Current Focus
Opening worship at the Africa Lutheran Church Leadership Conference in Windhoek, Namibia, November 2005. |
Currently, the overall work of the department is focused on “Theology in the Life of the Church: Revisiting Its Critical Role.” The purpose is to call for, encourage and deepen constructive theological work in relation to major contextual challenges that churches face in their respective settings.
This program seeks to bridge what have been significant divides between more classical and more contextual approaches to theology, and to promote a more engaged and critical role of theology in the life of the church.
At this stage, attention is focused on “Confessing and Living Out Faith in the Triune God” (Requires Adobe
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in the face of such challenges as death and injustice, multifaith realities, charismatic and Pentecostal movements and moral issues that threaten church unity.
Seminars have been held, or are being planned, which bring together theologians from different parts of the world.
DTS seminar in Arusha, Tanzania. |
The first seminar, "Confessing and Living out the Faith in the Face of Death and Injustice," was held in Arusha, Tanzania (September 2006) in conjunction with a major LWF consultation on “Poverty and the Mission of the Church in Africa.”
Please click here for the seminar's message. (Requires Adobe
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Presentations, reflections and findings from this seminar have been published in “So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.” Poverty and the Mission of the Church in Africa [Please click to order, CHF 18, USD 15, Euro 12, plus postage and packing]
Participants discussing Christian/Muslim relations in their contexts. |
The second seminar was held in Breklum, Germany (December 2006) in conjunction with the North Elbian Center for World Mission and World Service (NMZ), under the theme “Beyond Toleration? Assessing and Responding Theologically to New Challenges for Christian-Muslim Relations.” Although participants came from around the world, attention focused especially on Europe.
Click here to download the seminar’s message, which was formulated based on the presentations and deliberations at this event. A German translation is also available. (Links require Adobe
Acrobat Reader)
The recent publication Deepening Faith, Hope and Love in Relations with Neighbors of Other Faiths [Please click to order, CHF 16, USD 14, Euro 10, plus postage and packing], includes papers presented at this seminar.
DTS seminar in Höör (Akersberg), Sweden. Left to right: Rev. Dr Elisabeth Gerle and Mr Girma Mohammed. © LWF/K. Bloomquist |
A third seminar, “Fundamentals for a Lutheran Communion in the Face of Fundamentalisms,” was held in Höör (Akersberg), Sweden (March 2007) just prior to the LWF Council and church leaders meeting.
Click here for the letter from participants in that seminar. (Requires Adobe
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Some of the papers can be accessed on the TLC Web site.
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A fourth seminar, "Confessing and Living Out Faith in the Triune God: Being the Church in the Midst of Empire," was held in June, 2007 at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota USA. Participants worked together on the articles published in the first book of the Theology in the Life of the Church series, Being the Church in the Midst of Empire. Trinitarian Reflections [Please click to order, CHF 16, USD 14, Euro 10, plus postage and packing]. In this book, theologians take up the daunting challenge of developing constructive theological responses, grounded in the Triune God, which have the potential to counter, transform and nurture long-term resistance to empire today.
Please find here further information on the seminar in St. Paul.
Global South Seminars
TLC seminar, January 2008, Hong Kong. Left to right: Fidon Mwombeki, Samuel Ngun Ling, Emi Mase-Hasegawa. © LWF/K. Bloomquist |
Further seminars are being held in 2008 in Asia and Africa, especially for theologians from the global South, to address theological questions facing people in these contexts.
One of these, entitled “What do we believe, teach and practice in the midst of religious resurgence today?” was held in January 2008 at Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Tao Fong Shan Centre in Hong Kong.The weeklong seminar sought to attend to the theological questions evoked by the challenge of religious resurgence.
Twenty-two international participants, most of them teaching theologians from Asia, discussed papers they had written prior to the seminar, moving beyond the enculturation phase of theological development toward more intercultural critique and the transformation of theological understandings. Some of the papers presented in Hong Kong have been published in volume 3 of the Theology in the Life of the Church series entitled: Identity, Survival, Witness: Reconfiguring Theological Agendas. [Please click to order, CHF 16, USD 14, Euro 10, plus postage and packing].
A second global South seminar was held in July 2008 in Soweto, South Africa, bringing together thirty theologians from different parts of Africa and beyond, who focused on the theme “Critical Lutheran Beliefs and Practices in Relation to Neo-Pentecostalism.” There is much diversity among Lutheran churches with regard to practices associated with Pentecostalism, yet there are Lutheran theological convictions, such as the priority of God’s grace, that are key for assessing such practices.
Click here to download the Soweto seminar’s message, which was formulated based on the presentations and deliberations at this event. The message is also available in French.
For more information on the “Theology in the Life of the Church” emphasis and seminars, please contact the Rev. Dr Karen Bloomquist
