Thirst for unity motivates the trip to South Africa
Gracious God,
we have travelled across different seas
to reach this place,
but we are all baptised with the same
water.
We have different backgrounds and cultures,
but we are united in one faith;
we are, each one of us, unique and precious,
and we are members of one body;
we have different dreams and doubts,
but our hearts beat in one hope;
we are blessed with different talents,
so that we can serve the one God we worship.
Amen
This prayer will be at the beginning of the event that starts tomorrow in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the Partnerchurch Consultation (PKK) of the Ev.-luth. Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM). Over 30 participants from Evangelical Lutheran churches on four continents will come together from 29 August to 5 September to discuss the way forward for their churches, to develop visions and to enrich each other through the different cultural influences of their faith.
When Christians come together, they want to pray and sing together, listen to Bible texts and talk about them. The participants in the PCC do the same. Many of them are bishops, but also members in other leadership roles, for example in women's and youth work. They come from Brazil, Peru, Malawi, Ethiopia, South Africa, India, Russia and Germany. Each day, one of the participants leads the programme and present his/her ideas for a living church. "Exchange at eye level" is the motto of what follows. In addition, experts are invited to present their views on individual topics that currently concern the church, for example on the relationship between the church and the LGBTQI+ community.
Important questions are on the agenda of the meeting: While the church in the Global South is clearly on a growth trajectory, it is shrinking in Europe and is looking for ways to reach people with the Christian message. What can the North learn from the Global South? And what global challenges are there that people in Malawi or India have to overcome just as much as people in Germany or France? How can the church - and this question is currently acute in Germany - be credible in view of the numerous cases of sexual abuse by church employees? Last but not least: How can the cultural diversity that is experienced at the Partnerchurch Consultation also find its way into Christian congregations worldwide?
"Our trip to distant South Africa is motivated by our thirst for unity, the search for community, for oneness, for being together in order to experience this community again - to celebrate oneness," says Dr Emmanuel Kileo, Director of the ELM, summarising what this biennial event means to him. He likes to quote a phrase from his home country of Tanzania: "Umoja ni Nguvu", which means "unity is strength, isolation is defeat".
This basic idea runs like a common thread through the encounters between the partner churches. It also moves the Bishop of the Indian Evangelical Lutheran Tamil Church, Dr Christian Samraj, when he says: "A part of a body cannot function on its own. It has no life and no function without the body." Another participant, Gabrielle Uecker from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brazil, referred to Matthew 18:20 to explain what the partner church consultation means to her: "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them".
The Ev.-luth. Mission in Lower Saxony is particularly pleased that a number of representatives from the organisation's sponsoring churches - the Regional Church of Hanover, Braunschweig and Schaumburg-Lippe - have also travelled along. They will have the opportunity to see the work of the ELM up close and to exchange ideas with people from the partnerchurches.
