We are partners: ELM Director Holger Siebert visits Brazil
How can church partnerships be built on an equal footing? On his first overseas trip for the ELM, ELM Director Holger Siebert, accompanied by Kurt Herrera, visited the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB).
How can a church partnership be achieved on an equal footing? This and numerous other questions concerning the relationship between the IECLB and the ELM were on the agenda during ELM Director Holger Siebert’s first overseas trip, which he undertook together with Kurt Herrera to the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB).
We spoke to him upon his return. His reflections are characterised by encounters, discussions about the future of the church and poignant impressions of social inequality.
A journey through south-eastern Brazil
This was Holger Siebert’s first trip to Latin America on behalf of the ELM. Together with Kurt Herrera, the officer for Ecumenical Cooperation in South America, he travelled from São Paulo via various stops to Porto Alegre and São Leopoldo. One of the reasons for the trip was the synod of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB) in Florianópolis, at which a new church leadership was elected. The trip also served as a farewell for Kurt Herrera and an inaugural visit for ELM Director Holger Siebert in his new role.
A church facing new beginnings and challenges
Holger Siebert experienced the IECLB at various levels: at church services, in congregations, in diaconal projects and during discussions with church leaders. He was impressed by how the church combines spiritual and missionary life with diaconal work. The partner church is also grappling with issues such as sustainable structures, the next generation of theologians and how to respond to societal changes. This includes the question of how the church can take a stand in the face of growing right-wing political movements.
Holger Siebert was particularly moved by the visible homelessness in São Paulo. He was struck by the large number of people living on the streets and the extent of their hardship. At the same time, he took away from the IECLB the warmth of the people and the special spirit of the council as uplifting impressions.
“But the intensity of the misery, the sheer number and the visible presence of homeless people in São Paulo – that really took me by surprise, even though I am familiar with poverty and misery from other contexts.”
Together into the future
It became clear to Holger Siebert that the IECLB regards the ELM as an equal partner.
“It was heartening to hear that we are seen as a partner who takes it to heart to work together on an equal footing and to move forward together.”
This trusting collaboration is set to continue. Discussions are already underway regarding the possibility of an international youth exchange as part of a major youth congress in Brazil in the summer of 2027, to which the ELM has also been invited; in addition, issues relating to joint projects, future partnership work and the work of the ‘Places of Peace’ were discussed.
The trip combined two things: Kurt Herrera’s farewell as the Officer for Ecumenical Cooperation in South America and, to some extent, the start of Holger Siebert’s tenure as ELM Director in the context of the international partner churches – featuring many valuable encounters and a shared awareness of the strong common foundation in faith, enabling the partnership between the ELM and the IECLB to continue in a spirit of trust and reciprocity.
