What does the ELM actually do?

How do parish communities benefit from the services offered by the Ev.-luth. Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM)? What specific services does the organisation provide? And who are the relevant points of contact?

Pastors from the Soltau church district and their superintendent, Heiko Schütte, recently learnt more about this during a visit to the site.

Friedensort2GO – a pilgrimage route with spiritual reflections

To kick things off, education secretary Ingrid Lüdemann introduced Friedensort2GO. The pilgrimage route, which is just over 4 kilometres long, starts in front of the ELM headquarters and connects six stations offering artistic and spiritual reflections; it is one of the ‘places of peace’ of the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Hanover. Visitors can walk the “F2GO” either independently or as part of a guided tour.

Exchange programme for church staff and international partnerships

Among the initiatives tailored specifically to church staff is the programme ‘Kirche gibt’s auch anderswo’ (‘The Church Exists Elsewhere Too’). Pastors, as well as other church staff, spend several weeks accompanying a colleague in the Global South and later welcome that colleague for a return visit.

ELM secretary Marlene Altebockwinkel presented this area and, in addition, the ELM’s support for international church partnerships. There are 60 such partnerships between parishes or church districts spanning national and continental borders within the three Evangelical Lutheran regional churches of Lower Saxony: Hanover, Braunschweig and Schaumburg-Lippe.

Workshops for confirmation classes

The ‘Ecumenical Learning Workshop’ (WöL), presented by Helena Honert in her capacity as a secretary for youth work and global learning, is also intended as a resource for pastors and their confirmation classes. The range of topics covers many of the ELM’s key areas of focus. Mini-WöL sessions (1.5 to 2 hours), day-long or week-long seminars can be booked, either in the respective parishes or in Hermannsburg.

International voluntary service for young people

‘North-South’ or ‘South-North’: when these terms are used within the ELM, they refer to the international voluntary service programme. Young people aged between 18 and 28 are eligible to take part. Participants from the Global South spend a year volunteering in a church or diaconal organisation in Germany, whilst those from the Global North do the same in one of the ELM’s partner churches in Africa, Asia or Latin America. Many former volunteers describe this time as meaningful and formative for the rest of their lives, reported the secretaries Katharina Rausch (South-North) and Niels von Türk (North-South).

Networking on issues that concern Christians worldwide

A short film from a conference on the training of lay preachers in South Africa provided a clear example of how the ELM is committed to networking between churches and Christians worldwide. The ‘priesthood of all believers’, as an essential component of the Protestant faith, is practised differently around the world. This is a key issue everywhere, as reported by Dr Vera Pabst, Head of the Global Church Department at the ELM, and Dr Joe Lüdemann, secretary on Global Cultural Diversity and Ecumenical Cooperation with South Africa, Botswana and Eswatini.

Bringing faith to life through creative methods

To round off the morning, the guests went outside once more. They learnt that at the ELM, topics of faith are not merely discussed, but are also brought to life through a wide variety of methods. Waldemar Rausch, Officer for Global Sustainability and Ecumenical Cooperation with the Russian Federation, transported the audience to the Brazilian rainforest – and to their own inner selves – through his saxophone playing.

Throughout the session, there were regular opportunities to ask questions of the speakers and ELM Director Holger Siebert. He encouraged everyone to take advantage of the ELM’s programmes and to spread the word about them.

Church district conferences or other church groups that are also interested in finding out more about the ELM’s programmes can contact us on 05052/69-201. A presentation with brief insights can also be arranged off-site, for example as part of a church district conference.