Called to be church
Over 30 representatives from Protestant churches on four continents came together in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 29th to September 5th for the Seventh Partnerchurch Consultation (PCC) of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM). Delegates from church leadership, youth and women's work shared their vision of the church and contributed their experiences and perspectives to the dialogue. The international conference, which took place in the year of the 175th anniversary of the ELM, promoted an understanding of global diversity within the Evangelical Lutheran community and provided new impetus for church cooperation and mission.
The closing joint declaration by participants states, among other things: "With this Seventh Partner Church Consultation, we have re-established, restored and renewed our relationships by sharing our respective perspectives and listening to each other, even if we do not always share the same convictions. We have honoured the rich witness of the Gospel that we give in the face of different contexts with their respective possibilities and limitations. We are grateful for our long-standing partnership and all the efforts that the ELM invests in our network. In our encounters, we realised that it is our unity in our diversity that allows us to celebrate together. We thank God for his faithfulness over the past 175 years and celebrate our fellowship with the power of the Gospel. This will inspire and enrich our intercultural encounters so that they not only serve our own contexts, but also do justice to the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ."
"Unity in diversity" was a recurring theme throughout the programme. The contexts and associated social conventions are sometimes very different among the partners. Language barriers also had to be overcome. Nevertheless, the participants were always united in their common faith.
A lot of space was given to the debate about how the church can and must renew itself in order to reach all people. People and groups who are marginalised in society should not suffer the same fate in the church. The youth delegates, in particular, formulated a clear demand to implement strategies to overcome racism, power struggles, financial mismanagement and paternalism in the churches and to enable more participation and inclusion.
"We are a communion of churches on four continents that proclaims the Gospel and advocates for healing and reconciliation, justice and peace. We want to learn even more from each other and grow together. An important source for this is that we celebrate together," explains ELM Director Dr. Emmanuel Kileo.
"We have realised that diversity is a strength. It helps us to ensure that the churches can proclaim and live out their faith in an understandable and relevant way wherever they are. To this end, we want to strengthen the participation of different groups in our churches. The ELM is an excellent platform for exchanging ideas about this worldwide," adds Dirk Stelter, Head of the Department for Mission, Ecumenism and Religions at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover and Deputy Chair of the ELM Mission Committee.
The new regional bishop Oliver Schuegraf from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe also drew a positive conclusion from his participation in the PCC: "For me, the Partnerchurch Consultation was a great opportunity to get to know our partner churches and the work of the ELM better. It quickly became clear to me - only with the help of such direct encounters can we continue to grow together into real partners across four continents."
For the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Braunschweig, Thomas Hofer, a member of the regional church council, took away a new perspective on the church in Germany: "We are in a bit of a bubble in Germany and revolve around ourselves. It has broadened my view that Christians in other countries sometimes achieve more with much less. The courage to try out new things is something I am taking with me from Johannesburg."
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Braunschweig and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe are the supporting churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony.
