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ILC assembly receives two churches into full membership, reveals plans for 2025 World Conference

by | Oct 29, 2024

Participants in the International Lutheran Council’s 2024 extraordinary assembly in Wittenberg, Germany.

GERMANY – The International Lutheran Council (ILC) held an extraordinary assembly on October 26, 2024, in Wittenberg, Germany, during which time the ILC introduced the Board of Director’s new secretary, heard reports, received two churches into full membership, and made plans for the ILC’s 2025 World Conference.

General Secretary reports, introduces new BOD secretary

ILC General Secretary Klaus Detlev Schulz reports during the assembly in Wittenberg.

The assembly began with a brief report from the ILC’s General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Klaus Detlev Schulz, outlining the work of the ILC over the past year, focusing especially on Regional Conferences and the 2024 World Seminary Conference. Dr. Schulz also acknowledged some of the new observer member churches in the ILC.

LCU Bishop Charles Bameka, the new Secretary of the ILC’s Board of Directors, takes notes during the 2024 Assembly in Wittenberg.

Dr. Schulz then introduced to the assembly the new Secretary of the ILC’s Board of Directors: Bishop Charles Bameka of the Lutheran Church of Uganda (LCU). Bishop Bameka has served as the LCU’s national presiding bishop in Uganda for eight years, most recently having been reelected in 2023.

Bishop Bameka succeeds Bishop John Donkoh of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana (ELCG), who was elected Secretary during the ILC’s World Conference in 2022. Bishop Donkoh stepped down from the ILC’s Board of Directors earlier this year as his church body prepares for a change in leadership. The assembly in Wittenberg also acknowledged the long service of President Gijsbertus van Hattem of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Belgium (Evangelisch-Lutherse Kerk in België – ELCG), who served as Secretary from 2009-2022 and has served as Assistant Secretary since then.

Ecumenical Relations

Rev. Dr. Werner Klän speaks to the ILC assembly in Wittenberg.

The assembly then heard from Rev. Dr. Werner Klän, who gave a report on the current status of the Concordia-Lutheran – Roman Catholic Augustana Working Group. This is the ecumenical-theological working group which was established following the conclusion of the informal conversations between the ILC and the Roman Catholic Church which took place from 2014-2019. Dr. Klän noted encouraging feedback from ILC member churches on the Final Report which arose from those discussions, and invited additional responses from ILC member churches.

The Augustana Working Group, which is not a formal dialogue commission, held its inaugural meetings in Rome in March 2024. The working topic for the group is: “Catholicity and Apostolicity in the Augsburg Confession, Examined in the Areas of Soteriology (Justification) and Ecclesiology (Ministry, Episcopate, and Ordination): A Joint Lutheran-Catholic Review of the Augsburg Confession in a Pre-Confessional and Ecumenical Perspective.” The meetings are scheduled to take place over four years, with the next meetings to take place in Wittenberg, Germany, from December 9-10, 2024, and in Rome from February 23-26, 2025.

Membership

CLCSA Bishop David Tswaedi addresses the assembly while ILC Chairman, Bishop Juhana Pohjola of Finland, looks on.
Bishop Peter Anibati Abia of the ELCSS/S addresses the ILC assembly in Wittenberg.

Other business during the assembly included a unanimous vote to receive two churches into full membership in the ILC: the Evangelical Lutheran Synod Church of South Sudan and Sudan (ELCSS/S) and the Confessional Lutheran Church of South Africa (CLCSA). Archbishop Joseph Ochola Omolo of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK)—who serves also as the Africa regional representative on the Board of Directors—introduced the two churches prior to the vote and recommended their acceptance into membership.

The two churches were represented at the ILC assembly by their bishops: ELCSS/S Bishop Peter Anibati Abia and CLCSA Bishop David Tswaedi. Both church bodies had previously been observer members in the ILC, with the ELCSS/S having been accepted as an observer in 2022 and the CLCSA in 2018.

The assembly also reinstated membership for a few church bodies whose membership had lapsed.

Discussions on Fellowship and Bylaw Amendments

ELCE Chairman George Samiec speaks during the 2024 ILC assembly in Wittenberg.

Next on the agenda was a discussion of fellowship, led by Chairman George Samiec of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England (ELCE). Chairman Samiec is the European regional representative on the ILC’s Board of Directors, and further serves on a subcommittee of the board focused on fellowship, alongside the ILC’s General Secretary, Klaus Detlev Schulz, and ILC Communications Manager, Mathew Block.

Chairman Samiec noted that a suggestion had been made by Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) that the ILC explore the topic of fellowship. The subcommittee adapted and condensed the Canadian proposal, before distributing it to ILC member churches for discussion and feedback.

The 2024 assembly in Wittenberg continued discussion of the subject, with members from across the globe providing additional insight into their churches’ understanding of fellowship.

ELCE Chairman Samiec also led the next part of the assembly’s agenda, which introduced unrelated amendments to the ILC’s bylaws.

2025 World Conference

LCP President Antonio Reyes

The final order of business for the assembly in Wittenberg was the announcement of the dates and location of next year’s ILC World Conference. The 2025 World Conference will take place September 17-19, 2025 in Bohol, Philippines. The theme for the conference will be “Unity in Christ: Confession and Cooperation in a Fragmented World.”

President Antonio Reyes of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP) made the announcement. “The members of my church are very excited to welcome you to our country,” he said. “It affords us the chance to meet with all of you, my brothers.” President Reyes also serves as the Asia regional representative on the ILC’s Board of Directors.

Additional information on the 2025 World Conference will be revealed in the months to come.

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South African Lutheran bishop passes on to glory

by | Mar 11, 2021

CLCSA Bishop Mandla Khumalo

SOUTH AFRICA – Bishop Mandla John Khumalo of the Confessional Lutheran Church in South Africa (CLCSA) passed away on March 1, 2021 after a brief illness. He was sixty years old.

A funeral service for Bishop Khumalo was held on March 6, conducted by Bishop Emeritus David Tswaedi of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa.

“At some point, we will depart this world,” Bishop Khumalo wrote in a reflection on Facebook a few months ago. “I pray that, when I depart from this world, I should do so having served my God, my people to the best of my ability.”

“We are saddened to hear about the loss of Pastor Mandla yet find comfort in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,” said Rev. Dr. Timothy Quill, General Secretary of the International Lutheran Council, in a letter of condolence. “The CLCSA will miss the remarkable leadership of Bishop Mandla, yet we give thanks to God for the blessings our Lord has bestowed on so many through his faithful witness.”

Bishop Mandla Khumalo

Prior to becoming a pastor, Bishop Khumalo was a rebel in South Africa against apartheid. “When the police were looking to arrest those people, I was one of those people they were looking for,” Bishop Khumalo explained in an interview with the Michigan District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. While attempting to flee the country, he and his companions sheltered in a church. “The pastor one night invited us to a revival crusade,” he explained. “We really did not want to go. But as a courtesy to this pastor, we decided we would attend this service.”

The proclamation of Law and Gospel that night led to Bishop Khumalo’s conversion. He returned to his hometown of Middleburg and presented himself to police, explaining that his faith in Christ had led him to turn himself in. The authorities instead let him go free.

Bishop Khumalo began sharing the Gospel in his home community, which led eventually to the establishment of a congregation. He graduated from the South African School of Theology in 1981.

Over time, Bishop Khumalo made connections with members of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), through whom he came into contact with Lutheran theology. He eventually was accepted into Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he began studies in 1988. The congregation back in Middleburg subsequently also became Lutheran.

Today the church body which grew out of Bishop Khumalo’s missionary work now counts more than 22,000 members throughout South Africa.

In 2018, Bishop Khumalo led the Confessional Lutheran Church in South Africa into observer membership in the International Lutheran Council (ILC). He further represented his church in recent unity talks between the CLCSA and the ILC’s two other member churches in South Africa: the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa (FELSISA) and the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (LCSA).

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COVID-19 and ILC churches in India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom

by | Apr 16, 2020

President S. Suviseshamuthu brings a video Easter greeting to the India Evangelical Lutheran Church.

WORLD – Members of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) continue to respond to the coronavirus pandemic currently gripping the world.

In this second post in our series, we highlight the situation of ILC member churches in India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

India

A nationwide lockdown in India was implemented on March 23, and will continue at least through the end of April. So far, India has reported more than 12,700 cases of COVID-19 and 423 deaths.

The situation has proven challenging for the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC). Worship services are banned, which was particularly difficult during Holy Week and Easter. Some pastors and congregations are able to broadcast services online, and some members are able to watch from their homes. The church, however, is unable to administer Holy Communion during the lockdown.

Movement from one place to another is also restricted. And while some pastors are allowed to visit nearby homes to pray with members, in other places this is not allowed.

On the eve of Easter, IELC President S. Suviseshamuthu sent a message of encouragement to the church on YouTube and WhatsApp, likening the situation facing them to that described in the first chapter of Joel. Joel describes a crisis that had “never happened during the time of old men, the inhabitants of the land,” President Suviseshamuthu writes. “The priests, the Lord’s ministers, mourn. The field is wasted. The land mourns. Joy is withered away from the sons of men. The meat offering and the drink offering are withheld form the house of your God.”

“But in the very next chapter, Joel speaks of the day of the Lord,” President Suviseshamuthu continues. If we “rend our hearts and turn unto the Lord our God,” we will find “He is slow to anger, and of great kindness, if we repent from evil.”

“This makes us to realize that Jesus is the only way,” President Suviseshamuthu explains. “He loves us profoundly. That is the only reason He laid down His life on the cross. Jesus loves each one of us without discrimination. Let us separate ourselves from the world to be united only with our Saviour. Let us confess daily. May the Lord protect us and lead us through the wilderness.”

South Africa

In South Africa, more than 2,500 cases of COVID-19 have been reported, with 34 deaths. On March 23, the country enacted a nationwide lockdown, which will be in effect at least until the end of April.

This has led to major challenges for the St. Peter Confessional Lutheran Church of South Africa (CLCSA). Churches are not allowed to gather in groups of more than ten, funerals are limited to just family, and no weddings are allowed. Easter services were cancelled in South Africa, as in many nations.

Online preaching from the St. Peter Confessional Lutheran Church of South Africa.

Many churches around the world have turned to electronic means of ministering to members during the current crisis, and the CLCSA is no different, reaching out via social media. But many of the CLCSA’s members are elderly and not familiar with this sort of technology. Many are also rural, living in remote areas which do not have easy access to the internet.

“Our church is in a learning curve as to how to serve our membership,” explains CLCSA bishop Mandla Khumalo. “We have learned and are learning even more the importance of households becoming the church, with fathers effectively being encouraged to go back to using Luther’s Small Catechism to minister to their families.” Bishop Khumalo notes especially the value of the daily services in the catechism. “This is leading us to understand more fully what fellowship means on the family level—how the church begins at home, and how the worship building is only a place of fellowship.”

The CLCSA is facing other difficulties as a result of the coronavirus too. Holy communion and visitations, including to shut-ins, have been suspended, and pastors can only attend to members in extreme cases after receiving permission from the authorities. Some international staff have also been repatriated, further affecting the ability of church and its agencies to minister to its members.

The church is also facing financial difficulties since many of its members are unfamiliar with telephone or online banking, and are unable to give in person. And this has a cascading effect on the church’s education and social ministry work. The church receives no government funding, and with schools closed, there are challenges paying staff and covering overhead costs. What is more, many of the students depend on the church’s food program and now face food insecurity as a result of the lockdown.

Despite these challenges, Bishop Khumalo also sees an opportunity to reach people anew with the good news of the Gospel during this crisis. Some people who normally “would not attend church in any way” are nevertheless deciding to tune-in to the CLCSA’s online outreach “because of the curiosity created by this pandemic.” The church is proclaiming the message of Jesus to those newly willing to listen.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has so far reported more than 103,000 cases of COVID-19 and 13,729 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. On March 20, the government initiated a lockdown which resulted in churches being closed for public worship and which strictly limited the public’s ability to leave their homes.  While clergy have been categorized as key workers, and can thus leave the home to work, congregants are not allowed to attend churches.

ELCE Chairman George Samiec livestreams his sermon for Easter Sunday.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of England has reacted quickly to the situation to ensure continued pastoral care for members. By March 29, all congregations had begun offering alternate worship arrangements, including online video conferencing, live online worship services, pre-recorded worship services, and written material emailed or posted every week for members to read on Sunday.

“The absence of the Divine Service in the life of the Church is painful,” notes ELCE Chairman George Samiec. “We look forward to the time when we can worship together and receive from the Lord of the Church all His blessings.”

In the meantime, congregations continue to use alternate means to continue ministry. Some congregations are also now broadcasting Matins and Compline during the week, while Bible Studies and confirmation are being conducted via video conferencing. Congregational WhatsApp groups have been formed. And pastors are regularly phoning members to provide care.

The ELCE’s theological institute, Westfield House, has moved to provide classes online. And Lutheran Radio UK has amended the Daily Offices on Sundays to include sermons and prayers.

The ELCE ministerium is also using video conferencing to consult with one another, Chairman Samiec noted, to “learn from each other in terms of technology, to think collectively about how to go forward and what to do to minimise any ‘digital divides’, and how best to resume public worship if COVID-19 fears still exist.”

The situation also puts a strain on the fiscal well-being of congregations. To that end, the ELCE Executive Council has established a ‘hardship fund’ to help congregations deal with financial stresses.

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For more news and information from the International Lutheran Council about the COVID-19 pandemic, click here.

Unity talks begin between South African Lutherans

by | Jan 16, 2020

LCSA Deputy Bishop Mandla Thwala, FELSISA Deputy Bishop Helmut Paul, FELSISA Bishop Dieter Reinstorf, the CLCSA’s Rev. Geoffrey Skosana, the LCSA’s Rev. John Nkambule, CLCSA Bishop Mandla Khumalo, and LCSA Bishop Modise Maragelo.

SOUTH AFRICA – On January 14, 2020 representatives of the three confessional Lutheran church bodies in South Africa met for a first round of unity talks in Pretoria.

The Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (LCSA) was represented by Bishop Modise Maragelo, Deputy Bishop Mandla Thwala and Rev. John Nkambule; the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa (FELSISA) by Bishop Dr. Dieter Reinstorf and Deputy Bishop Helmut Paul; and the Confessional Lutheran Church in South Africa (CLCSA) by Bishop Mandla Khumalo and Rev. Geoffrey Skosana.

These initial talks in Pretoria focused on establishing church fellowship between the LCSA and the FELSISA (who are already in declared church fellowship with one another) and the more recently established CLCSA. The foundational articles of the respective churches as well as the central doctrines of the Lutheran Church as contained in the Book of Concord were extensively discussed. The three churches will now provide feedback to their respective church councils in the hope that church fellowship will be formalized in upcoming church conventions.

These unity talks were largely prompted by discussions held at a meeting of the Africa Region of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) held in Pretoria from September 17-20, 2019. At this meeting gratitude was expressed for the number of newly established confessional Lutheran churches in Africa, while also raising concern that many of these Lutheran Churches work independently without establishing formal relationships with other regional churches—something which creates a formal expression of unity in doctrine. As a result, the regional meeting adopted a motion to encourage confessional Lutheran Churches, especially those within the same country, to make every effort to keep the unity of the church. Part of this process is to formally establish church fellowship where there is agreement in doctrine and to consider amalgamation or the establishment of a federation of confessional churches.

The Lutheran Church in South Africa, the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa, and the Confessional Lutheran Church in South Africa are all members of the International Lutheran Council.

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LCMS recognizes fellowship with four new church bodies

by | Jul 25, 2019

The LCMS’ 2019 Synodical Convention (Screengrab).

USA – The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod declared altar and pulpit fellowship with four church bodies during its 67th regular synodical convention held July 20-25, 2019 in Tampa, Florida.

The LCMS’ new church partners are the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Belgium (Evangelisch-Lutherse Kerk in België – ELKB), the Portuguese Evangelical Lutheran Church (Igreja Evangélica Luterana Portuguesa – IELP), the Confessional Lutheran Church of South Africa (CLCSA), and the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Denmark (Den evangelisk-lutherske Frikirke i Danmark – ELFD).

While the LCMS has historical ties to all of these church bodies, the votes regularize relations with them. The LCMS was previously in fellowship with Evangelical Lutheran Church in Belgium when it was part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church – Synod of France and Belgium. The ELKB became self-governing in 2002, requiring the development of a new declaration of fellowship.

The LCMS has practiced assumed fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Denmark for more than a century, having supported the church body since it was young and having trained many of its pastors. The new agreement regularizes that relationship, and follows the ELFD’s formal declaration of fellowship with the LCMS during its July 2018 convention.

The Portuguese Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded in the 1959 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil, when the Brazilian church was still a district of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The IELP contacted the LCMS in 2016 to request formal recognition of altar and pulpit fellowship, which was granted by the LCMS president. The 2019 LCMS convention has now endorsed that declaration of fellowship.

LCMS relations with the Confessional Lutheran Church of South Africa predate the CLCSA’s official founding in 1989, with the CLCSA’s founding pastor having been provided by an LCMS seminary education. The CLCSA officially requested altar and pulpit fellowship with the LCMS in October 2015.

In addition to these declarations of fellowship, the 2019 Convention also moved to simply the recognition of fellowship for new church bodies emerging out of the mission efforts or reorganization of a pre-existing fellowship partner of the LCMS.

The LCMS also resolved to clarify its relationship with Lutherans in Sri Lanka, recognizing fellowship with the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC), which succeeds the defunct Lanka Lutheran Church. The Sri Lankan church grew out of LCMS missions in the country beginning in 1927, with the church becoming independent in 2001. The Sri Lankan government declared the church legally defunct in 2007; the church reconstituted and was legally recognized in 2017 as the CELC.

The LCMS, ELKB, IELP, CLCSA, ELFD, and CELC all hold varying forms of membership in the International Lutheran Council (ILC), a growing association of confessional Lutheran church bodies around the world. During the convention, the LCMS commended the work of the ILC and pledged its continuing support.

Other business

Among other work during the 2019 convention, the LCMS also adopted resolutions to encourage church planting; condemn the sin of racism; strengthen multi-ethnic outreach; encourage continued international theological education in aid of world Lutheran churches; engage in a comprehensive church worker recruitment initiative; and remember the needs of the persecuted church.

The LCMS also celebrated a number of milestones: the forthcoming 175th anniversary of Concordia Theological Seminary (Fort Wayne, Indiana) in 2020; 150 years since the founding of Concordia Publishing House; 125 years of international missions to areas outside North America; 125 years since the founding of Concordia University, Nebraska; 100 years of deaconess ministry; 100 years of campus ministry; 60 years of the Director of Christian Education program; and 25 years for the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. The church also commended the upcoming 175th anniversary of the LCMS in 2022.

The convention comes just a few weeks after the LCMS announced that President Matthew C. Harrison had been reelected to a fourth term. During convention, The LCMS elected Rev. Peter K. Lange as First Vice-President. Rev. Dr. John C. Wohlrabe Jr. will serve as Second Vice-President, Rev. Dr. Scott R. Murray as Third Vice-President, Rev. Nabil S. Nour as Fourth Vice-President, Rev. Christopher S. Esget as Fifth Vice-President, and Rev. Benjamin T. Ball as Sixth Vice-President.

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