The General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation greets European Protestants
(Lutheran World Information) – Greeting the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE), the General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Martin Junge, said that steadfastness in Christ means holding fast to the calling to unity as a prophetic witness in our fragmented world.
Emphasising the motto “Liberated, connected, committed”, delegates from more than 30 countries gathered at the CPCE General Assembly in Basel, Switzerland, to celebrate fellowship, to discuss the most recent period of work, and to reflect on ways of promoting the unity of the church.
The Community of Protestant Churches in Europe is an organisation of 94 Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed and United churches in more than 30 countries in Europe and South America.
Rev. Dr Junge said that the CPCE understands unity as a witness to offer to our
“The unity that we seek is not an end in itself, but has meaning in the context of God’s history and in God’s intention with regard to all creation. The search for unity has its roots in God’s mission in the world.”
“More than ever I believe that steadfastness in Christ today means holding fast to the calling to unity as a prophetic witness in our fragmented world.”
The current fragmented and polarised environment must not lead us off the path, said Junge. The churches must continue to seek what is common in Christ, “who is our only foundation”, he added.
The unity that we seek is not an end in itself, but has meaning in the context of God’s history and in God’s intention with regard to all creation, – the LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Martin Junge.
A spirit of ecumenical responsibility
Rev. Dr Junge referred to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. He was grateful for the support of ecumenical partners, which helps to sustain the LWF’s commitment to meet the anniversary in a spirit of ecumenical responsibility.
“Indeed, our history did not begin 500 years ago. Reformation movements have existed both before and after the one that we commemorated last year.”
“The joint commemoration of the anniversary of the Reformation, which the LWF held in Lund and Malmö together with the Roman Catholic Church on 31 October 2016, is one example of how other Christian fellowships in the world have supported our aspiration not to abandon our ecumenical relationships during the celebration of the anniversary, but to reach the full maturity of the richness and abundance of our bilateral dialogues.”
The signing of the Wittenberg Witness together with the World Communion of Reformed Churches in 2017 points in the same direction and forms an important foundation for further cooperation. The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, which was signed in 1999 by the LWF and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has grown from a bilateral agreement into a multilateral agreement with five signatories.
Since the challenges of Europe and the responses to these challenges did not end at its borders, the meetings of the CPCE are of “decisive importance”, said Rev. Dr Junge.
About the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe
The CPCE is an umbrella organisation to which belong 94 Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed and United churches in more than 30 countries in Europe and South America. It represents around 50 million Protestants and exists on the basis of the 1973 Leuenberg Agreement, in which it is concluded that churches have the right to be different, because they appeal to the gospel as their common foundation. This allows a Lutheran pastor to preach from a Reformed pulpit, or a French pastor to lead a congregation in Germany.
Basel, Switzerland
17./09./2018.
Source: Lutheran World Federation news