963, as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Southern Rhodesia. Its last missionary bishop was Sigfrid Strandvik, who retired in 1975. He was succeeded by a Zimbabwean, J.C. Shiri.