SOUTH AFRICA – The International Lutheran Council’s (2026) World Seminaries Conference took place in Pretoria from June 22-25. The theme for the conference was: “Being Human, Being Christian: Theological Anthropology in Church and Seminary.”
A total of 32 theological schools in 30 nations were represented at the conference, with more than 60 participants in total attending. The host seminary for this year’s event was the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane, and leaders of the ILC’s three member church bodies in South Africa—the Confessional Lutheran Synod in South Africa (CLCSA), the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa (FELSISA), and the Lutheran Synod in South Africa (LCSA) all participated in the event.
Lectures on Theological Anthropology
The first day of the conference featured a keynote presentation by ILC General Secretary Klaus Detlev Schulz (Fort Wayne, Indiana), presenting a lecture entitled: “Between Atoms and Illusion: Theological Anthropology Framed by False Epistemologies.” The first day also featured presentations by Rev. Dr. Joel Biermann (St. Louis, Missouri) speaking on “Views on Personhood”; Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Boafo (Accra, Ghana) on “The Incarnated Christ as a Basis for Gospel Communication”; and Rev. Dr. Guntis Kalme (Riga, Latvia) on “The Nicene Pro Nobis: A Lutheran Anthropology for the Digital Age.”
The morning of the second day saw three presentations by Rev. Konstantin Subbotin on “Homo Deus: Anthropotheism as a New Religion of the Modern Age”; Rev. Prof. Clécio Leocir Schadech (Buenos Aires, Argentina) on “Proclaiming the Death of the Lord in the Age of Transhumanism”; and Prof. Dr. Armin Wenz (Oberursel, Germany) on “The Challenge of Transhumanism for Lutheran Dogmatics and Ethics.”
The afternoon of the second day continued with two additional presentations by Rev. Dr. Samuel Furhmann (São Leopoldo, Brazil) on “Towards a Lutheran Theological Response to Secular Egalitarianism” and Rev. Dr. Daniel Johansson (Gothenburg, Sweden) on “Unsuccessful Sanctification as an Argument Against the Biblical View of Sexuality and a Lutheran Response.”
The third day saw parallel presentations by Rev. Dr. Christoph Weber (South Africa) on “Lutheran Anthropology and Sin in Societal Structures” and Rev. Nicholas Kumbo Louis (Sudan and South Sudan) on “Male and Female Relationships in the Church.”
Papers from the conference will be published online at a later date.
Other sessions included a discussion of accreditation led by Dr. Cynthia Lumley of Westfield House (Cambridge, U.K.), as well as a discussion of pedagogy also led by Dr. Lumley. Participants also met for regional meetings, later presenting on regional issues to the wider assembly.
New ILC Seminaries Committee and Closing Service
The conference also saw the announcement of the new ILC Seminaries Committee. Serving for the next three years are:
- Rev. Dr. Heinz Hiestermann (Africa)
- Rev. Dr. Jun Hyun Kim (Asia)
- Dr. Cynthia Lumley (Europe)
- Rev. Dr. Sergio Schelske (Latin America)
- Rev. Kirk Radford (North America)
Members of the committee were installed during the conference’s closing service, which was hosted by St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pretoria, a local FELSISA congregation. After the service, participants enjoyed a braai dinner hosted by the congregation, and had the opportunity to visit the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane (Pretoria) just down the street.
The final day of the conference saw participants take a historical tour of the region, including visits to the Apartheid Museum, Mandela House, and the Hector Pieterson Memorial.
———————
For more news from the ILC’s 2026 World Seminaries Conference, click here.
RSS Feed