Anglican-Lutheran reflections - drawing the church families closer
A series of daily reflections during Lent drawing on the common Anglican-Lutheran experience of Godâs grace. Photo: LWF/Albin Hillert
An ecumenical project to mark the Reformation anniversary
(LWI) - During each of the forty days of Lent leading up to Easter Sunday, The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) will post daily reflections compiled by the Anglican-Lutheran International Coordinating Committee (ALICC). This project was initiated to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
Each text can be used by small groups or individuals as Lenten readings,as resources for the weeks between Easter and Trinity Sunday or during other times of the year.
A devotional to draw Anglicans and Lutherans closer together
Taking up the LWF Reformation theme, Liberated by God’s Grace, ALICC commissioned 42 Anglicans and Lutherans from around the world to write a six-week series of reflections as a way of engaging both global communities in commemorating of the Reformation anniversary.
The reflections will be published in the book Liberated by God’s Grace: Anglican–Lutheran Reflections and posted on the LWF website during lent 2017.
Rather than being an agreed statement between the Lutheran World Federation and the Anglican Communion, Liberated by God’s Grace: Anglican–Lutheran Reflections, is a devotional for common reflection on what, in God’s grace, we are called to be as Anglican and Lutheran congregations today.
It is the hope of ALICC that such common reflections, drawing on a range of contributors and experiences, may in our common experience of God’s grace draw our two families of churches closer together in this extraordinary year.
In the preface to the publication the committee expresses the hope that these reflections draw the two families of churches closer together. “It is the hope of ALICC that such common reflections, drawing on a range of contributors and experiences, may in our common experience of God’s grace draw our two families of churches closer together in this extraordinary year,” write Bishop Tim Harris, Anglican Church of Australia, and Bishop Michael Pryse, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, who are the co-chairs of ALICC.
Each devotion is made up of a biblical text, a reflection and an accompanying text from either the Lutheran or Anglican traditions. The devotions exts can be used by small groups or individuals as Lenten readings or as resources for the weeks between Easter and Trinity Sunday. Their use is not restricted to Lent or Easter, they may be used at any time in 2017 and beyond.
An emphasis on practical cooperation
Anglican-Lutheran relations have been one of the success stories (https://www.lutheranworld.org/news/deepening-anglican-lutheran-relationship) of ecumenism in recent decades.
Created four years ago, the ALICC committee was tasked with acting as a catalyst to develop Anglican–Lutheran relations, and to work together to observe the 500th anniversary of the Reformation this year. ALICC puts emphasis on practical cooperation between Lutherans and Anglicans.
