PHILIPPINES – The afternoon of the second day of the International Lutheran Council’s (ILC) 2025 World Conference saw attendees turn to regional issues, with a panel of presentations from Asia.
The theme for the Asia Regional Focus was “Syncretistic Blends Affecting Lutheran Churches in Asia: The Examples of Shamanism, Sorcery, and Albularyo.” The presenters included Rev. Michael Hauser, an Australian missionary to Gutnius Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea; Rev. Dr. Jun-Hyun Kim, Interim President of Luther Theological University in South Korea; and Rev. Henry Paul D. Roa, President of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines’ South Luzon District.
After defining shamanism and sorcery, Rev. Hauser provided insight into the situation in Papua New Guinea, with special focus on the issue of “Sanguma.” “False accusations of ‘sanguma’ or sorcery for selfish reasons” have become a serious problem within Papua New Guinea, he noted, leading to horrific violence: in the past 20 years, according to a study by the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, more than 600 people have been reported killed and another 340 wounded in mob-violence. But the real numbers are expected to be much higher, with “attacks often involving whole communities and involving gruesome torture and humiliation,” Rev. Hauser said.
“One wonders, quite rightly, how Christians could be involved in such attacks,” Rev. Hauser noted. The irony is that the attempt to rout out such alleged sorcerers is itself riddled with syncretistic tendencies. Christians rely on “self-professed seers who operate under the guise of ‘prayer warriors’” to identify these supposed sorcerers, Rev. Hauser said. While the government has attempted to criminalize this practice, more must be done by churches themselves, Rev. Hauser noted, to treat the root causes of the issue. Christians mission must be more willing to say, “This is idolatry, and is not Christian,” Rev. Hauser said, and bring to bear its own rites like excommunication—perhaps even of entire communities for a time—to lead those responsible to repentance.
Dr. Kim, meanwhile, spoke on the “enduring influence of Korean shamanism within the life and practice of Korean Christianity.” This has led Korean Christians to adopt several shamanistic attitudes, he noted. As a result of this syncretism, he said, “many believers treat worship as a ritual performance for receiving blessings rather than as an act of obedience and communion with God.” Everyday believers neglect “personal responsibility for faith,” entrusting their destiny instead to church leaders who are treated more like “quasi-magical figures,” replacing the shamans of old. This results in an “undue reliance” on external rituals or works like “church attendance, offerings, or revival meetings as an automatic means of receiving blessing.” Likewise, “shamanism’s emphasis on fate has influenced many Christians to view life events as predetermined, leading to passivity and resignation rather than active discipleship.” This focus on achieving blessings for oneself has led to reduced missionary zeal.
“While Christianity once opposed such folk beliefs, many believers have unconsciously absorbed shamanistic ideas into their faith,” Dr. Kim concluded. “This syncretism manifests in transactional prayer, dependence on church leaders, and fatalistic resignation. Today, “the challenge for Korea Christianity is to resist this distortion by preserving the Gospel’s purity—emphasizing salvation, covenantal blessing, and ethical discipleship”—and by “rooting itself firmly in the message of Jesus Christ.”
Rev. Roa then spoke on the situation in the Philippines. “Syncretism is common in the Philippines,” he noted, with the blending of Christianity and pagan practices becoming “a normal and acceptable spiritual practice” for many. He noted, for example, the common practice of seeking assistance from an “albularyo” or medicine man. Modern medical care can be expensive, he noted, so many—including Christians—seek out these traditional healers. But for the albularyo, “every disease is connected with sin” and “offending the spirits.” The offered cure, then, “is all about appeasing an angry god/spirit.” Yet Christians are put at ease because the albularyo will often incorporate a Christian prayer as well.
There are numerous other instances of syncretism present in the Philippines, Rev. Roa noted, with many focused on seeking prosperity—for example, by superstitious customs at weddings like pinning money to the married couple while they dance and the placing of coins near doors and windows. Other rituals are secretly done to ward off death. For example, church members will sometimes secretly break a glass when the body of a dead person is removed from the church following a funeral. “The effect of this blended spirituality—Christianity and paganism—is a false sense of Christianity and a false faith,” Rev. Road concluded. “The church has the great responsibility to proclaim the Word of God in its purity, and to be clear and brutally honest that Christianity mixed with pagan practice is not Christianity.
Following the presentations, attendees participated in an open question and answer period with the panel, with members noting that while the specifics may differ, the issue of cultural and religious syncretism is one that many countries face.
Translating the Word of God
The afternoon continued with a presentation by Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT), a Recognized Organization of the International Lutheran Council. LBT’s Director of Partnerships and Scripture Engagement highlighted how, over the history of LBT, the organization has work to make God’s Word accessible in 223 languages, including 135 currently—work which it accomplishes in partnership with local church leaders. That total includes 48 milestone projects (translations of the New Testament and full Bibles), as well as lectionaries, liturgies, Bible apps, audio Bibles, and more.
Bishop John Donkoh of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana (ELCG) then joined LBT’s representative for a discussion about the work of the organization. In the course of that discussion, Bishop Donkoh was presented with the first copy of the full Komba Bible—a project that the church in Ghana has been working with LBT on for 22 years. The two noted that a translation project like this one is a huge undertaking. The Komba language, for example, had never been written down before; before translation could begin, the language had to be studied, a writing system developed, and literacy taught so the Komba people could read and write their own language.
The day concluded with participants breaking into regional groups for continued conversation.
The ILC is grateful to Lutheran Bible Translators for providing today’s translation equipment.
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For more news from the ILC’s 2025 World Conference, click here.
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