The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK) was born out of the missionary work of the Swedish Lutheran Mission in 1948 under the name Swedish Lutheran Mission (SLM). The founder was Martin Lundstrom from Sweden.

In 1963, the name of the church was changed and registered as the Lutheran Church of Kenya (LCK). In 1973, the name was changed again to ELCK with three districts, namely North District, Kisii District, and Nyanza District.

In 1996, the church adopted episcopal polity, after the pattern of the Church of Sweden from which it had derived much early influence.

The first Bishop of the ELCK was elected that year. In 2002, the church was restructured into four dioceses (Central, Lake, South-West, and North-West). The first Archbishop was elected and each Diocese elected a Diocesan Bishop.