GERMANY – The International Lutheran Council’s (ILC) Sixth World Seminaries Conference continued Wednesday, turning its attention to the subject of missions.
Rev. Dr. Berhanu Ofgaa, General Secretary of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church of Mekane Yesus (EECMY), served as keynote speaker for the day, addressing the impact of Lutheranism on missions. He discussed the theological basis for missions in Luther’s thought, the history of Lutheran mission, and current practices in Lutheran mission, with special reference to the practices of the EECMY, the fastest growing Lutheran church body in the world.
Convention participants spent the afternoon in Leipzig. There they visited St. Thomas Church and St. Nicholas Church, both sites associated with the career of the church musician and composer Johanne Sebastian Bach. Kevin Hildebrand (LCMS) gave a brief organ recital at St. Thomas, the church Bach served for many years
Participants then proceeded held to Vespers at St. Lukas Church, a member congregation of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK). There they heard about the church’s work among immigrants, and the growing number of Iranian and Afghan refugees converting to Christianity and joining SELK congregations. The number of converts is so significant that last year the SELK recorded a slight increase in total membership – an arrest in what has otherwise been a multi-year decline, as has been the case with many Western churches.
Wednesday evening continued back in Wittenberg with two responses to earlier presentations. The first was from Rev. Dr. Armin Wenz (SELK), responding to Dr. Andrew Pfeiffer’s Tuesday presentation on worship. The second was from Rev. Dr. Detlev Schulz (LCMS), commenting on Dr. Ofgaa’s presentation on mission.
As was also true of the presentations at the ILC’s 2015 World Conference, all major presentations from the World Seminaries Conference will be published in a future issue of The Journal for Lutheran Mission.
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