As the Lutheran communion prepares for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 to be held in concert with the 12th assembly in Windhoek, Namibia, the Lutheran communion in Africa also will remember the 60th anniversary of the Marangu Conference.  

Held in 1955, the Marangu Conference was the first all Africa Lutheran conference, which led to the birth of the Lutheran communion in the region.

Under the LWF Reformation and Assembly sub-theme: "Liberated by God's Grace: Salvation not for sale, creation not for sale and human beings not for sale", the commemoration will gather 150 delegates representing all levels of the Lutheran communion - from heads of churches and representatives of theological institutions to women and young reformers.

Meetings and workshops aim to address visions on reforming and sustaining the church in Africa. 

Languages: English
 

During the Asia Church Leadership Consultation (ACLC), member churches and related organizations will gather to share information, exchange knowledge and collaborate through joint activities as part of regional expressions.

Leading up to the 60th Anniversary of the Marangu Conference (18-25 May), the African Global Young Reformers will hold a two-day meeting in Marangu, Tanzania. 

Organized by Rev. Helvi Muremi, a Global Young Reformers Steering Committee Member and Tsegahun Assefa of the Lutheran Youth Network in Africa, the goals of this meeting are:

• To identify African themes for Young Reformers
• To participate in the Marangu celebrations

This four-day meeting, held in concert with the Asian Christian Leadership Conference (ACLC) in Taiwan, assembles young leaders from  20 LWF member churches in Asia in order to create a Youth Leadership Network, one that will empower and equip young people to address challenges but also encourage them to act boldly in faith grounded in Scripture.

Identifying and focusing on themes from their region, the Youth Leadership Network will develop goals and activities that will help them to engage more actively and effectively in the future.

Main themes of the meeting include:

• Christian Identity in Asia from a Lutheran perspective
• Effective Networking among the Asian Lutheran Churches
• Reformation Anniversary 2017 and the LWF Global Young Reformers Network

This three-day meeting in Norway assembles a diverse group of young reformers representing Europe. 

Identifying and focusing on themes from their region, the young leaders will lead the “Intergenerational Dialogue on Climate Justice” during the European Leadership Conference on May 13.

We are joining our partners in ACT Alliance for the Ecumenical Centre launch of the ACT climate change campaign, ACT's greatest effort yet to persuade global leaders to cut carbon emissions drastically and help the world’s poorest cope with the impacts of climate change.

The ecumenical movement works tireless in advocacy and campaigning, as well as in prayer and solidarity, to support the millions of people worldwide suffering the worst effects of climate change. This year is critical. In December, governments meet in Paris to come up with a climate change agreement that we hope will keep global warming well below a 2 degree Celsius temperature rise and that will increase public funding for schemes that help poor countries adapt to climate change.

Timed for international Earth Day, April 22 will be a moment for the campaign to gather the support of colleagues in the Ecumenical Centre through prayer, displays, information, and a short march around the centre. 

The LWF is a founder of Fast for the Climate, a global movement of people fasting once a month in solidarity with the people hit hardest by climate change. See: http://www.lutheranworld.org//fastfortheclimate

We encourage members of the ecumenical movement to sign the online ACT Alliance petition calling on the world's leaders to cut carbon emissions drastically and help the world’s poorest cope with climate change. See: www.actclimate.org

Drawing on preparatory discussions about ministry and priesthood over the last three years - London in 2012, Sibiu in 2013 and Tallinn in 2014 - this plenary meeting is expected to deliver a report that will be submitted to the LWF Council for adoption.

The preparatory meetings approached the theme of the ministry/priesthood from the perspective of:
- the scriptures and the tradition of the early church
- the doctrine of ministry in the Lutheran Reformation
- the liturgical rites of ordination, as well as women in the ordained ministry of the church
- women and men in the life of the church in the Orthodox tradition

The meeting is organized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the LWF's Department for Theology and Public Witness.

Bringing together 80 church leaders from Nordic, western and central-eastern European countries, participants will discuss key themes of the global Lutheran communion. Inspired by the Reformation anniversary theme “Liberated by God’s grace”, participants will share their churches’ stories of liberation and engagement to a world in need of justice and peace. Participants will plan for a vibrant assembly in 2017. The communion will be deepened by learning from the rich theological and spiritual heritage of the Nordic region, the two host churches and daily prayer life with local communities.

Church leaders will gain understanding of LWF’s work and deepen their motivation to participate more broadly. They will incorporate LWF themes into their program work, and be more involved in regional and cross-regional communion expression. Participants will decide the time and place of the European pre-assembly and other regional pre-meetings.

Youth participation as a cross-cutting element will be focal to the consultation, which will enhance ownership among church leadership of the Global Young Reformers Network. At an inter-generational dialogue on LWF’s climate justice commitment, agreements will be taken on follow-up church action. The Global Young Reformers Network will focus on climate justice and be combined with the spiritual tradition of pilgrimage, nourished again as part of the Norwegian hosts’ commitment for creation.

Young theologians from Asian Lutheran churches: put pen to paper and come up with an essay on religious life and public space in Asia.

From September 3-7, 2015, the LWF-initiated inter-religious consultation on “Religious life and public space in Asia” will take place at Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre, Hong Kong. The LWF is offering the chance for 10 junior theologians up to the age of about 30 from Asian Lutheran churches with strong academic interest and skills to join and contribute to the consultation.

To find out more about the topic, Religious life and public space in Asia, and the application process please read the consultation concept paper and the call for papers.

The application email needs to contain the following:

1. Personal information: mame, address, date and place of birth, nationality, occupation and brief biographical information (including engagement in church and society

2. Your motivation and contribution:
a) Please describe briefly why you would like to take part in this consultation. How will this contribute to your future work and engagement? What are your three main reasons for wanting to participate in the consultation? (up to 1000 characters including spaces)
b) What experience in inter-religious relations, theology and public space do you bring from your context to this consultation? (up to 1000 characters including spaces)
c) Please propose a topic for a short, academic paper that you would present in a panel presentation (up to 1000 characters including spaces)

Application deadline: June 1, 2015. Successful applicants will be informed by June 9.

We look forward to receiving your application.

LWF member churches live in religiously plural societies with different configurations. There are a variety of ways in which churches relate to the state, to other religious communities and to other actors in society. These configurations are shaped by constitutional and legal frameworks on the one hand, public discourse and living encounter on the other. In the midst of all varieties, there are some global trends for how the relationship between the spiritual and the worldly realms is conceived of.

It is important for churches to give account of the reasons for why they engage in what kind of way with others in the public space. Providing theological reflection on their engagement is a core dimension of the churches’ public witness. It gives clarity and credibility to the churches’ advocacy work, diaconal engagement and public relations.

This consultation will bring together about 30 participants from Hong Kong and the rest of Asia for four days of study on the concepts of public space from the perspective of different religious traditions and how to work in those public spaces, and theological discernment to explore the distinction between the spiritual and political spheres.

Participants are invited to submit an academic paper addressing the topic, religious life and public space in Asia. For more details, see the consultation concept paper. Young Asian Lutherans are also encouraged to submit papers.

Keynote speakers:

Salvation is one-sidedly related to Jesus Christ and emphasized in the Lutheran tradition with strong exclusivist solus/sola (alone/only) expressions such as “Christ alone”, “Scripture alone”, “grace alone” and “faith alone.” Prof. Notto Reidar Thelle will discuss these “alones” in light of the critical context in which they were formulated. Read his abstract.

Professor Min approaches the proposition, “The Constitution and Dialectic of Public Space in a Pluralist Society in the Age of Globalization” in three steps: by presenting a theory of how the public or public space is constituted, by discussing some of the basic issues facing this dialectic in the age of globalization, and by discussing the tasks and challenges facing religions in humanizing this dialectic of public space, especially in Asia. Read his abstract.

Read the consultation communiqué

Blog: Experiencing interfaith hospitality

News: Call for theology that engages with Asia’s realities