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Shaping Confessional Lutheranism in the 21st Century: ILC World Seminaries Conference begins

 

Participants in the 2016 World Seminaries Conference visit in the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Participants in the 2016 World Seminaries Conference visit at the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

GERMANY – The Sixth World Seminaries Conference of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) opened Tuesday, October 11, 2016 in Wittenberg, Germany. Representatives from more than 30 ILC churches from all world regions are in attendance. In addition, nearly 30 guests representing other church bodies and institutions are present for the conference, which runs through the end of Thursday, October 13.

The choice of Wittenberg as the site of this year’s conference on theological education is an apt one. Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon were both professors at the University of Wittenberg, and it was in this educational environment that they developed many of the teachings of the Lutheran Reformation.

Dr. Werner Klän addresses the convention.

Dr. Werner Klän addresses the convention.

The theme for this year’s gathering is “Shaping Confessional Lutheranism for the 21st Century: The Impact of the Lutheran Reformation on Mission, Worship, and Worldview.” Professor Dr. Werner Klän, Rector of the Lutherische Theologische Hochschule (Oberursel, Germany), gave a keynote address on the conference theme Tuesday morning, following a service of Matins. “In all these areas, like mission, worship, and worldview, the witness of the Lutheran Reformation must be promulgated untiringly and without fear,” he said. “That is why with gratitude I realize that we share a multitude of points of view amongst our partner churches throughout the ILC, concerning the tasks that lie ahead for confessional Lutheran churches in post-modern and in some parts of the world (like Europe, as it seems to me) even post-Christian times.”

“There can be no doubt,” he continued, “that as long as we are churches bound to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions and intend to remain so, we will be aware that effectiveness is not ours but the Holy Spirit’s, through God’s Word and the sacraments. It is and will be Him who creates, preserves, and strengthens faith and brings people from all races, cultures, social groups, societies, and nations to salvation.”

Dr. Andrew Pfeiffer discusses the Reformation's influence on worship.

Dr. Andrew Pfeiffer discusses the Reformation’s influence on worship.

The three areas referenced in Dr. Klän’s presentation—mission, worship, and worldview—are being developed in additional detail through the keynote addresses of three other speakers throughout the conference. Rev. Dr. Andrew Pfeiffer, Head of the School of Pastoral Studies at Australian Lutheran College (Adelaide, Australia), was the first to present, discussing the impact of the Lutheran Reformation on worship. Rev. Roberto Bustamante, Professor of New Testament at Seminario Concordio (Buenos Aires, Argentina), provided a response.

Participants also broke into small groups to discuss the challenges and opportunites facing theological education in their world regions.

The business of the day concluded with Vespers, held in the Castle Church of Wittenberg, where tradition states Martin Luther once nailed the 95 Theses to the church door. Both Luther and Philip Melanchthon lie buried in the Castle Church. A walking tour of Wittenberg followed Vespers.

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ILC Chairman brings greetings to LWF Council Meeting

LWF-logo

WITTENBERG, Germany—The Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) met June 15-21, 2016 in Wittenberg, Germany. In his address, LWF President Bishop Munib Younan (Jerusalem) called upon LWF member churches to carry out a critical dialogue on the foundation and mutual responsibility involved in church fellowship. “The crises facing the world demand more than our politeness. They demand action,” he said. “But we cannot act fully without interrogating our foundational assumptions and motivations.”

As the meeting of the governing body of the LWF communion got underway, Rev. Dr. Martin Junge, LWF’s re-elected General Secretary, emphasized the importance of ecumenism. This 2016 Council meeting is the last full gathering of the LWF’s highest governing body before the 12th General Assembly in May of 2017 and prior to the commemorations for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. The General Secretary stressed the intention of this Lutheran communion to mark the anniversary around the world and in the spirit of ecumenical responsibility.

A joint Catholic-Lutheran Reformation event in Lund Cathedral and in Malmö, Sweden on October 31, 2016, will mark a notable high point. The fact that this event is being carried out jointly—on the Lutheran side by LWF President Younan and General Secretary Junge and on the Roman Catholic side by Pope Francis—“represents a historic turning point in our relationships, in view of the clear commitment to leave conflict behind and open up to the communion that God invites us for and holds prepared for us, while dealing with differences that remain,” according to General Secretary Junge. His report also underscored the significance of diaconal work. To be Lutheran is to be diaconal. Thus the LWF is currently supporting 2.3 million refugees.

ILC Chairman Voigt addresses the LWF assembly.

ILC Chairman Voigt addresses the LWF assembly.

Bishop Dr. Hans-Jörg Voigt, Chairman of the International Lutheran Council (ILC), took part in the Council meeting as an ecumenical guest and observer. In his greeting, Bishop Voigt, spiritual head of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (SELK), called attention to the fact that 2017 also marks the 200th Anniversary of the founding of independent Lutheran churches which resisted the repressive religious politics of the Prussian state after 1817. Lutherans fled to North America, Australia and Latin America. Years later, the ILC was formed by these church bodies, together with others.

Bishop Voigt expressed joy that some participants in the LWF Council meeting were being housed in Wittenberg’s “Old Latin School” and conducted a number of smaller meetings there. The Old Latin School is a joint project of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (USA) and the SELK. Bishop Voigt did not gloss over the reality that the LWF-ILC relationship has been marked by certain tensions. Thus the annual consultations between the two global fellowships are all the more important. In this spirit the ILC gratefully and joyfully gave theological attention to the dialogue paper, From Conflict to Communion, published by the LWF and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU). In conclusion, Bishop Voigt said, “May God show us His way for coming closer together between the two focal points of truth and love—love and truth.”

The LWF is a global fellowship of Lutheran churches. It was founded in 1947 and now numbers 145 member churches in 98 countries, with more than 72 million members. The ILC is an association of confessional Lutheran churches throughout the world, representing 3.3 million Lutherans in 35 member churches and is thus the second-largest international Lutheran fellowship.

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ILC prepares for 2016 World Seminary Conference

The ILC's Seminary Relations Committee plans for the 2016 World Seminary Conference to be held in Wittenberg, Germany.

The ILC’s Seminary Relations Committee plans for the 2016 World Seminary Conference, to be held in Wittenberg, Germany.

GERMANY- The Seminary Relations Committee of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) met October 6 on the campus of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Oberursel, a school of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (SELK). Committee representatives come from the various ILC world regions and include Professor Dr. Gerson Linden (São Leopoldo, Brazil) as Chairman, Professor Dr. Roland Ziegler (Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA), Professor Dr. Jin-Seop Eom (Yongin, Korea), Professor Dr. Werner Klän (Oberursel, Germany), and Rev. Dr. Albert Collver, ILC Executive Secretary (St. Louis, Missouri, USA). The meeting was scheduled to prepare for the 6th ILC World Seminary Conference, scheduled to take place next year.

The Conference will meet under the theme Shaping Confessional Lutheranism in the 21st Century: The Impact of the Lutheran Reformation on Mission, Worship, and Worldview. It is to be held October 10-14, 2016 at the “Old Latin School” in Wittenberg, which serves as a visitors’ centre for the ILC. Plans are to provide four primary lectures on the conference themes, as well as to receive reports on the state of seminary education in the various ILC world regions. In addition, international guests are expected. Planners are expecting approximately 60 participants. Academic features of the gathering will be rooted in devotions to be held throughout the conference.

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