This series comprises papers generated or retained by the Rev. Erwin F. Chell during his career as a missionary in India for the American Lutheran Church. It almost exclusively dates from the period of his residence there, from 1945 to 1957, with only a few documents predating his arrival, collected in connection with a legal case which occupied much of Erwin's attention during his initial years in India. The remaining pre-1945 items consist of a few Indian maps and publications. The series is divided into three subseries: documents directly relating to Erwin's work in India; personal documents; and assorted India publications and an artifact. Subseries 1. South Andhra Lutheran Church. This first subseries documents Erwin's work as a missionary working within the structure of the native South Andhra Lutheran Church (SALC). The SALC was founded only a few months before Erwin's arrival and at that time, 1945, India itself was still a British colony, though only two years away from independence. Erwin therefore operated in an environment where the traditional role of the Western missionary was changing, was often challenged, and yet remained central to the execution of church policy on the ground. Missionaries remained in charge of field church councils, through which Western church aid was directed, and Erwin's position as president of the Gudur Church Field Council in his early Indian years involved him in much financial, administrative, and legal detail. The series heavily documents the administrative nature of Erwin's work in India. The small amounts of correspondence are filed among legal and financial documents and speak to these concerns. Erwin had little time for active proselytizing as much of his remaining time was spent training and directing the native teachers or "catechists" who actually had much more interaction with the locals than the missionary. The first subseries contains files documenting much of Erwin's activities, which included litigation with T.P. Luther, a former church official who refused to vacate church property, and with M.J. Devadoss, a dismissed catechist; his role as an administrator of state funding for Lutheran schools in his Gudur district; and his role in developing a nine-year plan under which the SALC was to wean itself from Western funding. Also present are his account books for the Gudur district; exercise books maintained by some of his catechists; and a sheet displaying numbers of correct/incorrect answers (with incorrect answers reproduced) for a Biblical examination which Erwin gave to 63 of his catechists in 1949. Subseries 2. Personal Documents. Records in this subseries comprise the course outline from the mission class which Erwin attended at the Kennedy School of Missions, Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut in 1945; letters certifying his status as a missionary for the American Lutheran Church; his and his family's passports; international travel baggage lists, tickets and medical statements; and personal reports and applications for permits filed with the police in India. Subseries 3. Assorted India publications, artifact. This subseries contains maps, booklets and a button commemorating Protestant mission work in India, all evidently collected by Erwin while in India.
