The SouthHill Lutheran Cooperative Minstry-ELCA News Service
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
September
22, 2008
'Luther Decade' Significant for All Lutherans, Says Lutheran
World Leader
08-161-JB
LUTHER STADT WITTENBERG, Germany (ELCA) -- The Sept. 20-21
kickoff of the "Luther Decade" here was significant for all
Lutherans because it offered
opportunities for evangelism and "deep theological
conversation" among Lutherans
and ecumenical partners, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson.
Hanson, presiding bishop
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and president
of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), made the comments
Sept. 21 during a news conference here.
Hanson participated in a series of events marking the
arrival here 500 years ago
of Martin Luther, a German monk, whose writings were instrumental in the
Lutheran Reformation. The Luther Decade is expected to be a
series of events and observances leading to 2017. In that
year Lutherans will mark the 500th anniversary of the start
of the Reformation, when Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the
door of Wittenberg's Castle Church.
"The Luther Decade is very important for Lutherans
throughout the world
because what began in Germany is clearly now a global
movement," said Hanson whose LWF role includes leading 68.3
million Lutherans worldwide.
The rapid increase of the numbers of Lutherans in
Africa is testimony that the Lutheran Church continues to be
an evangelical
movement, he said. "Yet we must confront the challenges
that prosperity gospel preaching are for us who proclaim a
radical cruciform gospel of God's grace in
Christ through faith," Hanson said.
Through the Reformation, Lutherans have contributed
many gifts to the entire Christian church, Hanson said. He
noted that
in
an age of religious extremists and
the growth of fundamentalism, descendants of the Lutheran
Reformation live with convictions that may seem to be
contradictory to others -- such as the belief that the
creation is both good and at the same time fallen, that
people are saints and sinners, and that the Word of God is
both law and gospel.
"Those are deeply held teachings for us, but they are
difficult to communicate in
a world that doesn't seem to want to live with ambiguity and
paradox," Hanson said. Lutherans offer other gifts to the
world, such as ecumenical cooperation, diaconal ministry in
service to others, and work for justice and peace.
"We also must be attentive in this decade to how we
live as Christians with
people of other faiths," Hanson said. "This is a time for
us to engage in dialogue so that extremists of any religion
don't dominate the world or don't become the only
face of people who are religious to the world." He said
Lutherans are working in places such as the Middle East to
achieve peaceful resolution of historic conflicts.
Human beings need to be reformed in how they treat
creation, Hanson said,
noting that the first of Luther's 95 Theses is about
repentance.
"The Luther Decade offers a chance over 10 years to
talk about theology ...
about how we can bring people in contact with the gospel,
discover why we are Lutheran today and what it means to be
Lutheran in the globalized world,
" said Prelate Stephan Dorgerloh, director, Evangelical
Church in Germany (EKD)Wittenberg Center. Dorgerloh will
lead EKD involvement in the decade's activities.
Hanson also preached at a nationally broadcast Castle
Church service here Sept. 21, attended by German government
officials and church leaders.
