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The ILC is Hiring: Fund Development Professional

by | Jun 6, 2024

USA – The International Lutheran Council (ILC) is seeking to hire a full-time Mission Advocate.

The ILC Mission Advocate will be an experienced fund development professional, and will lead a fund development plan in order to grow and sustain ILC infrastructure. This position offers a salary based on the candidates experience and includes a full benefits package including health care, retirement, and paid time off (PTO).

A full description of the position, including essential job functions; education and experience required; and knowledge, skills, and abilities required is available online here.

Resumes should be sent to admin@ilcouncil.org.

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Lutherans in Turkey and Bulgaria join the ILC

by | Jun 3, 2024

The ILK congregation in Istanbul, Turkey.

TURKEY – The International Lutheran Council (ILC) has welcomed the Istanbul Lutheran Church (İstanbul Luteryen Kilisesi – ILK)/Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bulgaria (Евангелиска Лутеранска Църква в България – ELCB) as an observer member in the ILC. The decision came at a meeting of the ILC’s board of directors earlier this year.

“It is a joy to welcome the Istanbul Lutheran Church/Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bulgaria into the International Lutheran Council,” said ILC General Secretary Klaus Detlev Schulz. “We thank God for this new partnership, and we pray that God will bless our work together on behalf of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The ILK/ELCB has applied also for full membership in the International Lutheran Council, but decisions on full membership can take place only at a World Conference. The ILC’s next World Conference will take place in 2025.

“We are very glad that the ILC has granted us observer status, and we are grateful that God provides His people with opportunities for fellowship, cooperation, and solidarity,” said Rev. Bahadir Argönül of the Istanbul Lutheran Church. In fact, this connection with other faithful Lutherans was the impetus behind the church’s decision to apply in the first place. “We want to join the ILC in order to get to know other churches with whom we share a common confessional Lutheran faith,” explained Leading Pastor Feymi Madjirov of Peshtera, “and to work together with them for the proclamation of the Gospel and the Lutheran doctrine.”

The ELCB congregation in Peshtera, Bulgaria.

The ILK/ELCB is one church body serving Turkish-speaking Lutherans in two nations: Turkey and Bulgaria. Lutheranism was first established in Turkey in 1709, when Sweden sent a Lutheran pastor to serve in Constantinople. A chapel built on the grounds of the Swedish Embassy followed in 1748. That Lutheran ministry came to a hiatus near the end of the 19th century, but late in the 20th century, Finnish Lutherans living in Turkey came together to form a new congregation out of the original chapel. The congregation called Rev. Risto Soramies—who would later become Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland (ELMDF)—to serve as their first pastor, as he had previously served a Turkish-speaking Lutheran congregation in Germany.

The Istanbul Lutheran Church was formally established in 2003, with its Bulgarian branch—the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bulgaria—following in 2005. Today the church has about 200 members, with two congregations in Turkey (Istanbul and Ismir) and two congregations in Bulgaria (Peshtera and Krushevo).

The International Lutheran Council is a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies which proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, grounded in the authority of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

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Brazil’s Lutherans reach out amidst catastrophic flooding

by | May 24, 2024

Devastating flooding in Brazil. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert. CC BY-SA 2.0.

BRAZIL – Lutherans in Brazil are reaching out with the love of Christ as they struggle in the aftermath of devastating floods—the worst the country has experienced in 80 years.

Beginning at the end of April and continuing through May, the state of Rio Grande do Sul has experienced massive flooding. More than 160 people are confirmed dead, others are still missing, and hundreds more are injured. Nearly 600,000 people have been displaced, with close to 70,000 people currently living in emergency shelters.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil – IELB) is experiencing the devastation firsthand; more than half of the church’s members live in the affected state. “In Rio Grande do Sul, heavy rains are causing destruction like never before,” explains IELB President Geraldo Schüler. “There are hundreds of municipalities partially or completely destroyed. Many people have died because of the floods and landslides, thousands of homes have been destroyed, and many people are missing.”

Congregação Concórdia, a 120 year old IELB church in São Leopoldo, under water. Photo: IELB.

The IELB reports that 14 of their churches are known to have suffered damage in the flooding; some, like the Congregação São João in Novo Hamburgo, still remain submerged. A number of Lutheran schools have also been affected. Seven pastors have completely lost their homes and everything inside them. Other pastors managed to save a few belongings and escape by car, while others lost even their cars. The full impact on church members remains impossible to assess at this point, but many of them have lost their homes and been displaced.

Flooding at Editora Concórdia. Photo: IELB.

The church’s publishing house, Editora Concórdia, also remains underwater. “We still don’t have a real understanding of how things are there,” the IELB reports, “and we confess, we are afraid of what we will find.”

“This catastrophe is unprecedented,” says IELB Vice President Airton Schroeder, who oversees social ministry in the church body. But while the creation may have been devastated, he says, “the Creator remains the same yesterday, today and forever. The Creator has shown His mercy through Christians and non-Christians alike, caring for one another. But He has especially demonstrated His mercy through those who, in the midst of tragedy, look to the cross and realize that human life on Earth is temporary and testify to the love of Jesus Christ in words and actions, working to minimize the suffering of their neighbour.”

Lutherans reach out

Relief efforts at the Lutheran University of Brazil. Photo: IELB.

Even as Rio Grande do Sul is facing an increasingly dire humanitarian situation, Brazil’s Lutherans are reaching out with critical care and support. The Lutheran University of Brazil in Canoas, for example, is hosting more than 8,000 people who have been displaced—the largest such shelter in the country. In São Leopoldo, meanwhile, the church’s seminary, Seminário Concórdia, is likewise hosting displaced people who have been referred to them by the city, primarily elderly people and those with special needs. Faculty, students, and family are all involved in caring and feeding those on campus, as well as distributing food to people in other locations.

Faculty, students, and families at Seminário Concórdia prepare food for those affected by the floods. Photo: IELB.

“We are facing many difficulties because of this huge flooding,” said President Schüler. “But this is also an important opportunity for the church to share God’s great love, and this is being done in a wonderful way through the congregations and institutions linked to the IELB.” IELB congregations have provided assistance in numerous ways, ranging from rescuing people caught in the flooding; providing shelter in unaffected buildings; collecting and distributing necessities like food, water, blankets, clothing, and hygiene goods; raising emergency funds; and of course providing pastoral care to people in the midst of great suffering.

As of May 22, the IELB has raised more than R$1,850,000 for relief work, and already distributed R$500,000 for emergency food, life-protecting supplies, and other needs. You can find out more about the IELB’s ongoing response to the crisis and its Disaster Response Fund on the IELB’s website here (in Portuguese).

Chances are the work will continue for some time. Authorities have suggested it will be months—perhaps even years—before life in in the affected areas returns to normal.

“I encourage all Christians around the world to remember Brazil in prayer,” said General Secretary Klaus Detlev Schulz of the International Lutheran Council (ILC). “The people are facing great sorrow and loss in this time. May God strengthen the work of authorities as they seek to preserve life and property in Brazil. And may He bless the work of our friends in the IELB, as they offer practical care and comfort in the name of Jesus Christ to all those who have been affected by this tragedy.”

The ILC, of which the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil is a member, is a global association of confessional Lutheran churches grounded in the authority of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

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French speaking Lutherans gather in Canada for liturgy workshop

by | Jun 7, 2023

Participants at the French liturgy workshop in Montreal. Pictured are participants from Haiti, Congo, France, the United States, and Canada.

CANADA – French-speaking Lutherans from across the world gathered for a workshop on the basics of Lutheran liturgy in Montreal, Quebec from May 17-21, 2023. The event, which was hosted by Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC), also marked the official launch of a new African edition of LCC’s French hymnal: Liturgies et cantiques luthériens – Édition africaine (LCL-ÉA).

The workshop opened with remarks by LCC President Timothy Teuscher, bringing greetings on behalf of the Canadian church as well as the International Lutheran Council (ILC), which helped to sponsor the event. President Teuscher, who also serves as Vice Chairman of the ILC, encouraged the gathering to reflect on the necessity of right worship.

Rev. Walta Clercius, Assistant Missionary-at-Large for LCC French Ministries.

The gathering brought together participants from nine countries, including members of: Lutheran Church–Canada; Lutheran churches in Haiti, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti (ELCH); five new African francophone congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS); the Evangelical Lutheran Church – Synod of France (the Église évangélique luthérienne – Synode de France – EEL-SF); Lutheran churches in Burundi and Congo; Lutherans in Africa; and an African Pentecostal church body that is considering the adoption of Lutheran teaching. LCC, ELCH, the LCMS, and the ELL-SF are all member churches of the International Lutheran Council.

In addition to those present in person, the Saturday session saw students from the Concordia Theological Seminary of Haiti – Laochikit Centre (Séminaire Théologique Concordia d’Haiti – Centre de Laotchikit) participate online.

The development of French Lutheran hymnals by LCC French Ministries represents a major contribution to the worship life of the francophone Lutheran world. The new African edition of the hymnal (LCL-ÉA) is a fruit of the collaboration of LCC’s Francophone Lutheran Liturgical Institute (Institut liturgique luthérien francophone – ILLF). IILF members include Rev. Dr. David Saar (St. John’s Lutheran Church in Mount Forest, Ontario); Rev. Dr. David Somers (LCC Missionary-at-Large, French Ministries); and LCMS Cantor Phillip Magness, who served as main presenter at the workshop. Rev. David Milette (Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Moncton, New Brunswick) served as liturgist throughout the workshop.

The ILLF’s constituting members and LCC President with the new African edition of the French hymnal. Left to right: Cantor Phillip Magness, Rev. Dr. David Somers, LCC President Timothy Teuscher, and Rev. Dr. David Saar

In addition to the presentation of the LCL-ÉA, the workshop also provided an opportunity to showcase French Lutheran materials, many of which are available through Lutheran Church–Canada’s French Ministries, including the new Viens et vois Jésus (“Come and See Jesus”) Sunday school curriculum and accompanying lectionary-based children’s activity pages based on those prepared in English by Lutheran Laymen’s League of Canada.

Finally, the workshop provided a unique opportunity for confessional francophone Lutherans from three continents to get to know each other and become more familiar with the work and challenges of the world’s burgeoning French-language Lutheranism.

Support for the workshop was provided by the International Lutheran Council; the C.T. Wetzstein Donor Advised Fund in Support of Christian Education; the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League – Canada (LWMLC); the Laurentian District of the LWMLC; the Lutheran Heritage Foundation; Lutheran Laymen’s League – Canada; The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod; and Lutheran Church–Canada.

Additional French-language workshops on Lutheran liturgy in Africa are also being planned.

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Adapted from a report by Rev. Dr. David Somers.

Spanish Lutheran bishop passes on to glory

by | Mar 2, 2023

Former IELE Bishop José Luis de Miguel.

SPAIN – On February 14, 2023, Rev. José Luis de Miguel of the Spanish Evangelical Lutheran Church (Iglesia Evangélica Luterana Española – IELE) entered into glory. Rev. Luis was the first Spanish-born pastor to lead the Lutheran church in Spain—a role in which he served until shortly before his death when his health declined due to cancer.

Bishop Luis studied for the pastoral ministry at Seminario Concordia El Reformador in the Dominican Republic. He was ordained in 2017, after having first been made a deacon in 2012. In 2020, he was named the Spanish church’s first bishop, although the consecration could not take place until 2021 because of the pandemic.

In addition to serving the church, Rev. Luis also worked for the Spanish Association Against Cancer.

After Bishop Luis became ill, the Spanish church held an extraordinary convention on February 4, 2023 to elect a new leader. Rev. Felipe Lobo Arranz was selected to guide the church as president during this time of transition.

In a video address to the church following Bishop Luis’ death, President Lobo noted that the news had been very hard for the church. Expressing his condolences to the former bishop’s wife and children, President Lobo went on to say that the whole church “remembers him fondly, knowing that we will soon see each other again—that soon we will all be together with Christ, where [Bishop Luis] is right now, watching Him and contemplating Him.”

IELE President Felipe Lobo Arranz.

President Lobo encouraged members of the church to take comfort in the knowledge of the resurrection, pointing them to the promises of God in 1 Corinthians 15. “The reality of life is certain; the reality of death is certain,” he said. “But just as true is the reality of resurrection.”

Those who know Christ, President Lobo said, can look forward in hope to eternal life with Christ: “Remember that death has been defeated by Jesus Christ on the cross of calvary.”

The IELE grew out of mission efforts of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina (IELA), which was later supplemented by missionary support from The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). Today the Spanish church has four congregations and, following the death of Bishop Luis, three Spanish-born pastors, as well as the support of one LCMS missionary.

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On the death of Benedict XVI

by | Jan 5, 2023

GERMANY – On December 31, 2022, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away. He was 95 years old.

Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger (b. April 16, 1927) became pope of the Catholic Church on April 19, 2005, and served in that role until his resignation on February 28, 2013. A profound theologian, he demonstrated a significant understanding of the Lutheran tradition and its witness to the Gospel.

The International Lutheran Council’s (ILC) former Chairman, Bishop Hans-Jörg Voigt of Germany’s Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche – SELK), provides the following reflections on the legacy of Benedict XVI.

Lutheran Reflections on Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI . Image: Wikimedia.

Jesus Christ was the spiritual theme of the life of Pope Benedict XVI. He will go down in the history books as one of the greatest theological thinkers of the 20th and 21st centuries: Joseph Ratzinger—Roman Catholic priest, professor of theology, Archbishop of Munich-Freising, Cardinal, and eventually Pope Benedict XVI. He died on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2022, at his home in the Vatican at the age of 95. He was head of the Catholic Church from 2005-2013—the first German pope in 482 years.

In my opinion, Benedict’s three volume series on the life of Jesus—Jesus of Nazareth, which made it to bestseller lists around the globe—is among his most important work. Until their publication, the so-called “historical Jesus” and the “Christ of faith” had been increasingly driven further apart. Historical researchers held the opinion that only the “historical” Jesus could be researched. Statements of faith about Jesus Christ, however, were held to be only “congregational formations”—i.e., faith narratives of the first Christian congregations.

Ratzinger pointed out with the sharpness of his philosophically learned mind that this separation between historical research and faith must lead astray, since the divine Logos became flesh (John 1:14). “When we say these words, we acknowledge God’s actual entrance into real history,” says Ratzinger in the first volume of his Jesus trilogy. In this way, he shows both the limitations and importance of a purely historical method of interpreting Scripture: it attempts to reconstruct the historical contexts of a text and its original meaning in as much detail as possible. This is its value. When the divine Word has become flesh, however, it carries a surplus of meaning that must claim historicity and yet eludes historical comparability.

In this context, Ratzinger also reflects on the inspiration of the divine Word. A biblical author does not speak as a private subject, Ratzinger writes, but “he speaks in a living community… which is led forward by a greater power that is at work.” In his brief contribution to a survey by Christian philosopher Robert Spaemann on the topic, “Who is Jesus of Nazareth – for me?”, Joseph Ratzinger writes: “I trust the tradition in all its breadth. And the more reconstructions I see come and go, the more I feel strengthened in this trust. It becomes increasingly clear to me that the hermeneutic of Chalcedon is the only one that does not have to interpret anything away but can accept the whole.” (The Council of Chalcedon in 451 elaborated the doctrine of the divine and human natures of Jesus Christ as inseparable and unmixed.)

Joseph Ratzinger here comes remarkably close to the Lutheran theologian Hermann Sasse (1895-1976), who applied the two-natures doctrine of the Council of Chalcedon to the doctrine of Scripture: “The revelation in the Word becomes the incarnation. Therefore Jesus Christ, the Word (Logos) become flesh, is the revelation of God in this world. Only in Him, the eternal Word, does God step out of His hiddenness…. The man Jesus Christ is the visible Word (verbum visibile). Whoever sees Him sees God as much as God can be seen in this world” (“The Theology of the Cross,” 1951).

Benedict XVI has been criticized that ecumenism was not close to his heart. I believe that he has served the ecumenical movement in a much more lasting way than he could have done with any conceivable offer of compromise. By teaching a theology centered on Jesus Christ alone, Benedict XVI has rendered invaluable service to the unity of the Church. Thus, his distinction between Law and Gospel is also more Lutheran-comparable than ever before.

As Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI faced accusations concerning the time of his episcopal ministry in Munich. At the center of the accusations was his handling of an Essen diocesan priest who was sent to Munich in 1980 after sexually offending minors. Ratzinger, then Munich’s Archbishop, had known about the situation and approved the priest’s admission. One can only begin to guess how the faith-filled academic theologian, which Ratzinger always remained, suffered regret over the low points of ecclesiastical personnel policy. Thus, he still had to participate in a fundamental crisis of credibility of the church worldwide, from which no denomination is exempt and whose extent and effects we can still hardly fathom.

May Benedict XVI’s spiritual legacy contribute to a future awakening in Europe and worldwide, something we request in prayer daily and fervently from the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ. He has let His child, Joseph Ratzinger, sanctified by baptism to eternity, now see what he believed: Jesus Christ.

Bishop Hans-Jörg Voigt

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Easter and the Medicine of Immortality

by | Apr 4, 2021

The Resurrection: Daniel Hisgen, 1770 (St. Michael’s in Oberkleen. Photo: Kurt Hanika).

by Hans-Jörg Voigt

Alleluia! The Lord is risen, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

With voices united, the Evangelists and Apostles witness to this fact: the grave of Jesus was empty on Easter morning, for God endowed His Son’s body truly with new life. They saw Him. They touched Him. They ate with Him. The certainty of this Easter message is the centrepiece of our faith. “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

Perhaps you’ll ask, what does this have to do with my life in these difficult days of the pandemic? The answer: by the power of Holy Communion, the life of the resurrection enters your life. This Sacrament has been called “pharmakon athanasias”—that is, the medicine of immortality. In the Lord’s Supper, you receive immortality.

Why is this sacramental faith so important? Let me point to an example from the area of medicine: for some time now, the so-called placebo effect has been known. It refers to the therapeutic effect that occurs when people take pills without any active pharmaceutical ingredients (i.e., placebos), where the patients are not aware of the fact that they are not receiving a real effective medicine. Sometimes placebos are used to test the efficacy of a newly developed medicine. At times, such placebos set free some rather astounding healing results within the test patient.

But just because placebos can be effective to some extent, no one would therefore deduce that he has no further need for medicines with real active ingredients. A cancer patient does not need symbolic treatment but real effective medicine.

The Last Supper: Daniel Hisgen, c. 1785 (Evangelische Kirche in Oppenrod. Photo: Cherrubino).

The Lord’s Supper is “pharmakon athanasias,” the medicine of immortality. Since we have succumbed to the disease of eternal death, we do not need a symbolic Lord’s Supper; we need a Sacrament with real effective ingredients: the body and blood of Christ.

Why is that so important? When you are no longer strong enough to believe, then despite everything this “pharmakon athanasias” will help you. When you despair and are sad, then this “pharmakon athanasias” will help beyond all reason. It isn’t up to you to do everything in your power to believe before the salutary effect of the Sacrament unfolds in your life. No, it is Christ, in His sacrifice on the cross, who has done all that in your stead. God’s confirmation and seal is the resurrection of His Son.

The Lutheran belief in the real presence in Holy Communion—which we share with the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians all over the world—is a very tangible belief. To maintain the doctrine of the real presence, Martin Luther staunchly withstood princes and theologians. Because he faithfully confessed the doctrine of the real presence, the hymn writer Paul Gerhard was dismissed from his pastorate and lost his income, simply because he withstood the ruler’s contrary command in this matter. To defend the doctrine of the real presence, the mothers and fathers of Confessional Lutheran churches in Germany felt compelled to leave their home country; they emigrated to Australia and to North and South America. It was all about the hope of the resurrection that is confirmed in the Sacrament of the Altar.

The pandemic that we’re subjected to these days can leave us feeling disembodied: no touching, no hugging, no common meals, no visits, no big wedding celebrations… it’s enough to make a person cry! We do everything on-screen these days—and always there are little inserts with the latest figures of the virus. There is hardly anything with bodily reality!

But wherever in the world the Holy Supper is celebrated, the opposite is taking place: there you receive the true body and the true blood of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, so that you may have eternal life. Yes, this “pharmakon athanasias” brings forgiveness, consolation, and true Easter joy.

Alleluia! The Lord is risen, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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Rev. Dr. Hans-Jörg Voigt is Bishop of Germany’s Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (Selbständige Evangelisch—Lutherische Kirche) and Chairman of the International Lutheran Council.

ILC Board looks toward 2021

by | May 29, 2020

Members of the International Lutheran Council’s Board of Directors and staff hold meetings online.

WORLD – The Board of Directors of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) held regular meetings May 26-27, 2020 via online videoconferencing, during which time the board continued planning for the ILC’s 2021 World Conference, as well as received a report on the ILC’s ecumenical discussions with Roman Catholics.

The International Lutheran Council’s 27th (12th) World Conference will take place September 21-24, 2021 in Kenya. Some on-the-ground preparations have been interrupted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but planning otherwise is progressing normally. The board will announce further information, including the conference theme, at a later date.

ILC Chairman Hans-Jörg Voigt holds a Zoom meeting ILC board members and staff.

During the May 2020 meetings, the Board of Directors also accepted the concluding report of the informal academic dialogue between the International Lutheran Council and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU). The document will be now distributed to the churches of the ILC for study and reaction, with plans to make official recommendations on the report during the 2021 ILC World Conference.

“The dialogue groups from both the Lutheran and Roman Catholic sides have done marvelous work,” said ILC Chairman Hans-Jörg Voigt of the final report. “I am grateful to them for their diligence, and for the results of their theological discussions. They deserve our sincere thanks.”

The board also considered ongoing membership applications during their meetings, as well as regular business such as reports from ILC programs, organizations, and world regions. The current pandemic has led to the postponement of several ILC initiatives, including regional conferences in Latin America and Europe, as well as classes in the Lutheran Leadership Development Program.

The board also approved an update to the ILC’s Mission Statement, which now reads:

The International Lutheran Council is a worldwide association of confessional Lutheran church bodies and groups which proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the basis of an unconditional commitment to the Holy Scriptures as the inspired and infallible Word of God and to the Lutheran Confessions contained in the Book of Concord as the true and faithful exposition of the Word of God. The ILC exists for the purpose of encouraging, strengthening, and promoting confessional Lutheran theology and practice centering in Jesus Christ, both among its members and throughout the world.

The next meeting of the ILC Board of Directors will take place online on September 21, 2020.

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Remembering World War II 75 Years Later

by | May 8, 2020

An Unexpected Visit

75 years ago the most terrible of all world wars ended in Europe…

A personal reflection by the The Rev. Dr. Hans-Jörg Voigt, Bishop of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) in Germany and Chairman of the International Lutheran Council

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It was at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Gross Oesingen, one of our congregations in the Lüneburg Heath region of northern Germany. A few months after the unconditional surrender of the German army some pastors of the then Evangelical Lutheran Free Church had assembled. It was November 1 of the year 1945. Among them was the local Pastor Martin Hein, as well as the Pastor from Hannover, Hans Kirsten. The worst war that ever emanated from German territory had ended with a resounding defeat and the signing of the instruments of capitulation just a few months earlier.

Perplexity and a sense of helplessness was keenly felt by all the pastors. All around them there were refugees on the farms and in emergency housing in the cities. There were still some food supplies, especially from the reserves of the military, but hunger and the first post-war winter were approaching.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door of Farmer Käppel’s house next to the church. Pastor Hein got up to open the door. A tall, lanky man appeared, dressed in suit and hat, accompanied by a GI in uniform, who had driven the American military limousine; they were obviously US-Americans. The visitor introduced himself, speaking German with a Texan accent, as the President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). “How can we help you?” John William Behnken (1884-1968) asked. “What can we do for you and your congregations?” He was LCMS President from 1935 to 1962. President Behnken was the first American church representative who was allowed to visit Germany. After his trip he personally reported to the President of the United States, Harry S. Truman.

Even today we can still feel the emotions of that moment. Not much earlier American troops and their allies had paid a bloody toll as they invaded Normandy in France in order to end the ravages of war by force. And just a few weeks later the question: “How can we help you?” The German pastors had not expected that.

It is a fact that The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod provided considerable help in the reconstruction and re-organization of the independent Lutheran confessional churches in Germany. The foundation of our Lutheran Seminary (now in Oberursel) was made possible in large part by the LCMS. Many congregations of the LCMS participated massively by sending Care Packages very soon after the war. The 75th Anniversary of Germany’s liberation provides opportunity to remember in gratitude the help offered so soon after the war

A change of scenery: In 2018 I visited one of the Lutheran congregations in London, England. My friend, the Rev. John Ehlers, had invited me to preach in the service. After worship Pastor Ehlers introduced me to an elderly lady and informed me that during World War II she had served as a nurse, and she frequently she had to take care of the victims caused by the German air raids. The lady said to me: “You’re the first German to preach in this church. It is good that our peoples are now so close to one another.” I have never forgotten this.

Without doubt May 8, 1945 was a day of liberation. All the horror which German refugees, the victim of the bombings, and the soldiers had to endure had its origin in that ideological dictatorship that caused this war and not the final outcome. In 1945 the full extent of the horror and the utter monstrosity of the mass murder of the Jews was not yet fully revealed, but almost everyone knew what was going on.

An American philosopher of Spanish descent, George Santayana (1863 – 1952), said: “He who learns nothing from history is condemned to repeat its mistakes.” I do not know know whether this is true in all cases. But it is one of the strengths of Germany’s policy of remembrance not to suppress the shameful crimes of the past but to keep them in our collective memory. President Behnken’s visit and the readiness to forgive on the part of that nurse in London I regard as more than just a sign for the power of Christian reconciliation. That reconciliation is based on Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross.

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Hans-Jörg Voigt

“Glory to God in the Highest” – Where Did it Go?

by | Dec 24, 2019

The annunciation to the shepherds, Govert Flinck: 1639.

by Timothy Quill

This past Sunday was the last in Advent, and once again immediately following the Kyrie ,the pastor went directly into the Greeting and Salutation: “The Lord be with you,” “and with your spirit.” The Gloria in Excelsis was nowhere to be found. It has been gone since the first Sunday in Advent.

When Martin Luther undertook his remarkable 1526 restoration and German translation of the Latin Mass, he did not include the ancient Gloria in Excelsis. How was it possible for someone as theologically and musically gifted as Dr. Luther to delete the Gloria? At first glance this seems a bit baffling, but a closer look reveals that the reason for the omission was most likely because the German Mass was first sung in December of 1525 which put it during the penitential season of Advent when the Gloria was not customarily sung. New compositions of the Gloria would eventually be composed by Nicolaus Decius, Luther, and others.

The Gloria is also omitted during the penitential season of Lent, but its omission is most striking during the Advent-Christmas season since it is the song of the angels to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth.

Lutherans greatly value and retain the traditional liturgical practices of the church.

In the Introduction to his 1523 revision of the Latin Mass, Luther explained: “It is not now or ever has been our intention to abolish the liturgical service of God completely, but rather to purify the one that is now in use from accretions which corrupt it and to point out an evangelical use.” He commends those parts of the service added by the early church fathers and recommends they be retained in the liturgy: Psalms and Introit Psalm, Kyrie, Readings from Epistle and Gospel, Gloria in Excelsis, and so forth (LW AE 53:20-21).

In 1530, the Lutherans confessed in Article 15 of the Augsburg Confession, “We gladly keep the old traditions set up in the church because they are useful and promote tranquility, and we interpret them in an evangelical way, excluding the opinion which holds that they justify” (Ap XV, Tappert 220:38, emphasis mine).

One year after the Diet of Augsburg, Luther was preaching at St. Mary’s parish church in Wittenberg. He expressed amazement that the evangelical movement was still alive: “A year ago, at the Diet of Augsburg, the [general] opinion was that everything would go topsy-turvy within four weeks, and that all Germany would founder. [No one knew how things would end up,] or from what source help and comfort might come. The situation baffled and defied all reason and wisdom, and one was constrained to say: ‘It all depends on God’s power, and it is all staked on His Word’” (LW AE 23:400).

It is now 489 years after the Diet of Augsburg and the world in which we live—including numerous churches which bear the names “Evangelical” and “Lutheran”—are in many respects topsy-turvy, upside down, and in a state of confusion. And we too are led to express amazement and thanksgiving that after all she has gone through, the Lutheran Church has not foundered. She continues to depend on “God’s power, and it is all staked on His Word.” This is articulated on the International Lutheran Council website: “The International Lutheran Council is a growing worldwide association of established confessional Lutheran church bodies which proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the basis of an unconditional commitment to the Holy Scriptures as the inspired and infallible Word of God and to the Lutheran Confessions contained in the Book of Concord as the true and faithful exposition of the Word of God” (emphasis mine). It is extremely encouraging to know that we are not alone. Over 50 churches worldwide have chosen to be part of an association of confessional Lutheran church bodies which share this commitment to the Gospel and the Word of God.

Martin Luther retained the historic liturgy but insisted that it be in the vernacular, so that the people could understand and participate meaningfully in the Divine Service. For this reason, the Gloria in Excelsis was also composed in hymn form in order to foster congregational singing.

As Advent gives way to Christmas, ILC Churches from many countries and cultures will worship in different languages yet share in the common faith, the common Lutheran confession, and common Lutheran liturgical tradition. In the Divine Service the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word made flesh, comes to us through the Word and in his very Body and Blood in the Blessed Sacrament to bestow upon us the forgiveness of sins, life, and eternal salvation. Lutherans from all ages and throughout the world join the angels, who sang to the shepherds when Jesus was born in Bethlehem: “Glory be to God on high; and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” (Luke 2:14).

All glory be to God alone,
Forever more the highest one,
Who did our sinful race befriend
And grace and peace to us extend.
Among us may His gracious will
All hearts with deep thanksgiving fill.
– Martin Luther, All Ehr und Lob, stanza 1

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Rev. Dr. Timothy Quill is General Secretary of the International Lutheran Council.

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