LWF Plans New Program to Reinforce Minister’s Theological Knowledge

After the closure of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Council which was held in Geneva on 7th September, LWF has started off with a new direction based on the discussions made during the council. In an attempt to reinforce the Lutheran minister’s theological knowledge, a new study programme named “Theology in the Life of the Church: Revisiting its Critical Role” will be launched.

The recent council meeting has found that many Lutheran churches have increasingly tended to neglect the importance of theology for church life and for the furthering of church unity. The risk is reflected in the ecumenical work that the LWF and many churches are doing. Instead of focusing on the discussion of doctrinal matters, churches try to think of what way would be practical or popular to make them unite and cooperate together. In addition, rapid changes in the society have attracted people to fundamentalist or charismatic appeals that have blocked further theological reflection.

“The objective of the new study program is to develop a greater awareness and appreciation of the critical role of theology in the LWF and member churches, especially among pastors and other church leaders,” Programme Committee for Theology and Studies Chairperson, Rev. Dr Barbara Rossing from Evangelical Lutheran Church in America explained, “it also aims to strengthen the connection between theology and the actual life of churches.”

As Rev. Dr Thomas Nyiwe, President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon, and a member of the theology and studies program committee, commented, “our churches can sometimes give the impression that theology is set apart from their work.”

“This new program shows the importance of connecting theology and the life of the church,” he continued. “It is not something removed, but something that is incarnated into the life of our congregations.”

The LWF has also been inspired for new strategic planning for theology within the LWF. The Programme Committee for Theology and Studies of the LWF noted that as the Lutheran Church is growing very fast, pastors are often overloaded with all kinds of responsibilities. But actually many of them may have only minimal theological training, with little time to pursue further theological studies.

Secondly, it was reported that it was not easy for the South to keep up with the theological thinking developing in the North because of the lack of resources. These two phenomena have aroused the need to make practical and systematic plans for the theological education of all LWF members throughout the world in order to meet their many varied and different situations.

The new study programme is to be launched by the LWF Department for Theology and Studies (DTS) jointly with the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France.