Participants light candles during morning prayer at a past LWF consultation on theology in the life of Lutheran churches. © LWF/D.-M. Grötzsch
Global Consultation in Wittenberg Gathers Theologians, Church Leaders and Educators
Theologians and leaders from Lutheran churches around the world, seminary and university educators will next week gather for a global consultation on theological education and formation in Wittenberg, Germany.
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is organizing the 18-22 October consultation, which will hosted by the Evangelical Church in Central Germany and the LWF German National Committee. One of the goals of the gathering is to find ways of strengthening Lutheran identity and to pinpoint themes to pursue and focus on for the 500th Reformation anniversary in 2017.
“Secure foundations of the past and aspirations for the future: Lutheran Theological Education for Communion Building towards 2017” is the theme of the consultation, jointly coordinated by the LWF Departments for Mission and Development (DMD) and Theology and Public Witness (DTPW).
The 55 participants representing the seven LWF world regions—Africa, Asia Central Eastern Europe, Central Western Europe, Nordic countries, Latin America & the Caribbean and North America—and LWF staff, aim to use different regional experiences from Lutherans around the world to examine and define relevant approaches to the meaning of a current Lutheran theological education.
In plenary and group sessions, participants will assess the Lutheran heritage and the Reformation in defining what it means to be Lutheran in a fast-changing world.
They will discuss how globalization affects Lutheran education, and look at how it could be used positively. The agenda includes presentations on the challenges and opportunities of the growing charismatic movements from a Lutheran perspective; cross-cultural contacts in neighborhoods; and shared regional identities.
The global gathering will provide particular opportunities for networking among women theologians from all the LWF regions.
LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge will deliver the keynote address on 18 October, which will be deliberated in group discussions.
Participants will have the opportunity to experience firsthand the town in which Martin Luther lived and worked. On Sunday 21 October, they will attend a church service in the Castle Church where Luther on 31 October 1517 nailed his 95 theses against the door, seen as the catalyst for the Reformation. A tree-planting ceremony will follow in the Luther Garden—inspired by words attributed to Luther: “Even if I knew that the world would end tomorrow, I would still plant an apple tree today.”
The meeting hopes to achieve a “stronger connectivity and network of global Lutheran theological institutions and networks,” said Rev. Dr Eva Sibylle Vogel-Mfato, DMD area secretary for Europe. (426 words)
(Written for LWI by Berlin-based journalist Anli Serfontein)
