Celebrating the 500th year of Luther’s New Testament translation 

This is the fourth and final webinar of the series LWF is hosting to mark the 2022 Bible Year.  

Two biblical scholars will discuss how we live out the Bible and put it into practice in ethics. How does the Bible inspire us to act?   

• Rev. Dr Antje Jackelén is archbishop emeritus of the Church of Sweden, where she served from 2014 to 2022 and is also LWF Vice-President for the Nordic region. She is also co-president of the global Religions for Peace network. 
• Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata is a New Testament scholar and ecumenical theologian from Zimbabwe, who is currently a program director for Public Witness and Diakonia at the World Council of Churches. 

Host: Rev. Szabolcs Nagy, Consultant project “Bible Year 2022” 

Celebrating the 500th Year of Luther’s New Testament Translation

Two biblical scholars will discuss how we engage the Bible. What are the ways we incorporate Scripture into our ethics, decisions and practice?

• Rev. Prof. Sin Pan Ho, Professor of New Testament and Dean of Advanced Studies at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hong Kong.
• Rev. Dr. Kayko Driedger Hesslein, Associate Academic Dean and William Hordern Assistant Professor of Theology and Director of Contextual Education at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Canada. She is ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

Host

• Rev. Szabolcs Nagy, Consultant project “Bible Year 2022”

Ecumenical Consultation on Theological Education

Even as we emerge from restrictions of the pandemic, theological education will not return to the situation as it was before COVID-19.

We realize that we must address new threats to educational equity and theological discourse. At the same time, however, we celebrate the ways that increased connectivity can provide new opportunities for decolonizing learning and transformative pedagogies. 

Join us online as participants explore:

• educational methods related to pandemic traumata
• how networks of theological institutions and ecumenical cooperation can shape the content and methods of theological discourse in digital space
• pedagogical promise in the wake of the pandemic

Schedule: 09:00 (GMT+1) – TO: 19:30 pm (GMT+1) each day 

Launch of initiative to enhance awareness of the Lutheran confession

This initiative aims to enhance awareness of the Lutheran confessional witness among LWF member churches and promote a critical, contextual and creative engagement with these fundamental theological texts. 

The webinar will feature teachers and theologians who will explore together how the witness of the LWF communion can continue to be formed by and reformed by the Lutheran confession of faith.

Addressing challenges to the churches’ call to serve, share and stand for justice 

LWF’s member churches are united in the calling to proclaim the gospel and serve the neighbor through diaconal acts and advocacy.

The workshop of church social service work (diakonia) practitioners in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) will address some of the contemporary challenges for Lutheran churches in the region. Participants will explore how the churches’ work gives witness to the biblical concepts of justice and human dignity amid growing inequality and diversity.

It is a space for mutual learning, with participants’ own experiences expected to strengthen networking among churches and partner organizations.

The 39 participants represent 14 LWF member churches in LAC. The Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil will host the workshop in collaboration with LWF Communion Office.

Celebrating the 500th Year of Luther’s New Testament Translation

This is the second of four webinars that LWF is hosting to mark the 2022 Bible Year.

Two biblical scholars will discuss the cultural and theological impact of Martin Luther’s New Testament translation and how the work of Bible translation impacts the community of faith today.

• Rev. Ángela del Consuelo Trejo Haager, theologian and pastor in the Mexican Lutheran Church (ILM) and the coordinator of Augsburg Lutheran Seminary in Mexico where she is also a professor of Bible and gender theology.
• Prof Dr Jerzy Sojka, Chair of Historical Theology, Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw, Poland

Host

• Rev. Szabolcs Nagy, Consultant project “Bible Year 2022”

Translating the Bible: Celebrating the 500th Year of Luther’s Translation

Two biblical scholars will discuss the cultural and theological impact of Martin Luther’s New Testament translation and how the work of Bible translation impacts the community of faith today.

Theologian Rev. Dr Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, Associate Pastor at Tokyo Lutheran Church and visiting professor for the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg and Theologian Rev. Dr Jean Koulagna, director of the Institut oecuménique de théologie Al Mowafaqa in Rabat, Morocco will be guest speakers in the 2022 Bible Year anniversary series.

Host

• Rev. Szabolcs Nagy, Consultant project “Bible Year 2022”

A contribution to unity in the global Lutheran communion

Through the annual Retreat of Newly-Elected Leaders (RoNEL), the LWF seeks to engage its member churches in practices of transformative leadership. Participants explore and reflect together on the understanding of leadership, share insights of how it is practiced across the communion, and deliberate on being leaders in the Lutheran communion.

The retreat is a space where church leaders can:

• strengthen relationships among themselves
• connect and support each other
• contribute through mutual learning and sharing of experiences
• enhance understanding of the LWF Communion Office as a resource for the member churches
• share in daily worship and prayer

The LWF Department for Theology, Mission and Justice coordinates the program in close collaboration with the Office of the of General Secretary and the LWF Center in Wittenberg, Germany.

Agenda

• 4 – 8 September (Geneva, Switzerland)
• 9 – 12 September (Wittenberg, Germany)

Related Content

• Newly Elected Leaders

The LWF envisions gender justice as a path where women and men need to journey together. Each one of us - as a Christian, as a member of a congregation, as lay or ordained, as a church leader or young theologian - is called to affirm justice as a matter of faith.

Join us as we unpack the principles and methodology of the new LWF Gender Justice Policy. Learn about the concrete steps the LWF is taking to enable the full participation of women and men in the life of the church and the society.

Department | Department for Theology and Public Witness

Programs | Gender Justice and Women’s Empowerment, Inclusive Communion

Event language |  English

Public space is a significant concept in plural societies for negotiating questions of justice and peace.

In many countries, faith and religious life have always been an important part of public space - individuals and communities are shaped by their faith commitments.

In other countries, for example in Europe, religions currently are of increasing interest after a time of decreased visibility.

At this consultation, scholars and religious leaders from 14 different countries will share experiences of faith in the public sphere and gather trans-contextual insights.

The consultation will

• examine the distinctions and relations between religious communities and the state
• look at the role of faith commitments in society
• analyze the anthropological and theological premises and assumptions guiding different models of imagining public space and citizenship of all

Across the globe, there is not only a plurality of religions as such, but also increased interaction between different religions.

This includes tension - conflict, even - but also potential: potential for a new understanding of one another and for joint engagement for the good of society.

In this interaction between religions, renewed interest in the meaning of “public space” is emerging.

Part of an event series on public space.

Department: Department for Theology and Public Witness

Program: Public Theology & Interreligious Relations

Event language:  English

Co-organizer: Center for Islamic Theology, University of Muenster