A Reformation Anniversary Platform for LWF Member Churches
“Connect, Contribute, Participate”
(LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches worldwide now have the possibility to “connect, contribute and participate” in the 500th anniversary of the Reformation through the newly launched LWF web site for the 2017 anniversary.
The web site, launched today, marks the start of the 2015-2017 timeline that the LWF has dedicated to commemorating the Reformation anniversary.
“This platform will certainly serve as inspiration for churches thinking about their own plans and programs, and as a tool to connect with the LWF member churches across the globe in view of their own plans,” said LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge.
In a letter to the LWF member churches, the general secretary encourages the churches to use the platform to engage in Reformation anniversary events worldwide by:
- Identifying youth to join the Global Young Reformers Network, which is up and running and will meet in Wittenberg, Germany in August 2015.
- Using booklets that are being prepared for the Reformation anniversary to engage locally in theological conversations with bilateral partners.
- Offering stories of grassroots women—lay or ordained, theologians or community leaders—who have made a difference in local churches.
- Utilizing the report From Conflict to Communion – Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017 to engage in ecumenical conversations locally.
- Ensuring that every LWF member church would have planted its own tree in the Luther Garden in Wittenberg by 2017.
- Participating in the World Exhibition in Wittenberg in 2017 to express that the Reformation has become a ‘world citizen’.
The web site highlights the fact that the Reformation has become a global citizen and has taken root in many different contexts. With this platform, the LWF offers possibilities that are good entry points for Lutheran churches worldwide to “connect, contribute and participate” in the 2017 celebrations outlined on the new web site, Junge concluded.
Churches can send their 2017 plans, resource materials, projects and calendars to Rev. Anne Burghardt, LWF secretary for ecumenical relations.
