A Brief History of the Lutheran Church in Haiti
The first Lutheran church in Haiti was founded in 1980 by Pastor Doris Jean Louis in order to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to his countrymen. He was trained at the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod’s Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Within a few years there were three churches with attendant primary schools. Subsequently, two of Pastor Louis’ teachers, Thomas Bernard and Israel Izidor, were afforded the opportunity, by American benefactors, to attend the Lutheran seminary at Fort Wayne, Indiana. They returned to Haiti as vicars under the supervision of Pastor Louis. Pastor Bernard was ordained in 1989 and Pastor Izidor in 1992. Still there were only three churches and three schools with no mission plan to reach the rest of the nation with the message of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ.
In late 1993, Pastors Bernard and Izidor established their own separate ministries to take the Good News to other parts of Haiti. Within months they were overseeing a dozen churches and were joined by then Vicar Revenel Benoit. By April 1994 the three men were responsible for 19 churches and 14 primary schools. By June of 1994 the three pastors were drafting a constitution for a national Lutheran church. In 1995 they were joined by Pastor Joseph Romulus. As with Bernard and Izidor, both Benoit and Romulus received their theological training from the Fort Wayne seminary.
In September 1995 the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti (ELCH) held its first meeting and elected officers. In December 1995 the Haitian government officially recognized the fledgling church body.
By year-end 2001 the young synod had grown to 163 congregations with an average Sunday church attendance of 19,440 persons. There were also 121 Lutheran primary schools with 16,085 students hearing of God’s love every day. Haiti has almost no public school system so the Lutheran schools are an important outreach ministry. The children learn about Jesus and then bring their parents to church to hear the Gospel message. Haiti’s Minister of Cults (religions) reported that the Lutheran church was the fastest growing church in Haiti. More than 60 precious new souls were receiving Jesus Christ every month!…hearing of God’s love…of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ…and coming back for more. Like Saint Paul, the pastors in Haiti evangelized, planted churches and trained lay pastors to shepherd them.
Around this time, more pastors were ordained by the ELCH. Pastors Michel Jean-Claude Marin, Marky Kessa, Daniel Paul, Eliona Bernard and Jean-Isaac Jacquet joined the team.
The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod officially recognized the ELCH as a partner synod and sister church in 2001. Pastor Israel Izidor held the position of President of the church for about 10 years, and then was succeeded by Pastor Revenel Benoit (former Vicar Benoit mentioned above).
In 2003, Pastor Benoit became disillusioned by what he considered a lack of cooperation by some of the other pastors, and a lack of vision for the church. In frustration, he resigned his position as President of the ELCH and started a new synod, the Lutheran Church of Haiti (LCH). Pastor Romulus joined him.
The members of the Haiti Lutheran Mission Coordinating Committee (HLMCC) in North America, unanimously agreed to redirect their financial support to Pastor Benoit’s new synod, the LCH. This was in part because they concurred with his vision for the church, and also because a number of the pastors of the ELCH had refused to be financially accountable to the HLMCC, even though, at that time, it was wiring about $35,000 in monthly financial support to them.
Subsequently a majority of the Lutheran churches that had been planted in Haiti, chose to align themselves with Pastor Benoit and transfer their allegiance to the new synod, the LCH. Many of these churches preferred Pastor Benoit’s vision for the church, however, undoubtedly, some jumped ship because they became aware that the financial support was following Pastor Benoit.
Overall, the number of Lutheran churches (congregations) and schools in Haiti have continued to grow. It is difficult to know the exact number because of the split that occurred. In the LCH alone, as of April 2009, churches numbered 192 with a membership of 44,150, and schools numbered 135 with 21,850 students.
Recently the Presidents of both synods, Pastor Benoit of the LCH and Pastor Marky Kessa of the ELCH, met and cordially agreed that the two synods should cooperate wherever possible. They specifically agreed that pastoral students of each synod should go to joint seminary training classes and complete the same theological curriculum to qualify for ordination.
Tribute: In early 2005, Pastor Israel Izidor went to be with the Lord following a very short illness. He is remembered for his warmth, his congeniality, and especially his love for the Lord. He was a true evangelist at heart, and God used him mightily to grow his church in Haiti.
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