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LWF Center in Wittenberg Goes Online with Content on Luther’s Theology

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Participants of the 2nd International Seminar in front of the Luther House © LWB-Zentrum Wittenberg

Junge: Space for Cross-Cultural Discussions and Shared Learning

Hanover, Germany/GENEVA, 3 February 2011 (LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Center in Wittenberg has a new web site: www.lwb-zentrum-wittenberg.de giving more detailed information about its broad spectrum of activities.

An initiative of the LWF German National Committee (GNC) and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), the center seeks to promote greater fellowship among churches and enable Christians worldwide to encounter the theology of Martin Luther at the birthplace of the Reformation. “The new web site is intended to raise the profile of the center and establish it as a communication platform in the run-up to the Reformation anniversary in 2017,” said Rev. Hans W. Kasch, the center’s director.

This self-understanding is also reflected in the materials on the site. The center organizes seminars with a deliberately international focus. Participants are invited to engage intensively with the most varied aspects of Lutheran theology, under the guidance of visiting academics. Fourteen pastors from all five continents attended the last course in November 2010 on “Justification with Luther and Melanchthon.” The center also offers young people from the global ecumenical movement the opportunity of an internship and gives assistance for theological study periods in Wittenberg.

A further emphasis is the Luther Garden project: to plant 500 trees in a designated park in the city of Wittenberg by 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Churches from all over the world and from all denominations are invited to sponsor one of the 500 trees and also plant a tree in their home church. This project is a joint collaboration between the LWF, GNC and the city of Wittenberg.

LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge affirmed the importance of the Wittenberg Center as place that provides space for cross-cultural discussions and shared learning. “People coming from all regions of the LWF can connect to the fundamental theological insights of Lutheran theology and interpret this according to the diverse contexts and challenges in their respective churches,” he told Lutheran World Information.

On the Luther Garden, Junge said it was encouraging to see the enthusiasm with which LWF member churches and other Christian churches are receiving this creative initiative. The tree planting was inaugurated in November 2009 with the planting of 25 trees by representatives of the LWF and other Christian World Communions and from churches in Germany and other parts of Europe.

“The garden carries a strong symbolic message: each tree planted reaffirms our understanding of the global nature of the LWF communion, its ecumenical commitment and its understanding of being church in need of ongoing reformation,” Junge added. (445 words)

(A contribution from VELKD and LWI)

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