A long-standing commitment by the LWF to enter into discussions with the Pentecostal movement is being realized, with the first meeting of the Lutheran-Pentecostal Dialogue Commission taking place in Baguio, the Philippines.

The meeting begins a five-year process of dialogue between the LWF and its Pentecostal partner churches. Through annual meetings, the two partners will seek to better understand each other, particulary at community level, appreciate each other’s theological and spiritual traditions and find ways for joint witness.

“Send by the Spirit – identity in Christ” is the theme of the Baguio meeting, hosted by the Assemblies of God at the Asian-Pacific Theological Seminary.

The commission will hear presentations on the background of the dialogue, as well as on Lutheran and Pentecostal identity. One of the goals of the dialogue commission is to bring together Lutherans and Pentecostals in every context in which meetings are held and trigger discussion on local ecumenical relations. In Baguio, members of the commission will also meet Lutheran and Pentecostal church leaders and students of theological seminaries of both traditions.

The five year dialogue process is based on Luke 4:18-19. The themes of the next meetings will be:

            “...he has anointed me to proclaim..." - September 2017, Europe

            “...good news to the poor...” - 2018, Latin America

            “...freedom, recovery and release...” - 2019, Africa

            “the Year of the Lord’s Favor” - 2020 (to be confirmed)

Our Pentecostal counterpart is the Assemblies of God, representing the classical Pentecostalism.