This seminary responds to the concern of growing tensions and polarization during the last years which characterizes relationships in various countries and had influenced organizations at different levels. Frequently, collective failure to resolve conflicts gives birth to new threats that mostly disturb relationships and break trust apart. Fear is one element leading to risky divisions and demagogue practices pay their role.

Member churches are equipped with current theological understanding regarding conflict management, reconciliation, and peace building and count with resource persons for transformation in church and society.

This program seeks to better understand the theological aspects of conflict and reconciliation. Moreover, it aims to equip member churches with skilled leaders in conflict prevention and management tools. Participants will, at the same time, become part of a network of resource Persons for mediation and peace building.

Lutheran church leaders discern together about leadership and learn from each other

Bishops and presidents from LWF’s regions discern and learn together about the communion’s work, the role of individual church leaders and how to support one another.

The 2018 retreat of recently-elected leaders brings together heads of churches—bishops and presidents—from across the LWF regions, and is the fourth in a series that begun in 2015. Through presentations, group discussions and visits to other organizations in Geneva and Wittenberg, the participating heads of churches, synods or dioceses will discern together and learn about:

• The role of individual church leaders in a global communion
• How to support one another
• How to re-think the Reformation for today
• What it means to be a member of the LWF

LWF staff will talk about programmatic work based in Geneva and Wittenberg.

Locations:

• 18 to 22 November - GENEVA, Switzerland

• 23 to 27 November - WITTENBERG, Germany

‘Reformation in Progress – The Relevance of Reformation Today’

Women and men from all regions of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) take part in the second LWF seminar for lay people in church leadership positions, from 9 to 18 August at the LWF Center in Wittenberg, Germany, and at the Ecumenical Centre, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Non-ordained leaders of LWF member churches have the opportunity to study Lutheran theology at historical sites of the Reformation and to experience the communion of churches worldwide.

The participants learn about Lutheran theology and the LWF, and their identity as Lutheran Christians in their respective countries is strengthened.

Location:

• LWF Center in Wittenberg (Germany)
• Ecumenical Centre in Geneva (Switzerland)

First Conviviality Workshop of the New European Diaconal Process 2017-2020

Diaconal actors from 3 European LWF regions discuss convivial living in Europe with particular emphasis on people on the move.

21 participants from 11 European member churches of the Lutheran World Federation will meet in Romania for the 4-day-workshop “People on the Move – Bridges or Walls?”

This workshop is part of the LWF European Diaconal Process “Seeking Conviviality”, organized in cooperation with the International Academy for Diaconia (interdiac). It aims at supporting the work of member churches in the field of diakonia, with particular attention to aspects of identity.

An international think tank of experienced diaconal actors will explore the borders they see in the world and the borders they perceive within themselves, to find a firm theological basis for their efforts to counter populism and xenophobia in their respective countries. The exposure to the local history and context of migration in Romania, the ensuing discussions and exchange of experiences based on the participants’ individual contexts will enable them to build a strong diaconal network among the churches of the three European regions of the LWF.

To mobilize the voices of religious leaders for the protection and promotion of civil society space

The overarching goal of this workshop is to harness the prophetic voice of the Church for the promotion and defence of an enabling civil society space at all levels – nationally, regionally and internationally. Specific objectives are:

1. To discuss the theological foundations pertinent to religious leaders’ role in public space and their relations with the State and other stakeholders.
2. To identify principles for best practices and enabling factors for an effective religious leaders’ engagement on promoting civil society space.
3. To contemplate on the most restricted human rights themes or issues and the role that religious institutions can play to mitigate those restrictions.
4. To discuss partnership with relevant stakeholders (national, regional and international) to defend and promote civil society space.

Language: English

Department: Department for Theology and Public Witness

Global meeting and official launch of an LWF initiative aimed at involving churches with the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The meeting will for the first time bring together different stakeholders involved in the global LWF initiative “Waking the Giant – Churches’ Involvement in the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development”. This includes the National Coordinators from the current four target countries (Liberia, Tanzania, Colombia, United States), representatives of participating churches, and funding partners.

The first day will end with an official public launch of the initiative, which will be attended by UN agencies and leaders from the ecumenical movement, who will jointly reflect on the role that churches play in reaching the SDGs and the potential of strengthened partnerships between faith-based actors, governments and the UN in achieving the Agenda 2030.

Waking the Giant - New Website

Open to the public on 10 October 2018.

The public and media representatives are invited to attend the launch and reception on the 10 October 2018 at the Ecumenical Center (Visser‘t Hooft Hall) from 17-18:30.

Speakers

• Rev. Dr Martin Junge, General Secretary, LWF
• Nadia Isler, Director SDG Lab, UNOG

Panel discussion on the role which churches play in reaching the SDGs and the potential of partnerships between faith-based actors, governments and the UN in achieving the Agenda 2030

• Mikka McCracken, Director, World Hunger Planning and Engagement, ELCA
• H.E. James Alex Msekela, Ambassador, Permanent Mission to the UNOG, Tanzania
• Rev Christopher Wleh Toe I, General Secretary, Liberia Council of Churches
• Alfonso Barragues, Deputy Director, UNFPA Geneva Office

Visit the Website

For several years now, the three European LWF regions have been meeting regularly on the level of church leaders and ecumenical officers. Yet the respective informal and formal communication networks of the three regions, including the KALME network (KALME stands for Communication Committee for Lutheran Minority Churches in the Central Eastern and Central Western LWF regions) never had a chance to meet around one table.

During several events and encounters in recent years, the need was felt to join forces for both exchange and the strengthening of communion building within the LWF throughout Europe. In the current information and post-truth society, with increasing secularization or non-belonging in a changing European landscape, the big challenge is: How can we be church? How can we be a Lutheran communion? How can the church contribute to fighting manipulation and lies? How can the church communicate the over 2000-year-old message of love and be a guide in the critical reading of news and the critical consumption of information?

Content

Our program will start on the 1st of October at 18:00 with a dinner, followed by a first keynote speech (19:30) and a welcome by the hosting church LELB, including a first reflection on the theme from a Latvian point of view.

On the next day, the 2nd of October, we will continue with a more general keynote speech and a discussion on the theme, followed by a keynote speech containing a deeper analysis of the current information society and post-truth-era. The third speaker will look back at the first days of Christianity and the patristic approach with the question: ‘Could we learn from our ancestors?’

The last day, the 3rd of October, will be devoted to the question: ‘How to strengthen the Lutheran communion in Europe?’

Practical questions

Taking their very different sizes into account, we kindly request churches to either send their heads of communication, their communicators or someone else who deals with communication or public affairs. It speaks for itself that church leaders are most welcome too.

The meeting will take place in the center of Riga (Latvia) in the meeting room of the consistory of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (LELB).

Reservations for hotel accommodation in walking distance from the consistory have already been made.

The conference costs, including meals, will be paid for by the LWF.

We kindly ask those churches that are able to do so, to fund travel and lodging for their participants. For those who need some assistance, please indicate this in an e-mail to the address below.

Please register as soon as possible, but latest by 14 September 2018, with the attached form, which we kindly ask you to send back to [email protected]

The workshop will introduce participants to LWF’s local to global (L2G) Rights-based Approach (RBA) programme more generally and human rights mechanisms of Human Rights Council (HRC), and Universal Periodic Review (UPR) more specifically. It will also explain how to engage with the UPR to bring priority human rights issues from the perspective of CSOs in Angola to bear to effect positive social change through advocacy.

The workshop will equally train participants on methodology regarding how to form a coalition of CSOs on the UPR, and organize into cluster groups that will embark on data collection in each of their thematic human rights area of expertise.

The data collected will be compiled into a report that will be submitted to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as a CSOs shadow report documenting priority

Language: English

Department: Department for Theology and Public Witness

A delegation from The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria and partner civil society organizations working on human rights and peacebuilding will participate in the pre-session of the UPR for Nigeria. During the pre-session the delegation will be meeting with different Diplomatic Missions in Geneva to advocate for redress of issues related to violent attacks against farmers by nomadic Fulani herdsmen in Numan Federation in Nigeria.

The delegation will lobby Missions to make recommendations to the Government of Nigeria on how to end the conflict, ensure justice, accountability and reparations for lives lost and properties damaged, and how to protect the rights of the indigenous communities in this region to life, peace and security, and the rights of the child.

These issues and their recommendations are documented in a report which the civil society coalition for the UPR has submitted to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Language: English

Department: Department for Theology and Public Witness

LUCCEA member churches Capacity building workshop

This is a Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop that seeks to realize increased capacity among church diaconal actors to initiate and implement inclusive community resilience (ICR) projects by communities utilizing innovative skills.

The main challenge to be addressed is ensuring that advocacy engagements become more collaborative and well networked to ensure sustainability. In view of improving specific skills for diaconal engagement the training shall focus on specific and selected topics: “Building ICR”, “Embracing Diversity in ICR”, “Promoting Learning and Innovation” and “Characteristics of Resilience”.  ICR link to Sustainable Development Goals and the Framework on Overcoming Poverty shall be demonstrated and the revised program implementation strategy rolled out.

Language: English and French

Department: Department for Mission and Development

Churches and sustainable development