Participants in the 2019 Northern European Conservative Bishops Conference. (Photo: ELCL).
LATVIA – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (ELCL) held the Northern European Conservative Bishops Conference August 21-24, 2019, meeting both in Riga and at the church’s retreat centre in Mazirbe.
“It was a joy to gather with church leaders in Latvia to discuss issues of cooperation between conservative Lutheran church bodies,” said Chairman Jon Ehlers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England (ELCE). “The Latvian church is to be commended for its work in bringing together confessional Lutherans annually for this regional conference, and I am grateful for having had the opportunity to attend.” Chairman Ehlers serves on the International Lutheran Council’s (ILC) Executive Council as the Europe World Region representative. This was the second consecutive year that the ILC has sponsored the Bishops Conference.
A major focus of the event was identifying opportunities for greater cooperation between conservative Lutheran churches. One particular subject discussed was the possibility of shared theological education initiatives, a conversation hosted at the ELCL’s Luther Academy.
The conference featured opportunities for each church partner to report on their joys and challenges, and to join together in worship. Archbishop Jānis Vanags, head of the Latvian church, also presented a paper on postmodernism and the church’s response, and one evening was spent visiting with the ELCL’s governing board.
The 2019 Northern European Conservative Bishops Conference hosted leaders from Lutheran churches in Belarus, England, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Siberia (Russia), and Ukraine. A pastor of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod was also in attendance.
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