Lutheran Churches in Europe Challenged to Find New Ways of Communicating Faith
Secularization. Migration. Totalitarian influences. Consumerism. Questions about spirituality. Human sexuality. What does it mean to be the Church in Europe today?
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Lutheran leaders from across Europe explored a new understanding of the missionary task of church at the September 11-16 LWF regional consultation in Griefswald, Germany. In the Message from the conference, participants highlighted the need for churches to “meet people right where they are” and find new ways of communicating faith in societies marked by both secularization and an interest in religion and spirituality.
Church leaders named migration as a special focus of concern in Europe and recommended closer cooperation in responding to the trend of increased regional and global mobility. The continued number of younger, educated adults emigrating to the West poses a particular challenge.
Other topics of debate included sexuality issues, authority and good leadership, integration of youth in the church, plans for the Eleventh LWF Assembly in 2010, and increased member church participation in the LWF.
 LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko © LWF/D.-M. Grötzsch |
God Chooses People by His Love
“We are not great because of what we have achieved but because God achieves extraordinary things through us ordinary people.” At the opening worship of the European Church Leadership Consultation Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, LWF General Secretary, focused on the question of the criteria by which God chooses people. He also criticized the tendency to judge a person’s value by their achievements. “We are part of a society that has ‘altars,’ some of which are dedicated to the gods of ‘achievement’.” More...
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LWF Regional Meetings Important for Common Identity
LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko underlined the importance of regional meetings such as the European Church Leadership Consultation for the LWF ’s work in terms of mutual encouragement, sharing experiences and strengthening a sense of common identity. More...
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German Leader Cites Close, Constructive Copperation
Paying tribute to the churches as “pillars of strength for society,” Premier Dr Harald Ringstorff of Germany’s Mecklenburg-West Pomeranian state noted that in addition to pastoral care and a broad range of social services, “the churches stand for the communication of values, the maintenance and preservation of traditions, and the foundation and strengthening of identity. It is precisely this that is of great importance in our times.” More...
To order photos of the LWF European Church Leadership Consultation, please contact the LWF Photo Service.
