FELSISA’s newly elected Synodical Council: Rev. Kurt Schnackenberg, Lutz Böhmer, Bishop Dieter Reinstorf, Deputy Bishop Helmut Paul, and Harald Niebuhr.
SOUTH AFRICA – The Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa (FELSISA) convened for its 61st Synodical Convention in Pretoria from September 15-17, 2018, at which time Rev. Dr. Dieter Reinstorf was reelected Bishop for another four year term. Elected as Deputy Bishop was Rev. Helmut Paul.
FELSISA Bishop Dieter Reinstorf.
The theme for this year’s convention was: “Christ is my life: Constructive responses from the faith community to the present social and political challenges in South Africa,” based on Philippians 1:21. In recent years South Africa has been marked by political instability with the ruling party considering amending the constitution of the country to pave the way for land expropriation without compensation. If this bill should be passed, FELSISA would be directly affected in that most of its members still form part of the agricultural sector. On the other hand there are social inequalities in South Africa that can be traced back directly to the apartheid era that simply need to be addressed. As keynote speaker for the conference, Prof. Dr. Piet Meiring (a pastor and academic of the Dutch Reformed church, as well as a former member of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission) was invited to give two presentations with group and plenary discussions. Dr. Meiring’s presentations drew in particular on Jeremiah 29 and Micah 4, and the FELSISA convention was deeply enriched through the presentations.
Among other business, the convention decided to review and expand on the church’s ecumenical guidelines document (Explanations and Guidelines for Ecumenical Encounters). This decision was taken in the hope of gaining greater clarity and uniformity of practice in ever changing contexts where a clear confession of Christ needs to be spoken.
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