Giving everything for God's mission
Ernst-August Lüdemann, former mission director, passed away on 28 December 2024 at the age of 85.
Pastor Ernst-August Lüdemann was a passionate missionary, pastor and bridge builder whose life and work had a lasting impact on the global church. Born in 1939, he decided early on in favour of missionary service, inspired by formative experiences in the YMCA and the example of his uncle August Lüdemann. After an apprenticeship as a carpenter, he attended the missionary seminary in Hermannsburg from 1957, continued his theology studies in Hamburg and was thereafter sent to Durban, South Africa, in 1967 to assist building and being church among the Indian population. This was a challenging task in a context dominated by Hinduism. Nevertheless, he and his wife Annemarie succeeded in awakening interest in the gospel. Within a few years, a lively congregation was formed, which also tried to break down and undermine the racial segregation of the apartheid policy of the time.
His gift of empathising with people and uniting different perspectives made a decisive contribution to the growth of the missionary work. "He helped us to understand the transition that was taking place in the missionary societies, namely the transition from missionary societies to missional partnerships. This meant that the local people were not only recipients of the mission, but also participants - that was of great importance," emphasises the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA), Nkosinathi M. Myaka.
In 1983, Lüdemann was given the responsibility of leading the Hermannsburg/ ELM staff in Southern Africa. This task broadened his understanding of the diversity of the Lutheran churches. A contemporary witness reports: "I was fascinated at the time by the way he held together the different and unconventional characters of the missionaries at mission conferences with more than 120 participants - an unrivalled integrative force." In 1989, he became Mission Director in Hermannsburg/Germany, a position he fulfilled with loyalty, care and dedication until 2003. During his time, work was started in Russia and neighbouring countries, faith courses were developed and the opening of studies for women at the missionary seminary was realised.
Myaka described his legacy aptly and certainly on behalf of many of his companions at home and abroad: "Doing God's mission and giving everything for God's mission, that is his legacy." At his funeral service on 10 January 2025, in his beloved St Peter and Paul Church, his coffin stood under the model of the mission ship Candace, a symbol of his lifelong commitment. Lüdemann himself summarised his conviction as follows: "Jesus' mission for all peoples is not a programme to be fulfilled in a geographical sense, but every new generation brings a new challenge with it. Mission therefore remains a perpetual work of God 'until He comes'."
"Ernst-August Lüdemann was a bridge builder for whom the unity in diversity of the global church was a matter close to his heart," says Ralf Meister, Bishop of the Hanover Regional Church and Chairman of the Missions Committee, the highest decision-making body of the ELM. "As Director of Missions, he stood for the promotion of intercultural dialogue and the cross-border networking of the church. He was convinced that the constant renewal of the church always leads to new, contextualised forms of Christian community and that a global church can thus emerge. In his ministry, he was just as deeply rooted in intercultural theology as he was in the practical exercise of faith through worship and service to others, which for him were the foundation of every church building." Words that are echoed by the great sympathy and the many tributes, not least from the partner churches. The ELM and its employees will honour his theological and human legacy.
